ALTAMAHAW, N.C. – It took Jessica Bean 18 months to earn her 11th career USAC Speed2 Eastern Midget Ass’n victory, but it was less than 24 hours later before she picked up EMA win No. 12.
Bean completed a sweep of the series’ two-day weekend at Ace Speedway with a dominant drive to victory Saturday after starting from sixth on the grid.
Qualifying was scrapped on Saturday morning in a race to beat impending weather, with an inversion of the top six finishers from Friday’s feature helping to set the starting lineup, and the 35-lap distance was trimmed to 30 laps as well – matching the previous night’s scorecard.
None of that was any consequence to the Farmland, Ind., racer. Bean took just nine laps to get to the front, diving past polesitter and early leader Connor Gross in turn one and then pacing the final 22 circuits for her second win in as many nights.
The victory also helped Bean to essentially clinch her third EMA title ahead of the series’ finale on Nov. 2 at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.
“I don’t want to get the cart ahead of the horse,” said Bean when told of that fact, “but we really needed this weekend. After all the second-place finishes we had earlier in the year, to come in with high hopes and leave with two trophies is a big deal for everyone that works on this No. 5 car.
“This car might have even been better tonight than it was on Friday,” added Bean, who was also the night’s hard charger. “It was almost perfect. Two weeks ago we wrecked it, so we went through everything to make sure it was right before coming here and we obviously brought a rocket.”
Gross hung on for second despite stiff challenges from Chris Lamb in the final laps. Lamb filled out the podium, ahead of the sibling duo of Neal Allison and Nolan Allison.
The USAC Speed2 Eastern Midget Ass’n season concludes on Nov. 2 at Fairground Speedway Nashville.
RESULTS: USAC Speed2 Eastern Midget Ass’n; Ace Speedway; Oct. 19, 2019
Qualifying: None due to weather
Feature (30 laps): 1. #5 – Jessica Bean (6), 2. #14 – Connor Gross (1), 3. #9 – Chris Lamb (4), 4. #15 – Neal Allison (2), 5. #16 – Nolan Allison (5), 6. #75 – Levi Riffle (3), 7. #22 – Alex Murray (7), 8. #35 – Preston Lattomous (9), 9. #28 – Hunter Wise (10), 10. #31 – Sam Mazzo (13), 11. #12 – Mason Hoskins (8), 12. #8 – Daytona Spicola (11), 13. #87 – Braeden Allum (12).
Lap Leader(s): Connor Gross 1-8, Jessica Bean 9-30.
Hard Charger: #5 – Jessica Bean (+5)