USAC Midget/Sprint Car

The weekend tour began at the 5/8-mile paved oval at the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in Wisconsin on Friday evening, where Dave Darland continued his hot streak by leading flag-to-flag to capture the 30-lap feature event. Teammate Kody Swanson finished second, making it a Toyota sweep of the top two positions.

The following night the tour arrived at the ultra-fast quarter-mile paved Slinger Speedway in Slinger, Wis., where Swanson and Darland finished fifth and ninth, respectively. The finale moved to Rockford Speedway in Illinois on Sunday afternoon, where Swanson finished fourth and Darland 14th.

Swanson proved to be an ace qualifier at both LaCrosse and Rockford, as he led the way with record-shattering qualifying runs at both events.

The tour provided an opportunity for both drivers to advance in the USAC National Midget Car standings. Going into the weekend Swanson and Darland were sixth and eighth respectively, but as the cars quieted on Sunday afternoon Swanson found himself in third place in points, with Darland advancing to seventh.

"Not a bad weekend," said Swanson. "We were pleased with our qualifying effort, it's always exciting when you break the track record. We chased Dave on Friday night and finished second, and (at Rockford) we actually made a pass for the lead but the caution came out and we had to give it back. Then we got roughed out of the way a little bit at the finish and shuffled back to fourth.

"I'm pleased as a team that we were so solid at all three events, but as a driver I wanted to win at least one of them. I'm grateful for Toyota and this team, they work with me real well each night to get the car fast. Now it's on to O'Reilly Raceway Park, I'm looking forward to that race because I've had some success there in the past."

"We were happy to win the opener, but we struggled a little bit to find the handle at the other two races," Darland admitted. "Our race car on Friday night was really good, and we had a close race with Tracy Hines through the first half of the race. About the time I put some distance on Tracy, Kody worked his way up to second and we had a great race. He showed me his nose a couple of times and it was a really good run for both of us.

"I'm excited about where the team is at this point. We continue to get stronger, and the engine has developed very nicely. Our issue is finding the handle at some of these tracks, and we'll keep working on that, but we're plenty good on horsepower."

The next outing for the Toyota-powered Lewis Racing is the prestigious "Night Before the 500" on Saturday night, May 24 at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CAR STANDINGS

Pos Driver Team Points (behind)
3 Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, CA Lewis Racing No. 19 -25
7 Dave Darland, Lincoln, IN Lewis Racing No. 9 -84

PRODUCTIVE WEEKEND FOR TOYOTA IN CALIFORNIA USAC COMPETITION

Toyota continued to progress in USAC competition on the West Coast this weekend, competing in two open wheel events in the Golden State on Saturday night (May 17).

Nic Faas took the lead in the USAC Western Midget Car Series point standings at Ventura Raceway, one of the most exciting and competitive midget car venues in the U.S. Faas overcame early diversity to thrill the audience with a spirited charge through the pack to finish eighth in the 30-lap feature on the 1/5-mile dirt oval. His strong showing vaulted him past Scott Pierovich in the season point standings.

Faas was aboard an entry fielded by Western Speed Enterprises, powered by a 166-ci in-line four-cylinder engine prepared by Ed Pink Racing Engines. The Western Midget Car Series—and the torrid point battle between Faas and Pierovich—returns to Ventura on June 14.

"We had a good car all night long," said Faas. "I started sixth in my heat and was going along all right when our front end broke, and we finished last. That really put us in a tough spot for the feature, where we started 17th. But the Toyota powerplant really worked well, because we had plenty of torque and our setup was also good. I got going pretty well in the feature, and passed a lot of cars to finish eighth. All in all it was a good night considering our setback in the heat race."

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS

1 Nic Faas, Huntington Beach, CA Western Speed No. 40 +15

In Western Sprint Car competition, three Toyota-powered entries were on hand on the quarter-mile paved oval at Altamont Motorsports Park, located some 60 miles east of San Francisco. Chase Scott was the best qualifier from the Toyota ranks, timing fourth among a field of 18 cars.

The 50-lap feature proved difficult for the Toyota brigade, as Tim Skoglund and Scott finished 15th and 16th, respectively, while multi-time USAC western champion Tony Hunt came home 11th. Skoglund and Scott were in cars fielded by Western Speed Enterprises, while Hunt was aboard a Team Kaiser entry. All were powered by a 355-ci V8 Toyota engine prepared by TRD.

The next outing for the Western Sprint Car series is set for May 31 at Roseville, California's quarter-mile high-banked All American Speedway.

"We were doing pretty well in the main event until our power steering fitting cracked and we lost our fluid," related Skoglund. Our car was good, though. We started 10th and I was sixth when the fitting broke, and was preparing to make my run just past the halfway point of the race. I ran second in my heat race, and really felt good about the feature. I kind of messed myself up in qualifying because I got greedy…our car was really fast, and I wanted to set fast time and pushed too hard, and that killed our time. But our car was very good tonight, so I feel good about our prospects going forward."

USAC WESTERN SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS

7 Chase Scott, Concord, NC Western Speed No. 60 -117
8 (tie) Tony Hunt, Lincoln, CA Kaiser No. 4 -127
Tim Skoglund, Fresno, CA Western Speed No. 40 -127