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3/21/16 2:01 PM LARSON, SWEET SET FOR WESTERN MIDGET OPENER WEDNESDAY AT PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY

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LARSON, SWEET SET FOR WESTERN MIDGET OPENER WEDNESDAY AT PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY

This Wednesday night’s racing program at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway includes the opening race of USAC’s 2016 Western Midget Championship campaign and is expected to feature the talents of USAC vets Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet, who will make signature appearances at the northern California dirt track.

Shane Golobic, who won last Saturday night’s “Shamrock Classic” USAC Midget National Championship race at DuQuoin, Ill., won the last USAC Western Midget race at Placerville, in 2013. Jimmy Sills was the winner in the only other series appearance at the track, in 1996.

Three-time Western Midget champ Ronnie Gardner was third in the 2013 race at Placerville and hopes to get a head start on a fourth series crown. Only Sleepy Tripp owns more Western titles, earning seven between 1983 and 1992. Robby Flock won four between 1986 and 2002.

Larson and Sweet last competed in the Western Midget Series in last November’s “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Perris, Calif., which also awarded National points.

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UPCOMING USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP

DATE: Wednesday, March 23, 2016

SERIES: USAC Western Midget Championship

TRACK: Placerville Speedway (Placerville, California) – ¼-mile, high-banked clay oval

EVENT: Brad Sweet Presents the “Placerville Short Track Outlaw Showdown” featuring the USAC Western Midget Championship and the World of Outlaws.

STARTING TIMES: Will Call: 2:00pm.* Pit Gate: 2:00pm.* Grandstands open at 4:00pm.* Qualifying: 6:30pm

TICKETS: All seating is reserved seating ($45)

TRACK ADDRESS: 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667

TRACK PHONE: (530) 626-3680

TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.placervillespeedway.com/

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PAST USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS AT PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY

10/11/1996: Jimmy Sills

6/1/2013: Shane Golobic

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2016 USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Mar 23: Placerville, CA - Placerville Speedway

Apr 9: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway

Apr 30: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway

May 21: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway

Jun 4: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway

Jun 25: Hanford, CA - Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds

Jul 16: Petaluma, CA - Petaluma Speedway

Sep 3: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway

Sep 4: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway

Sep 8: Chico, CA - Silver Dollar Speedway

Sep 17: Santa Maria, CA - Santa Maria Raceway

Oct 8: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway

Oct 29: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway

Nov 19: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway

Nov 24: ### Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway

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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS

1. [104 wins] Sleepy Tripp

2. [52 wins] Robby Flock

3. [41 wins] Billy Boat

4. [19 wins] Wally Pankratz

5. [18 wins] Page Jones

6. [16 wins] P.J. Jones, Jason Leffler & Rusty Rasmussen

9. [14 wins] Garrett Hansen

10. [13 wins] Ronnie Gardner, Jimmy Sills & Tony Stewart

13. [12 wins] Jay Drake & Tommy White

15. [11 wins] Josh Wise

16. [10 wins] Johnny Cofer, Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Cory Kruseman & Ron Shuman

21. [9 wins] Bobby East, Tracy Hines, Kasey Kahne & Rich Vogler

25. [8 wins] Stan Fox, Michael Lewis, Steve Paden, Dave Steele & Danny Stratton

30. [7 wins] Rick Hendrix, Chad Nichols & Kody Swanson

33. [6 wins] Rico Abreu, Bryan Clauson, Johnathon Henry, Ken Nichols, Brad Noffsinger & Dave Strickland Jr.

39. [5 wins] Tommy Astone, Christopher Bell, Bob Davison, Ronnie Day, Robert Dolacki, Davey Hamilton, Tony Hunt, Brad Kuhn & J.J. Yeley

48. [4 wins] Tyler Brown, Hank Butcher, Nick Chivello, Marc DeBeaumont, Nic Faas, Josh Ford, Chuck Gurney, Darren Hagen, Jordan Hermansader, Ryan Kaplan, Thomas Meseraull, Frank Pedregon, Chris Rahe, Keith Rauch, Jerome Rodela, Johnny Rodriguez, Shane Scully, Ricky Shelton, Tanner Swanson, Brad Sweet & Billy Wease

69. [3 wins] Ryan Bernal, Bobby Boone, Mario Bringetto, Jr., Danny Ebberts, Shane Golobic, Jeff Gordon, Scott Hansen, Alex Harris, Robby Josett, Trey Marcham, Danny McKnight, Ryan Newman, Johnny Parsons, Scott Pierovich, Troy Rutherford, Alex Schutte & Chuck West

86. [2 wins] Floyd Alvis, Alex Bowman, Rick Bussell, Tony Elliott, Michael Faccinto, Terry Farrar, Mike Figliomeni, Bobby Grewohl, Darryl Haugh, Dennis Hart, Jeff Heywood, Gary Howard, R.J. Johnson, Josh Lakatos, Kyle Larson, Evan Margeson, Matt Mitchell, Rory Price, Stevie Reeves, Bobby Santos, Darin Snider, Michael Snider & Bryan Stanfill

