WATSONVILLE, Calif. — Fifteen-year-old Bryant Bell steered the Walnut Creek Toyota-sponsored No. 09 Stealth from 11th to victory in Friday’s Western Midget Racing action at Ocean Speedway.
The win was Bell’s second of his career at the dirt quarter-mile in the series which is presented by Masters Design and Construction.
Brody Petrie and 2021 champion Blake Bower won the heat races and led the field to green in the 20-lap main event.
The race slowed immediately when David Prickett slowed in turn two. He was unable to continue. Bower challenged Petrie from the outside but Petrie held the top position on the restart. Sage Bordenave closed on Bower for second but spun exiting turn two and tagged an infield tire.
The spin brought out a caution and ended Bordenave’s run. Logan Mitchell slowed on the backstretch on the restart for an additional caution.
Petrie continued to pace Bower in a tight duel at the front of the pack when Steve Durant spun in turn one for a caution on lap 14.
The exclamation point of the race arrived on the restart as Bower and Petrie collided into turn one. Petrie spun, then collected Todd Hawse. Hawse flipped to a stop with both cars suffering race-ending damage. After a red flag,
Nate Wait assumed the lead with pressure from Bell.
Bell knifed inside Wait on the frontstretch as they approached the white flag, taking the lead into turn one on the 19th lap.
Bell topped Wait, Kyle Hawse, Bower and Caleb Debem as the top-five finishers.
The finish:
Feature (20 laps): 1. 09 Bryant Bell, 2. 20w Nate Wait, 3. 20 Kyle Hawse, 4. 9 Blake Bower, 5. 11 Caleb Debem, 6. 35 Steve Durant, 7. 35SR Brody Petrie, 8. 31N Todd Hawse, 9. 35X Sage Bordenave, 10. 96X Logan Mitchell, 11. 22Q David Prickett DNS: 10 Terre Rothweiler, 27c Shawn Arriaga