Augustine, Braaten, Borror Win And Vern Wheler Memorial At Southern Oregon Speedway

Augustine, Braaten, Borror Win 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...July 30...Coos Bay point leader Nathan Augustine made his first visit to Southern Oregon Speedway and swept the heat, dash and 20 lap Open Stock Main Event Saturday night.  Jeffrey Hudson hopped into the Rocky Nash Pro Stock and made two late passes to finish second despite the fact that he had no practice laps all night.

Point leader Jorddon Braaten won his fourth 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event of the season.  Braaten led from lap 3 to the checkered flag.  Mike Medel made a charge from 12th starting to finish second after scratching from the preliminaries with a mechanical issue.

Steve Borror followed Roy Bain for just two laps before racing by for the lead and his second 20 lap Pro Stock Main  Event win at the track this year.  Trophy Dash winner Rocky Nash made a last lap pass on Matt Harlow for second.

David Steele won his fourth 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event of the season.  Point leader Bob Burkett led the first 5 laps before settling for second.

Joby Shields won his second 20 lap Hornet Main Event after passing Tim Hedges on lap ten.  Darrel Nelsen Jr. made a late move past Hedges for second.

Nathan Augustine got very familiar with the track in his first start and won the 20 lap Open Stock Main Event.  Augustine's heat win put him on the pole for the feature and he led from the start.  Point leader Mike Linder held second until being passed by Bob Dees on lap 16.  Dees was headed for second until 2015 Pro Stock champion Jeffrey Hudson made a low pass in Turn 3 to take the spot.  Augustine won by a wide margin ahead of Hudson.  Dees finished third, followed by Linder and Kristy Grout.

Jorddon Braaten won his fourth 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event.  The point leader Braaten took the lead from Trophy Dash winner David Marble on lap 3 and led the rest of the way.  Yreka point leader Jimmy Lipke quickly moved into second, but he spun late in Turns 3 and 4.  This allowed last starter Mike Medel to take over second.  Despite a yellow flag with two laps to go, Braaten would not let this win slip away.  Braaten prevailed ahead of Medel, Doug Franklin, David Marble, and Justin Foux.

Steve Borror won the the 20 lap Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stock Main Event.  Borror chased Roy Bain for two laps before passing him for the lead.  Matt Harlow quickly settled into second.  Borror was threatened only briefly by Harlow.  Harlow held second until Rocky Nash made a Turn 2 pass on the last lap to take the position.  At the checkered flag, it was Borror winning his second feature at the Speedway and sixth of the year on the circuit ahead of Nash, Harlow, Scott Flowers and James Flowers.

David Steele drove another flawless race in winning his fourth 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event.  Point leader Bob Burkett led five laps before a high move in Turn 4 gained Steele the lead.  Despite a few yellow flags, Steele managed to catch slower cars quickly as he sped to a well earned victory.  Burkett settled for second ahead of Gary Anderson, Andrew Hall and Merissa Henson.

Joby Shields won the 20 lap Hornet Main Event.  Tim Hedges led the first ten laps before Shields raced by on the back stretch to grab the lead.  As Shields pulled away, Hedges and Darrel Nelson Jr. dueled fiercely for second.  Nelson made the late pass, but Shields won by a half lap ahead of Nelson, Hedges, John Hoult and Heather Menzel.

Next Friday and Saturday is the Dwarf Car Western Regional event.  For further information, check out www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Race Results, July 30

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Tony Bartell, David Marble.  Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-Marble.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Jorddon Braaten, Mike Medel, Doug Franklin, Marble, Justin Foux.

Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Scott Flowers, Steve Borror.  Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-Rocky Nash.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Borror, Nash, Matt Harlow, S. Flowers, James Flowers.

Mini Stocks
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Bob Burkett, Gary Anderson.  Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-Anderson.  Main Event (20 Laps)-David Steele, Bob Burkett, Anderson, Andrew Hall, Merissa Henson.

Open Stock Cars
Heat Winner (6 Laps)-Nathan Augustine.  Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-Augustine.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Augustone, Jeffrey Hudson, Bob Dees, Mike Linder, Kristy Grout.

Hornets
Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Darrel Nelson Jr.  Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-John Hoult.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Joby Shields, Nelsen, Tom Hedges, Hoult, Heather Menzel.

Mike Wheeler Wins Vern Wheeler Memorial Race 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...July 29...Mike Wheeler led all the way in collecting the $2100 victory in the 500 Outlaw Kart 50 lap Main Event at Southern Oregon Speedway Friday night.  The event was billed as the Vern Wheeler Sr. Memorial Race.  It was an emotional win for Mike as his family was all in attendance to pay tribute to his father in this race.  Jesse Caldwell made a challenge in traffic during the first half of the race, but mechanical issues saw him surrender second to Jake Park down the stretch.

Reigning champion Tanner Holmes returned to 250 Kart action and impressed with his heat race and 25 lap Main Event sweep ahead of previous Main Event winner Bodee Weiser.

Carley Holmes held off point leader Trevor Grimes and snapped his two race win streak with an impressive 20 lap Box Stock feature win. 

Taylor Fuller set a rapid pace in winning the 15 lap Beginner Box Stock Main Event, while Daisy Gargurevich was second.  Both drivers won two heat races as well.


Mike Wheeler won the 50 lap Vern Wheeler Sr. Memorial Race for the 500 Outlaw Karts.  There was a strong 23 car field, and Wheeler gave indication early on that he came to win the race with two heat race victories.  The event was held in memory of Mike's father, and his two heat wins earned him the pole for $2100 to win race.  Jesse Caldwell won one of his heat races and shared the front row of the feature with M. Wheeler.  Wheeler got off to a strong start and was lapping slower cars by lap eight, which allowed Caldwell to close in on him.  A lap 10 yellow flag for a spin in Turn 1 bunched the field.  Wheeler continued to lead the way.  There were a pair of quick yellow flags, and Wheeler continued to hold the point.  Wheeler caught traffic again by lap 22 as Caldwell challenged him one more time.  Caldwell was trying to make a move when a pair of two car tangles in Turns 3 and 4 nearly claimed the two leaders.  Wheeler led Caldwell, Jake Park, Johnny Burke and Tyler Seavey at the mid point of the race.

As the leaders worked lap 30, Caldwell slowed on the back stretch for a yellow flag, ending his great run.  Wheeler continued to lead Park and Burke on he restart.  Chase Hill made a Turn 2 pass on Burke to take over third on lap 44 as Ryan Foster followed him into fourth.  Tanner Holmes had a Top 5 run going early before having to make a pit stop just before the fuel break for the race.  Holmes came back through the pack and made a Turn 2 pass on lap 45 to grab fifth from Burke.  M. Wheeler was unstoppable as he sped to an emotional victory.  Park was a strong second ahead of Hill, Foster, Holmes, Kenny Boardman, Christian Osborne, Burke, Vern Wheeler Jr. and Matt Moberley.

Earlier in the evening, reigning 250 Outlaw Kart champion Tanner Holmes won that division's 25 lap Main Event.  Holmes won both of his heat races to gain the pole of the feature race.  From the start, Holmes had the lead in the rapidly run race that had two brief yellows.  Colby Bergquist spun for the final yellow flag on lap 16, but previous feature winner Bodee Weiser could only chase the flying Holmes across the line for a second place finish.  It was the second win of the season for Holmes.  Maximus Mittry finished third ahead of Enrique Jaime, Braden Cory, Ashley Strain and final lead lap finisher Braden Weiser.  Tyler Lefler, Carley Holmes and Bergquist rounded out the Top 10.

