KAPLAN CAPTURES SHASTA PORTER MEMORIAL MIDGET FEATURE

ANDERSON, CA, SEPT. 23: Ryan Kaplan battled his way to the win in the 3rd Annual "Pop Porter Memorial" 40-lap midget feature, sanctioned by the Bay Cities Racing Association and United States Auto Club. Establishing a new one-lap track record on the 3/8-mile paved oval, Kaplan's Mopar powered Stealth started the 24-car main event in the tenth position.
Evan Margeson, one of six entries from the Washington Midget Racing Association, jumped into the initial lead from the outside front row over pole-sitter Stuart Birkinbine. Scott Pierovich held third over Ben Petter and Chase Barber as the tightly-paced field navigated the fast oval without incident.
Moving quickly from his ninth starting berth, Bobby Grewohl powered the DeBeaumont Ed Pink Ford Best into the fifth slot by the second lap, displacing Barber's Pink Ford Beast for fourth one lap later. Barber battled back and regained the spot at the line on the seventh round as Kaplan moved into the battle, taking Petter for sixth.
On the ninth lap the first caution flag was unfurled as Pierovich slowed and coasted to a stop at the end of the front straight with mechanical ills.
Margeson and Birkinbine held bay over the battle for third.
Barber inherited third with Pierovich's demise. Grewohl was now fourth over Kaplan, Petter, Bradley Galedrige, Travis Berryhill, Brea Lopez, Dallas Melby and Shannon McQueen. John Sarale brought up 12th over Skeeter Flake and Garratt Boyden.
As Birkinbine pressured Margeson for the lead, Grewohl and Kaplan separated themselves from the pack and began putting serious pressure on the second-place runner. On the 11th circuit Wrewohl moved by Birkinbine for second. On the next lap Kaplan made good his bid for third, dropping Birkinbine to fourth.
On the 14th round Flake spun exiting the fourth turn to bring out the yellow flag.
Margeson continued his lead under pressure from Grewohl and Kaplan. Barber was now up to fifth over Petter and Galedrige. Merging up to contact the front-runners was Spence Gatrell in eighth over Lopez and Melby.
On the 17th lap Grewohl and Kaplan made their move on the leader as they trio exited the fourth turn. Grewohl nosed under Margeson as Kaplan chose the outside with both out-racing the early leader to the line. Securely in the top-two spots, the battle for the lead escalated with Kaplan making several attempts, only to be thwarted by Grewohl.
On the 21st circuit Kaplan made it stick as he nudged under Grewohl entering the first turn and took the lead.
The leaders began to pull away for the other 16 cars that were still on-track. The final caution flag came on the 26th lap as Margeson and Barber made contact at the end of the front straightaway. Both cars spun toward the track exit, stopping just short of the wall. Margeson was able to restart, but Barber's Beast was lifted and towed to the pits.
At the green Kaplan held bay over Grewohl, followed by Birkinbine, Petter, Gatrell, Melby, Lopez and McQueen. Gatrell aced Petter for fourth on the 28th circuit. McQueen continually pressured her fellow lady driver Lopez, but could not gain the position.
The race continued to its 40-lap conclusion with Kaplan taking the checkered flag over Grewohl, Birkinbine, Gatrell, Petter, Melby, Lopez, McQueen, Sarale, Ralph Cortez, Flake and Gary Dickenson on the leader's lap.
Following the checkered flag, as the cars made their final ttip into the first turn, Floyd Alvis and Flake made contact with Flake's Beast/Ford projected to the wall, receiving severe damage to the chassis.
Four drivers set a new one-lap track record for the midgets, with Kaplan outqualifying the 25-car field with a time of 14.829.
Brea Lopez won the fist heat over Travis Berryhill and Shannon McQueen. Dallas Melby took the second heat race over Skeeter Flake and Garratt Boyden. The third heat, made up with the top-ten qualifiers, went to Ryan Kaplan over Bobby Grewohl and Bradley Galedrige. Chase Barber took the trophy dash.
NOTES: The win marked the second of the season for Kaplan in both organizations. He maintains 6th in the BCRA point standings and is 6th in USAC. With the top three USAC point men, Jerome Rodela, Tyler Brown and Garratt Hansen not running Shasta, second-place Chase Barber has moved closer to Rodela for the USAC championship.
The one-two finish was a reversal of the recent Madera USAC race that was won by Grewohl with Kaplan second. Kaplan's car is maintined by Marc DeBeaumont and he owns the car driven by Grewohl.
Berryhill completed only 11 laps and found that the electrode on one of the spark plugs had broken off. Darrin Bolton, making his first start on pavement with his new car, experienced the lack of power steering all evening, then lost his brakes in the feature to drop out after nine laps, but he moved from ninth to seventh in the standings. Rookie Justin Grant was the fastest BCRA qualifier at sixth, but mechanical problems forced him to retire before the green flag.
Car count: 12 BCRA, 2 USAC, 6 WMRA and 5 BCRA/USAC. Idaho's Birkinbine is regarded as USAC.

SUMMARY:

QUAL.: 1. Ryan Kaplan, #21 Kaplan 14.829 (Record); 2. Bobby Grewohl, #11 DeBeaumont 14.895; 3. Bradley Galedrige, #29 Galdrige 14.950; 4. Chase Barber, #91 Barber 14.951; 5. Garratt Gatrell, #8X Gatrell 15.001; 6. Justin Grant, #30 Grant 15.005; 7.
Ben Petter, #22 Petter 15.087; 8. Scott Pierovich, #35 Pierovich 15.109; 9. Evan Margeson, #50 Beal 15.131; 10. Stuart Birkinbine, #02 Birkinbine 15.158; 11. Brea Lopez, #25 Lopez 15.191; 12. Skeeter Flake, #17 Flake 15.198; 13. Shannon McQueen, #7 McQueen 15.255; 14.
Garratt Boyden, #42 Boyden 15.268; 15. Travis Berryhill, #11X Berryhill 15.273; 16. Dallas Melby, #9 Melby 15.314; 17. John Sarale,
#32 Sarale 15.348; 18. Gary Dickenson, #8 Dickenson 15.549; 19. Floyd Alvis, #18 Alvis 15.610; 20. Ralph Cortez, #31 Cortez 15.734; 21.
Eddie Abrew, #25X Abrew 15.765; 22. David Prickett, #15 Prickett 15.766; 23. Mike Donaldson, #87 Donaldson 16.052; 24. Darrin Bolton, #XX Bolton 16.098; 25. Rick Faeth, #3 Faeth 16.130.
HEAT-1: Lopez, Berryhill, McQueen, Sarale, Abrew, Alvis, Faeth, Dickenson.
HEAT-2: Melby, Flake, Boyden, Cortez, Dickenson, Prickett, Bolton.
HEAT-3: Kaplan, Grewohl, Galedrige, Barber, Gatrell, Pierovich, Petter, Margeson, Birkinbine, Grant.
MAIN: 1. Ryan Kaplan, 2. Bobby Grewohl, 3. Stuart Birkinbine, 4. Garratt Gatrell, 5. Ben Petter, 6. Dallas Melby, 7. Brea Lopez, 8.
Shannon McQueen, 9. John Sarale, 10. Ralph Cortez, 11. Skeeter Flake, 12. Gary Dickenson, 13. Eddie Abrew, 14. David Prickett, 15. Evan Margeson, 16. Floyd Alvis, 17. Rick Faeth, 18. Garratt Boyden, 19.
Chase Barber, 20. Bradley Galedrige, 21. Mike Donaldson, 22. Travis Berryhill, 23. Darrin Bolton, 24. Scott Pierovich, 25. Justin Grant (NS).