3RD TIME A CHARM: FUSON FLOURISHES WITH 2023 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET TITLE

Steve Lafond Photo

October 13, 2023

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (October 12, 2023)………Finishing second in the USAC Western States Midget championship point standings in each of the last two years left Brody Fuson with one major step left to take entering the 2023 season.

Fuson (Bakersfield, Calif.) responded with authority during the 2023 campaign, putting together the best single season in terms of feature victories with the series since Ronnie Gardner in 2016 to earn his first career series title. Fuson tallied five feature victories along the way while finishing inside the top-five in 10 of 11 starts and added six fast qualifying times to his record.

In the process, the 18-year-old Fuson became the youngest ever USAC Western States Midget champion and also provided car owner and fellow Bakersfieldian Rusty Carlile with his first career USAC Western States Midget entrant title by the same 41-point margin over driver Cade Lewis and entrant “Kiwi” Dean Alexander.

Fuson collected a trio of his handful of victories at Ventura Raceway, sweeping all three series events on the docket with triumphs on May 27, June 10 and September 9. Fuson also added a pair of wins on July 8 at Placerville Speedway and September 30 at Antioch Speedway’s Chet Thomson Memorial.

Cade Lewis (Bakersfield, Calif.) finished his first run at a USAC Western States Midget title with a runner-up finish in the final standings with one win to his credit on June 24 at Merced Speedway, a race which featured five official lead changes at the line with Lewis prevailing in a fantastic duel with Fuson. Lewis also added a championship in the Antioch Challenge Presented By Graunstadt Enterprises, which he earned by accumulating the most points in the two Antioch events.

Jake Andreotti (Castro Valley, Calif.) spent the 2023 season as a full-timer on the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship tour. However, he still made time to return to his west coast roots, making three Western States starts and never finishing outside the top-two, winning both stops at The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in April and again during October’s George Snider Classic for car owner Pete Davis, while also scoring a runner-up result in the series’ debut at Antioch Speedway in August.

Fourth place points finisher Ben Worth (Coalinga, Calif.) returned to victory lane with the series by earning the opening night victory at Merced on April 15 aboard the Graunstadt machine.

Caden Sarale (Stockton, Calif.) brought Graunstadt back to the winner’s circle on July 22 at Petaluma to become the first first-time USAC Western States Midget winner of the season. In the very next round at Antioch two weeks later, T.J. Smith (Fresno, Calif.) became the second first-time series winner, wheeling the Six8 Motorsports ride to its first series win since the 2021 season opener.

C.J. Sarna (Palm Desert, Calif.) finished third in the standings, equaling his best career USAC Western States Midget finish after previously placing third in 2021. Ron Hazelton (Chatsworth, Calif.), meanwhile, took fifth in the standings, his best career finish in the USAC Western States standings, besting his previous best points ranking of sixth all the way back in 1993. Hazelton’s career with the series dates back four decades to 1983.

Ben Covich (Auckland, N.Z.) has only lived in the United States four years and had never driven a midget until this season. The current Reno, Nev. resident scored sixth in the standings to earn 2023 Rookie of the Year honors.

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2023 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:

POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN

1. 831 Brody Fuson, Bakersfield, Calif.

2. 790 Cade Lewis, Bakersfield, Calif.

3. 558 C.J. Sarna, Palm Desert, Calif.

4. 532 Ben Worth, Coalinga, Calif.

5. 528 Ron Hazelton, Chatsworth, Calif.

6. 410 (R) Ben Covich, Auckland, N.Z.

7. 404 Caden Sarale, Stockton, Calif.

8. 403 Randi Pankratz, Atascadero, Calif.

9. 384 (R) Samuel May, Camarillo, Calif.

10. 255 Blake Bower, Brentwood, Calif.

11. 243 Jake Andreotti, Castro Valley, Calif.

12. 220 Steve Paden, Downey, Calif.

13. 174 (R) Kevin Gray, Yuba City, Calif.

14. 169 Bryan Drollinger, San Pedro, Calif.

15. 166 (R) Brandon Wiley, Santa Maria, Calif.

16. 142 (R) Garrett Twitty, Bakersfield, Calif.

17. 78 (R) Mitchel Moles, Raisin City, Calif.

18. 76 Mike Leach Jr., Foothill Ranch, Calif.

19. 68 Braden Chiaramonte, El Cajon, Calif.

20. 49 Keoni Texeira, Honolulu, Hawaii

21. 40 Billy Rayburn, Denver, Colo.

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2023 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET ENTRANT POINT STANDINGS:

1. 831 Rusty Carlile, Bakersfield, Calif. (#51)

2. 790 Dean Alexander, Visalia, Calif. (#5K)

3. 711 Graunstadt Enterprises, Santa Maria, Calif. (#14J)

4. 558 C.J. Sarna, Brea, Calif. (#20)

5. 422 Six8 Motorsports, Burbank, Calif. (#68)

6. 416 Keith Ford, Ventura, Calif. (#73)

7. 251 Matt Streeter, Lodi, Calif. (#14JR)

8. 174 Len Gray, Sacramento, Calif. (#7L)

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2023 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:

Apr 15: Merced Speedway - Merced, CA

WINNER: Ben Worth (Graunstadt Enterprises #14J)

Apr 29: The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park - Bakersfield, CA

WINNER: Jake Andreotti (Pete Davis #00)

May 27: Ventura Raceway - Ventura, CA