2014 Box Stock champion Carley Holmes won a showdown with point leader Trevor Grimes for the win in their 20 lap Main Event.  The duo won the two eight lap heat races, and Holmes raced into the lead ahead of Grimes from the start of the feature race.  Try as he might, Grimes was unable to make a move on Holmes, who made a good move in traffic on lap 16 to prevail at the checkered flag.  Brionna Fuller finished a strong third ahead of Emma Rodgers, Natalie Richard, Natalie Hudson and Ryan Hirschbock.  Loveah Crice had good heat race going until she tangled with Rodgers with both rolling in Turn 2.  Crice's night was over at that point.

Taylor Fuller put on a dominant performance in winning the 15 lap Beginners Box Stock Main Event.  Fuller and Daisy Gargurevich each won two eight lap heat races.  Another rapidly run feature saw just one mid race yellow flag, and Fuller had already lapped third place Kiley Grimes by lap five.  Fuller became the third winner of the season as he beat second place D. Gargurevich by a half lap.  Point leader Grimes was third.  Malachi Johnson made his first ever start and finished fourth ahead of previous winner Shailene Horn, Adrian Richard, Thomas Whipple, Ellie Gargurevich, Nicholas Davis Jr. and Roger Whipple.  Whipple's race ended before the opening lap as another Kart swerved into his path, leaving him nowhere to go.

Race Results
Beginner Box Stock
Heat 1 (8 Laps)-Daisy Gargurevich.  Heat 2 (8 Laps)-Taylor Fuller.  Heat 3 (8 Laps)-D. Gargurevich.  Heat 4 (8 Laps)-T. Fuller.  Main Event (15 Laps)-Fuller, D. Gargurevich, Kiley Grimes, Malachi Johnson, Shailene Horn, Thomas Whipple, Ellie Gargurevich, Nicholas Davis Jr., Roger Whipple

Box Stock
Heat 1 (8 Laps)-Trevor Grimes.  Heat 2 (8 Laps)-Carley Holmes.  Main Event (20 Laps)-Holmes, Grimes, Brionna Fuller, Emma Rodgers, Natalie Richard, Natalie Hudson, Ryan Hirschbock, Loveah Crice (DNS).

250 Kart
Heat 1 (8 Laps)-Bodee Weiser.  Heat 2 (8 Laps)-Tanner Holmes.  Heat 3 (8 Laps)-Braden Cory.  Heat 4 (8 Laps)-T. Holmes.   Main Event (25 Laps)-T. Holmes, Weiser, Maximus Mittry, Enrique Jaime, Cory, Ashley Strain, Braden Weiser.  Tyler Lefler, Carley Holmes, Colby Bergquist.

500 Kart
Heat 1 (8 Laps)-Mike Wheeler.  Heat 2 (8 Laps)-Jesse Caldwell.  Heat 3 (8 Laps)-Jeffrey Hudson.  Heat 4 (8 Laps)-M. Wheeler.   Heat 5 (8 Laps)-Tyler Seavey.  Heat 6 (8 Laps)-Chase Hill.    Main Event (50 laps)-M. Wheeler, Jake Park, Chase Hill, Ryan Foster, Tanner Holmes, Kenny Boardman, Christian Osborne, Johnny Burke, Vern Wheeler Jr., Matt Moberley.

Pit Stops - Jefferson Edition

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Pit Stops - Jefferson Edition

The Pit Stop Reporter was tempted to phone this one in and take a break.  We're having a two race weekend at Southern Oregon Speedway, and this reporter got kind of  worn out yesterday dealing with some of the weeds underneath the bleachers at the Outlaw Kart track.  Friday will be the Vern Wheeler Sr. Memorial Race for the 500 Open Karts, and Saturday is a six division show, featuring the IMCA Sport Modifieds, Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hornets, Open Stocks Cars and Pennzoil Winged Sprint Cars.

Mike Wheeler had a vision for a big Kart race at Southern Oregon Speedway.  The second generation racer wanted to honor his father, who passed away few years back.  He wanted people to remember him, and he wanted to do something special for the 500 Open Kart class.  He contacted Promoter Mike McCann earlier this year to see if he had his blessing to book a big race.  Once that was taken care of, Wheeler put together a deal to make this race happen.  We've still been trying to get details, but the sponsorship of Reser's Fine Foods was a big reason this race had the big purse.

Mike is a well respected Kart racer who has won races everywhere he's gone.  As one of the stars of the Winter Series at Red Bluff, he put the word out to the racers there and at Chico's Cycleland Speedway.  The result is said to be in the area of 25-30 Karts coming to run for the big money.  This will be the biggest Kart race at the track this year.  We were able to verify that Tyler Seavey will be among the group, and Mike will be joined by his brother, Vern Jr., in this race.  Young phenom Tanner Holmes will be here as well.  Holmes and M. Wheeler are the two 500 Kart feature winners at the track this season.

It is anticipated that the big turnout of 500 Open Karts will trickle down to the track's other regular Kart classes as these drivers bring Karts for other members of their teams, and it's not unreasonable to say the Kart count could reach into the 60's combining all classes on Friday night.  If there was a show fans should want to check out for a Kart race at Southern Oregon Speedway, this is it.

The show stoppers for the first two races were the 250 Karts and the Box Stocks.  Last time out, Bodee Weiser scored an impressive victory in 250 Karts, while Brenden Bartlett recovered from an early spin to finish second.  Even Braden Weiser had a respectable showing in third.  These three, along with such notables as Enrique Jaime, Ashley Strain and Colby Bergquist should make the 250's portion of the show entertaining.

Meanwhile, Trevor Grimes is off to a good start in the Box Stocks.  The reigning champion has won both Main Events so far, leaving the competition wondering what they have to do to beat this young man.  The return of Tanner Holmes is likely to include his sister, 2014 champion Carley Holmes.  There are some talented girls in this division, including Emma Rodgers, Isabella Jaime, Natalie Richard and Loveah Price.  They've all been left to chase Grimes so far this year.

The Beginner's Box Stock class will round out the program.  These are the young boys and girls making their first starts in racing, and Trevor's sister Kiley Grimes is the current leader.  She finished second last time ahead of an enthusiastic young man named Roger Whipple. Feature wins so far have been recorded by Shailene Horn and Jacob James, but it's been interesting to watch Grimes gain more confidence and get faster.  Making your first start can be intimidating for these youngsters, and two of the kids elected not to race last time.  Hopefully, all of the kids will give it shot this week and go as fast as they are comfortable.  It's not how fast they go, but that they make the effort that counts.

Moving to Saturday's show on the big track, The Pennzoil Winged Sprint Car count appears to be iffy as of this writing.  Jake Wheeler is the point leader and is the only driver we can say is coming.  Jake was joined by his father, Vern Wheeler Jr., for two races until the two time winner retired.  Jake has since won one Main Event and leads the standings, but two of the top contenders, Wayne Kniffen and Bill Hopper, have already confirmed that they won't be there.  Hopper is waiting on motor parts, and Kniffen has not been feeling well enough to race.  The three other racers we could see, Todd Whipple, Jeremy Lowe and rookie Jeffrey Hudson, are unconfirmed, and Camden Robustelli will likely be in Cottage Grove chasing his second straight win.

The winged 360 Sprint Cars aren't racing anywhere in the state, but many of those drivers are not supporting the track as they feel they should get paid more. As track management is working to rebuild an attendance that has been very low in recent years, the money is not in the budget for the kind of purses these drivers expect.  A few racers have supported in an attempt to build something, but the division is at a crossroads.  Will Sprint Car racing make it at Southern Oregon Speedway, and what will it look like if it does?  It's important to note that this is speculation and not to be taken as an official announcement.

