SANTA MARIA, California — Bruce Hiroshima drove his own No. 5 Stewart/Honda to a convincing sweep in round 12 of the 15 race NMRA-TQ Midget Series Saturday at the third-mile, clay Santa Maria Speedway. The event was the sixth annual Ron Otto Memorial race in honor of the long-time NMRA officer/official who lived in nearby Nipomo. The winner, a 47-year old Camarillo resident, set the fastest qualifying time by 0.070, won his 8-lap heat race and the 25-lap main event. He led all but the first lap after starting sixth in a ten-car field.
Hiroshima was the 2004 NMRA-TQ rookie of the year when he finished sixth in final driver points. He followed his rookie season by finishing fourth in 2005, and second in 2006 with three feature victories. He ranked fifth and fourth in 2007-08. Last year he finished sixth in points and scored his fourth feature triumph. This season Hiroshima won the season-opener on March 13 at Perris Auto Speedway. His feature trophy Saturday at SMS was his sixth in NMRA and moved him to fourth in 2010 driver points. His car currently ranks fifth among 13 TQs with points.
The top seven drivers completed 25 laps at SMS. Four-time 2010 winner West Evans came from fourth starting slot to finish second. Anthony Lopiccolo came from fifth to earn third. Evans and Lopiccolo, the 2008 co-rookie of the year, entered the evening tied for the NMRA drivers' point lead at 605 points. Following the race, Lopiccolo had a slim one-point lead over Evans. After 12 races Lopiccolo has averaged 55.83 points to 55.75 points for Evans. The car owner point lead is an in-house contest between cars owned by Evans. His No. 38 has 745 points to 705 for his No. 36.
Chuck West (from starting P. 3), first-lap leader Ron Ahrendt (from P. 2), Dave Lambert (from pole) and rookie Brian Baker (from P. 7) completed the top seven finishers. Chris Thomas, 32, logged 22 laps in his second-ever TQ race for his father Ed. He sub-drove for his vacationing sibling Amanda (older by three years). Dakota Schweitzer placed tenth with no laps in Steve Parke's No. 59.
Chris Kearns, the respected Santa Maria Speedway racing promoter, made his first start in a TQ midget. At the start of this season Kearns asked about driving a TQ. NMRA leader Evans put together a deal for him to race in Bruce Hiroshima's No. 20 Meli chassis with /Honda power. Kearns set the sixth fastest qualifying time of the nine qualifiers. He was only 0.430 slower than fastest qualifier Hiroshima. Kearns started and finished third in his five-car heat race and all drivers finished eight laps. Hiroshima and Lopiccolo won the two heats. Kearns started ninth and ran 17 laps before pitting when the steering didn't feel right to him. He said he really enjoyed racing the TQ with NMRA and had fun. His wife Kari ran the SMS show while Chris played the role of racer. Keanrs on-track experience includes racing dirt late models and a stint in a Wally Pankratz-owned midget. He also drove a sprint car at a racing school, so he now has racing a TQ as part of his racing resume.
The next NMRA event will be held Saturday September 11 for the seventh visit this year at the third-mile clay Bakersfield Speedway. The final two races in the recently revised TQ schedule will be October 16 at Santa Maria for the fourth time during 2010 and November 20 at Perris for the fourth time this season.
Summary:
Fast Time: Bruce Hiroshima, 15.627. (NMRA TR 14.820 by Jimmy May on 4/10/04.)
Heat 1: Hiroshima, Ron Ahrendt, Dave Lambert, West Evans, Brian Baker.
Heat 2: Anthony Lopiccolo, Chuck West, Chris Kearns, Chris Thomas, Dakota Schweitzer.
Main: Hiroshima, Evans, Lopiccolo, West, Ahrendt, Lambert, Baker, Thomas, Kearns, Schweitzer.
