WM: Manzanita summary, Las Vegas preview

KAHNE JOINS PHOENIX WINNER SWEET AT LAS VEGAS WEDNESDAY

Brad Sweet of Grass Valley, Calif. emerged the winner of Saturday night's Sands Chevrolet "Copper on Dirt" 25-lap USAC Mopar National & Western Midget race at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz.

Sweet was running second on lap 24 when leader Bryan Clauson encountered problems on the backstretch, then led the final two laps in his Kasey Kahne Racing Spike Speedway Mopar. Nathan High finished second ahead of Jerry Coons Jr., who started 27th as a "provisional" starter. Chad Boat and Darren Hagen rounded out the "top-five."

Sweet will be joined by his car owner Kasey Kahne as competitors in the Mopar National and Western Midgets in this Wednesday night's "Las Vegas Super Sprint Classic" at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.

Kahne finished second in last year's "Night Before the 500" USAC Midget race at Indianapolis Raceway Park and also was fourth at Phoenix International Raceway in November. Las Vegas will make his first USAC Midget dirt-track appearance since his 2001 victory in the prestigious "Belleville Midget Nationals" in Kansas.

Sammy Swindell won USAC's last Midget race on the LVMS dirt, last November, while Dave Darland, one of five USCA "Triple Crown Champions," won the last USAC National Midget race at the track in 1997.

The USAC Mopar National and Western Midgets also share billing with the USAC National and Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprints in Saturday night's "Sokola Shootout" at the Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.

USAC MOPAR NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS

1-Brad Sweet-63
2-Nathan High-65
3-Chad Boat-64
4-Darren Hagen-58
5-Jerry Coons Jr.-54
6-Brad Kuhn-51
7-Kevin Swindell-49
8-Garrett Hansen-45
9-Bobby East-42
10-Levi Jones-39

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS

1-Brad Sweet-63
2-Nathan High-65
3-Chad Boat-64
4-Darren Hagen-58
5-Jerry Coons Jr.-54
6-Brad Kuhn-51
7-Kevin Swindell-49
8-Garrett Hansen-45
9-Bobby East-42
10-Levi Jones-39

-credit: --USAC--