Jim Rouse, BRP Media (Ocala, FL) – Once more the USAC stars took to the 3/8 mile clay oval and the Southern States Midgets Series joined them to put on a fantastic night of racing. There was even a special appearance from Kyle Larson who will start 21st in tomorrow’s NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opening 300-miler at Daytona.
The Southern States Midgets were up first and they did not disappoint. Damon Fortune jumped to the lead from his pole position but Aaron Farney and last night’s winner Ryan Partin were able to keep pace with him. As those 3 worked their way around the track with laps close to 16.175 (Farnay’s Fast Qualifer time) it was Darrin Davis who again struggled and parked half-way through. On lap 11 Fortune ran out of luck and spun while leading and he collected Partin with him; Fortune was done but Partin continued on with a damaged right front suspension. Aaron Farnay, the young driver from Indiana, was able to capitalize and take home the trophy while Partin fought back to 2nd place. Andy Bradley won the family battle with Scott Bradley and Fortune finished in 5th position.
USAC Preliminary Events started with Qualifying where 2 cars broke the track record and into the 13-second bracket. Bryan Clauson did so on his first lap and eventually put up a 13.819 (97.69 MPH) to set the mark for tomorrow night or maybe forever! Chase Stockton won Heat 1 before Brady Short took down Heat 2. “The Throttle” Shane Cottle won Heat 3 and Brady Bacon won Heat 4. Those 4 heats locked in the top 4 to give us 16 drivers and a B Main, won by Nick Drake, put 6 more cars in. Chris Gurley would take a Provisional to make a 23-car field.
The feature got crazy right from the start when Drake, the 8th place starter, spun with Tyler Courtney- the wreck ended both driver’s nights but they were okay. A few early cautions slowed the field twice but the lap 9 yellow came for Levi Jones who slowed while in 3rd, his night ending there. Just 1 lap went in the books before Chris Windom went for a wild ride in his #21X in turn 3. Windom was okay but the front end of his machine wasn’t as lucky. The drivers got the message after that and went caution free to the end but that doesn’t mean it was boring. Robert Ballou had led the entire event but Tracy Hines was never too far back and when Ballou opened the door on the inside of turn 1, on lap 30, Hines attacked. About that same time (maybe before the pass, maybe after) Ballou’s right rear tire shredded and cost him either 12 or 13 spots, depending on how you look at it- he finished 14th regardless. Hines was a very happy winner while Bryan Clauson was able to jump into 2nd position to hold on to the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Championship lead. Hunter Schuerenberg, the man who also broke the Track Record, finished a solid 3rd with Chase Stockton and Dave Darland in tow.
The final event of the Bubba Army Winter Nationals is tomorrow! The pits will be open all day and the grandstands open at 4:30 with cars scheduled to hit the clay at 6:30. This information all comes from USAC Officials just a few minutes after the conclusion of Friday night’s action. To keep up with everything please visit www.bubbaracewaypark.com or call us at 352-622-9400!