FOUNTAIN, Colorado--Bobby Santos III of Franklin, Mass. on Sunday led a 1-2-3 Western Speed Racing sweep during qualifying for this afternoon's "Rocky Mountain Classic" USAC National/Western Midget Car Series race.
Santos set a time of 26.051, which turned out to 138.190 mph. He'll be joined by Michael Lewis of Noblesville, Ind., who turned in a time 26.119 seconds.
Billy Wease, also of Noblesville, Ind., finished out Western Speed's Top 3 sweep, stopping the clock at 26.265 seconds.
Michael Lewis of Noblesville, Ind. made sure Sunday he didn’t have a repeat of last year. Instead he captured the 30-mile race at the 1-mile PPIR oval in Colorado piloting the Western Speed Racing CMKXtreme.com/Wirtgen America Gerhardt Esslinger. He started next to pole-winning teammate Bobby Santos III but trailed teammate Billy Wease for the first half of the race. He took the lead from Wease on lap 17 and led the rest of the way to beat Santos, Aaron Fike, Ron Gregory and Tracy Hines.
The Noblesville, Ind. native, who a year ago lost the lead to Dave Steele in the USAC National/Western Midget Car Series event at Pikes Peak International Raceway, kept the point after a wild battle with Western Speed teammates Billy Wease and Bobby Santos III and held off the latter to take the “Rocky Mountain Classic.”
“Last year I gave this race away, and I didn’t want to do that again,” said Lewis, driving the No. 40 Western Speed Racing machine. “I just have to thank my crew.”
The Western Speed trio, who earlier in the afternoon claimed the Top 3 qualifying positions, headed the field for the entire 30-lap feature and never yielded to any other team.
That, however, didn’t mean the competition back down.
Wease charged to the front from his third starting spot to lead the opening 11 laps. As he inched away, Santos and Lewis traded their positions with a slue of competitors, including defending National series champion Bobby East, Jay Drake and Ron Gregory.
The field was bunched up for the first of five cautions on Lap 12, when Garrett Hansen’s car caught fire on the front stretch. Hansen was not seriously injured in the incident.
Santos took advantage on the race’s restart, moving to the high side and battling Wease for the first three turns before taking the point coming out of Turn 4. Wease wasn’t through, however, reclaiming the lead at the start of Lap 14.
Lewis drove by Santos for second on Lap 15. The three orange cars stayed among the Top 3 for the next lap as their pilots tried to hold off a hard-charging Drake.
But a 1-2-3 finish was dismantled a lap later. Wease began smoking on the exit of Turn 2 and immediately slowed, moving to the bottom of the track. The yellow flag flew again, and though his crew attempted to put him back in the field, it was discovered his No. 80 had broken a water line. He finished 27th.
Wease wasn’t alone in his departure. Drake also came in during that caution period, and was unable to return due to a stuck throttle. He placed 28th.
Lewis wasn’t shaken over the last 14 laps despite constant pressure. Gregory passed Santos on Lap 19 and chased after Lewis but eventually lost second due to yellow flags. On the final restart – following an incident involving Lee Stark in Turn 4 on Lap 26 – Santos showed his hand again.
The Franklin, Mass. native stormed to the top again at the start/finish line and battled Lewis for the next half lap. But Lewis kept his composure and held the low line, then pulled away little by little until the checkered flag flew.
Santos held on for second, while Aaron Fike, Gregory and Tracy Hines rounded out the Top 5.
Lewis and Santos then jumped into their Western Speed Racing Silver Crown cars, with Lewis finishing 2nd after picking off several cars in the final 10 laps of the race. Lewis dove underneath J.J. Yeley on the white flag and took second, 1.344 seconds behind Dave Steele. Yeley took third, ahead of Johnny Heydenreich and Eric Gordon.
