2005 USAC/Speedrome Thursday Night Thunder
PACE, ROBERTSON, BEAUCHAMP WIN THURSDAY AT SPEEDROME Californian Ryan Pace and Hoosiers James Robertson and Brent Beauchamp scored Thursday their first 2005 USAC/Speedrome “Thursday Night Thunder” victories at the Blossom Chevrolet Indianapolis Speedrome, as the season heads into its winding stages. Pace, of Arroyo Grande, Calif., won his first regular Midget feature victory of his career, leading all 50 laps of the Regional Midget Car Series race. Pace – a veteran of the USAC California Ford Focus Midget Car Series who has concentrated on dirt in the Western Midget Car Series this season – drove the No. 44 Pace Bros. Construction/Pace Bros. Self Storage Beast/Pink Chevy to the checkered flags first. Trailing Pace were Nick Bohanon, Brad Kuhn, Joe Liguori and Jimmy Light. Kuhn owns a 12-point stranglehold on the series lead over Bohanon. Robertson, a veteran of multiple divisions at the Speedrome, won his first USAC race of any kind, winning the Speedrome Ford Focus feature. The Indianapolis native – driving the No. 42 Robertson Drywall Beast/Ford Focus – led all 50 laps of the contest to beat series points leader Jamie Williams, Josh Clemons, Jodi Meyers and Alison MacLeod. Williams now owns a 41-point margin over Clemons in the series standings. Beauchamp, who won on four accounts during “Open Wheel Wednesday” in 2004, made his first Victory Lane appearance of 2005 in winning the Kenyon Midget Car Series feature. A native of Fairland, Ind., Beauchamp led all but the opening two laps in his No. 11 Kenyon/Yamaha to beat Thomas Hennigan, early leader Blake Fitzpatrick, defending series champion Dakoda Armstrong and previous week’s winner Zach Leeke. Beauchamp closed to within three points of series leader Jonathan Hendrick, who finished sixth in Thursday’s race, with five races remaining on the schedule. The next edition of “Thursday Night Thunder,” presented by Traderindiana.com and Wheels & Deals, at the Blossom Chevrolet Indianapolis Speedrome, comes next Thursday, July 7. SPEEDROME REGIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS 1. Brad Kuhn 357 2. Nick Bohanon 345 3. Joe Liguori 307 4. Bobby Smith 302 5. Rex Norris III 294 6. Mel Kenyon 293 7. Travis Young 280 8. Adam Nuetzel 276 9. Andrew Burnett 238 10. Deano Lennon 215 SPEEDROME FORD FOCUS MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS 1. Jamie Williams 444 2. Josh Clemons 403 3. Ricky Ehrgott 328 4. Rex Norris III 324 5. Andy Baber II 254 6. Kevin Studley 226 7. Jodi Meyers 204 8. Kyle Robbins 178 9. John Mount 159 10. Stephanie Mockler 150 SPEEDROME KENYON MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS 1. Jonathan Hendrick 414 2. Brent Beauchamp 411 3. Dakoda Armstrong 399 4. Thomas Hennigan 354 5. Bryan Clauson 330 6. Blake Fitzpatrick 327 7. Jordan Pennington 324 8. Miranda Throckmorton 322 9. Zach Leeke 287 10. Alison MacLeod 164