BAKERSFIELD, CAL. (March 16, 2019) – A brand new era of the Bay Cities Racing Association was ushered in on Friday night as the first chapter of the POWRi BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series was written. Opening the 2019 season at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, California, Chase Johnson topped a field of 17 cars to earn his first-career POWRi BCRA Midget victory.
Starting the main event from fifth, Johnson immediately guided the Morris Motorsports No. 47M to the front of the field, securing the lead on lap three. From there, it was all about defense for the Penngrove, California native. The former Chili Bowl main event starter fended off the likes of Cofer, Liggett and Swanson en route to a dominating victory at the Kern County Raceway Park. Johnson’s victory helped kick off the newly-formed partnership between POWRi and BCRA with a first-time winner in the POWRi BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series.
Rounding out the top five behind Chase Johnson was Jake Swanson with a second-place finish, Maria Cofer in the third spot, Austin Liggett managing a fourth-place finish, and Robert Dalby with a fifth-place run. Closing out the top ten was Shannon McQueen in sixth, Ben Worth in seventh, Terry Nichols in eighth, Troy Morris III in ninth and Kyle Beilman in tenth.
Austin Liggett topped qualifying with a time of 15.233 seconds at a blistering pace of 78.698 MPH. Heat race victories were shared by Liggett, Cory Elliott and Maria Cofer.
On tap next for the POWRi BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series is the first pavement event of the year tonight, March 16 at Madera Speedway.
Qualifying (2 Laps):
- 83-Austin Liggett (15.233); 2. 47M-Chase Johnson (15.311); 3. 57-Maria Cofer (15.331); 4. 4-Robert Dalby (15.583); 5. 11E-Cory Elliott (15.594); 6. 7-Shannon McQueen (15.702); 7. 73K-Jake Swanson (15.784); 8. 63-Frankie Guerinni (15.789); 9. 31K-Kyle Beilman (15.831); 10. 5G-Ben Worth (15.930); 11. 1P-Terry Nichols (16.010); 12. 11K-Gage Rucker (16.066); 13. 71R-Michael Faccinto (16.105); 14. 73-Dylan Ito (16.142); 15. 1N-Troy Morris III (16.158); 16. 20-CJ Sarna (16.325); 17. 99-Robert Carson (NT).
Heat One (8 Laps):
- 83-Austin Liggett (4); 2. 73K-Jake Swanson (3); 3. 4-Robert Dalby (6); 4. 5G-Ben Worth (5); 5. 71R-Michael Faccinto (1); 6. 20-CJ Sarna (2)
Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 11E-Cory Elliott (3); 2. 47M-Chase Johnson (5); 3. 1P-Terry Nichols (1); 4. 63-Frankie Guerinni (4); 5. 73-Dylan Ito (2); 6. 99-Robert Carson (6).
Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 57-Maria Cofer (3); 2. 7-Shannon McQueen (4); 3. 1N-Troy Morris (5); 4. 31K-Kyle Beilman (2); 5. 11K-Gage Rucker (1)
Main Event (25 Laps):
- 47M-Chase Johnson (5); 2. 73K-Jake Swanson (4); 3. 57-Maria Cofer (3); 4. 83-Austin Liggett (1); 5. 4-Robert Dalby (6); 6. 7-Shannon McQueen (7); 7. 5G-Ben Worth (8); 8. 1P-Terry Nichols (10); 9. 1N-Troy Morris III (15); 10. 31K-Kyle Beilman (9); 11. 11K-Gage Rucker (13); 12. 20-CJ Sarna (14); 13. 99-Robert Carson (16); 14. 73-Dylan Ito (12); 15. 11E-Cory Elliott (2); 16. 71R-Michael Faccinto (11); 17. 63-Frankie Guerinni (DNS).