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KNOXVILLE, Iowa – It was only a matter of time before
Grass Valley, Calif. four-star
Brad Sweet made a
splash in his first full season of USAC Midget race. On
Friday and Saturday night, Sweet created a rather large
splash zone.
On Friday, Sweet piloted his Kasey Kahne Racing midget
to his first national USAC win in the King Doodlebug
Classic, the precursor to Saturday night’s Knoxville
Midget Nationals. He took the lead from fellow
California-bred four-star
Cole Whitt on lap
17 and never looked back.
Whitt, continuing an impressive roll in both USAC
Midgets and Sprints, finished second.
Olive Branch, Miss. five-star
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
finished third in a return appearance to open-wheel
racing. Stenhouse, ranked #1 on the
davidsmithmotorsports.com Blackboard, is currently the
point leader in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Sweet’s conclusion of the weekend sweep occurred in
Saturday night’s 25-lap Knoxville Midget Nationals
feature where he held off defending series champion
Jerry Coons Jr. and KKR teammate
Brady Bacon. He led
all but two laps en route to capturing the trophy.
Auckland, N.Z.’s
Michael Pickens and
Riverside, Calif. four-star
Darren Hagen filled
out Saturday’s top five.
HOWARD, HAWKINS
IMPRESS AT MYRTLE BEACH
In a race highlighted by a
146-lap green flag run and widespread concern over tire
conservation, Chesapeake, Va. three-star
Woody Howard and
Canton, Ga. five-star
Matt Hawkins
appeared good enough to be victorious Saturday night in
a torrid-paced race at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
Too bad Mark McFarland was directly in front of them.
McFarland, a veteran of the NASCAR Nationwide Series,
scored his second USAR Hooters Pro Cup
Series win of 2008, holding off Howard and Hawkins who had cars
that were seemingly just as good but unable to make up
ground to McFarland’s Pete Knight Racing entry on the
final green flag stretch of the 250-lap show.
Howard and Hawkins finished second and third,
respectively.
Knoxville, Tenn. four-star
Trevor Bayne
finished fifth, while New Castle, Ind.’s
Dakoda Armstrong, a
regular of USAC pavement Sprints and Midgets, finished
tenth in his fender debut.
HAASE COLLECTS FIRST PASS LATE MODEL WIN
This certainly wasn’t a shabby weekend for anything at
all related to Kyle Busch. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
point leader captured his fifth win of the season at
Infineon Raceway on Sunday afternoon, but the winning
weekend kicked off on Friday at Wake County Speedway as
Busch’s protégé,
Alex Haase, earned
his first career win in the PASS South Super Late Model
division.
It was also Haase's first touring win behind the wheel
of his Kyle Busch-owned late model.
Boothbay, Maine four-star and event quick time-winner
Corey Williams
earned a runner-up finish, extending his series point
lead.
AROUND THE NATION
**Jake
Crum became the first two-time winner on
the 2008 UARA late model circuit, winning Saturday
night's race at Coastal Plains Speedway, thanks in part
to a late-race black flagging of leader Jamie Yelton.
The Statesville, N.C. four-star edged Walnut Cove,
N.C.'s
Alex Yontz to the
line. DSM 75-ranked prospect
Darrell Wallace
finished third while Hickory Motor Speedway regular
Kyle Grissom
finished fourth.
**Center Conway, N.H. three-star
D.J. Shaw won his
first career PASS North Late Model race yesterday at
Wiscasset Raceway. Shaw captured the victory in a
rain-shortened event, holding off Farmington, Maine
three-star
Cassius Clark and
series veteran Ben Rowe.
**Roxboro, N.C.’s
Justin Johnson
earned his third late model win of 2008, fending off a
late bid by
Deac McCaskill to
win the Valpak 150 at South Boston Speedway.
**West Boylston, Mass. 16 year-old
Derek Ramstrom won
the super late model feature at Thompson International
Speedway that ran in conjunction with Thursday night’s
Whelen Modified Tour race.
June 23, 2008
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