BOYDEN CAPTURES WIN IN MIDGET COMBO AT MADERA

MADERA, CA., JULY 22: Garratt Boyden took his first midget win over a stellar field in the co-sanctioned Bay Cities Racing Association and Western States United States Auto Club midget feature at the Madera Speedway. The competitors were met with 113-degree temperatures and track conditions above 140.
USAC point leader Jerome Rodela charged into the lead aboard the Chris VanDyne Beast/VanDyne from the pole position over outside challenger Alfred Galedrige on the third-mile paved oval. Evan Margeson moved his Beast into the second slot at the conclusion of the second lap as third-row starter "Surfer Dude" Boyden moved into the fourth position. On the third lap contact was made between Boyden and Galedrige with the Galedrige Beast/Ford spinning in the fourth turn for the first caution flag.
Boyden continued his charge in this Beast/Esslinger, moving under Margeson on several occasions before making good his bid for second on the seventh circuit. Scott Pierovich now held fourth over Shannon McQueen.
On the 12th round Boyden dueled Rodela and moved into the lead, only to give up the position when the caution flag came out for Tyler Brown's spin in turn-two. At the resumption Boyden continued his siege of Rodela with the defending USAC champ holding off the attempts.
Exiting the fourth turn on the 20th lap Boyden squeaked under Rodela to take the lead by less that half a car length at the line. That proved to be enough as the caution again appeared on the 21st lap as contact was made between David Prickett and Floyd Alvis, sending the Alvis machine into a turn-four spin. During the caution Dallen McKinney was relegated to the infield with a suspension part dragging on the track.
At the green it was Boyden, Rodela, Margeson, Pierovich and Ryan Kaplan over McQueen. Ben Petter pressured McQueen and took over sixth with a turn-one inside pass. Now on the high side, McQueen was unable to move to the lower groove and she was dropped several more positions.
The final caution appeared on the 27th lap when contact was made between Prickett and Scott Nail, sending both into a spin in turn-two, narrowly missing contact with the wall. Nail continued while Prickett pitted after push-off with a sticking throttle.
From this point it was easy sailing for Boyden, taking his first full midget win to add to his several-year-old Ford Focus victory. Rodela crossed the line in second over Margeson, Pierovich, Kaplan, Petter, Brad Curtis and McQueen, with Chase Barber, Galedrige, Travis Berryhill and John Sarale trailing. Rookie Justin Grant brought up the 13th over Brown, Danny Parker, Eddie Abrew, Alvis and Nail, all finishing the full 30-laps.
The WMRA's Brad Curtis out-qualified the field on the hot and slick track. Berryhill won the first heat race over Brown and Parker. Chase Barber won the second 10-lapper ahead of Alvis and Grant. The third heat, made up of the ten fastest qualifiers, was taken by Kaplan over Dallen McKinney and Boyden.
Rodela stretched his narrow three-point lead entering the Madera race over Brown for the USAC Western States championship and Sarale gained one-marker on Berryhill in the BCRA title chase to now lead by two points.
SUMMARY: QUAL.: 1. Brad Curtis, #12 Curtis 14.165; 2. Ryan Kaplan, #21 Kaplan 14.185; 3. Ben Petter, $22 Petter 14.191; 4. Dallen McKinney, #88 McKinney 14.227; 5. Scott Pierovich, #35 Pierovich 14.291; 6. Garratt Boyden, #42 Boyden 14.341; 7. Shannon McQueen, #7 McQueen 14.378; 8. Evan Margeson, #11X Margeson 14.379; 9. Alfred Galedrige, #26 Galedrige 14.395; 10. Jerome Rodela, #5 VanDyne 14.479; 11. Travis Berryhill, #11 Berryhill 14.520; 12. Chase Barber, #91 Barber 14.583; 13. Tyler Brown, #34 Brown 14.713; 14. Floyd Alvis, #18 Alvis 14.740; 15. Justin Grant, #30 Grant 14.837; 16. David Prickett, #15 Prickett 14.837; 17. Scott Nail, #10 Walker 14.840; 18. Stuart Birkinbine, #02 Birkinbine 14.872; 19. Danny Parker, #38 Parker 14.933; 20. John Sarale, #32 Sarale 14.966; 21. Eddie Abrew, #25 Abrew 15.046; 22. Mike Donaldson, #87 Donaldson N/T/.
HEAT-1: Berryhill, Brown, Parker, Nail, Abrew, Prickett.
HEAT-2: Barber, Alvis, Grant, Sarale, Birkinbine.
HEAT-3: Kaplan, McKinney, Boyden, Curtis, Pierovich, Margeson, McQueen, Petter, Galedrige, Rodela.
MAIN: 1. Garratt Boyden, 2. Jerome Rodela, 3. Evan Margeson, 4. Scott Pierovich, 5. Ryan Kaplan, 6. Ben Petter, 7. Brad Curtis, 8. Shannon McQueen, 9. Chase Brber, 10. Alfred Galedrige, 11. Travis Berryhill, 12. John Sarale, 13. Justin Grant, 14. Tyler Brown, 15. Danny Parker, 16. Eddie Abrew, 17. Floyd Alvis, 18. Scott Nail, 19. Stuart Birkinbine, 20. David Prickett, 21. Dallen McKinney. Mike Donaldson N/S.
LAP LEADERS: 1-19 Rodela, 20-30 Boyden

NOTES: With the excessively high temperatures, many of the drivers stated that they felt as though they were on fire at the conclusion of the main event. Brad Curtis was treated for a blister burn on the inside of a leg from heat generated from the in-out box in his car. Rookie Justin Grant had to continually shift his hands to different steering wheel positions because of the heat that was affecting him through the gloves.