ARCA Midget Baer Field Results

Fort Wayne IN, 8-28-99 - UMARA Midget standout Steve Thinnes stood out Saturday night at Baer Field Speedway, held off a charge from Jimmy McCune and won the 30-lap ARCA Auto Value-UMARA sanctioned main event taking his second consecutive victory in the aforementioned co-sanction. Jim Anderson led at the onset but his lead was short-lived when Thinnes, who started sixth, raced by the former leader to lead the second lap. Thinnes stretched his advantage over McCune, Gary Harrell and Larry Gibson and held strong throughout the race. McCune hustled hard to catch Thinnes and closed the gap in the latter stages but couldn’t find a way around the eventual winner. Harrell finished a strong third ahead of Dave Thompson and Aaron Fike to complete the top five. Leading ARCA Midget rookie contender Jason Fuller brought his midget home in sixth in front of Gibson, two-time ARCA Midget champion Rick Harrell, Rich Corsen and Jim Hines to round out the top ten. Current ARCA Midget point leader and defending champion Gene Lee Gibson started 10th and was quickly working his way forward before contact in a tight pack sent the open-wheel standout over on his side on the backstretch. Gibson was uninjured but through for the night and credited with the 20th finishing position. Don Carter set quick time of night at 14.722 seconds and Larry Gibson, Fike and McCune were heat race winners. The ARCA Auto Value Midgets, along with UMARA, will next appear at the brand new one mile Chicago Motor Speedway on September 12th before wrapping up the season at Toledo Speedway on September 19th.

1999 ARCA AUTO VALUE MIDGET SERIES EVENT #12                    
Baer Field Speedway, Fort Wayne IN, 8-28-99                     
Official Results                        

FIN     STR     CAR                             
POS     POS     NO      DRIVER/RESIDENCE        
                        TEAM & CAR                      LAPS    STATUS
1       6       48      Steve Thinnes                   
                        UMARA                           30      Running
2       5       6       Jimmy McCune/Sylvania OH        
                        McCune Racing VW                30      Running
3       4       4       Gary Harrell/Temperance MI      
                        R&M Towing-TJ Roofing-Kayo Lumber Hawk
                                                        30      Running
4       8       24      Dave Thompson/Minooka IL        
                        Savage Racing-MAC Tools VW      30      Running
5       11      69      Aaron Fike              
                        UMARA                           30      Running
6       9       9       Jason Fuller/Plymouth IN        
                        AFCO-Suspension Spring-Hogue Engines Hawk
                                                        30      Running
7       2       5       Larry Gibson/Richwood OH        
                        Gilliland Body Shop-Dotson's Garage Chevy
                                                        30      Running
8       13      1       Rick Harrell/Temperance MI      
                        Kayo Lumber-Total Prep Solution Hawk
                                                        30      Running
9       12      15      Rich Corsen     
                        UMARA                           30      Running
10      14      17      Jim Hines       
                        UMARA                           30      Running
11      18      1       BJ Manson/Perrysburg OH 
                        Cameleon Group-Corse Tek        30      Running
12      19      98      Larry Wesch     
                        UMARA                           30      Running
13      17      4       Klaus Wever/Minooka IL  
                        K&B Auto-D'Arcy VW              29      Running
14      20      32      Roger Bettenhausen      
                        UMARA                           28      Running
15      15      55      Don Moore/Springfield OH        
                        Moore Racing VW                 18      Overheating
16      1       36      Jim Anderson/Joliet IL  
                Rho-Chem/Automotive Excellence Pontiac  10      Suspension
17      7       71      Jim Hettinger/Mason MI  
                        United Cable Construction-Autocraft Hawk
                                                        9       Engine
18      16      19      Chris O'Connell/Roanoke IN      
                        O'Connell Racing VW             6       Engine
19      3       22      John Myers 
                        UMARA                           3       Engine
20      10      0       Gene Lee Gibson/Richwood OH     
                        Gibson Racing Autocraft         3       Accident

FAST QUALIFIER:  Don Carter Jr  14.722 seconds                  
HEAT WINNERS: Gene Lee Gibson, Aaron Fike, Jimmy McCune                 
B-MAIN WINNER:  Don Moore                       
LAP LEADERS:  Anderson 1 (1); Thinnes 2-30 (29)