WM: Ventura preview

"WALLY PANKRATZ NIGHT" SATURDAY AT VENTURA

"Wally Pankratz Night" is slated this Saturday night at the Ventura (Calif.) Raceway featuring the USAC Western Midgets in a salute to the career of the 2000 series champion from Orange, Calif. who has started more than 450 series features since his 1983 debut.

Pankratz ranks 12th in the current Western Midget standings and his best finishes in seven 2005 series starts have been fourth-places in two races at the Ventura oval. Ironically, though, none of his 19 series triumphs have come at Ventura. His last series win came in October of 2002 at Perris, Calif.

Pankratz also finished as the Western Midget runner-up in 1992 and the USAC Supermodified series runner-up in 1985 and 1986. In 1997 he was awarded USAC's prestigious "Jimmy Caruthers Award" for spirit and determination.

Robby Flock of Murrieta, Calif. leads the standings in search of his fifth USAC driving title. He would become only the 11th driver in USAC history with five championships, joining A.J. Foyt (13), Rich Vogler and Sleepy Tripp (9), Mel Kenyon (8), Michael Lang (7), Shorty Templeman and Steve Butler (6) and Butch Hartman, J.J. Yeley and Roger McCluskey (5).

Flock's lead over Jerome Rodela stands at 49 points, with 74 available at Ventura.

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES STANDINGS
1.-Robby Flock-671
2.-Jerome Rodela-622
3.-Tyler Brown-539
4.-Ryan Kaplan-468
5.-Stephen Graves-468
6.-Garrett Hansen-404
7.-Scott Pierovich-396
8.-Dallen McKenney-393
9.-Brad Galedrige-387
10.-Shannon McQueen-364

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