USAC
WM: FF: Santa Maria: Race report
Pankratz, Ercse share Santa Maria podium. Bakersfield hosts Midget/Ford Focus "Doubleheader" Saturday. Wally Pankratz of Orange, Calif. and J.J. Ercse of Lakewood, Calif. scored USAC feature victories in Saturday night's "doubleheader" at Santa ...
Edited: Dec 21, 2009, 5:40 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Pankratz, Ercse share Santa Maria podium.
Bakersfield hosts Midget/Ford Focus "Doubleheader" Saturday.
Wally Pankratz of Orange, Calif. and J.J. Ercse of Lakewood, Calif. scored USAC feature victories in Saturday night's "doubleheader" at Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway and look to repeat in this Saturday night's "doubleheader" at the Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway. A 20-lap Ford Focus Midget and 30-lap Western Midget Car feature are on tap at the 1/3-mile dirt Bakersfield oval.
Pankratz earned his 18th career USAC Western Midget Car triumph in his Sta-Rite/HASA/Trench Shoring VanDyne/Edmunds, leading the final three laps after series point leader Shane Scully flipped while leading on lap 18. The race actually saw five different leaders as Pankratz was chased to the checkered flag by Danny Stratton, Dallen McKenney, Bobby Boone and Dean Alexander.
Robby Flock led the opening lap, then yielded to Ronnie Day. Day slipped to second behind fast qualifier Josh Wise on lap 14, then Scully took over the lead on lap 17 only to flip on the next lap!
Two-time USAC TQ Midget Car Champion J.J. Ercse won Saturday night's USAC Ford Focus Midget Car feature at Santa Maria, which was halted after eight laps due to accidents. Ironically, the two fastest qualifiers, Josh Lakatos and Garrett Andrews, flipped during the second heat race. Andrews was transported to a local hospital for a precautionary check-up. Series point leader Todd Hunsaker escaped injury in a flip during the feature.
Rounding out the "top-five behind Ercse at the checkered flag were Garrett Hansen, Randi Pankratz, Steve Lambert and Todd Hunsaker.
USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS
1. Shane Scully 430
2. Robby Flock 393
3. Danny Stratton 350
4. Wally Pankratz 306
5. Jerome Rodela 300
6. Matt Rossi 231
7. Dallen McKenney 209
8. Van Knill 207
9. John Sarale 174
10. Alex Harris 166
USAC FORD FOCUS MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS
1. Todd Hunsaker 431
2. Phil Goodwine 383
3. Wayne McCormick 350
4. J.J. Ercse 332
5. Garrett Hansen 269
6. Steve Davis 214
7. Bobby Owens 201
8. Timothy Barber 176
9. Jon Wilcox 142
10. Josh Lakatos 128
-usac-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article FF: Santa Maria: Race results
Next article IRL: Penske to return to MIS as Indy 500 winner
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Josh Wise
Terre Haute: Race summary
USAC
USAC
Terre Haute: Race summary
McDowell, Richardson secure final two spots on Daytona 500 grid
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500
McDowell, Richardson secure final two spots on Daytona 500 grid
Can-Am Duels preview: One last shot to make the Daytona 500
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500
Can-Am Duels preview: One last shot to make the Daytona 500
Latest news
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 4 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
5 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Dale Jr. explains why he doesn't use 'Earnhardt' in his signature
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 7 h
Dale Jr. explains why he doesn't use 'Earnhardt' in his signature
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe