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 BELLEVILLE,
KS (August 7-9) -- California's Josh Wise won the 26th annual
Belleville Midget Nationals in USAC National Midget Car Series
competition over the weekend. The 3-day event began on Thursday with
history being made when J.J. Yeley won becoming the USAC Series
winningest driver. With the win, Yeley has tallied 20 National event
wins this season. On Friday, drivers not competing on Thursday got
their chance to race on the Belleville high banks. When the 25-lap
feature was over, young Bobby East was the winner heading into
Saturday's finale. In the 40-lap finale, Josh Wise led wire-to-wire in
capturing the win after finishing third in Friday's preliminary. The
USAC National Midget Car Series competes exclusively on Hoosier
tires.
SECOND PRELIMINARY
BELLEVILLE, KS (August 8) -- After Thursday's race in which 24 drivers
battled it out, the remaining racers got their chance to compete on
Friday evening. The final preliminary night had 25 cars listed in
qualifying with 21 drivers posting times. Tracy Hines set fast time of
the night with a lap of 17.892 seconds. He was followed by Bobby East
and Sarah McCune in qualifying.
Three heat races were contested with Tracy Hines, Josh
Wise and Kevin Doty each capturing wins.
Tracy Hines then won the Trophy Dash followed by Josh
Wise, Bobby East, Mike Hess, Kevin Doty and Sarah McCune. The Dash
finish set the front three rows for the night's feature race. A.J.
Fike also won the qualifying race.
In the 25-lap feature, Tracy Hines led the first 10
laps before giving way to Bobby East. East led the remainder of the
distance to capture the win in the second preliminary heading into
Saturday's 40-lap feature. The #4 driver was followed to the finish
line by Mike Hess, Josh Wise, Steve Paden and A.J. Fike. All five
drivers used an 78" D12/SP2 as their left rear/right rear
combination.
FEATURE
BELLEVILLE, KS (August 9) -- After two nights of racing, it all came
down to Saturday's 40-lap feature. Thirty-eight cars were on hand with
the night beginning with heat race action. Sarah McCune won the first
8-lap heat, while Alex Harris, Robby Flock and Brian Gerster won heats
two through four, respectively.
The fifth heat was the Pole Dash race and was 10 laps
in length. Josh Wise won the Pole Dash with Steve Paden, Mike Hess,
Jerry Coons, Jr., Jay Drake, Bobby East, J.J. Yeley and Scott Hatton
following him to the stripe. The finish also set the starting grid for
the night's feature race, while Bud Kaeding also won the Semi to gain
entry into the feature as did Kory Kruseman, Tracy Hines, Marc Dailey
and A.J. Fike who finished second through fifth in the Semi.
In the feature, Josh Wise immediately jumped out to
the race lead using a Hoosier 80" D12/SP3 as his left rear/right
rear tire choice. Wise led all 40 laps in winning the 26th annual
Belleville Midget Nationals. Following him to the line was J.J. Yeley,
Jay Drake, Alex Harris and Brian Gerster. Yeley, Drake and Harris
opted to run the 40-lap race using a 78" D12/SP3 combination,
while Gerster used a 78" D12/SP2 set up.
J.J. Yeley (1028) extends his lead to 35 points in the
USAC National Midget Car Series over Tracy Hines (993). Bobby East is
not far behind in third place with 983 points.
The series returns to action on August 17, at Ohio's
Mansfield Motorsports Speedway for the rescheduled August 2nd race
that was postponed due to rain.
Special thanks to Engineer John Reynolds who attended
the 3-day event and provided the details for this report.
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