LARSON, SWEET SET FOR WESTERN MIDGET OPENER WEDNESDAY AT PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY
This Wednesday night’s racing program at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway includes the opening race of USAC’s 2016 Western Midget Championship campaign and is expected to feature the talents of USAC vets Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet, who will make signature appearances at the northern California dirt track.
Shane Golobic, who won last Saturday night’s “Shamrock Classic” USAC Midget National Championship race at DuQuoin, Ill., won the last USAC Western Midget race at Placerville, in 2013. Jimmy Sills was the winner in the only other series appearance at the track, in 1996.
Three-time Western Midget champ Ronnie Gardner was third in the 2013 race at Placerville and hopes to get a head start on a fourth series crown. Only Sleepy Tripp owns more Western titles, earning seven between 1983 and 1992. Robby Flock won four between 1986 and 2002.
Larson and Sweet last competed in the Western Midget Series in last November’s “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Perris, Calif., which also awarded National points.
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UPCOMING USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP
DATE: Wednesday, March 23, 2016
SERIES: USAC Western Midget Championship
TRACK: Placerville Speedway (Placerville, California) – ¼-mile, high-banked clay oval
EVENT: Brad Sweet Presents the “Placerville Short Track Outlaw Showdown” featuring the USAC Western Midget Championship and the World of Outlaws.
STARTING TIMES: Will Call: 2:00pm. Pit Gate: 2:00pm. Grandstands open at 4:00pm. Qualifying: 6:30pm
TICKETS: All seating is reserved seating ($45)
TRACK ADDRESS: 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667
TRACK PHONE: (530) 626-3680
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.placervillespeedway.com/
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PAST USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS AT PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY
10/11/1996: Jimmy Sills
6/1/2013: Shane Golobic
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2016 USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Mar 23: Placerville, CA - Placerville Speedway
Apr 9: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
Apr 30: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
May 21: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
Jun 4: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
Jun 25: Hanford, CA - Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds
Jul 16: Petaluma, CA - Petaluma Speedway
Sep 3: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway
Sep 4: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway
Sep 8: Chico, CA - Silver Dollar Speedway
Sep 17: Santa Maria, CA - Santa Maria Raceway
Oct 8: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
Oct 29: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
Nov 19: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
Nov 24: ### Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN 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] Page Jones
6. [16 wins] P.J. Jones, Jason Leffler & Rusty Rasmussen
9. [14 wins] Garrett Hansen
10. [13 wins] Ronnie Gardner, 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 & J.J. Yeley
48. [4 wins] Tyler Brown, Hank Butcher, Nick Chivello, Marc DeBeaumont, Nic Faas, 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
69. [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, Alex Schutte & Chuck West
86. [2 wins] Floyd Alvis, Alex Bowman, Rick Bussell, Tony Elliott, Michael Faccinto, 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
109. [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, Cody Swanson, Jake Swanson, Sammy Swindell, Tanner Thorson, Richard Vander Weerd, Eric Wilkins, Rip Williams & Paul Zimmerly
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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONS
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