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USAC: Williams, Johnson score Bakersfield MCI WorldCom victories

8 September 1999

WESTERN SPRINTS, MIDGET CARS AT TUCSON SATURDAY NIGHT

Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, Calif. and Walt Johnson of Simi Valley, Calif. captured MCI WorldCom USAC feature events at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway Sunday night. Williams won the 30-lap Midget Car feature and Johnson took the 20-lap TQ Midget Car main event on the 1/30-mile dirt oval.

The MCI WorldCom Midget Cars and Western Sprint Cars combine for a "doubleheader" racing program this Saturday night at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park. A 30-lap feature awaits both series, with Bud Kaeding (Sprint Cars) and Marc DeBeaumont (Midget Cars) out to protect their respective USAC series point leads on the 1/2-mile pavement.

Williams led the last 15 laps of the 30-lap Bakersfield Midget Car feature after passing fast qualifier Bobby Boone on lap 16. The win was Rip's first in USAC competition. Trailing Williams' Autoresearch Esslinger were Boone, Shane Scully, Sleepy Tripp and Alex Harris. Harris trails DeBeaumont, who flipped during practice at Bakersfield, by 78 points going into the Tucson race.

Johnson led the final 11 laps of the TQ Midget Car feature to beat Josh Lakatos, series point leader Greg Edenholm, fast qualifier Troy Barkley and West Evans. Edenholm emerged with a 29-point lead over Josh Wise going into a September 25 race at Irwindale, Calif. Wise finished sixth at Bakersfield.

WESTERN SPRINT CAR STANDINGS

1. Bud Kaeding 674 6. Dave Fitzgerald 410
2. Rick Hendrix 567 7. Tom Stansberry 364
3. Rick Williams 547 8. Todd Ellison 355
4. Bobby McMahan 530 9. Curtis Brown 353
5. Tony Hunt 413 10. Mike Boat 341

MCI WORLDCOM WESTERN MIDGET CAR STANDINGS

1. Marc DeBeaumont 421 6. Wally Pankratz 241
2. Shane Scully 343 7. Jason Leffler 200
3. Alex Harris 334 8. Rick Hendrix 154
4. Bobby Boone 325 9. Clay Klepper 152
5. Steve Paden 243 10. Bryan Stanfill 152

MCI WORLDCOM TQ MIDGET CAR STANDINGS

1. Greg Edenholm 344 6. West Evans 208
2. Josh Wise 315 7. Todd Hunsaker 166
3. Randi Pankratz 265 8. Jim Styer 151
4. Walt Johnson 245 9. Ron Wade 135
5. Gene Godepski 227 10. Steve Lambert 129

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