2012 Belleville Midget Nationals, Friday 8-3

  The first person I saw when I got to Belleville Friday afternoon was Darren Hagen at Casey's. I asked him if there were any more teams and he just shook his head and said only Caleb Armstrong had arrived. So much for the other teams that had said they were coming. 

  The weather called for a chance of thunderstorms and it even showered a bit, but it only lasted long enough to get one of those little $.99 rain ponchos out of its packet. If I hadn't had one, it would have poured.

  One of the first people I went to see was Patrick Stasa. I was hoping his engine problem had turned out to be repairable, but it wasn't. That was a real shame. Patrick is a great guy and I had high expectations for him and his brother Jeff this weekend. 

  One thing everyone was talking about was whether or not Jerry Coons Jr would look as dominant on the big track as he had on the little one and if so, would he be able to pick up his third Belleville Midget Nationals championship. By night's end, he had proven he was indeed a heavy favorite.

  The URSS sprints were also on hand Friday, so there was plenty of racing to keep the crowd entertained.

  You can get a good recap of the race by reading Brian Gapinsky's report over on Midget Madness. Thanks to him for the report.

http://www.midgetmadness.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23267 
 One advantage to the smaller car count is not having to decide which to use when there are two pics I'd like to use. Some of the shots taken are softer than I like, but there was a spot near me where many of the cars did a quick little wheel stand. Nothing like yesterday's performances on the small track, but you don't see this very often on the half mile.

Friday's winner, Jerry Coons Jr.

Chett Gehrke

Don Droud Jr.

Brad Kuhn

Scott Hatton

Jeff Stasa

Casey Shuman

Both tires off on Caleb Armstrong's car.

Rico Abreu

CJ Johnson

Vance Lein

Randy Boyer

Darren Hagen

Zach Daum

Terry Goodwin

Chris Windom

Heat races

The moon was almost full for the start of the feature.

Toward the end of the race, I moved closer to the flag stand.

  Jerry Coons Jr taking the checkers as he wins opening night of the Midget Nationals.                                             Notice the other flash?

 

Jerry with 2012 trophy queen Witney Sorell.