Steele conquers Nazareth midgets

Dave Steele outlasted pole sitter J.J. Yeley to win this afternoon’s 30-lap USAC National Midget Car Series feature at Nazareth Speedway. Steele shadowed Yeley from the outset, attempting to pass him on several occasions before finally taking the lead on lap 12. Once in front, the Tampa native opened up a sizable gap on the 13-car field, finishing well ahead of second-place Tracy Hines.

“I can’t say enough about how the car handled today,” Steele said after winning his first midget race of the year. “I figured we were pretty good but you just never know. I just ran as hard as I could for 30 laps. The car was sticking pretty good – at least half a lane to a full lane lower than J.J.’s car. My car was working good on the bottom and I could pitch it into the turn and come off stronger and straighter than J.J.”

Youngsters Aaron Fike and Bobby East finished third and fourth, while tire woes dropped Yeley to fifth.

“Unfortunately for the Ford Performance Racing car, we gained a bunch of stagger when the right rear tire grew and then the left rear tire seemed to half disintegrate,” Yeley said. “I’m not so sure it wasn’t a bad tire. I’ve never seen a tire do that before. For the first five laps of the race, the car seemed really good. But the longer the race went on, the worse it got. The car got really, really loose.”

Despite his tires troubles, Yeley still has a 29-point lead on Hines in the USAC National Midget Car point standings.

The SPEED Channel will broadcast this afternoon’s race Saturday at 8.p.m.