There are known to be 12-16 cars in the area, possibly more, but about half of those have supported a regular show race.  There is a movement being spearheaded by David Hibbard.  Hibbard is a past Limited Sprint champion at Cottage Grove and led the standings going into last week.  He has proposed sponsoring a Limited Sprint date, and the date worked out is for September 10th.  As Cottage Grove will have finished their season for the class by then, it's anticipated that 8-12 Limited Sprints will be there, including David's son Bailey, Cooper Desbians, Raquel Ivie, reigning champion Patrick Dills and Robustelli.

Hibbard is mindful of the fact that there are a few non Limited Sprints who have been supporting Southern Oregon Speedway and has been considering ideas that would allow them to compete and still keep it a fair race.  Having had the opportunity to discuss things with Hibbard, this reporter has to say that David could become a positive voice in the Sprint Car movement in Oregon at a time in which that is desperately needed.  Southern Oregon Speedway has great potential to have a strong Sprint Car presence if the right moves are made.

Open Stocks is another work in progress at the Speedway. The division was introduced in an effort to get all of those Stock Cars that may not fit into a certain category back to the track under an open set of rules, assess what we have and go from there.  Street Stocks, Late Models and Sportsman cars were at the heart of the thought process, but even Super 4's and Outlaw Pro Stocks on off nights for their divisions were anticipated.  So far, Late Models have been the only division to answer the call.

Stock Car veteran Mike Linder and Bob Dees have supported both races.  The Dees team is hoping to field three cars eventually as Bob's sons John and Garrett both have cars.  John has a Late Model, but we haven't heard how far along he is in the process.  Crewell's Steve Lemley is said to be planning to race, and he could be there on Saturday.  We've had no confirmation.  Coos Bay racer Kristy Grout is coming this week, and the racers in Coos Bay are now aware that they are legal to run and the class pays pretty good money at $500 to win regardless of car count.  Coos Bay point leader Nathan Augustine is looking at Southern Oregon Speedway as well, and the team has penciled the August race as their night to come visit.  Coos Bay was planning to run Saturday, but that was canceled.  The Grout team made the decision to come.

While we wait and see who will show up, there is still the mystery of the Street Stocks.  In it's five years at Southern Oregon Speedway, from 2010-2014, some 15-20 cars competed.  The question is where are the cars now?  It is also said that there are some left over cars from the old Medford track.  The question is, is there enough interest to try a Street Stock division in 2017 and get some support?  This is a question we don't presently have an answer to.  Certainly, something very basic and with budget in mind could work, but there would have to be enough interest to pursue it.  For now, Street Stocks are legal to run with the Open Stock class.

The Hornet division is a work in progress, and there is some optimism that the two and a half year record six car turnout will be beat this week.  The key is there are known to be at least a half dozen cars still sitting while we've seen six so far.  Darrel Nelson Jr., Tim Hedges and John Hoult are locked in a good point battle, and Nelson is a two time feature winner.  One time winner Joby Shields, Heather Menzel and Sebastian Burson represent the other three cars we've seen.  This is the perfect entry level class for the big track, and it is hoped that more cars will come and generate even more interest.

The Mini Stock division has several drivers on the threshold of feature victory.  You can see how far along drivers like Andrew Hall, Kristopher Mix and Eric Hanson have come this year, and they are due.  The same can be said for Merissa Henson, who is Top 5 ranked.  She is selling her car to be a part of the budding Southern Oregon Limited Sprint Car movement.  Add rookie Devon Wesier, Dillen Lausen, Mikey Johnson, Garrett Fredrickson and Patrick Stringer-Stine, and you've got a group of racers hungry for victory.

The problem is the experience at the head of the pack.  It starts with point leader Bob Burkett and 2015 Yreka champion David Steele, who each have three wins.  The other win went to 2014 champion Gary Anderson.  It seems like somebody is going to break through for that win, and it could be talented teen Ethan Killingsworth in his fast Mini Truck.  Ethan is still searching for his first win, but he's gobbled up four Top 3 finishes so far, including one second.  The Mini Stocks have been an entertaining show this year, and that doesn't figure to change this week.

The IMCA Sport Modified drivers will be back to put on a show, and at the head of the pack is Jorddon Braaten. Jorddon may be on his way up to the A Modifieds next season, but he's trying to leave his mark before he goes.  He currently leads the track points and IMCA State points ahead of reigning State champion Mike Medel.  Three of Jorddon's roughly dozen wins have come at Southern Oregon Speedway, while two time runnerup Medel is still hot on the trail of his first win of the year at his home track.

There are some good drivers battling up front, including rookie David Marble, Glen Severson, Dwayne Melvin and one time winner Bob Nelsen.  It is hoped that most of these drivers will be there along with strong division supporters Tony Bartell and A.J. Parker, Willie McFall and Rich McCoy.  Late word is there may be another new car making a debut from the shops of Rapp Racing, and there may also be Yreka visitation as that track is closed until August 27th.  Saturday is starting to feel like it could be a good night of racing for the IMCA Sport Modifieds.

The Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks are coming for their fourth visit, and there's been this talk of the domination of Steve "The Bullet" Borror.  Borror has five wins so far on the circuit, including last week's lucrative $2500 paycheck for his win in the Billy Geyer Memorial race at Yreka.  For all that talk, however, Borror has won just one of the three races held so far at Southern Oregon Speedway.  Rocky Nash has a win.  Miles Deubert won a good battle last time with current point runnerup Scott Flowers for an impressive victory.

For the fendered Stock Car fan, the Outlaw Pro Stocks are the best thing going in Southern Oregon.  Klamath Falls will be well represented.  In addition to S. Flowers, you usually see his daughter Julia and son James.  Even his wife Ginny Flowers has been driving the Arlen Garrison owned car.  There's also Rick Lukens, Scott Bennett, Roy Bain and John Bowers to contend with.  The local area has some pretty good talent as well, including two time champion Ken Irving, two time Super 4 champion Brian Johnsen, division veteran John David Duffie, Tyler Lockwood and Tom Hackworth.  It should be a good show.

Siskiyou Motor Speedway is of for a month.  They just recently held an SCMA meeting to discuss ideas for the track in the future.  This reporter hasn't heard what was discussed, but it's always good to be looking ahead to where things may be in the future.  The track's Mini Stock and IMCA Sport Modified divisions are holding steady.  The IMCA Modified division is on hard times and there is still pretty good support coming from the visiting SODCA Dwarf Cars and Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks.  If a new division were to be considered, a lower level class would probably be best, meaning Hobby or Street Stocks.  Of course, this is all speculation.  The goal now seems to be to build the divisions they have, and that is a good goal to have.

If you have to take a month off, the Billy Geyer Memorial Race for Pro Stocks is a good race to go out on.  Yreka played host to the biggest Pro Stock race on the West Coast.  Admittedly, car count wasn't what it could have been.  Potential visitors from Nevada and the Bay Area were tied up with races at their home tracks, and some of the regular's decision not to support the show also had an effect.  The big concern appeared to be the entry fee, which a few people felt was higher than they should have to pay.  Therefore, car count was down a good half dozen locals, but they did have 13 cars to work with and the show went on.

At Yreka, there's no truth to the rumor that they might rename the winner's circle after Steve Borror.  Borror is now 4 for 5 in Pro Stock wins.  The Friday night $500 first prize was bagged by Brian Johnsen.  Johnsen looked strong in the recent Medford race, so his win in this race was no surprise.  Unfortunately, Brian didn't finish the big money race after running second at the halfway mark.  Borror and Johnson battled early on before Borror pulled ahead.   It was Jeffrey Hudson giving chase after that.  Hudson scored at ride in the Rocky Nash car and ended up settling for an $800 second.  Borror was the class of the field and pocketed the $2500 first prize.  $600 was a nice chunk of change too, and that money went to third place finisher Scott Flowers.  Flowers hasn't given up on catching Borror in points and is currently second in the standings.

