Joe Krawiec, driving his 1B Ray Miller Racing USAC DMA midget, dominated the racing action Saturday night at Bear Ridge Speedway. 

Krawiec scored his first win of the season, which also made him the series' two-time champion.

Race one of the first heat (8 laps) started with Manny Dias from Danielson, CT on the pole and Tim West from Vernon, CT starting second. Under green it would be Dias jumping to a three-car lead, but before the end of lap one Justin Sheridan from Suffield, CT moved into second with his teammate Justin Phillips from West Suffield, CT in third.

The top three positions would stay locked together while West and Wayne Koehler of Jewett, NY rounded out the field. Mike Chaffee had started the race, but pulled off on lap three due to mechanical issues. After eight laps – and under the checker flag – Manny Dias won the first heat of race one followed by Justin Sheridan in second place and Phillips in third. 

In race two (8 laps) Adam Whitney from Warren, VT started inside row one with Jeff Horn on the outside of the front row. Lap one would be controlled by Horn followed by Krawiec, who made his way from the fourth place starting spot.

Lap two would now have Krawiec’s taking over the race lead with Whitney following in second. Jeff Champagne from Westfield, MA began the race, but pulled into the pit on lap four with a mechanical problem. The battle for third, fourth and fifth would take place between Horn, Seth Carlson of Stafford, CT and Will Hull of Plainfield, VT. Krawiec controlled things from lap two to lap eight to take the win in race two followed by Whitney in second and  Horn for third.

There was a rain delay before the evening's race began, but it did not disappoint once they got back to action.

The 25-lap feature race would start with Dias on pole and West starting in second. Into turn one (under green) Dias took a commanding lead over the field followed by West and Jeff Champagne from Westfield, MA who was now in third.

Hull, the series' points leader, moved from eighth to third in a matter of two laps while Dias still kept control over the field. On lap four, Hull made his move to second as he looked to catch his teammate Dias. The top three of Dias (5), Hull (3) and Champagne (77) would hold those spots for several laps until lap sixteen when Champagne's car had suspension issues that forced him to pull off the track. This now opened the position for Krawiec to take over third as he looked to challenge the leaders.

It looked like Dias had the race won, except mechanical problems took him out of contention on the start of lap 18. Dias' forced exit gave Hull command of the race followed by Krawiec in second and Phillips, who had started tail on the field, in third. On lap 22, Krawiec made the move around Hull to take over the race lead. Carlson moved from the last row at the start of the race to fourth.

On the 23rd lap Whitney had to drop out of the race with issues. Krawiec (1B) and Hull (3) battled side-by-side for the last five laps. In the end it would be Krawiec taking the win followed by Hull in second and Phillips rounding out the top three.

The series will be back in action on Friday night September 20th at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT. This will be the last race of 2019 season.  

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Results

USAC SPEED2 DMA MIDGET RACE RESULTS: 

September 7 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, Vermont

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Manny Dias (#5 Matczak), 2. Justin Sheridan (#17 Miller), 3. Justin Phillips (#16 Miller), 4. Tim West (#23 West), 5. Wayne Kohler (#91 Kohler). 6. Mike Chaffee (#18 Chaffee). 2:00.00

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Joe Krawiec (#1B Miller), 2. Adam Whitney (#12 Whitney), 3. Jeff Horn (#A1 Horn), 4. Seth Carlson (#4 Matczak), 5. Will Hull (#3 Matczak), 6. Jeff Champagne (#77 Champagne). 1:51.00

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Joe Krawiec, 2. Will Hull, 3. Justin Phillips, 4. Seth Carlson, 5. Justin Sheridan, 6. Jeff Horn, 7. Tim West, 8. Adam Whitney, 9. Wayne Koehler, 10. Manny Dias, 11. Jeff Champagne. 6:07.00

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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-17 Manny Dias, Laps 18-21 Will Hull, Laps 22-25 Joe Krawiec.

NEW USAC DMA SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS:  1-Will Hull-1,198, 2-Joe Krawiec-1,164, 3-Seth Carlson-1,095, 4-Justin Phillips-944, 5-Adam Whitney-886, 6-Manny Dias-853, 7-Jeff Horn-824, 8-Justin Sheridan-776, 9-Tim West-648, 10-Jeff Champagne-642.

NEXT USAC SPEED2 DMA MIDGET RACE: September 20, 2019 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, Vermont