Six usac speed2 midget events span coast-to-coast this weekend

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Tommy Bigelow - 8th in USAC Midwest Thunder Midget points.
Bill Miller Photo http://www.usacracing.com/news/hpd/i...t-this-weekend

USAC Speed2 Midget racing unfolds on six fronts this week, with races in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina, Vermont and California.

Chase McDermand leads the IMRA series to Saturday night’s race at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa. He is four points ahead of Adam Taylor after winning the series points opener in Burlington April 22.

Jessica Bean sits atop the Eastern standings entering Saturday’s race at East Carolina Motor Speedway in Robersonville, N.C. She also holds a four-point lead over George Kurtz. Both have won twice this year.

Toni Breidinger and Jesse Love IV are the respective point leaders going into this Saturday’s “Vukovich Classic” for the Western US Pavement Series at Madera (California) Speedway. Breidinger is 10 points up on Love in the pavement standings while Love is 22 points ahead of Annie Breidinger in the overall points.

The Midwest Thunder Midget Series competes Saturday night at Waynesfield (Ohio) Raceway Park, then travels to Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway for Sunday’s race. Alex Watson has a three-point lead over Nick Corea after winning the series points opener April 15 at Montpelier, Ind.

The 2017 USAC Speed2 DMA Midget Series debuts Saturday night at Bear Ridge Speedway. Adam Pierson has an 11-race win streak in process there and a 12th straight win would establish an all-time USAC record for a single series.

Zane Lawrence of Lillian, Texas won the first USAC Speed2 Gulf Coast Midget Championship race Friday night at Boyd Raceway, leading the final 13 laps on “Boyd Paradise Night.” He passed Zane Hendricks on lap eight and led the rest of the way to beat Kyle Jones, Hendricks, Paul White and Andrew Deal.

Weather forced cancellation of races last weekend at Canton, Ill. (IMRA) and Greenville, Texas (Gulf Coast). The Gulf Coast series resumes May 27 at Superbowl Speedway in Greenville.

2017 USAC Speed2 Eastern Midget Series Standings: 1-Jessica Bean-279, 2-George Kurtz-275, 3-Nolan Allison-255, 4-Jagger Parker-240, 5-Eric Lewis-182, 6-Chris Lamb-161, 7-Jake Trainor-157, 8-Neal Allison-142, 9-Jake Smith-139, 10-Jake Garcia-138.

2017 USAC Speed2 IMRA Midget Series Standings: 1-Chase McDermand-78, 2-Adam Taylor-74, 3-Gedd Ross-72, 4-Brent Burrows-65, 5-Jeff Mallonee-65, 6-Mitchell Davis-61, 7-Jeremy Hull-57, 8-Dillon Morley-53, 9-Broc Hunnell-49, 10-Tyson Hart-49.

2017 USAC Speed2 Western US Overall Midget Series Standings: 1-Jesse Love IV-236, 2-Annuie Breidinger-214, 3-Tom Paterson-201, 4-Blake Brannon-183, 5-Toni Breidinger-168, 6-Adam Lemke-155, 7-Antonia Boscacci-54, 8-Cody Jessop-62, 9-Johnny Nichols-60. 10-Jeremy Speck-58.

2017 USAC Speed2 Western US Pavement Midget Series Standings: 1-Toni Breidinger-168, 2-Jesse Love IV-158, 3-Annie Breidinger-140, 4-Tom Paterson-129, 5-Blake Brannon-123, 6-Adam Lemke-90, 7-Antonia Boscacci-87, 8-Cody Jessop-62, 9-Johnny Nichols-60, 10-Joey Iest-56.

2017 USAC Speed2 Midwest Thunder Midget Series Standings: 1-Alex Watson-70, 2-Nick Corea-67, 3-Corey Bedwell-64, 4-Aaron Leffel-61, 5-Korbyn Hayslett-58, 6-Ron Coleman-55, 7-Chris Whipple-52, 8-Tommy Bigelow-49, 9-Jon Watson-46, 10-Tom Hessel-43.