USAC Midget/Sprint Car

Faas was aboard an entry from Western Speed Enterprises, and is in hot pursuit of his first USAC Western Midget Car title. The team utilizes 166-ci inline four-cylinder Toyota engines prepared by Ed Pink Racing Engines. The USAC Western series was making their second visit to Bakersfield in 2008.

Faas posted the second-fastest time during qualifications, and started fifth in his heat race. He tangled with another car on the second lap and failed to finish, and was forced to start last in the feature race. He surged to 7th on the opening lap, then fought his way to a third-place finish.

The night began with Faas sitting second in the point standings, just one marker behind Scott Pierovich; however, Faas's strong finish moved him back into the point lead, just one tally ahead of Pierovich in an amazingly tight rivalry.

"Our car was a little loose in qualifying, but we were still okay," Faas said. "We got tangled up in our heat race, and that really hurt us. All we could do was tighten up the car and start last, and see how we could recover the night. I got a great start, and passed a bunch of cars right away.

"After that I just concentrated on picking them off one at a time, and not making any mistakes. It was really tough to pass cars, because the track got really slick. Everybody was running right up on the berm, and it blew all the dust down onto the track and made it very slick.

"When it's like that, the car really overpowers the track. You've got to concentrate on throttle control, using a lot of finesse and not burning up your tires. But I really like this track; it's a nice change of pace for us because we run more often at Ventura. This is probably my fifth start here, and it takes some time to figure out a race track."

The point race between Faas and Pierovich has captured the attention of the entire series, and Faas finds himself in a very tight race as the season is not yet near the midway point.

"It's been a good point race between me and Scott," he said. "The last couple of weeks we've gone back and forth, trading the lead. And we've ran really close on the race track, too (Pierovich was second on Saturday night). When it's this tight, it's going to take consistency to win the title. That's what we're after, to stay consistent, run well every night, and claim the big prize at the end of the season."

The series now returns to the pavement at the Altamont Raceway Park in Tracy, California on Saturday night, June 28 in a double-header with the USAC Western Sprint Car series.

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1. Nic Faas, Western Speed No. 40 (+1)