USAC: Newman beats Leffler & Meseraull in PPIR thriller; 'Hut Hundred' & 'Put 40' up next for Midgets

31 August 1999

Ryan Newman of South Bend, Ind. won Sunday's MCI WorldCom Midget Car "Shootout" at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo., beating National point leader Jason Leffler and western hot-shoe Thomas Meseraull to the finish line in a three-car duel which kept the fans on their feet most of the race.

Newman's victory earned him a $1,000 cash bonus from the "Wynn's Challenge" program, which also awarded him a $6,500 bonus for his August 18 victory at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He was Saturday's fastest PPIR qualifier at 138.990 mph., then put his Ryan Newman Motorsports Brayton-powered machine in victory lane after a stunning last-lap which included more than one pass for the lead!

The MCI WorldCom National Midget Car Series now gears up for Wednesday night's "Hut Hundred" at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, to be followed by Saturday night's "Put 40" at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. Practice at Terre Haute's 1/2-mile dirt track starts at 2 pm. Qualifying is slated for 3 pm and a pair of 10-lap "qualifying races" are scheduled prior to the 100-lap main event, starting 33 cars. Practice at Putnamville Saturday starts at 5 pm, qualifying gets under way at 6 and racing begins at 7.

Lady driver Sarah Fisher led the first two laps of Sunday's race at Pikes Peak International Raceway before turning the battle over to Leffler and Newman. Leffler led laps 23 and 24 before yielding to Newman exiting turn two on the last lap. Leffler regained the lead going into turn three but lost it exiting turn four and narrowly lost the drag race to the checkered flag. Meseraull finished a close third after battling the two leaders throughout the final laps.

Leffler's finish enabled him to maintain a healthy National point lead, while Western leader Marc DeBeaumont retained that series' lead despite his 13th-place finish in Sunday's race.

"It was a lot of fun," said Newman after the race. "It's always good to race side-by-side with Jason, because he races you clean. The Wynn's money helps. That's $7,500 in two races now. This type of racing, with the drafting, etc., is great experience we can use in other forms of racing too."

MCI WORLDCOM NATIONAL MIDGET CAR STANDINGS

1. Jason Leffler 347 
2. Ryan Newman 276 
3. Jerry Coons, Jr.230 
4. Brian Gerster 161 
5. Tracy Hines 155 
6. Ricky Shelton 151
7. Dave Darland 133
8. Clay Klepper 128
9. A.J. Fike 125
10. Michael Lewis 124


MCI WORLDCOM WESTERN MIDGET CAR STANDINGS

1. Marc DeBeaumont 421 
2. Shane Scully 320 
3. Alex Harris 311 
4. Bobby Boone 291 
5. Wally Pankratz 235 
6. Steve Paden 223
7. Jason Leffler 200
8. Rick Hendrix 154
9. Clay Klepper 152
10. Bryan Stanfill 143

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