Paden Bakersfield Best, Rahe King of Focus  – By Bobby Gerould, 07/10/04 – Oildale, CA. …Steven Paden scored his second win of the year in USAC Western States Midget competition at Bakersfield Speedway Saturday night. The win was the third overall in the 2004 series for the Downey, California driver.  The winning mount was the Richard Farrier Stealth (Indy) / Esslinger #0, wrenched in part by Paden’s brother Nathan Senecal.

 

After three aborted starts for spins by Jerome Rodela, and Bryan Drollinger, and then a tangle between Drollinger, Garratt Boyden, Wally Pankratz, Robert Ellis, and Ryan Kaplan, the feature started single-file.  Paden jumped in front and stretched an early, three-quarter straightaway, advantage over points leader Johnny Rodriguez. Running low on the one-groove dry surface, Paden ran a steady race avoiding a minor rut in turn one to secure the 30-lap win. Rodriguez continued to knock on Paden’s door throughout the race but Paden never opened it.

 

Asked if he ever felt threatened during the race, Paden said, “Johnny is good on restarts. He poked his nose in turn two on the restart, and that got me ‘up on the wheel’ a bit. The top of the track was wet but there was no cushion, so I figured nobody was going to pass me on top. Once I got a rhythm, I didn’t think anyone could get around me.”

 

Steven Graves drove an excellent race to finish on the podium in third spot. Quick-qualifier Garrett Hansen won his heat and powered his way to a fourth place feature finish. Bakersfield’s Shannon McQueen was fifth.  

 

Chris Rahe chased down Bobby Michnowicz and passed him on lap 17 to win the 20-lap Ford Focus feature. Michnowicz finished second ahead of Bradley Galedridge, Eric Pace, and Todd Hunsaker. Ford Focus heat number one started in a rough and wild way for Aaron Schankerman. Coming to the green flag Schankerman clipped the front chute crash wall and flipped hard several times. Schankerman walked away but did not run the feature.

 

Next up for the USAC Western States Midgets and California Ford Focus series is a return trip to Perris Auto Speedway July 17, 2004.

 

Summary: USAC Western States Midgets – June 19th, 2004. Ventura Speedway

 

Time Trials:

 

Car

Driver

Hometown

First Time

Quick Time

70

Garrett Hansen

Manhattan Beach

12.935

12.701

94

Steven Graves

Upland, CA.

13.701

12.856

30

Johnny Rodriguez

Elk Grove, CA.

13.832

12.883

88

Dallen McKenney

Clovis, CA.

13.023

13.002

12

Rick Hendrix

Canoga Park, CA.

13.236

13.142

0

Steven Paden

Downey, CA.

13.206

13.170

8

Wally Pankratz

Orange, CA.

13.186

13.186

25

Jerome Rodela

El Monte, CA.

13.246

13.246

41

Robert Ellis

Menifee, CA.

13.293

13.293

37

Matt Mitchell

Yorba Linda, CA.

13.498

13.307

59

Michael Simpson

Apple Valley

13.471

13.388

42

Garratt Boyden

 

13.755

13.755

7

Shannon McQueen

Bakersfield

13.770

13.770

17

Jason Yount

Fresno

14.652

14.652

71

Bryan Drollinger

Gardena, CA.

15.778

15.090

27

Ryan Kaplan

Chico, CA.

15.437

15.437

 

* After qualifying, Jerome Rodela scratched his #25, and jumped into Rick Hendrix’s #12 for the rest of the night.

 

First Heat: 1. Hansen, 2. Rodela, 3. Pankratz, 4. Rodriguez, 5. McQueen, 6. R. Ellis, 7. Drollinger, 8. Simpson

 

Second Heat: 1. McKenney, 2. Mitchell, 3. Boyden, 4. Paden, 5. Graves, 6. Kaplan

 

Main Event: 1. Paden, 2. Rodriguez, 3. Graves, 4. Hansen, 5. McQueen, 6. Pankratz, 7. Simpson, 8. McKenney, 9. Mitchell, 10. Rodela, 11. Drollinger, 12. Yount, 13. Boyden, 14. R. Ellis, 15. Kaplan

 

Lap Leader: Paden 1-30

 

USAC California Ford Focus Midgets

 

No qualifying. The cars on hand.

 

  1. Jake Vail

7. Todd Hunsaker

8. Jeff Gregory

12 Steve Koster Jr.

14. Ryan Pace

15. Bobby McGowan

17. Audra Sasselli

19. Bradley Galedridge

21. Bobby Michnowicz

25. Scott Nogrady

28. Eric Pace

31. Chris Rahe

40. J.J. Ercse

59. James Davison

74. J.R. Williams

77. Steve Davis

88. Aaron Schankerman

91. Chase Barber

99. Nick Morago

 

 

First Heat: 1. Davis, 2. Sasselli, 3. Michnowicz, 4. Davison, 5. Nogrady, 6. R. Pace, 7. Vail, 8. Williams, 9. E. Pace

 

Second Heat: 1. Rahe, 2. Gregory, 3. Hunsaker, 4. Galedridge, 5. Barber, 6. McGowan, 7. Koster Jr., 8. Morago, 9. Ercse

 

Feature: 20 laps: 1. Rahe, 2. Michnowicz, 3. Galedridge, 4. E. Pace, 5. Hunsaker, 6. Barber, 7. Davis, 8. Nogrady, 9. Koster Jr., 10. R. Pace, 11. Morago, 12. Vail, 13. Williams, 14. Davison, 15. Sasselli, 16. McGowan, 17. Ercse, 18. Gregory