NATIONAL, WESTERN CHAMPS CROWNED

WEASE WINS "TURKEY NIGHT;" COONS, KUNZ, RODELA & BARBER EARN USAC TITLES

Billy Wease of Noblesville, Ind. captured Thursday night's 66th "Turkey Night Grand Prix" at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway. The event concluded the 2006 USAC National and Western Midget racing series.

Wease's victory led a 1-2 sweep by the Western Speed Racing Team. Teammate Kody Swanson paced the 67 qualifiers and led the first 80 laps before yielding to Wease, driving the K & N Performance/Performance Trailers Gerhardt Racer/Esslinger Ford. Swanson earned the Don Basile "Rookie of the Race" award for his second-place finish.

Jerry Coons Jr. of Tucson, Ariz. won the 2006 USAC National Midget driving title, while Keith Kunz Motorsports of Columbus, Ind. ended the season as the car entrant champion. In the Western Midget Series, Jerome Rodela of El Monte, Calif. earned the title for the second consecutive year, while the car entrant's title went to Bret Barber of Morgan Hill, Calif.

Trailing Wease and Swanson in Thursday's 100-lap race were Josh Wise, Dave Steele and Kyle Nicholas. NASCAR veterans Tracy Hines, Casey Mears, Tony Stewart, Jason Leffler and Bobby East finished sixth, 16th, 24th, 30th and 34th respectively.

USAC Midget racing will conclude the 2006 calendar year Dec. 29-30 with the annual running of the "Rumble in Fort Wayne" events at the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center in Fort Wayne, Ind.

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES FINAL STANDINGS

      1.
     Jerry Coons Jr.
     940
      
     6.
     Levi Jones
     729
     
      2.
     Josh Wise
     901
      
     7.
     Brad Loyet
     680
     
      3.
     Dave Darland
     872
      
     8.
     Darren Hagen
     672
     
      4.
     Jay Drake
     829
      
     9.
     Dave Steele
     641
     
      5.
     Bryan Clauson
     740
      
     10.
     Brad Kuhn
     549
     

 

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES FINAL STANDINGS

 

      1.
     Jerome Rodela
     956
      
     6.
     Garrett Hansen
     607
     
      2.
     Chase Barber
     795
      
     7.
     Scott Pierovich
     572
     
      3.
     Tyler Brown
     708
      
     8.
     Greg Bragg
     538
     
      4.
     Shannon McQueen
     634
      
     9.
     Chris Rahe
     526
     
      5.
     Ryan Kaplan
     614
      
     10.
     Matt Mitchell
     448