109. [1 win] Mike Appio, Caleb Armstrong, Brady Bacon, Donnie Beechler, Wayne Bennet, Pat Bliss, Garratt Boyden, Greg Bragg, Larry Brown, Keith Chrisco, Michelle Decker, Larry Derwin, Kevin Doty, Dan Drinan, Dale Durbin Jr., Cory Elliott, Bob Ellis, Tommie Estes Jr., Duane Feduska, Billy Felts Jr., A.J. Fike, Joe Gaerte, Russ Gamester, Brian Gard, Damion Gardner, Cody Gerhardt, Rick Gerhardt, Frankie Guerrini, Jac Haudenschild, Lloyd Hemman, Nathan High, Rick Hood, Kenny Irwin Jr., A.J. Johnson, Jim Keene, Steve Knepper, Brad Loyet, Dallen McKenney, Shannon McQueen, Lealand McSpadden, Jeff Meyer, Andy Michner, Kevin Olson, Aaron Pollock, David Prickett, Davey Ray, C.J. Sarna, Zach Schiff, Ryan Scott, Jeremy Sherman, Graham Standring, John Starks, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Stockon, Matt Streeter, Cody Swanson, Jake Swanson, Sammy Swindell, Tanner Thorson, Richard Vander Weerd, Eric Wilkins, Rip Williams & Paul Zimmerly

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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONS

1983: Sleepy Tripp

1984: Tommy White

1985: Sleepy Tripp

1986: Robby Flock

1987: Sleepy Tripp

1988: Sleepy Tripp

1989: Robby Flock

1990: Sleepy Tripp

1991: Sleepy Tripp

1992: Sleepy Tripp

1993: Robby Flock

1994: Johnny Cofer

1995: Billy Boat

1996: Jay Drake

1997: Ricky Shelton

1998: Rick Hendrix

1999: Marc DeBeaumont

2000: Wally Pankratz

2001: Danny Ebberts

2002: Robby Flock

2003: Steve Paden

2004: Johnny Rodriguez

2005: Jerome Rodela

2006: Jerome Rodela

2007: Johnny Rodriguez

2008: Nic Faas

2009: Garrett Hansen

2010: Alex Schutte

2011: Cory Kruseman

2012: Shannon McQueen (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pave) & David Prickett (Dirt)

2013: Ronnie Gardner (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pave) & Ronnie Gardner (Dirt)

2014: Ronnie Gardner (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pavement), Ronnie Gardner (Dirt)

2015: Ronnie Gardner

[chrismattlin]

It appears that Larson and Sweet weren't quite "set" for this race:

Placerville, Calif……..Defending USAC Western Midget Champion Ronnie Gardner of Corona, Calif. opened defense of his title with a victory in Wednesday night’s “Placerville Short Track Showdown” 30-lapper at the Placerville Speedway. Wheeling the Baldozier Racing/Ram Bull Racing Stewart/Esslinger, he passed Shane Golobic on lap 12 and led the rest of the way to beat Golobic, Cody Swanson, Sean Dodenhoff and Michael Faccinto. Dodenhof led the first two laps before Golobic led the next nine.

USAC WESTERN MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: March 23, 2016 – Placerville, California – Placerville Speedway – “Placerville Short Track Showdown”

EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ronnie Gardner (#68 Six8), 2. Shane Golobic (#26 Bock), 3. Matt Streeter (#19S Sala), 4. Michael Faccinto (#35F MF), 5. Brian Gard (#88 Arata), 6. Frankie Guerrini (#35S MF), 7. Robert Dalby (#4D Dalby), 8. Tyler Dolacki (#18 Dolacki). NT

DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Danny Carroll (#9E Dodenhoff), 2. Cory Elliott (#11E Elliott), 3. Randi Pankratz (#8 Pankratz), 4. Britton Bock (#67 Bock), 5. Maria Cofer (#57 Cofer), 6. Courtney Crone (#25 Rodela), 7. Dustin Golobic (#25G Bock). NT

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Brady Bacon (#73 Ford), 2. Bryan Clauson (#25K Rodela), 3. Sean Dodenhoff (#9D Dodenhoff), 4. Cody Swanson (#71S Swanson), 5. Terry Nichols (#1P Nichols), 6. Taylor Simas (#62 Bock), 7. Nate Waite (#35W MF). NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Shane Golobic, 3. Cody Swanson, 4. Sean Dodenhoff, 5. Michael Faccinto, 6. Randi Pankratz, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Britton Bock, 9. Taylor Simas, 10. Frankie Guerrini, 11. Tyler Dolacki, 12. Terry Nichols, 13. Brian Gard, 14. Maria Cofer, 15. Matt Streeter, 16. Bryan Clauson, 17. Cory Elliott, 18. Courtney Crone, 19. Robert Dalby, 20. Nate Waite, 21. Danny Carroll, 22. Dustin Golobic. NT