WENATCHEE, WA – Darrell Midgley opened up his race season south of the border on the pavement at the Wenatchee Super Oval in Washington State. The Apple Blossom 125 race weekend started off strong for the Sidney, British Columbia driver and his Northern Provincial Pipelines #81 Dodge. “We were in the top-ten in practice on Friday,” exclaims Midgley, “the car ran very, very well.” Unfortunately for Midgley, his practice times from Friday did not carry over to race day Saturday. “It went downhill real fast,” sighs Midgley, “we chose not to scrub our tires for qualifying. That was a huge mistake on our part.” Midgley went from one of the fastest cars in practice to one of the slower cars on the track for qualifying. “We ended up qualifying 20th and started near the back of the pack.”

At the drop of the green Midgley would see the return of some of the fast laps that he recorded in practice. “We moved up a few spots in the opening laps but then got spun [lap 10].” This would be the first yellow flag of what would later turn into a crash filled race. “The car suffered no real damage from the spin but it wouldn’t start right away. Very frustrating trying to get the car started and watching the entire field of cars drive by. I went down two laps just like that. It is almost impossible to gain those laps back.” Despite this early setback, Midgley ventured forward. “That’s all you can do. Try to gain as many spots as you can.” Midgley would run as high as 17th at the midway point of the race but was still two laps down. “Then the crash fest began,” laughs Midgley, ” you get closer to the end of the race and people start taking chances.” Two separate red flags were flown [Lap 73 and Lap 82], stopping race action due to the carnage and debris on the track. “It was at this point I decided that there is no need to destroy a good car. We weren’t going to finish any higher.” Midgley pulled into the pits to save his car to race another day. “This was a good car. I know we had a top-five car here. Unfortunately we just dug a hole too deep to get out of.” Midgley would be credited with a 18th place finish in Washington. Brent Harris from Wenatchee, Washington would grab the checkered flag at his home track.

2014 MIDGLEY MOTORSPORTS/TEAM NPP SCHEDULE
(subject to additions/deletions)
April 26 Wenatchee Super Oval – Wenatchee, Washington
May 10 Castrol Raceway – Edmonton, Alberta
May 31 Central Alberta Raceways – Rimbey, Alberta
June 9 Castrol Raceway – Edmonton, Alberta
June 21 Western Speedway – Victoria, British Columbia
June 28 Sangudo Speedway – Sangudo, Alberta
June 29 Sangudo Speedway – Sangudo, Alberta
July 18 Castrol Raceway – Edmonton, Alberta
July 19 Castrol Raceway – Edmonton, Alberta**
July 19 Western Speedway – Victoria, British Columbia**
July 30th Castrol Raceway – Edmonton, Alberta
August 30th Western Speedway – Victoria, British Columbia
August 31st Western Speedway – Victoria, British Columbia
Sept 20th Central Alberta Raceways – Rimbey, Alberta
Sept. 21st Central Alberta Raceways – Rimbey, Alberta
October 25th Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, Nevada