The O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modifieds got to run two races with the Saturday night show being a point program.  Young Colton Cheffey offered further proof that he is a star in the making as he drove to his second feature win of the season.  For Cheffey, it was an impressive weekend overall as he won both Trophy Dashes and also finished second to reigning champion Colter Boswell on Friday night.  Boswell's win was his first of the year as the division has several different winners this season.  The next likely winner could be Jesse Morton, who chased Cheffey across the line in second on Saturday and finished third a night earlier.

Jack Walden Jr. had a good finish on Saturday night as he chased Medford visitor Glen Severson across the line for a fourth place finish.  Walden was a little unhappy after Friday's disappointing finish.  That was compounded by the fact that he was leading on lap eight of the scheduled eight lap heat race that night, but the race inadvertently went ten laps.  He did make up for it a night later by winning his heat race then. The Yreka Sport Modified division may be the most equally matched class in the state, and you really can't tell from week to week who will win.  Going into the break, Jimmy Lipke still leads Garrett Hamilton in points as neither driver competed on Saturday.

The McDonald's Mini Stocks battle will remain close after Saturday's race, and Terry Kendrick may be relieved to have a break.  Kendrick had his truck back together following his flip last time, and he appeared to have mechanical issues following his Trophy Dash win.  However, "The Holy Terror" had the truck ready to go for the Main Event.  The bad news was so did reigning champion David Steele.  Steele once again prevailed in the Main Event, leaving a few of the others relieved at the fact that he's missed some races and isn't pursuing a title defense.  Kendrick's second place finish will enable him to keep the pressure on three time winner Marilyn Yawnick in the championship battle.  Yawnick ended up sixth, right behind Dan Borror.

Not to be forgotten in this battle is teen sensation Ethan Killingsworth.  Ethan's truck is as fast as anybody else on the track, and he demonstrated that perfectly by winning his heat race, finishing second in the dash and third in the Main Event.  The championship is a three car battle between Yawnick and the trucks of Kendrick and Killinsworth.  Another driver looking good on Saturday night was Dennis Jorgensen.  A one time winner this season, Jorgensen finished fourth in the Main Event, while another one time winner, Mike Whitaker, finished seventh.

The last couple of times the IMCA Modifieds were at the track for a regular show, they fielded six cars, giving the track some hope that the division might begin to rebound.  The local support of veterans Stan Gunderson, Lenny Toolanen and Roger Lorenzini is not solid, and if visitors don't come, they are left with no show.  On one occasion, point leader Duane Orsburn was the only driver there.  The two recent wins have been scored by past Susanville champion  Chris Olexiewicz and reigning Medford champion Albert Gill, while the dash wins went to Medford racers Ray Kniffen Jr. and James Welshonse.  The IMCA Modifieds will be back on August 27th along with the O'Reilly Auto Parts Sport Modifieds and McDonald's Mini Stocks.  The night will also feature Pitman Races.

While Coos Bay Speedway has decided to cancel this week's scheduled race for the fair, Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg has the $500 to win Street Stock Smackdown race, sponsored by Seven Feathers Casino.   Pro 4 Wedge Cars, Mini Stocks, Hornets and Modifieds are also part of this Saturday night's show.  Last week, the Hardtops headlined the show again with Kayran Greene winning the 25 lap race ahead of Steve Smith and Greg Hickman.  Dale Roth won the Hornets feature with Tony Shoptaw second ahead of Kevin Welch.  Nicholas Hansen tuned up for this week's big $500 to win race with a Street Stock feature win ahead of Stephen McMahan and Kevin Ballard.  Andrew Koens won the Modified race ahead of Tom Ford and Roy Harvey.

Bob Mook was the Bomber Main Event winner at Lakeport Speedway last Saturday.  He beat Roy Ingalls Jr. and Bobby Gilbert.  We got results from the Jalopy Main Event, where Wayne Hunt got the win in front of Tony Espicha and Laura Hunt.  David Rogers won the 30 lap Jammer feature ahead of Brandi Robertson and Bo Robertson.  The Stillman family was back in the winner's circle at Lakeport as James Stillman won the Legend's feature in front of the red hot Zach Frazer, Jaden Fisher and Bill Kistenmacher.  Lane Anderson was the Bandolero feature winner.

Back on the dirt of Marysville, Jeremy Burt won the Winged 360 Sprint Car feature ahead of Cody Lamar, Billy Wallace and three time champion Colby Wiesz.  In Wingless Spec Sprint action, Bret Steck won the Main Event in front of Josh Viera, Peter Paulsen and Tim Sherman Jr.  The competitive IMCA Sport Modified feature went to Phillip Shelby ahead of Willie Horn Jr., Brian Cooper and brother Todd Cooper.  The Street Stock win went to past champion James Castleberry ahead of Mike Walko and another past champion, Phillip Shelby, in the late Billy Knoop's old car.  Jim Speck won the Hobby Stock feature.

Chico Silver Dollar Speedway has been dark for a couple weeks, but they come back this Friday night with another full slate of racing.  Another Southern Jefferson dirt track, Placerville Speedway, had a race last Saturday night, and the BCRA Midgets were part of the action.  Alex Schutte won the 20 lapper ahead of Randi Pankratz, Cory Elliot, Taylor Simas and Sean Dodenhoff in the 17 car field.  Dan Jinkerson captured another Jay's Welding & Fabricating Pure Stock feature win ahead of reigning champion Scott Grunert and point leader Nick Baldwin.  The DOMCO Plumbing Limited Late Model Main Event win was picked up by Tyler Lightfoot in front of Eddie Gardner, Ken Micheli, Mike Lightfoot and Jay Bryant.  The headliner Thompson Automotive Group Winged 360 Sprint Car race was won by Mason Moore ahead of Sean Becker, Andy Gregg, Greg DeCaires and Michael Kofoid.

Once again, there are two nights of racing at Southern Oregon Speedway, starting with Friday night's Outlaw Kart Event.  The Vern Wheeler Sr. Memorial Race will offer big money to the 500 Open Kart class as Beginner's Box Stocks, Intermediate Box Stocks and 250's Karts are also on the card.  Saturday's show on the big track will include  IMCA Sport Modifieds, Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hornets, Open Stocks and Pennzoil Winged Sprint Cars.  For further information, check out www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Weekend Previews For Southern Oregon Speedway And Orland Raceway

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Two Nights Of Racing On Tap For This Weekend 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...Racing returns to the Outlaw Kart track at Southern Oregon Speedway on Friday night, and the big track on Saturday night.  Friday night will be a special event honoring the late Vern Wheeler Sr.  Vern's sons, Mike and Vern Jr., are slated to be in competition in the Open 500 Kart class, and his grandson Jake will be out to protect his point lead in the Pennzoil Winged Sprint Car class on the big track a night later.

Three generations of the Wheeler family have competed at Southern Oregon Speedway.  Vern Sr. was a popular member of the community, and people were saddened at the news of his passing.  Wanting to keep his father's name in people's minds, Mike Wheeler has organized this event by bringing in big sponsorship.  Mike has contacted several of the teams from the tracks in Red Bluff and Chico, California, and a big turnout is anticipated for the 500 Open Kart class.

It is likely that some of these teams will travel with other Karts, which would include the Beginners Box Stock, Box Stock, 250 Karts and 500 Kart classes that are featured regularly on the fast, one-eighth mile clay oval.  Among the teams anticipated this week include Chase Hill, Brody Sim, Johnny Burke and young phenom, Tanner Holmes.  Tanner won the opener this season in both 250 and 500 Karts, and he recently won the Wild West Shootout in Missoula Montana.  In fact, younger sister Carley Holmes won the Box Stock race that same night.

