Toyota Wins at Santa Maria 7/12/2008

(Santa Maria, CA) Nic Faas continued his strong season in the USAC Western Midget Car series, winning a 30-lap feature event on Saturday night (July 12) at California’s Santa Maria Speedway.
            Faas, an 18-year-old rising star from Huntington Beach, California, used the victory to break open a tight point race near the midway point of the season. Faas entered the event with a 41-point advantage, but at race’s end extended his lead to 67 points.
            The winning car was fielded by Western Speed Enterprises, using a 166-ci in-line four-cylinder Toyota engine prepared by Ed Pink Racing Engines.
            Faas qualified second with a time of 14.175-seconds on the tight quarter-mile dirt track, and was impressive throughout the night. He finished second in his heat race, and lined up sixth in the feature event.
            In a good showing of patience, Faas carefully advanced through the field, moving into second place just past the halfway point of the race. On lap 23 he moved into the lead, then proceeded to drive away from the field.
            “This was a good night,” Faas beamed. “We started off good, and we were fast during hot laps (practice). Our car was a little bit loose, so we made some adjustments before time trials, and had a good lap to time in the second position.
            “We ran second in our heat, and continued to adjust the car, looking for just the right balance. We made some last-minute changes right before the feature event, and it turned out was just the right move. I worked my way forward, and passed Ryan Kaplan for the lead kind of toward the latter part of the race.
            “Once I got out front we just checked out on everybody. It was awesome, the Toyota powerplant was exceptional the entire night. We had no worries at all about power.”
            Action at the Santa Maria oval has been keenly competitive in the USAC series, as Faas becomes the ninth different winner in USAC’s nine previous visits.
            Faas and his Western Speed teammates now turn their attention to Tracy, California, where they visit the paved oval at Altamont Raceway Park on July 19.

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS
Pos       Driver, hometown                                  Entrant                         Points
1 (+67) Nic Faas, Huntington Beach, CA            Western Speed No. 40