Pickens Leads Kiwis Charge At Angell Park

By Bryan Gapinski Sun Prairie, Wis., Aug. 26, 2007---New Zealand's Michael Pickens topped fellow countrymen Brad Mosen to win Sunday Night's 30-lap "National Midget Hall of Fame Classic" at Angell Park Speedway. The event was co-sanctioned by the USAC National and Badger Midget Car Series.
Pickens jumped into the lead at the start from the pole position followed by Mosen and Danny Stratton. Pickens running the cushion began increasing his lead over a tightly bunched field of cars. By lap 10 Pickens held a 1.4 second lead over Mosen, and was increasing his advantage each lap. At the midway point Pickens held a three-plus second lead, as he began lapping slower cars.
Brady Bacon hit the frontstretch wall on lap 17 bringing out the caution erasing Pickens lead. On the restart Pickens took advantage of two lapped cars between himself and Mosen on the restart to build a quick lead. A multi-car tangle mid-pack on lap 19 resulted in Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Davey Ray, and Chad DeSelle all flipping in turn three, with an additional two cars involved. No injuries were reported from the accident.
Pickens easily pulled away from Mosen on the restart and the pair separated themselves from the rest of the field. Positions three thru seven changed several times over the remainder of the event. Pickens driving the Hans Lein Spike/Ford Esslinger#2 finished 2.57 seconds ahead of Mosen. USAC point leader Jerry Coons Jr., Badger point leader Brad Kuhn, and fast qualifier Brad Loyet completed the top five.
Another USAC/Badger co-sanctioned event "The Mid State Equipment Sue Theil Memorial" is slated for Friday Aug. 31 at Dodge County Fairgrounds (Beaver Dam, Wis.). The Badger point season concludes the following day with the 26th annual Firemans Nationals presented by Pepsi at Angell Park. 

Feature Lap Leaders: Pickens 1-30.
**LeJeune flipped during qualifying. Gurney, Fuerst, Dreher and Ramstack flipped during the qualifying race. Crawford flipped during the third heat. Stenhouse, D.Ray and DeSelle flipped on lap 19 of the feature.