Pierson leads Mods, Midget standings; Hodge, Pierson locked in tight Coupe battle

BRADFORD – Bear Ridge Speedway hits the midway point in the 2016 season on Saturday, July 16 with the Shirley & Mickey Bruleigh Mid-season Championship event.

Double points will be available for all the track’s divisions and could have major implications in the championship battles shaping up.

Adam Pierson leads Kevin Chaffee by 40 points in the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modified standings with Pierson taking six wins this season to Chaffee’s one. The two drivers have a comfortable advantage over third place driver Josh Sunn, who sits 64 points back of Chaffee.

Jordan Fornwalt sits fourth in the Sportsman Modified standings, 46 points back of Sunn, while Josh Currier is fifth, 23 points back of Fornwalt. D.J. Robinson, Terry Williams, Todd Buckwold, Ryan Christian, and James Fadden sit sixth through tenth in the standings and are separated by just 43 points.

The tightest championship battle comes in the Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupes as Tim Hodge and Melvin Pierson sit tied at the top of the championship standings. Pierson benefitted from Hodge’s misfortunes two weeks ago after being involved in a late race incident.

Thomas Placey sits third in the standings, just 18 points back and looks for his first win of the season. Jason Horniak sits five points back of Placey in fourth, with Matt Ellsworth just two points back of Horniak in fifth.

Brian Chaffee sits just in sixth, three points back of Ellsworth and five back of Horniak, with former champion Jason Colbeth in seventh, four points back of Chaffee. Michael Danforth sits four points back of Colbeth in eighth, with defending champion Bob Shepard in ninth. Josh Harrington sits one point shy of Shepard in tenth.

Adam Pierson leads teammate Sunn by ten points in the Laquerre’s Sport USAC Dirt Midget Association standings. Pierson holds the top spot by with the help of three Bear Ridge wins to Sunn’s two.

Dean Christensen sits third in the standings while Adam Whitney is fourth, four points back of Christensen. Jeff Champagne sits fifth with Ray Miller, Manny Dias, Jeff Horn, Kevin Chaffee, and Mark Cole sixth through tenth.

Tim Martin has a commanding lead in the Mike Rivers Automotive Limited Late Models by virtue of seven wins in nine races. Rookie drivers T.J. Morse and Wayland Childs are separated by just eight points in the battle for second. Don Reynolds sits a distant fourth with J.P. Vaillancourt fifth.

Jesse Durkee holds a slim nine-point advantage over Mike Ryan in the Weglarz Property Service Four Cylinders. Buddy Welch sits third, 12 points back of Ryan, with Jim Durkee fourth. Charlie Lakin sits fifth with rookie Kevin LaForest two points back in sixth. Bobby Bell, Sean Perron, Shane Stygles, and Tyler Cloutier sit seventh through tenth.

Bear Ridge’s Mid-Season championships will take place on Saturday, July 16. Post time is set for 6:00pm.

PHOTO: Melvin Pierson (#33) and Tim Hodge (#2) are tied in the Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe standings as Bear Ridge heads into its double point counting Mid-season championships. (Alan Ward photo)