USAC: Western Midget Cars, TQ Midget Cars Open Season at Bakerfield

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

The 2001 USAC Western racing season begins this Saturday night as the WorldCom Western Midget Cars and TQ Midget Cars invade the 1/3-mile dirt Bakersfield (CA) Speedway for a "doubleheader' program of racing events.

A 20-lap TQ and 30-lap Midget Car feature are planned, following complete prelims and defending Western series champions Wally Pankratz (Midget Cars) and J.J. Ercse (TQ Midgets) are expected to be on hand. Pankratz earned his first series title last year at the age of 55, while Ercse earned his second championship, seven years removed from his first. Both championships were decided in the final race of the 2000 campaign and both drivers finished with two-point margins of victory!

Ercse flipped in last year's Bakersfield opener and was credited with last place in the 20-lapper, while Pankratz finished fifth in the 2000 opener. Ron Wade (TQs) and Kasey Kahne (Midget Cars) were the 2000 feature winners.

The Bakersfield openers precede by one week the Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 events at Phoenix, AZ, in which the Western Midget Car Series is involved. The WorldCom TQ Midgets will be idle until April 28 when they return to Bakersfield.

Text Provided By Dick Jordan

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