Carley is a past division champion, but the last two Box Stock races have been won impressively by reigning champion Trevor Grimes.  Not to be forgotten in the mix are the 250 Karts of the Weiser boys, Bodee and Braden.  It was Bodee picking up a win last time ahead of Brenden Bartlett.   Much like the Box Stock class, the regular 250 Kart division puts on a great show.

Over on the big track, the Pennzoil Winged Sprint Cars will be joined by the Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Mini Stocks, Hornets and the Open Stock division on Saturday night.  The Pro Stocks are coming off of the Billy Geyer Memorial Race last week at Yreka, which is the biggest event for this division anywhere on the West Coast.  The race paid $2500 to win, and it probably came as no surprise to anybody that point leader Steve Borror won for the fifth time this season.  It was the biggest win of his career, and not even reigning champion Jeffrey Hudson could stop him.  Hudson was piloting the car Rocky Nash drove to a win earlier this season at Southern Oregon Speedway, and he finished an $800 second.

Though Borror may have the fastest car in the group, he's won just one of the three races held so far at the Medford track.  Other wins have gone to Nash and recent winner Miles Deubert.  The 2014 Street Stock champion, Deubert had his hands full holding off Scott Flowers for his win.  Flowers is currently holding down second in the standings behind Borror and still looking for his first win of the year.  There's been lots of speculation about Borror's potent #b40 car, but he brushes it all off.  "It's the same car I ran last year, " he claimed.  "We just have it figured out this year.  I've just been lucky I haven't had many problems with the car so far."

A field of dozen or more cars is anticipated for the Pro Stocks, which should include such hard chargers as James Flowers, John David Duffie, Roy Bain, Rick Lukens and two time champion Ken Irving.

The IMCA Sport Modifieds are back in action this week.  Last week might have been the time for point leader Jorddon Braaten and Mike Medel to compete at one of the other tracks.  They've been keeping a very busy schedule this year, as indicated by the fact that Braaten leads Medel not just in track points, but the State IMCA point race as well. Both drivers enjoyed a weekend with their families, but they will be back to give it a go again this week.

Medel has two seconds this year, but he's hoping to get his first win.  To do it, he'll likely have to go through three time winner Braaten.  Braaten has continued to be a force on the cirtcuit with about a dozen wins to his credit this year.  With the neighboring Yreka track off this week, there could be a few visitors in town to do battle with these two.  Rookie David Marble, Bob Nelsen, Dwayne Melvin, A.J. Parker and Tony Bartell are among the others anticipated.

In the Mini Stock division, point leader Bob Burkett and 2015 Yreka champion David Steele are playing a little game of divide and conquer.  In seven races, they each have three wins.  Burkett has finished no worse than third.  The only other driver too get a win so far this season is 2014 champion Gary Anderson.  Anderson holds down the second spot in the standings, while there is a good battle going on for third between three drivers who seem likely to be the next in line for a feature win.

Andrew Hall, Kris Mix and 14 year old leadfoot Merissa Henson are battling for third.  Kris is the son of Stock Car veteran Keith Mix.  Keith has practically raised his son at the race track, and Kris is proving to be as tough a competitor as his father.  A practice day crash in Yreka left him scrambling for another car, and it turned out to be the case of a positive that came from a negative.  "This car has turned out to be better, " Mix admitted.  "I'm not so sure we'd be doing as well as we are with the other car."

The points will be shaken up further with the recent announcement from the Henson camp that Merissa now has a Sprint car.  After a pair of third place finishes and a Trophy Dash win, she is selling her car.  Mitch Henson revealed that the team has purchased the Phillip Del Rosa car.  "I told her she couldn't have both, " he revealed.  "She had to chose one, and she chose the Sprint Car.  She's ready for it.  It's a Limited Sprint.  We may hit a race or two before  the end of the season."

If the car hasn't been sold, Merissa may be there this week with a for sale on the car.  Her eventual departure will open the door for Eric Hanson to make a move on fifth in the standings as he's been running strong lately.  Other drivers to watch for this week include Mike Cloud, Mikey Johnson, Dillen Lausen, Patrick Stringer-Stine and the fast truck of Ethan Killingsworth.

People have been talking about the Open Stock class, which is an attempt to get those Stock Cars that fit into different categories back at the track under an open set of rules.  The Open Stock division will reportedly be seeing a few visitors with Late Models this week.  The first two races have been won by local Late Model veteran Mike Linder over Bob Dees.  These two are anticipated, and Bob's son John Dees continues to prepare his car for his return to racing.  Up in Creswell comes word that Steve Lemley's car is ready, but there are reportedly a few Coos Bay competitors planning to visit.  Third ranked Kristy Grout is one of those divers.

Word is the Hornet division may be seeing another car count increase this week.  Four drivers doing battle at the front of the pack are two time winner Darrel Nelson Jr., John Hoult, Tim Hedges and one time winner Joby Shields.  Six cars have competed this year, and over a half dozen other cars are known to be in the area.  Nelson is hoping that an increased car count could lead to another date being added before season's end.  "I'm just having fun out there, " Nelson admitted.  "I'd like to run more races.  I want to race as much as I can.  I know of a few cars being prepared, so hopefully they will be at the track this week."

With the Vern Wheeler Sr. Memorial on tap for Friday, it will be a special time of reflection for the family.  Vern would no doubt be proud of the way his grandson Jake has driven so far.  In addition to leading the local Sprint Car points, Jake finished fourth in the competitive Speedweek Series this year and had a third place showing at the Coos Bay race.  After having the win in the last regular show slip away, Jake will be back to try to reclaim his spot at the head of the pack this week.  "We weren't happy about losing the race that way, " Jake admitted.  "We let it get away from us.  We had a fast car that night too.  We'll just chalk it up as a learning experience and try again."

Just who will show up for the Sprint Car show is unclear.  Rookie Jeffrey Hudson is repairing his car following a crash at Cottage Grove.  He finished a strong third and won a heat race last time out.  Bill Hopper will be making the trip from Rancho Cordova, California, and Todd Whipple, Jeremy Lowe and hard charger Wayne Kniffen are also anticipated for this show.

On Friday and Saturday night, the gates open at 5:00 p.m. with the first race to fire off at 7:00 p.m.  General admission on Friday is $10 and gets you into the pits.  Children 5 and under are $5.00.  The Saturday grandstands admission is $12.00 for adults, Seniors and Juniors $6.00 and children 5 and under are free.  For further information, check out www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Championship Battles Taking Shape At Orland Raceway

Orland, CA...July 28...The second half of the season at Orland Raceway officially begins this Saturday night with round #6 of racing for the track's regular Hobby Stocks, Mini Trucks, Mini Stocks and Micro Sprint Car classes.

Considering the racing program had pretty much been written off for this year, promoter Rich Hood and his crew have done an amazing job of getting things going. With about a month left to prepare for the season when the contract was awarded in May, the hard working crew got things going in time for the season to open on June 4th.

The new management has been dedicated to keeping things family friendly, and they've already done a few things for the kids this year. One of the popular things has been the bike giveaways, which will continue as the season unfolds. At the most recent race, they had the local Girl Scout Troop selling sweets to raise money for their group. The little girls also served as trophy kids for all the Main Event winner's that night. 

Management continues to work at coming up with other ideas to keep things family friendly. They've also improved the racing surface with more clay to promote better racing on the one-fifth mile oval track. They've held five successful races and are already considering more races for the future in addition to the five events remaining.  With five races in the books, there are some close championship battles taking place.

In the Mini truck division, consistency has been the key to William Fogle leading the point battle over "Rollin" Olin Crane, 226-213. Crane is already a two time feature winner this year. Not to be left out of the mix is two time Main Event winner Dan Webster, who has 208 points and is only 18 points out of the lead despite the fact that he missed the season opener. Reigning champion Keith Ross has an eight point lead over past champion Ross Vige, 158.-150, in the race for fourth.

