Ventura, California (September 14, 2024)………Young Jett Yantis readily admits he’s always favored the high line, and he proved that in spades en route to his first career Avanti Windows & Doors USAC Western States Midget victory on Saturday night at southern California’s Ventura Raceway, in what was just his third career series start.
Starting on the outside of the front row in his Rusty Carlile-owned ride, Yantis (Bakersfield, Calif.) fell all the way back to fourth by the midway as he made his own line up near the outside wall of the 1/4-mile dirt oval while practically all others followed nose-to-tail around the bottom.
On the 18th lap, the high line finally came in for Yantis as he went topside around Cade Lewis and Brandt Twitty to go fourth to second in one fell swoop. Yantis stuck to his guns on lap 19 and surged past racelong leader C.J. Sarna in turn two to take over the top spot for good.
Yantis went unchallenged the rest of the way as he cruised to victory to become the 192nd different USAC Western States Midget winner since the series debuted in 1982. Yantis comes from the outlaw kart and micro ranks with roots based at the perennial tough Cycleland Speedway, which has been the starting point for many of today’s top west coast based open wheel dirt track racers.
Drake Edwards (Peoria, Ariz.) finished second while C.J. Sarna (Brea, Calif.) took third after leading a race-high 18 of the 30 laps. Randi Pankratz (Atascadero, Calif.) and Dane Culver (Riverside, Calif.) rounded out the top-five.
Kaleb Montgomery (Templeton, Calif.) was the biggest mover in the feature, advancing from his 19th starting position to finish 11th in his season debut with the series.
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USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 14, 2024 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Cade Lewis, 101, Alexander-12.547; 2. Drake Edwards, 3p, Petty-12.701; 3. T.J. Smith, 68, Six8-12.928; 4. Brandt Twitty, 4B, Twitty-12.941; 5. Jett Yantis, 4, Carlile-12.951; 6. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-13.059; 7. Dane Culver, 50, Knuckles Up-13.105; 8. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-13.155; 9. Ben Worth, 14T, Graunstadt-13.185; 10. Tom Dunkel 17, Dunkel-13.349; 11. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-13.669; 12. Gage Rucker, 11K, Kruseman-13.750; 13. Troy DeGaton, 39T, DeGaton-13.765; 14. Ben Covich, 65NZ, Covich-13.843; 15. Billy Rayburn, 18K, Kruseman-14.164; 16. Mathew Radisch, 6K, Kruseman-14.187; 17. Ron Hazelton, 78, Mitchell-14.224; 18. Hailey Lambert, 55, Lambert-14.540; 19. Kaleb Montgomery, 4K, Ford-NT.
CAL WEST WELDING FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Cade Lewis (6), 2. Dane Culver (4), 3. Brandt Twitty (5), 4. Tom Dunkel (3), 5. Kaleb Montgomery (7), 6. Troy DeGaton (2), 7. Mathew Radisich (1). NT
HOT HEAD COMPETITION ENGINE HEATERS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jett Yantis (5), 2. Drake Edwards (6), 3. Randi Pankratz (4), 4. Shannon McQueen (3), 5. Ben Covich (2), 6. Ron Hazelton (1). NT
BR MOTORSPORTS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. T.J. Smith (6), 2. C.J. Sarna (5), 3. Ben Worth (4), 4. Gage Rucker (3), 5. Hailey Lambert (1), 6. Billy Rayburn (2). NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jett Yantis (2), 2. Drake Edwards (5), 3. C.J. Sarna (1), 4. Randi Pankratz (8), 5. Dane Culver (7), 6. Cade Lewis (6), 7. Shannon McQueen (11), 8. Brandt Twitty (3), 9. T.J. Smith (4), 10. Gage Rucker (12), 11. Kaleb Montgomery (19), 12. Ben Covich (14), 13. Tom Dunkel (10), 14. Ben Worth (9), 15. Troy DeGaton (13), 16. Hailey Lambert (18), 17. Billy Rayburn (15), 18. Mathew Radisich (16), 19. Ron Hazelton (17). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-18 C.J. Sarna, Laps 19-30 Jett Yantis.
USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Cade Lewis-546, 2-Drake Edwards-529, 3-Dane Culver-422, 4-C.J. Sarna-355, 5-Caden Sarale-345, 6-Brandt Twitty-308, 7-Ben Covich-305, 8-Brandon Wiley-287, 9-Randi Pankratz-244, 10-Dalten Gabbard-232.
NEXT USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: October 5, 2024 – The Dirt Track at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway – Bakersfield, California
