ROCHESTER, WA – Darrell Midgley and Team NPP had a tough Saturday night at South Sound Speedway.  The Victoria, British Columbia driver was involved in a wicked crash on lap-10 of the Wes Rhodes Super Late Model 126.  “It was bad.  It was really bad,” exclaims Midgley, “it was actually two hits.”  On-track contact between Midgley and Oakville, Washington’s Matt Barrett, lead-up to the big crash.  “First he got me all loose in-between 3 and 4.  I got the car gathered back-up and then he just drove me in the door.  He never lifted just powered through it.”  The Northern Provincial Pipelines #81 Dodge struck the front straight wall nose first.  “The car spun around and got into the (gate) opening under the flag stand (with the back end).”  The red flag was immediately thrown as the sudden violent stop concerned South Sound Speedway track officials.

“That was a very hard hit,” admits Midgley, “it’s been a long time since I’ve had a hard hit like that.”  The damaged race car was towed back into the pits.  “It was 10-laps into a 126-lap race!  Just so ridiculous this happened.”  It was the second consecutive DNF for Team NPP and Darrell Midgley at South Sound Speedway.  Electrical gremlins sidelined Midgley at the Rochester, Washington facility back on May 10th.  “There hasn’t been a lot of highlights for us this year.”  Next race for Darrell Midgley will be a Late Model race.  Saratoga Speedway in Black Rock, British Columbia, hosts the Reg Midgley Canada 200 on August 23rd and 24th.

UPDATE 1 – South Sound Speedway officials have announced that driver #98 Matt Barrett is being suspended for the remainder of the 2025 season due to the on-track incident with Darrell Midgley during the Saturday nigh, July 5th running of the Wes Rhodes 126 Super Late Model race.

UPDATE 2 – Back at the race shop in Victoria, British Columbia the Team NPP #81 Super Late Model did not suffer frame damage from Saturday nights crash at South Sound Speedway. “The car is going to get repaired,” says Darrell Midgley, “there is a ton of damage but it’s not a write-off.”