By JIM MORRISON
Classic Motorsports
LIBERTY, Ind. -- Steve Buckwalter of Royersford, Pa., won the 30--lap midget feature at Union County Speedway near here on Thursday night. Kent Christian of Clayton, Ind., won the 25-lap sprint feature.
Though Buckwalter led all 30 laps, the race for second was hard fought as Robert Ballou, Mike Hess and Matt Westfall battled for the position. Hess claimed second, Ballou third, Westfall fourth and Christian fifth after starting 12th
Jeff Bland Jr., was cruising to victory in the sprint feature when he banged wheels with a car he was attempting to lap on the 10th circuit and spun to a stop. Hess inherited the top spot, but Christian was moving up from his seventh place starting position until he passed Hess exiting the second turn on the 20th lap to claim the victory.
Bland charged back through the field to claim third from Shuman late in the race.
The midget portion of the program was originally scheduled as the second round of of USAC Indiana Midget Week, but safety concerns with the race track prompted the club to not sanction the event. Many teams opted to leave the race track without turning a lap.
Race promoter Tony Barhorst proceeded with the racing, paying the midget drivers the same prize money as if it were a USAC points paying event of Indiana Midget Week. Fourteen midgets remained in the pits to compete and 14 started the feature.
Results:
Sprints
First heat: 1. Jeff Bland Jr., 2. Mike Hess, 3. Blake Fitzpatrick, 4. Kent Christian, 5. Matt Westfall, 6. Cameran McGahan, 7. Travis Hery.
Second heat: 1. Sammy Imel, 2. Casey Shuman, 3. Joss Moffatt, 4. Brandon Whitted, 5. Tony Main, 6. Caleb Armstrong, 7. Jim Gardner.
Feature: 1. Christian, 2. Hess. 3. Bland, 4. Shuman, 5. Armstrong, 6. Westfall, 7. Whitted, 8. Gardner, 9. Main, 10. Fitzpatrick, 11. Imel, 12. Moffatt, 13. McGahan.
Midgets
First heat: 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Steve Buckwalter, 3. Dakoda Armstrong, 4. Casey Shuman. Did not start; Matt Westfrall, Ryan Criswell, Levi Jones.
Second heat: 1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Kellen Conover, 3. Mike Hess, 4. Rex Norris III, 5. Kent Schmidt, 6. Kent Christian, 7. James Sweeney.
Feature: 1. Buckwalter, 2. Hess, 3. Ballou, 4. Westfall, 5. Christian, 6. Armstrong, 7. Schmidt, 8. Norris, 9. Sweeny, 10. Dustin Morgan, 11. Shuman, 12. Meseraull, 13. Conover.
Travis Hery flipped during the first sprint heat. Kellen Conover flipped during the midget feature.