Pierson Wins with Exciting Close Finish in USAC Dirt Midget Association Race at Vermont’s Bear Ridge Speedway
Ellington, CT: The USAC Dirt Midget Association had the closes finish of the series history with driver Adam Pierson winning the race. In total twenty teams started the feature race.
For heat race one the 11R driven by Alex Rose was on the pole with the 77 of Jeff Champagne starting second. When the green flag waived, Champagne took the 77 down low and into the lead moving Rose in the 11R to second. The battle was then on for second and third place with the 12 of Adam Whitney driving around Rose in the 11R and taking over second place moving Rose to third. Then Jeff Horn in the 1R, who had started sixth, joined in the fight for position and by lap five took over third from Rose. As the checkered flag was displayed it was Champagne, who dominated the heat race, taking the win with the 12 of Adam Whitney in second followed by the 1R of Jeff Horn for third. In this heat race, the 76X was piloted by Karl Fredrickson of Speedway Illustrated who came to Bear Ridge this night to celebrate Speedway Illustrated Fan Appreciation Night.
Heat race two had Dean Christensen in the 9 starting on pole with Joe Krawiec driving the 6 starting in the second position. As the race began, the 9 of Christensen and the 6 of Krawiec battled to keep position as Mike Chafee in the 18C worked to take over the top spots. Tom Thompson in the 24T spun in turn two but kept the car running and continued racing. By lap five the race leaders of Christensen and Krawiec maintained the first and second position but now the 76 of Josh Sunn had moved into third place. As the race came to a finish it was the 9 of Dean Christensen in first, Joe Krawiec driving the 6 for second and the 76 of Josh Sunn rounding out the top three.
The third heat race started with the 57 driven by Dylan Duhaime on pole and Scott Holcomb starting second in the 47. The race went green but before a lap could be completed the caution came out as the pole sitter of Duhaime spun and needed help getting restarted. Under this caution the 76M of Adam Pierson went into the pits for quick repairs and was back out before the green flag was shown. By lap two the 28RI of Adam Dion spun and the race was back under caution. On the restart Scott Holcomb in the 47 had the point followed by Tim Hodge in the 5 for second. By halfway Pierson in the 76M had moved into the lead with Holcomb now second. When the race ended it was Adam Pierson in the 76M taking the win followed by Scot Holcomb in the 47 for second and rounding out the top three was Tim Hodge driving the 5.
The Elliott Beveridge Midget Dash four lap race included the first and second place finishers of each heat race. The 12 of Adam Whitney was on pole and the 9 of Dean Christensen started second. The dash race action was fast and furious with the 76M of Adam Pierson going from last to first by lap three. As lap four was coming to a close, the 6 of Joe Krawiec spun moving him to last with Pierson taking the win. Following Pierson was the 9 of Dean Christensen for second and the 12 of Adam Whitney in third.
The feature race started with the 77 of Jeff Champagne on pole and the 11V of Vincent Lucca on the outside pole. With the green flag being displayed the field took off into turn one racing hard side by side but the action was slowed quickly when the 21B of Lauryn Burd spun which brought out the races first caution. When the race went green, it was Champagne in the 77 on point followed by the 11V of Lucca for second. The mid pack racing was tight until the 76X piloted by Karl Fredrickson spun bringing out the caution. Back under green again Champagne continued to dominate in the lead but now the 12 of Adam Whitney had moved into second and the 6 of Joe Krawiec taking third. The third caution of the race was displayed for the 76 of Josh Sunn who had spun and required help with getting started again. During this caution period the 1R of Jeff Horn had mechanical issues and went into the pits for repairs. Under green again, Champagne quickly resumed the lead with the 12 of Whitney in pursuit now followed by the 18C of Mike Chaffee in third and the 6 of Krawiec to fourth. The battle for third and fourth of Chaffee and Krawiec was tight until the 18C of Chaffee had issue which brought out the forth caution of the race and Chaffee going into the pits for repairs. The final green flag of the night was now waiving and again the 77 of Champagne pulled out to the lead with the 12 of Whitney still in second but now the 2 of Scott Viets had moved into third and Krawiec in the 6 was back to forth. While the racing up front was tight, the 76M of Adam Pierson was running the outside groove and moving towards the front. Pierson would pick off positions on each lap and with less than ten to go was now in second and battling Champagne for the lead. The battle would continue right up to the last lap with the 77 of Champagne doing all he could to defend his lead but on the last lap in the last turn and the crowd now on their feet, Pierson went to the outside and road the wall across the finish line taking the win over Champagne by .007 which is the closes finish in the series history. The top three was Adam Pierson in the 76M from East Corinth, Vermont, Jeff Champagne in the 77 from Westfield, MA in second and the 9 of Dean Christensen out of Granby, CT for third.
The RacingJunk.Com Hard Luck Award went to Dylan Rock who drives the 49 in the series. Rock had his car ready to race but unexpected mechanical issues kept him out of the action for the night.
The series would like to thank Karl Fredrickson and the entire staff at Speedway Illustrated for holding Fan Appreciation Night.
The series will be back in action on August 23rd at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT.