MICHAEL FACCINTO CONTINUES TO ROLL AT VENTURA
By Lance Jennings
VENTURA, CALIFORNIA – MAY 24, 2022… After winning Placerville’s “Mother’s Day Madness,” point leader Michael Faccinto (Hanford, California) topped last Saturday’s USAC Western States Midget event at Ventura Raceway. Driving the Graunstadt Enterprises’ #14J T&T Trucking / Gary Silva Ranches Spike, the 2018 champion qualified seventh overall, won the 10-lap Jordan Hanni Well Drilling Heat Race #1, and led all 30-laps to earn his second win of the season. Fast qualifier Brody Fuson, defending champion Blake Bower, Robby Josett, and hard charger Cade Lewis chased Faccinto to the checkered flags.
For Faccinto, his eleventh career win marked his first triumph at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. As this writing goes to press, Michael is now tied with Josh Wise for fifteenth on the series win list.
Before action began at “The Best Little Dirt Track in America,” Racin Silva (Henderson, Nevada) won the “Lucky Pill Draw Award” presented by High Tech Performance and received five free gallons of fuel. The rookie driver was twenty-third quick in time trials, finished seventh in his heat race, and ran eighteenth in the main event. The pilot of the family owned #5S unsponsored Triple X left Ventura ranked twenty-seventh in points.
Brody Fuson (Bakersfield, California) earned his first Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award of the year by posting a time of 12.254 seconds over the 24-car roster. Driving Rusty Carlile’s #51 RacePa Motorsports / W.E. Spike finished fifth in his heat race and ran second to Faccinto in the main event. The young driver heads to Merced’s final round of the “Elk Grove Ford Mini-Series” on June 18th ranked third in the point standings.
Troy Rutherford (Ojai, California) made his first start of the season and won the 10-lap Ammonia Refrigeration Service Heat Race #2. Racing the Woodland Autosport owned #8W Woodland Auto Display / Trench Shoring Spike, Rutherford qualified fourteenth overall and placed eighth in the feature. The former track champion won the companion USAC West Coast Sprint Car main event and is now thirty-third in the point chase.
Travis Buckley (Auckland, New Zealand) raced to victory in the 10-lap Wireless 101 Heat Race #3. Piloting the family owned #7NZ Buckley Systems / Esslinger Engineering Spike, Buckley was eighteenth fast in time trials and finished sixth in the main event after starting eighth. The rookie contender sits fifth in the chase for the championship.
Making his second start, Cade Lewis (Bakersfield, California) earned the night’s Rod End Supply Hard Charger Award with a fifth place run from twelfth. Driving Keith Ford’s #73X Walker Performance Filtration / Sun Valley AG Transport entry, Lewis qualified tenth overall and placed fourth in his heat race. Cade left Ventura ranked twenty-first in the championship standings.
USAC/CRA Sprint Car regular “The Cadillac” Cody Williams (Corona, California) returned to USAC Western States Midget action and earned the Wilwood Disc Brakes “Lucky 13 Award.” Racing Keith Ford’s #73B Sun Valley AG Transport / Pacific Coast Maintenance Service TCR, Williams was sixteenth quick in time trials and finished third in his heat race. Williams left Ventura placed thirty-seventh in the point chase.
The USAC Western States Midgets will return to action on Saturday, June 18th, at Merced Speedway in Merced, California. The fourth and final round of the “Elk Grove Ford Mini-Series” is co-sanctioned with the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Midget Series.
The USAC Western States Midget Series thanks Ammonia Refrigeration Service, AMSOIL, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Elk Grove Ford, Extreme Mufflers, FloRacing.com, High Tech Performance, Jordan Hanni Well Drilling, Hoosier Racing Tire, Rod End Supply, ROW Signs and Graphics, Saldana Racing Products, Vahlco Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Wireless 101, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.