Consistency has also been key to Jeff Bennett leading past champion John Kirkpatrick in the Mini Stock point battle, 250-234. Neither of these drivers has yet to win a Main Event this season. One driver with a Main Event win is 2012 champion Robert Hunt, who finds himself third with 207 markers. Two time winner Tom Davis and Eric Hammond currently round out the top five, and Davis leads Hammond, 161-144 in the battle for fourth. Though not in the point battle, Donovan Chilton has two wins in his two appearances.

With a feature win to start the season off, past Hobby Stock champion Steve Martin currently has a 37 point lead over one time Main Event winner Jeremy Langenderfer, 245-208. Langendefer is not too comfortably ahead of Cody Bundy in the race for second, 208-184. Bundy is driving the #12 car previously driven by Hood, who finds himself too busy with promotional duties to get much racing time. Mel Beyers is holding a one point lead over Earl Adams, 137-136 in the race for fourth. With Brad Ray, Jason Armstrong and Shannon Collin also on the winner's list, we have yet to see a repeat winner in the competitive class.

While the Hobby Stock division is one of the stronger classes at the track, Micro Sprint racing is still trying to establish a car count this year. There is a nice battle going on between point leader Skyler Richter and reigning champion Jeromie Crismon in the 600 Micro Sprint division. Richter leads Crismon, 162-156. In the last few years, these two drivers have been battling for supremacy in this class. A feature winner last season, Tony Alosi runs third in the standings with a 108-103 margin over Dean Slinkard. Meanwhile, Andrew Love leads the 250 class by a wide margin over Dave McKinnon, 192-103. McKinnon finds himself leading Robert Baker by just two points, 103-101, and reigning champion Jessie Garland is only 8 points out of second

Considering that Rich Hood and his crew got a late start in getting everything ready, they've done a great job of getting Orland Raceway back up and running with five races in the books. Five more races remain on the schedule, but there is word that Hood is negotiating possible additional dates and also considering adding other divisions to the mix.

For now, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Trucks and the two Micro Sprint Car classes are on the schedule for this Saturday night.  Gates open at 5:00 p.m with the first race to start at 7:00 p.m. General Admission is $7:00 with children 7-12 just $5.00.  Children six and under are free. For further information, go to www.orlandraceway.org.

Borror Wins Geyer Memorial Race 

At Siskiyou Motor Speedway

Yreka, CA...Steve Borror is $2500 richer following his win in the 50 lap Billy Geyer Memorial race Saturday night at Siskiyou Motor Speedway.  It was the fifth win of the season for the current Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stock point leader, and it was the biggest win of his career.  Borror battled with Friday night preliminary feature winner Brian Johnsen early in the race with Scott Flowers settling into third.  Borror led at by the halfway mark of the race.  After a break, the drivers returned and Borror continued to lead the way.  Jeffrey Hudson made a couple of big passes to grab a nice $800 paycheck for second, but he was no match for the flying Borror.  Flowers wrapped up a good showing with a $600 third as his son James Flowers and John Bowers were the only other drivers to stay on the lead lap.  Making up the remainder of the top 10 were Johnsen, Matt Harlow, Tyler Lockwood, Miles Deubert and Mitch Machado.

The Friday night portion of the Pro Stock show saw the drivers run two heat races each to set the stage for the $500 to win, 25 lap preliminary feature.  Hudson won his two heat races, while Borror and S. Flowers split the other two eight lappers with wins in front of Johnson.  After Borror claimed the four lap Trophy Dash, Johnson locked himself into the big show with his victory in the 25 lap preliminary feature.  S. Flowers was a strong second ahead of Borror, J. Flowers and Hudson.  Johnson actually earned the pole for the big show on Saturday by winning his eight lap scramble in a very close battle with Borror.  After running strong early in the big race, he faded to his eventual sixth place finish.  Hudson and Petaluma visitor Machado won the other scrambles that determined the starting order for the big race.

The O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modifieds competed for a $700 first prize on Saturday, and young Colton Cheffey battled speedway veteran Jesse Morton before claiming his second win of the season in an impressive performance.  Medford visitor Glen Severson finished third ahead of heat race winner Jack Walden Jr. and Chris Jorgensen.  Cheffey  turned in a perfect performance on Saturday with his win ahead of Jorgensen in the eight lap Trophy Dash. Reigning champion Colter Boswsll outdueled Cheffey in another good battle to grab his first 20 lap feature win of the season on Friday night.  Morton finished third ahead of Joregensen, rookie Ryder Boswell and point leader Jimmy Lipke.  Cheffey's impressive weekend also included a Friday night Trophy Dash win, while Garrett Hamilton and C. Boswell were the heat race winners.

The McDonald's Mini Stocks were on the card on Saturday night, and title hopeful Terry Kendrick had his truck back together following his rollover in the previous race.  Kendrick gave it a good effort in the Main Event, but he was no match for reigning track champion David Steele, who collected his fifth 20 lap Main Event win of the season.  Young Ethan Killingsworth was right behind Kendrick in third as Dennis Jorgensen, Dan Borror and incoming point leader Marilyn Yawnick followed in the Top 6.  Killingsworth and Steele were heat race winners, but Kendrick claimed Trophy Dash honors.

The track will be dark until coming back on August 27th with a program that is being billed as Fan Appreciation Night.  On the card that night will be McDonald's Mini Stocks, O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modifieds, IMCA Modifieds and Pitman Races.  For further information, check out the new website at www.siskiyoumotorspeedway.com.

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Biggest Pro Stock Race On West Coast 

Comes to Siskiyou Motor Speedway

Yreka, CA...Every once in awhile, there is a race on the schedule that is so big that all of the racers want to be a part of it.  On Friday and Saturday nights at Siskiyou Motor Speedway, the Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks are having such an event.  It is a night in which they remember friend and fellow racer Billy Geyer.  Geyer passed away after a short battle with Cancer in October of 2014.  He was a beloved member of the racing community.  As if honoring Billy is not enough, the group has put together sponsorship to enable them to pay $2500 to win the special 50 lap Main Event on Saturday night.  Because of the extra money, drivers are anticipated from throughout California and Oregon and even Nevada.

It will be a two day event for the Pro Stock division with a slightly increased purse from their normal purse on Friday night, and an even bigger purse for the Saturday portion of the program.  The winner of the Friday night show also pockets $500 for the victory.  The Saturday winner picks up the $2500 first prize, while the $800 second prize and the $600 third prize are still substantially bigger than the normal payout for the winners during the course of the season.  The first prize on Saturday is more than twice as big as anything else offered on the West Coast for this division.

2015 Outlaw Pro Stock champion Jeffrey Hudson has secured a ride in the Rocky Nash car for this event.  Hudson has moved up to the Winged Sprint Car division the season, but after a crash at Cottage Grove, he was given the opportunity to jump behind the wheel of Nash's fast #88 car.  Hudson instantly becomes one of the drivers to beat in the show, and he finished second in the big event last season behind Dave Everson.  Everson hasn't raced so far this year, and it is unknown whether or not he will have his car ready to go for this event.  Everson wheels the fast #40 car, but it is another car with the same number, driven by Steve Borror, that has been taking the division by storm this year.

Borror has been a dominant force in the Pro Stock division this season.  With four feature victories on the circuit, Steve positions himself as the driver to beat on Saturday.  Not too far behind Steve in the standings is the consistent Scott Flowers.  Flowers has earned multiple Top 3 feature finishes this year, including a season best second place finish behind Miles Deubert in the most recent race at Southern Oregon Speedway.  To get to the championship, you have to go through Flowers as he is coming off of back to back point runner up seasons and holds second in the standings so far this year.  Considering how strong he ran last time, you know Scott has his sights set on Saturday's big first prize.

