WESTERN STATES MIDGETS AT VENTURA OCTOBER 29; GARDNER TAKES KCR SAFETY FALL SHOOTOUT AT TULARE
Ronnie Gardner of Corona, Calif. took another step toward a fourth consecutive USAC Western States Midget championship last Saturday night, winning the 30-lap “KCR Safety Fall Shootout” at the Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif.
Gardner has spurted to a 108-point lead over Michael Faccinto in the latest standings with three races remaining on the 2016 calendar. Ventura (Calif.) Raceway hosts an October 29 race before the series visits Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway on November 19 before closing the campaign with the November 24 “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Ventura.
Gardner took over the lead when Alex Schutte pitted under caution with two lap remaining at Tulare. Gardner piloted the Six8 Motorsports Baldozier Racing/Esslinger Engineering Stewart/Esslinger to the win over Frankie Guerrini, Courtney Crone, Cory Elliott and Maria Cofer.
Gardner was the winner when the series visited Ventura in May. Faccinto finished fourth in that race.
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UPCOMING USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT:
DATE: Saturday, October 29, 2016
SERIES: USAC Western States Midget Championship
TRACK: Ventura Raceway (Ventura, California) – 1/5-mile, high-banked dirt oval
TRACK ADDRESS: 10 W Harbor Blvd, Ventura, CA 93001
TRACK PHONE: (805) 985-5433
TRACK WEBSITE: http://venturaraceway.com/
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (842) Ronnie Gardner (Corona, CA)
2. (734) Michael Faccinto (Hanford, CA)
3. (665) Frankie Guerrini (San Rafael, CA)
4. (645) Cory Elliott (Bakersfield, CA)
5. (567) Courtney Crone (Corona, CA)
6. (494) Cody Swanson (Norco, CA)
7. (481) Maria Cofer (Macdoel, CA)
8. (478) Randi Pankratz (Atascadero, CA)
9. (476) Robert Dalby (Anaheim, CA)
10. (377) Tyler Dolacki (Fresno, CA)
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (842) Six8 Motorsports #68
2. (734) MF Racing #35F
3. (645) Cory Elliott #11E
4. (617) Frankie Guerrini #63
5. (567) Jerome Rodela #25
6. (494) Kirk Swanson #71s
7. (481) Cofer Racing #57
8. (478) Wally Pankratz #8
9. (476) Robert Dalby #4D
10. (377) Robert Dolacki #18
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS:
Mar 23: Placerville, CA - Placerville Speedway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Apr 9: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
WINNER: Rained Out
Apr 30: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
May 21: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Jun 4: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
WINNER: Michael Faccinto
Jun 25: Hanford, CA - Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Jul 16: Petaluma, CA - Petaluma Speedway
WINNER: Alex Schutte
Sep 3: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway
WINNER: Tanner Thorson
Sep 4: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway
WINNER: Michael Faccinto
Sep 8: Chico, CA - Silver Dollar Speedway
WINNER: Alex Schutte
Sep 17: Santa Maria, CA - Santa Maria Raceway
WINNER: Cody Swanson
Oct 8: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Oct 29: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
Nov 19: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
Nov 24: ### Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
**Races noted with ### represent a race with the USAC National Midget Series.
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS:
1. (5) Ronnie Gardner (Placerville Speedway on March 23, Bakersfield Speedway on April 30, Ventura Raceway on May 21, Santa Maria Raceway on June 25 & Thunderbowl Raceway on Oct. 8)
2. (2) Michael Faccinto (Bakersfield Speedway on June 4 & Calistoga Speedway on Sept. 4)
(2) Alex Schutte (Petaluma Speedway on July 16 & Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 8)
4. (1) Cody Swanson (Santa Maria Raceway on Sept. 17)
(1) Tanner Thorson (Calistoga Speedway on Sept. 3)
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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS:
1. [104 wins] Sleepy Tripp
2. [52 wins] Robby Flock
3. [41 wins] Billy Boat
4. [19 wins] Wally Pankratz
5. [18 wins] Ronnie Gardner & Page Jones
7. [16 wins] P.J. Jones, Jason Leffler & Rusty Rasmussen
10. [14 wins] Garrett Hansen
11. [13 wins] Jimmy Sills & Tony Stewart
13. [12 wins] Jay Drake & Tommy White
15. [11 wins] Josh Wise
16. [10 wins] Johnny Cofer, Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Cory Kruseman & Ron Shuman
21. [9 wins] Bobby East, Tracy Hines, Kasey Kahne & Rich Vogler
25. [8 wins] Stan Fox, Michael Lewis, Steve Paden, Dave Steele & Danny Stratton
30. [7 wins] Rick Hendrix, Chad Nichols & Kody Swanson
33. [6 wins] Rico Abreu, Bryan Clauson, Johnathon Henry, Ken Nichols, Brad Noffsinger & Dave Strickland Jr.
