Ross Rankine Wins Ford Focus Midget Feature
Ross Rankine and the Nine Racing team celebrate in Victory Lane as Ross won the Ford Focus Midget portion of the 71st running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix in the #9 Ford Focus Midget of Nine Racing at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Thursday, November 24. Seen here from left to right is Steve Lewis, Nine Racing team owner; Glenn Martin, Nine Racing crew chief; Ross Rankine; and Eric Rankine, Ross’s father.
Ross Rankine took the lead on lap 19 of the 40-lap USAC Western Pavement Ford Focus feature event at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, on Thanksgiving 2011. Here he is seen leading Nick Drake and Brodie Kostecki.
Ross Rankine had a chance to meet racing legend Parnelli Jones before the start of the 71st running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix in Irwindale, California.
Ross Rankine meets Wilfried Eibach, owner of Eibach Springs, during the autograph session prior to the start of the 2011 Turkey Night Grand Prix.
Photos courtesy of US Photographics.
Irwindale, California (November 25, 2011) — Ross Rankine capped off a stellar season by earning the much coveted rite of claiming a feature win at the 71st running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix.
Ross took the checkered flag driving the #9 Nine Racing Ford Focus Midget in the 40-lap USAC Western Pavement Ford Focus feature at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, in Southern California, on Thursday, November 24.
Ross qualified third fastest for the night, which put him on the outside of the second row to start the race due to an inverted start of the top-six qualifiers. Before the race began, Ross was very confident and willing to be patient to work up to the lead, which didn’t take him very long after the wave of the green flag.
On lap 2 Ross passed for third place and by lap 8 he got inside of car #24 driven by Paul Graham to move into second position. Although only 14 years of age, Ross drove like an established racing veteran by being patient to get the lead.
Ross’s patience paid off when on lap 16 he passed Brodie Kostecki in the #40 Ford Focus Midget to take the lead, however, a caution came out on that lap, which put Ross back to second place. After crossing the start/finish line on lap 19, Ross again got by Brodie, but this time he kept the lead and didn’t give it up, even with several more caution flags during the race. Ross went on to win the race by a straightaway over second-place finisher Nick Drake.
Both Ross and Nick Drake battled for the overall USAC National Ford Focus Series Championship this season, but because Nick finished the race in second, he was able to clinch the championship, with Ross finishing only 12 point behind him in second.
Ross had an amazing race season by claiming a total of five wins, three of them on pavement driving the #9 Ford Focus Midget of Nine Racing, and earning the USAC Midwest Ford Focus Pavement Series title with Nine Racing.
Ross would like to thank his sponsors for their support to help him compete in 2011, which includes National Pride Equipment, Colors by Barr, and 4 Paws Pet Wash.
Nine Racing’s 2011 sponsor lineup includes K&N Engineering, Eibach Springs, Weld Racing, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Friction Brakes, ASE, Earl’s Performance Plumbing, SSi Decals, PJ1, and Hoosier Racing Tire.