A two time Super 4's champion at Southern Oregon Speedway, Brian Johnsen is another driver to keep an eye on.  Last season, he picked up the preliminary Main Event victory on Friday before finishing third in the big money event.  Johnsen ran strong in the most recent race at Southern Oregon Speedway.  There is also two time Pro Stock champion Ken Irving to consider.  Irving is generally a factor in any race in which he enters.  The Flowers family will continue to be well represented as Scott's son Jamess and daughter Julia are currently fourth and fifth, respectively, in series points.  James finished sixth in the big money race last year.  Scott's wife Ginny Flowers will be driving #00 car owned by Arlen Garrison.

Matt Harlow is quietly having himself a great season as he ranks third in the standings going into this weekend.  Might this be his weekend to shine?  Last time at Southern Oregon Speedway, division veteran John David Duffie was hoping to have a big night in the Arlen Heath owned entry.  Duffie had finished second in the previous race there and won the Trophy Dash at the most recent Yreka race.  Unfortunately, he blew a motor in his his most recent start. The team has been working frantically to get the car ready for this big show.

Any of the series regulars able to have their cars ready for this event will surely be there, and other drivers we'll be watching for include Rick Lukens, Roy Bain, Scott Bennett, Johnny Cobb, John Bowers, Brad Zeitler, Tom Hackworth and Tyler Lockwood.  Late word was that Billy Geyer's 15 year old son Brandon will be making his Pro Stock debut in is father's old car.

The regular tour drivers can expect some competition to come from elsewhere.  Last year's entry list included a pair of heavy hitters from Petaluma Speedway, Mitch Machado and Mike Learn.  There was also Late Model veteran Malen Gonzalez from Nevada and Marysville area racer Brett Lawrence.  Car count reached into the twenties last year and is anticipated to be slightly bigger than that this year.

The Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks have some great  sponsors making this race and the season possible, including Visual EFX, 1st Class Auto Glass, Calculated Comfort, Bowers Construction, Liquivision Technology and KBOY 95.7 Classic Rock

As if the big money Outlaw Pro Stock race wasn't enough to get the attention of the fans, the O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modified division has been added to the program for both nights.  The Saturday portion of the show will pay $700 to win.  The IMCA Sport Modified championship battle has been between Garret Hamilton and Jimmy Lipke so far as Doug Franklin currently ranks third.  Lipke used a second place finish last time out to move into the point lead, while Randy Wright picked up his first career Main Event win that night.  The IMCA Sport Modified divisions has been highly competitive in Yreka with many different feature winners.

Further confirmation of the format for the IMCA Sport Modified division finds that Friday night is a non point event that will take the top eight feature finishers into the $700 to win Main Event on Saturday night automatically.  Friday night will basically be for a regular purse, and the Saturday event will be for an increased purse.  Other drivers to watch for this week include the Colton Cheffey, reigning champion Colter Boswell, Ryder Boswell, Trevor Tiffee, Jessie Morton and Chris Jorgensen, among others.

On Saturday night, the highly competitive McDonald's Mini Stocks will be in action.  One driver questionable for this event is title contender Terry Kendrick.  In the most recent race, Kendrick tangled with reigning champion David Steele, sending Kendrick flipping his truck.  His truck was destroyed in the wreck, but he was able to borrow the Amber Walden car to get a Main Event start for points.  Kendrick is still working on getting his next truck ready, and there was no word as to whether it will be ready for this race. Point leader Marilyn Yawnick is anticipated this week, and she will be going for her fourth feature victory.  2014 champion "Magic" Mike Whitaker is another driver to watch for.  David Steele, Mike Frost, Mike Colson, early season feature winner Brian Jorgensen and the truck of Ethan Killingsworth are some of the drivers who will make the Mini Stock race an exciting show to watch.

The Billy Geyer Memorial weekend event at Siskiyou Motor Speedway is one of the biggest races of the year.  It is sure to be entertaining and will offer stock car racing at its best.  For further information, check out the newly created web page at www.siskiyoumotorspeedway.com.

Siskiyou Motor Speedway
Point Standings

Valley Boys Auto Sales
Outlaw Pro Stocks
Steve Borror 364
Scott Flowers 331
Matt Harlow 255
James Flowers 251
Julia Flowers 246
John Duffie 224
Ken Irving 212
Rick Lukens 206
Roy Bain 191
Rocky Nash 185

O'Reilly Auto Parts
IMCA Sport Modified
James Lipke 373
Garrett Hamilton 355
Doug Franklin 293
Jack III Waldon 282
Chris Jorgensen 266
Colton Cheffey 240
Jorddon Braaten 225
Colt Boswell 210
Randy Wright 196
Gary Foster 166


McDonald's Mini Stocks

Marilyn Yawnick 539
Ethan Killingsworth 492
Terry Kendrick 483
Mike Whitaker 475
David Steele 449

Southern Oregon Speedway Hits Halfway Point Of The Season

White City, Oregon...We are at the halfway point of the 2016 season at Southern Speedway, and there has been some exciting racing so far.  Ten different divisions have competed on the fast 3/10 mile banked clay oval, and over 25 drivers have claimed feature victories so far.  The drivers have been racing hard for victories and podium finishes.  If you can count yourself among this list, you've done well.

The busiest division at the speedway is the Mini Stock class.  With seven races in the books, we've had three different Main Event winners so far.  At the moment, Bob Burkett is leading the championship standings in a quest for his first career track championship.  The record will show that Burkett leads 2014 champion Gary Anderson by a 253-195 margin.  Burkett has an amazing stat line as he has won three times, finished second three times and placed third once, meaning he has not finished off of the podium so far.  Not only that, the driver of the green #43 car has won five of the six Trophy Dashes held so far this season.

Anderson has certainly had his moments with one feature win, two seconds and one third, but he lost viable ground a few races ago when he was taken out for the night in a hot lap crash with rookie Garret Fredrickson.  Anderson just regained third in the standings from Marissa Henson following his fourth place feature finish last week.  It was not a good night for Henson as she finished last in the Main Event with mechanical problems and surrendered third in the standings to "Neon Mafia" teammates Andrew Hall and Kristopher Mix.  The record will show that Hall leads Mix, 178-169, while Henson has 163 points, but Henson has put her Mini Stock up for sale.  She will be moving up to a Limited Spread.  Marissa has won a Trophy Dash and earned two career best third place feature finishes.

As far as podium feature finishes are concerned, Hall has one season best second place finish among his top five efforts.  2015 Yreka champion David Steele has competed in the last four races, and he has three wins and one third place finish to show for it.  Not to be outdone, young Ethan Killingsworth, who is currently third in points at Yreka this year, has a career best second and three third place finishes in his four Southern Oregon Speedway visits.  Just grabbing a podium finish in this competitive division is an accomplishment, and two drivers on the brink of Top 3 Main Event runs with top five finishes this year are Mix and Eric Hanson.

The IMCA Sport Modified division is being led once again by two time reigning champion and current IMCA State of Oregon point leader Jorddon Braaten.  Braaten leads the reigning IMCA State champion Mike Medel, 233-210, in the track point race.  Jorddon tops the division with three feature wins, two seconds and one third in his six starts.  Like Mini Stock point leader Burkett, Braaten has yet to fail to finish in the Top 3 in the Main Event.  Medel has managed to stay in the hunt with the help of his two season best second place finishes.  Two of the other feature winners were visiting drivers.  Chico point leader Todd Cooper and reigning California IMCA Sport Modified champion Fred Ryland were winners.  Cooper won the extra money that was on the line for the Roger Haudenshild Tribute Race back in May.