39. [5 wins] Tommy Astone, Christopher Bell, Bob Davison, Ronnie Day, Robert Dolacki, Davey Hamilton, Tony Hunt, Brad Kuhn, Alex Schutte & J.J. Yeley
49. [4 wins] Tyler Brown, Hank Butcher, Nick Chivello, Marc DeBeaumont, Nic Faas, Michael Faccinto, Josh Ford, Chuck Gurney, Darren Hagen, Jordan Hermansader, Ryan Kaplan, Thomas Meseraull, Frank Pedregon, Chris Rahe, Keith Rauch, Jerome Rodela, Johnny Rodriguez, Shane Scully, Ricky Shelton, Tanner Swanson, Brad Sweet & Billy Wease
71. [3 wins] Ryan Bernal, Bobby Boone, Mario Bringetto, Jr., Danny Ebberts, Shane Golobic, Jeff Gordon, Scott Hansen, Alex Harris, Robby Josett, Trey Marcham, Danny McKnight, Ryan Newman, Johnny Parsons, Scott Pierovich, Troy Rutherford & Chuck West
86. [2 wins] Floyd Alvis, Alex Bowman, Rick Bussell, Tony Elliott, Terry Farrar, Mike Figliomeni, Bobby Grewohl, Darryl Haugh, Dennis Hart, Jeff Heywood, Gary Howard, R.J. Johnson, Josh Lakatos, Kyle Larson, Evan Margeson, Matt Mitchell, Rory Price, Stevie Reeves, Bobby Santos, Darin Snider, Michael Snider, Bryan Stanfill, Cody Swanson & Tanner Thorson
111. [1 win] Mike Appio, Caleb Armstrong, Brady Bacon, Donnie Beechler, Wayne Bennet, Pat Bliss, Garratt Boyden, Greg Bragg, Larry Brown, Keith Chrisco, Michelle Decker, Larry Derwin, Kevin Doty, Dan Drinan, Dale Durbin Jr., Cory Elliott, Bob Ellis, Tommie Estes Jr., Duane Feduska, Billy Felts Jr., A.J. Fike, Joe Gaerte, Russ Gamester, Brian Gard, Damion Gardner, Cody Gerhardt, Rick Gerhardt, Frankie Guerrini, Jac Haudenschild, Lloyd Hemman, Nathan High, Rick Hood, Kenny Irwin Jr., A.J. Johnson, Jim Keene, Steve Knepper, Brad Loyet, Dallen McKenney, Shannon McQueen, Lealand McSpadden, Jeff Meyer, Andy Michner, Kevin Olson, Aaron Pollock, David Prickett, Davey Ray, C.J. Sarna, Zach Schiff, Ryan Scott, Jeremy Sherman, Graham Standring, John Starks, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Stockon, Matt Streeter, Jake Swanson, Sammy Swindell, Richard Vander Weerd, Eric Wilkins, Rip Williams & Paul Zimmerly
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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONS
1982: **Jeff Heywood; 1983: Sleepy Tripp; 1984: Tommy White; 1985: Sleepy Tripp; 1986: Robby Flock; 1987: Sleepy Tripp; 1988: Sleepy Tripp; 1989: Robby Flock; 1990: Sleepy Tripp; 1991: Sleepy Tripp; 1992: Sleepy Tripp; 1993: Robby Flock; 1994: Johnny Cofer; 1995: Billy Boat; 1996: Jay Drake; 1997: Ricky Shelton; 1998: Rick Hendrix; 1999: Marc DeBeaumont; 2000: Wally Pankratz; 2001: Danny Ebberts; 2002: Robby Flock; 2003: Steve Paden; 2004: Johnny Rodriguez; 2005: Jerome Rodela; 2006: Jerome Rodela; 2007: Johnny Rodriguez; 2008: Nic Faas; 2009: Garrett Hansen; 2010: Alex Schutte; 2011: Cory Kruseman; 2012: Shannon McQueen (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pave) & David Prickett (Dirt); 2013: Ronnie Gardner (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pave) & Ronnie Gardner (Dirt); 2014: Ronnie Gardner (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pavement), Ronnie Gardner (Dirt); 2015: Ronnie Gardner
**The 1982 Western Midget championship was derived from finishes posted in a number of “west coast” races held under National sanction. These events were NOT promoted, recognized or reported as “western” races and no series standings were generated.
