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Sweet Sweeps Knoxville Midget Nationals
By Bob Wilson

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 21) Brad Sweet of Grass Valley, California captured both the Friday and Saturday portions of the 7th annual Knoxville Midget Nationals. Friday he was crowned King Doodlebug VI and 24-hours later he led nearly every lap of the championship feature to place his name on the list of Nationals champions at this central Iowa race track.

Sweet, who started on the pole of the 25-lap feature event, beat fellow front row starter Michael Pickens (Auckland, N.Z.) to the first turn and rolled his Kasey Kahne Racing/Mopar midget on the cushion to grab the first of many circuits of this race. Cole Whitt, also of California, filled in behind him but could not keep pace with the fleet Sweet. By lap 10 he was nearly half a front chute ahead of Whitt on this giant half-mile dirt oval. Behind him Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tucson, Arizona), Dave Darland (Lincoln, Indiana) and Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) slugged it out for the third spot.

A yellow slowed the action of the 26 starters when Brad Kuhn lost a left-rear tire in turn one. He did not restart. Just prior to that incident, Coons had taken the runner-up spot in the race.

On the restart it was Sweet, Coons, Bacon, Pickens and Darland in that order. The battle at this point was really for second through fifth on the track and again a yellow was displayed slowing the field on lap eighteen.

On the restart, Coons dove to the bottom in turns one and two while Sweet took to the high cushion. Coming out of turn two the duo were side by side and down the backstretch Coons assumed the lead. Coons kept that spot for one more circuit but on lap twenty, Sweet dove hard into turn three and came out of turn four with the lead again. Coons tried to maintain momentum on the bottom of the oval but could not keep up with the leader. Bacon took third for good two laps later and relegated Pickens back to fourth. And, that’s the way it stayed to the end as Sweet celebrated his $3,350 win flashing past the finish line.

Darren Hagen, Riverside, California was fifth. Completing the top ten finishers were Whitt, Ricky Stenhouse of Olive Branch, Mississippi (the defending champion), Tracy Hines of New Castle, Indiana, Darland and Mike Hess of Riverton, Illinois.
38 cars competed on this final night of competition sanctioned by USAC. Other sanctioning bodies of this event were BMARA, POWRi and SMRS.


USAC Midgets RESULTS

Heat 1, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Darren Hagen, Riverside CA; 2. Chris Windom, Canton IL; 3. Tracy Hines, New Castle IN; 4. Brent Beauchamp, Fairland IN; 5. Levi Jones, Avon IN; 6. Brad Kuhn, Avon IN; 7. Bubba Altig, Mechanicsburg IL; 8. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln NE; 9. Matt Smith, Newcastle, NSW, Aust. ; 10. Scott Hatton, Roscoe IL;

Heat 2, 8 laps, 2:40.9: 1. Danny Stratton, Fontana CA; 2. Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills MO; 3. Russ Harper, Watkins CO; 4. Mike Hess, Riverton IL; 5. AJ Fike, Galesburg IL; 6. Kody Swanson, Kingsburg CA; 7. Bradley Galedrige, Los Altos CA; 8. David Gough, Machesney Park IL; 9. Ryan Criswell, Mt. Vernon IL;

Heat 3, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Gary Taylor, Snohomish WA; 2. Dave Darland, Lincoln IN; 3. Dustin Morgan, Owasso OK; 4. Tim Noble, Janesville WI; 5. Kevin Swindell, Germantown TN; 6. Austin Brown, Millstadt IL; 7. Chad McDaniel, Concordia KS; 8. Daniel Robinson, Wayne City IL; 9. Don OKeefe Jr., Pittsboro IN;

Heat 4, 8 laps, 2:40.5: 1. Chad Boat, Phoenix AZ; 2. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow OK; 3. Donnie Ray Crawford, Broken Arrow OK; 4. Brett Anderson, Belleville IL; 5. Alfred Galedrige Jr, Los Altos Ca; 6. Aaron Fiscus, Sun Prairie WI; 7. Jason Holt, Brownsburg IN; 8. Will Pierce, Lees Summit MO; 9. Robby Ross, St. Joseph MO;

B Feature 1, 10 laps, No Time: 1. Brad Kuhn, Avon IN; 2. Levi Jones, Avon IN; 3. Brent Beauchamp, Fairland IN; 4. Bradley Galedrige, Los Altos CA; 5. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln NE; 6. Donnie Ray Crawford, Broken Arrow OK; 7. Scott Hatton, Roscoe IL; 8. Don OKeefe Jr., Pittsboro IN; 9. Tim Noble, Janesville WI; 10. Kevin Swindell, Germantown TN;

B Feature 2, 10 laps, 3:34.5: 1. Bubba Altig, Mechanicsburg IL; 2. Brett Anderson, Belleville IL; 3. AJ Fike, Galesburg IL; 4. Kody Swanson, Kingsburg CA; 5. Aaron Fiscus, Sun Prairie WI; 6. Ryan Criswell, Mt. Vernon IL; 7. David Gough, Machesney Park IL; 8. Jason Holt, Brownsburg IN; 9. Robby Ross, St. Joseph MO; 10. Will Pierce, Lees Summit MO; 11. Alfred Galedrige Jr, Los Altos Ca; 12. Austin Brown, Millstadt IL;

A Feature, 25 laps, No Time: 1. Brad Sweet, Grass Valley CA; 2. Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson AZ; 3. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow OK; 4. Michael Pickens, Auckland, NZ ; 5. Darren Hagen, Riverside CA; 6. Cole Whitt, Alpine CA; 7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch MS; 8. Tracy Hines, New Castle IN; 9. Dave Darland, Lincoln IN; 10. Mike Hess, Riverton IL; 11. Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills MO; 12. Bobby East, Brownsburg IN; 13. Chris Windom, Canton IL; 14. AJ Fike, Galesburg IL; 15. Levi Jones, Avon IN; 16. Scott Hatton, Roscoe IL; 17. Aaron Fiscus, Sun Prairie WI; 18. Kody Swanson, Kingsburg CA; 19. Bubba Altig, Mechanicsburg IL; 20. Brett Anderson, Belleville IL; 21. Russ Harper, Watkins CO; 22. Brent Beauchamp, Fairland IN; 23. Gary Taylor, Snohomish WA; 24. Chad Boat, Phoenix AZ; 25. Brad Kuhn, Avon IN; 26. Dustin Morgan, Owasso OK.

Lap Leader: Sweet 1-17; Coons, Jr. 18-19; Sweet 20-25