Bakersfield, California (October 5, 2024)………Drake Edwards got the upper hand to win Saturday night’s Avanti Windows & Doors USAC Western States Midget season finale at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif. by passing Cade Lewis just before the midway point of the 30-lap feature.
However, it was Lewis (Bakersfield, Calif.) who got the upper hand in the overall season standings. By virtue of his third-place result at Kern, Lewis captured the series driving championship by 11 points over Edwards (Surprise, Ariz.) in the final tally, the first championship of his young career. Lewis also provided car owner, New Zealand's Dean Alexander, his first series entrant title.
Initially, outside front row starter Ben Worth (Coalinga, Calif.) led early, pacing the first seven laps before Edwards slid in front in turn two on the eighth circuit. However, contact between the two stymied both drivers, allowing Lewis to drive underneath to go third to first in one fell swoop.
While Lewis patrolled the bottom to lead laps eight and nine, Edwards was winding himself up on the high side and surged ahead into the lead at the stripe on lap 10. However, moments later, a shower of sparks and a ball of flame shot from the back of Edwards’ car in turns one and two as he got on the binders. That opened the door for Lewis to reassume the top spot for the next two go-arounds on laps 11-12.
Unfazed, just as he did a few laps before, Edwards utilized a big drive off turn two to power around the outside of Lewis to retake the lead for good on lap 13.
Meanwhile, third-running Worth, who led the opening seven laps, came to a halt following an incident in turns one and two, which abruptly ended his evening on the hook.
As Edwards was sailing up front, the series’ most recent winner, Jett Yantis (Bakersfield, Calif.) began to challenge. First, Yantis got by Lewis for second, then went to work on tracking down Edwards. On the final lap, Yantis found himself in position to throw a slide job for the win entering turn three. However, at that same moment, ninth running Kyle Hawse occupied the low line, thus stifling one last ditch effort from Yantis.
Edwards went on to claim his second series victory of the season and Rookie of the Year honors for his runner-up finish in the points. Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier Yantis took a close second ahead of newly crowned champ Cade Lewis while Brandt Twitty (Bakersfield, Calif.) and Dane Culver (Riverside, Calif.) rounded out the top-five.
Edwards scored the Cal West Welding first heat race victory while Twitty was the night’s Hot Head Competition Engine Heaters second heat race winner.
Edwards also earned an additional $100 courtesy of Six8 Motorsports for leading lap 24 of the feature. Lap 24 was in honor of injured driver Chase Johnson who carries the number 24 on his sprint car.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: October 5, 2024 – The Dirt Track at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway – Bakersfield, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Jett Yantis, 4, Carlile-15.512; 2. Cade Lewis, 101, Alexander-15.525; 3. Drake Edwards, 3p, Petty-15.576; 4. Brandt Twitty, 4B, Twitty-15.812; 5. Ben Worth, 14T, Graunstadt-16.070; 6. Dane Culver, 50, Knuckles Up-16.166; 7. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-16.194; 8. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-16.213; 9. Ben Covich, 65NZ, Covich-16.944; 10. Kyle Hawse, 20x, Hawse-17.125; 11. Troy DeGaton, 39T, DeGaton-17.179.
CAL WEST WELDING FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Drake Edwards (5), 2. Ben Worth (4), 3. Jett Yantis (6), 4. Shannon McQueen (3), 5. Ben Covich (2), 6. Troy DeGaton (1). NT
HOT HEAD COMPETITION ENGINE HEATERS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brandt Twitty (4), 2. Cade Lewis (5), 3. Dane Culver (3), 4. C.J. Sarna (2), 5. Kyle Hawse (1). NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Drake Edwards (4), 2. Jett Yantis (6), 3. Cade Lewis (5), 4. Brandt Twitty (3), 5. Dane Culver (1), 6. Shannon McQueen (7), 7. C.J. Sarna (8), 8. Ben Covich (9), 9. Kyle Hawse (10), 10. Ben Worth (2), 11. Troy DeGaton (11). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Ben Worth, Laps 8-9 Cade Lewis, Lap 10 Drake Edwards, Laps 11-12 Cade Lewis, Laps 13-30 Drake Edwards.
FINAL USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Cade Lewis-622, 2-Drake Edwards-611, 3-Dane Culver-487, 4-C.J. Sarna-412, 5-Brandt Twitty-380, 6-Ben Covich-358, 7-Caden Sarale-345, 8-Brandon Wiley-287, 9-Jett Yantis-252, 10-Randi Pankratz-244.
