WEASE LEADS WESTERN SPEED 1-2 AT "TURKEY NIGHT"

Source: Bobby Gerould
Date: 11/26/2006

USAC National Midgets headlined the 66th annual Turkey Night Grand Prix held Thursday night at Irwindale Speedway.

The Southern California paved half-mile showplace hosted a near capacity crowd for the traditional 100-lap battle of man and machine, and at the checkered flag it was Billy Wease, of Noblesville, Ind., the winner among 34 starters in the potent Western Speed No. 80.

"I couldn’t ask for a better car”, said Wease, a development driver for Penske Racing. “I’m going to take this trophy back to North Carolina to the Penske shop. Hopefully the guys will be proud of me.”

A race-long battle between teammates Kody Swanson, and Wease came to a head on Lap 81 when Wease edged in front in heavy traffic. Swanson, who suffered a wicked crash in the Sprint car feature, rebounded to lead the opening 80 laps. He then pressured Wease to the finish coming up two car lengths short in a crowd pleasing effort.

“I made (Wease) earn every bit of it”, said Swanson to the appreciative Irwindale race fans. The 18-year-old from Kingsburg, Calif. was named Rookie of the Race.

Josh Wise, the 2005 USAC National Midget champion, finished third driving for Tony Stewart. Stewart, a former National title holder himself, was involved in a three-car tangle in Turn 4 on Lap 41 that sent him to the rear of the field. Stewart dazzled fans with a charge from the back but the NASCAR hero found himself involved in a second tangle on Lap 91 that ended his run.

Dave Steele drove to a fourth-place finish, with Kyle Nicholas fifth. Nicholas was brilliant in moving from 24th on the starting grid. Tracy Hines was sixth followed by Jerome Rodela, Jerry Coons Jr., Brad Kuhn, and Chase Scott. Coons wrapped up the 2006 USAC National Midget title, and Rodela was crowned the USAC Western Midget champ for the second straight season.

The USAC National Midget car-owner title was claimed by Keith Kunz Motorsports.

Swanson, at 16.988 seconds, turned ‘quick-time’ among 56 qualifiers. His lap averaged 105.957 miles per hour on the half-mile paved oval, and was the only driver under the 17-second mark. The top-14 in time trials earned spots in the first seven rows for the 100-lap feature race. The rest of the field was comprised of those finishing in the top eight positions in ‘twin-qualifying races.’

Bradley Galedrige won the first qualifying race with Bobby East capturing the second.

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