Dolacki Noses Out Boat in Midget Main at Ventura

Robert Dolacki of La Puente went wire-to-wire to win the 30-lap United States Auto Club Western States Midget Main Event on Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.

The victory was the first of the year for Dolacki, and his third overall.

Billy Boat of Phoenix, the April 16 winner, finished second, with Jay Drake of Val Verde third.

Boat grabbed the lead at the start, but Huntington Beach’s John Sarna spun between turns three and four on the first lap to force a restart.

The closest Boat was able to come to first place after that came on lap 14, when he challenged Dolacki as the cars came past the finish line separated by less than one foot.

Seven-time Western States Midget Champion Ron (Sleepy) Tripp of Costa Mesa was on track to equal his best finish of the year--a third-place effort at Ventura on April 9--when a kingpin broke on his car on the last lap coming out of turn four, 20 yards from the finish line.

A wheel came off the car and rolled past the finish line while the car spun and stopped, giving the winningest driver in USAC Midget racing history a 10th-place finish.

Simi Valley’s Scott Hansen won his third three-quarter main event, grabbing the lead on lap 13.