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Bacon & Hodges Hit it Big on Western World Night Two

Brady Bacon and Josh Hodges stepped to the forefront on the second night of 48th Western World Championships preliminary action by capturing victories in Friday night’s USAC Sprint Car feature events atop the 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval.

After bagging a pair of runner-up finishes on Thursday night, Oklahoma native Bacon climbed to the top step of the podium by taking Friday’s USAC National vs. USAC/CRA feature victory while New Mexico’s Hodges bounced back from a vicious heat race flip in 410-ci action to wire the field in USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast 360-ci Sprint Car action.

With 69 competitors taking in the two preliminary nights of action at USA Raceway, the stage is set for Saturday’s 48th Western World Championships slate of events.

USAC National vs. USAC/CRA

In the USAC National Sprint Car ranks, Brady Bacon hustled into the lead just past the midway point and then held off Bryan Clauson over the final portion of the 30-lapper to notch the 100th all-time National win for the Hoffman Auto Racing / Mean Green No. 69 Sprint Car team.

While the reigning series champion from Broken Arrow, OK, tied Jerry Coons, Jr., for most career wins aboard the storied Hoffman machine with the triumph, Robert Ballou clinched his first USAC National title with a charge through the field from 19th to fourth.

After starting third, Bacon chased reigning 360-ci Sprint Car Western World champ Matt Rossi and Tracy Hines in the early going until a Cody Williams flip in turn three slowed the pace after nine rounds.

Hines slid into the lead briefly after the restart, only to have Rossi rally back out front with Bacon moving into second by the 14th lap.

With Rossi holding off a contingent of challengers that included Bacon along with Hines, Clauson, Kevin Thomas, Jr., and Dave Darland, it was Bacon surging to the front on the low side on the 17th circuit with Hines following his lead.

Clauson moved into second two rounds later and pressured Bacon on the low side the rest of the way to no avail, with Bacon holding steady to maintain command to the stripe.

“I had to take my time to get there, then I knew if I could roll the bottom without any big mistakes that it would be tough for anyone to get by,” Bacon said afterward.

Clauson settled for second at the line ahead of Hines, while Ballou picked up the pace throughout by gaining a half-dozen positions over the final half of the race to surge to fourth and clinch the crown.

Thomas, Jr., rounded out the top five with Darland, Chase Stockon, Jerry Coons, Jr., Aaron Farney and Damion Gardner completing the top ten.

USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast

Josh Hodges turned what could have been deemed a bad night into a great night in a big way by wiring the field in Friday’s 30-lap USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast 360-ci Sprint Car feature by wiring the field to lock into Saturday’s Dash.

After a violent ride out of the park in 410-ci Sprint Car heat race action, the Tijeras, NM, racer shook off any ill effects and wired the field from the pole position to capture the victory.

“Luck was on our side on this one, we drew the pole for the heat and won it and that somehow put us up front for the feature,” Hodges commented afterward.

Hodges took full advantage, outgunning fellow front row starter Stevie Sussex for the point at the drop of the green and pacing the field throughout to secure the victory aboard the No. 74x entry.

After wading through a pair of red flags in the opening four laps for a vicious Josh Shipley ride down the backstretch and then a Nick Aiuto tipover in turn four, chaos ensued in Hodges’ wake on a lap 24 restart precipitated by an inadvertent caution for Thursday night winner Justin Grant, who got crossed up exiting turn but somehow saved it.

Hodges led the way to the restart, only to have half the field piled up when the lapped machine of Rossi stumbled on the restart. Second and third-place runners Brody Roa and Grant were collected in the mayhem with D.J. Johnson and Tristan Guardino both upside down.

With all mayhem aside, Hodges cruised over the final six rounds to the checkered flag with current USAC Southwest points leader R.J. Johnson the biggest beneficiary by capturing runner-up honors after hovering around the tenth-place position much of the race.

Andrew Reinbold claimed the show position behind the lead duo while Roa and Bryan Clauson rallied from the late mishap to round out the top five

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