USAC: Darland sweeps Kentucky, Salem races
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 1, 2001Dave Darland of Lincoln, Ind. extended his lead in the WorldCom National Midget Car Series to 144 points over runnerup A.J. Fike with back-to-back victories Friday and Saturday nights at Sparta, Ky. and Salem, Ind.
Darland wheeled the Ford/ASE/Beast/Performance Racing Industry Pink Ford/Beast to a 50-lap win at Kentucky Speedway Friday night, then grabbed Saturday night's 30-lap "Joe James/Pat O'Connor Classic" at the Salem Speedway. He now looks forward to the August 24-25 "Bob Wente Classic" at the Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill.
At Kentucky, Dave started third but caught early leader Chris Hettinger on lap nine and led the rest of the way to beat Tracy Hines, Dave Steele, A.J. Fike and Bobby East. Michael Lewis led the first two laps before yielding to Hettinger. In Saturday's Salem race, Dave took over the lead on lap 25 after leaders Chris Gabehart and J.J. Yeley were involved in an incident going into turn one and were forced out of competition. The 20-year-old Gabehart led the first 24 laps before a mechanical problem led to the incident involving Yeley.
Aaron Fike finished second at Salem ahead of Aaron Pollock, A.J. Fike and Jimmy McCune.
The August 24-25 "Bob Wente Classic" at Granite City, Ill. features both the WorldCom National Midget Car and Stoops Freightliner Sprint Car Series, with prelims on Friday and feature events on Saturday.
USAC WORLDCOM NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS
1. Dave Darland 806
2. A.J. Fike 662
3. Jay Drake 646
4. Tracy Hines 553
5. Aaron Fike 545
6. J.J. Yeley 494
7. Jerry Coons, Jr. 461
8. Kasey Kahne 420
9. Steve Paden 357
10. Michael Lewis 353
Text provided by Dick Jordan
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