For more information on the series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC Western States Midget Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 21, 2022 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-12.254; 2. Robby Josett, 68, Six8-12.334; 3. Braden Chiaramonte, 14JR, Streeter-12.486; 4. Jake Hodges, 4, Hodges-12.615; 5. A.J. Bender, 1X, LKK-12.703; 6. Matt Mitchell, 68W, Six8-12.731; 7. Michael Faccinto, 14J, Graunstadt-12.758; 8. Blake Bower, 9, Boasacci-12.766; 9. Ben Worth, 5K, Alexander-12.812; 10. Cade Lewis, 73X, Ford-12.832; 11. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-12.944; 12. Terry Nichols, 1P, Nichols/Peckfelder-13.006; 13. Caden Sarale, 32, Sarale-13.010; 14. Troy Rutherford, 8W, Woodland-13.015; 15. Sage Bordenave, 35, Felkins-13.034; 16. Cody Williams, 73B, Ford-13.081; 17. Danika Jo Parker, 13, Parker-13.187; 18. Travis Buckley, 7NZ, Buckley-13.199; 19. Greg Edenholm, 73, Ford-13.523; 20. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-13.651; 21. Mike Leach Jr., 33P, Leach-13.723; 22. Steve Hix, 57, Hix-NT; 23. Racin Silva, 5S, Silva-NT; 24. Steve Paden, 37M, Paden-NT.
JORDAN HANNI WELL DRILLING FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Faccinto, 2. Sarale, 3. Williams, 4. Lewis, 5. Fuson, 6. Edenholm, 7. Hix, 8. Hodges. NT.
AMMONIA REFRIGERATION SERVICE SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rutherford, 2. Sarna, 3. Bender, 4. Bower, 5. Josett, 6. Pankratz, 7. Silva, 8. Parker. NT.
WIRELESS 101 THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Buckley, 2. Worth, 3. Bordenave, 4. Nichols, 5. Mitchell, 6. Chiaramonte, 7. Paden, 8. Leach. NT.
FEATURE: (30 laps, With Starting Positions) 1. Michael Faccinto (2), 2. Brody Fuson (6), 3. Blake Bower (1), 4. Robby Josett (5), 5. Cade Lewis (12), 6. Travis Buckley (8), 7. Braden Chiaramonte (9), 8. Troy Rutherford (7), 9. Caden Sarale (15), 10. C.J. Sarna (13), 11. Ben Worth (11), 12. Sage Bordenave (16), 13. Cody Williams (17), 14. Terry Nichols (14), 15. Jake Hodges (10), 16. Randi Pankratz (20), 17. A.J. Bender (4), 18. Racin Silva (23), 19. Matt Mitchell (3), 20. Mike Leach Jr. (21), 21. Steve Paden (24), 22. Greg Edenholm (19), 23. Steve Hix (22), 24. Danika Jo Parker (18). NT.
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**Josett flipped on lap 1 of the first heat. Paden flipped on lap 7 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Faccinto,
ROD END SUPPLY HARD CHARGER: Cade Lewis (12th to 5th)
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Cody Williams
HIGH TECH PERFORMANCE LUCKY PILL DRAW: Racin Silva
NEW USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Michael Faccinto-389, 2-A.J. Bender-336, 3-Brody Fuson-333, 4-Ben Worth-330, 5-Travis Buckley-329, 6-Blake Bower-318, 7-Jake Andreotti-254, 8-Michael Snider-211, 9-C.J. Sarna-205, 10-Austin Liggett-179.
TOP QUALIFIER POINTS: 1-Ben Worth-20, 2-Michael Faccinto-19, 3-Shane Golobic-12, --Jake Andreotti-12, 5-Brody Fuson-9, 6-Chase Johnson-6, --Mitchel Moles-6, 8-Austin Liggett-5, --Robby Josett—5.
PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-A.J. Bender-20, 2-Travis Buckley-19, 3-Brody Fuson-15, --Randi Pankratz-15, 6-Thomas Esberg-13, 7-Ben Wiesz-12, 8-Danika Jo Parker-11, 9-Blake Bower-10, 10-Michael Faccinto-10.
NEXT USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: June 18 – Merced Speedway – Merced, California – “Elk Grove Ford Mini-Series Round #4” - Co-Sanctioned with BCRA