New Car No Problem For Kevin Chaffee in USAC DMA Midgets at Bear Ridge
BY MARK McKEON
BRADFORD, VT – Wheeling a car that hadn’t been raced since 2003 and which he hadn’t laid eyes on until he got to the track, “The Fairlee Flier” Kevin Chaffee of Fairlee, VT defeated a series record field of 18 entrants to win his second consecutive USAC Dirt Midget Association feature at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT on Saturday.
Starting eighth in the 25 lap feature, Chaffee quickly moved through traffic until he encountered Hall of Famer Ray Miller, who had bolted from third to slide past Tim Gallant for the lead. Lap after lap, Chafee and Miller ran side by side and wheel to wheel until Chafee used his home track advantage to pass the hot-as-a-pistol veteran on lap 11.
“Ray Miller may be 69 years old,” an admiring Chaffee said after the race, “but he still drives like he’s 19.”
With Miller behind him and a clear track ahead, Chafee had no trouble holding off his teammate, points leader and three time winner “Flatfoot Joe” Krawiec. Miller came home third and Tony Montesi, making only his second USAC DMA Midget start, galloped from deep in the pack to finish fourth. Tim Gallant came home fifth, after leading the first five laps. Both Montesi and Gallant were aboard mounts from the Rusty Tefft stable.
“When Skip [Matczak] and his crew show up at the race track, it doesn’t matter if it’s the first time the car has been there or not, the car is ready to go,” Chaffee said. “The effort they put in to preparing a car is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The work and the amount of time that they put into these cars make all the difference in the world.”
Recalling the race, Chafee continued, “I was a little nervous because Scott [Holcomb] started ahead of me and Joe [Krawiec] took off like a rocket at the start and I didn’t think I was going to be able to catch either of them. But Joe made a little mistake – he doesn’t make many- so I got by him and Scott’s car wasn’t as fast tonight as usual and I was able to get by him on the top. I was alongside Ray Miller for so long that I had time to look and I thought I saw the nose of his car skating just a little. My car had lots of pull from the bottom so I could get under him. After I got by him, it was all just left hand turns.”
After getting airborne at the start on an infield tire at turn two, second place finisher Krawiec made no excuses. “I caught a tire with my left front at the start and when it bounced me, my foot got on the throttle, so when I landed, I launched myself over the second tire. It was a driver mistake; I should have stayed up a little higher. After that, the car ran well, but I was watching Kevin and he was running differently than me. I need to learn more and come back with a better arsenal for myself to be able to take him on.”
Two- time NEMA Midget Champion Randy Cabral enjoyed himself in his USAC DMA Midget Debut, his first dirt track race in three years. “I love it, but I’m not sure it loves me,” Cabral said after struggling with his car’s handling during hotlaps. The 32 time NEMA feature winner was sidelined after an early race incident as was- coincidentally- 20 time NEMA winner Jeff Horn.
The USAC DMA Midgets return to Bear Ridge Speedway “The Home of the Coupes” on Saturday September 10.
USAC DMA FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee, VT. 2. Joe Krawiec, Bristol, CT, 3. Ray Miller, East Granby, CT 4. Tony Montesi, Roxbury, CT, 5. Tim Gallant, Wales, MA, 6. Scott Holcomb, Granby, CT, 7. Scott Viets, East. Granby, CT, 8. Dana Shaw, Plainfield, CT, 9. Denny Zimmerman, Suffield, CT, 10. Jim Close, Ellington, CT, 11. Adam Whitney, Warren, VT, 12. Dean Christenson, Granby, CT, 13. Tyler Rivard, Woonsocket, RI, 14. Thom Ring, Pascoag, RI, 15. Jeff Horn, Hudson, MA, 16. Randy Cabral, Plymouth, MA. DNS: Greg Olson, East Providence, RI, David Rose, Jr., Keene, NH. Holcomb and Krawiec won the heats while Chaffee picked up the first ever Bear Ridge Speedway DMA Semi-Feature, scored by USAC as a non-points Special Shootout.
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