Krawiec Wins Third Straight USAC DMA Feature at Bear Ridge Speedway
BRADFORD, VT – “Flatfoot” Joe Krawiec of Bristol, CT came from a ninth starting spot to win his third consecutive USAC Dirt Midget Association feature at Bear Ridge Speedway Saturday night. Going where angels fear to tread by running high and outside whenever traffic allowed, Krawiec dove to the inside on a mid-race restart to grab the lead and finish 1.8 seconds ahead of Scott Holcomb of Granby, CT. Veteran Pro Stock, Supermodified and NEMA Midget racer Jeff Horn of Hudson, MA was third, Hall of Famer Ray Miller was fourth and Dana Shaw, running his first full season in a Midget, continued to impress by finishing fifth.
After finding a defective electrical connection that has intermittently slowed him all season, Holcomb looked like the man to beat in the feature, taking the lead from Jeff Horn on lap four and stretching it out to a comfortable margin. After working his way through the pack, Krawiec was only able to nibble away at Holcomb’s lead until a restart on lap 14 proved to be Holcomb’s undoing.
“It’s getting tougher and tougher every week and I really needed that caution tonight,” Krawiec said. “Scott was running the bottom and he got just a little high on the restart so I was able to get my nose in underneath him. He fought me hard- like he should have – I was expecting him to push me down even farther, but he didn’t’ do that. He’s a very clean driver and it’s fun racing with him because we have mutual respect.”
“I’m not sure what happened,” an honest Holcomb said after the race. “My right rear tire is old maybe that was it; I’ll change it for next time. I was able to hold the car wide open in turns three and four because there was enough moisture to get a good grip, but I just didn’t have anything for Joe, he was just better than me tonight. The bottom was fast too so that’s where I went, but Joe was faster at the top.”
An interesting wreck early in the race involved Greg Olson along with teammates Ray Miller and Scott Viets. Olson left on the hook and Viets never recovered to his outstanding heat race level of performance, but Miller worked his way back through the field to finish fourth.
Reliving the days of the barn storming IMCA county fair circuit in the 1930’s, a Challenge of Champions Match Race between a USAC DMA Midget and a SCoNE Sprint Car was added to the schedule. Kevin Chaffee in the Sprint Car narrowly defeated Joe Krawiec in the Midget during the crowd pleasing event.
The USAC DMA Midgets return to Bear Ridge Speedway for their next race on Saturday July 16.
Notes: Dr. Dick Berggren spent a weekend off from his duties on Speed TV and FOX visiting the USAC DMA Midgets at Bear Ridge in response to an invitation from Skip Matczak. Berggren appeared to enjoy the show and spent a considerable amount of time on the infield using his camera to capture the Midget action. He especially enjoyed the old school appearing Midget that Scott Viets put together for car owner Ray Miller…. Karl Fredrickson, publisher of Speedway Illustrated was also in the house, fielding offers to drive Modifieds and Late Models. He promised to return and do just that… Former Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Denny Zimmerman made his first start of the season, requesting to start from the rear until he cleaned the cobwebs out. He finished eighth in the feature… You couldn’t tell the players without a scorecard this week: Jeff Horn moved from the #27 to the #1R to accommodate Jim Mossman’s work schedule as a letter carrier. Vince Jacobs took Horn’s place in Rusty Tefft’s #27 but ran into trouble during hot laps. He missed his heat while radius roads and suspension components were being replaced and finished 11th in the feature. Jacobs recently drove a Bobby Seymour NEMA Lite to a fifth place finish at the Waterford Speedbowl.
The USAC DMA Midgets return to Bear Ridge Speedway for another exciting show on Saturday July 16. Check out our website at www.dmaracing.org or more information and updates.
USAC DMA FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Joe Krawiec, 2. Scott Holcomb, 3. Jeff Horn, 4. Ray Miller, 5. Dana Shaw, 6. David Rose, 7. Tim Gallant, 8. Denny Zimmerman, 9. Dean Christensen, 10. Jamie Spalding, 11. Vince Jacobs, 12. Scott Viets, 13. Greg Olson. Heat winners: Joe Krawiec and David Rose, Jr.
Sources: Mark McKeon