Holding down the third podium position in the standings is rookie David Marble.  Marble leads fellow rookie A.J. Parker, 188-184.  Marble is adapting quickly to his new division and already shows signs of his Mini Stock championship winning form of last season.  So far, David has one third place finish.  The other feature win was earned by fifth place point competitor Bob Nelsen, who also has one third place finish.  Other podium finishes in second have been earned by California State point leader Brian Cooper and two time Medford champion Dwayne Melvin.  Yreka point leader Jimmy Lipke has two third place finishes, while David Henshaw has one.  The Trophy Dash winner's list so far has five different names on it as Lipke, Ryland, Medel, Braaten and Willie McFall each have one win.

In the Pennzoil Winged Sprint Car division, the Wheeler family has been tough to beat.  At the moment, third generation racer Jake Wheeler has a comfortable lead in the point standings over rookie Jeffrey Hudson, 140-84.  Despite his hard luck, Californian Bill Hopper holds down third, 77-74-66 over Vern Wheeler Jr. and Wayne Kniffen.  V. Wheeler won the opening two features and had a Trophy Dash win before deciding to retire and crew chief his son Jake's racing effort.  Jake has three seconds and one feature win, along with two Trophy Dash victories.

The Wheeler domination was ended by current Cottage Grove Speedway Limited Sprint point leader David Hibbard, who passed J. Wheeler with a couple laps to go to win the most recent Pennzoil Sprint Car Main Event.  Kniffen has grabbed one career best second place finish, while talented teen Hudson has two thirds.  Camden Robustelli and 2009 Winged Sprint Car champion Charlie Thompson each have one third place finish.  The most recent Sprint Car race was a Western Sprint Tour Speedweek event, and Trey Starks used his win to claim the Speedweek title.  Mitchell Faccinto and four time Speedweek champion Roger Crockett were in the place and show positions at the checkered flag, while Jered Ridge claimed the Trophy Dash victory.

In the IMCA Modified division, there's one man who has been near the top of the point list just about every season since the track opened.  That would be six time champion Mark Wauge.  Wauge leads a close championship battle 143-140 over Duane Orsburn.  Wauge has notched two feature victories, including his thrilling charge from the 10th row to win the big money in the Roger Haudenshild Tribute Race.  Mark's drive in that race was nothing short of spectacular as there was only one early yellow flag, and his low groove effort had him in the lead by lap 20 of the 30 lap event.  Current Yreka point leader Orsburn has one Main Event victory.  Duane is also a two time Street Stock champion at the track.

Rookie James Welshonse has a 128-122 lead in the battle for third over two time reigning champion Albert Gill.  Gill impressed with his dominant performance in winning last week's Main Event.  Welshonse finished fourth in that race and has one second place finish to go with his two Trophy Dash victories.  Ryan Scott Gaylord notched the big victory in the Wild West Speedweek race ahead of the eventual series champion Kellen Chadwick and Willamette Speedway point leader Collen Winebarger.  Also notching podium finishes in the first five events were second place finishers Matt Duste, Darrell Hughes II and Monte Bischoff.  Two third place finishes were earned by Jesse Bailey, while Willamette Speedway star Matthew Drager and Bo Shields in the "Triple Nickel" Modified each have one third.  Bailey and Gill have each earned one Trophy Dash victory so far.

The Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association splits time between Southern Oregon Speedway and Siskiyou Motor Speedway.  After six events, three drivers have notched Main Event victories.  Two time reigning champion Josh King has two wins, one third and one A Dash victory so far.  Current point leader Brock Peters now has three victories and one second as well as two A Dash victories.  Camden Robustelli has one win and one third so far.  The heartbreak of the season so far has to belong to Kalvin Morton.  Back on July 4th, Morton came within feet of winning the Main Event before tangling with a slower car and flipping.  The crash has left him struggling to get his car back in top form again, but he has one second and one third so far to go with his one A Dash victory.

2014 point runner up Ryan Smith has two seconds and a third, while Chad Cardoza and Rob Gergel each have one second place finish.  Gergel also has a third place finish as does Mason Lewman.  Cardoza is a two time A Dash winner, and the group has had two big money Dash For Cash races.  They ran a special Fred Hay Dash For Cash with $1000 on the line at the opener, won by Cardoza.  The popular Hay was sidelined this year after a spectacular flip at Chico Silver Dollar Speedway left him with a broken neck.  He has been in attendance at each event this year and is on the road to recovery.  Last week, Peters won the $750 first prize in that Dash For Cash.

The Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stock division has split time between Southern Oregon Speedway and Siskiyou Motor Speedway, and three drivers have shared the glory so far. Point leader Steve Borror, Rocky Nash and Miles Deubert each have one win so far.  Nash also has one third place finish.  Two time series champion Ken Irving and John David Duffie each have one second place finish, while point runner up Scott Flowers has one second and one third, and son James Flowers also has a third place finish.  Point leader Steve Borror has won both Trophy Dashes so far.

The Super 4's division has been added to the schedule after being away for two seasons.  Currently, 2013 champion John Barger leads Lee Doty in the points standings, 95-75.  Bill Spencer is currently third with 73 points.  After Steve Thompson won the season opener, his luck took a severe turn for the worse as he blew a motor the next week and was gone last week.  Doty was unable to start the season opener, but he has won both Main Events since.  With two second place finishes, Barger is holding onto his point lead. Dan Pruett has one second place finish, while the remainder of the podium finishes have been picked up by Spencer, Krista Hadley and Terry Hadley, each with one third place finish.  The two Trophy Dash wins have been won by Barger and Doty.  The nice thing is there appears to be interest in rebuilding this division at Southern Oregon Speedway.

Another division that is in the building process is the Hornet division.  At the second event of the season, the division managed to match its high total from the previous two years at six cars.  A close point battle shows Tim Hedges leading Darrel Nelson Jr. and John Hoult, 100-99-93.  Nelson blew a tire in the second event while leading, or he would be leading the standings now.  As it is, he has two feature victories and thus far seems to have the fastest car in the field.  After missing the first race this year, the "Triple Nickel" Hornet of Joby Shields has one feature win, one second and one Trophy Dash victory.  Hoult has maintained his effort with two second place finishes, while Hedges has three third place finishes and a Trophy Dash victory.  Rumor has it that the division could see a new track record in car count when it's back in action on July 30th.  We shall see.

In the OTRO Hardtop division, Trevor Thomason sits atop the standings, 110-96 over Bill Trotter.  Thomason has won all three Main Events aboard the Vic and Louise Bridges owned entry as well as one Trophy Dash victory.  Jimmy Del Castille leads Brian Crouch and Rhett Lange in the race for third, 74-69-64.  Lange missed the opener, but the Winnemucca, Nevada based competitor has two strong second place finishes.  Trotter has all podium finishes with one second and two thirds, and he is also a Trophy Dash winner.  Gary Barber also has a third place finish, and Chris Mehrer won the first Trophy Dash before everything went bad for him in the Bill Trotter owned #16 truck as he hit the wall hard in the heat race and that knocked the front and out from underneath the car.  The OTRO Hardtop drivers are mostly running pavement tires on their cars to keep the tire cost down, and they bring much enthusiasm in their visits to the speedway.

The track continues its efforts to start an Open Stock division, which intended to bring the various different classes of Stock Cars together under an open set of rules.  Though Street Stocks are eligible, we have yet to see any in the field.  Late Model drivers are the only ones expressing any interest, and Mike Linder has won the first two races over Bob Dees.  Linder is also the lone Trophy Dash winner this year.  Rumor has it that there could be two more Late Models in the field on July 30th, but we'll just have to wait and see.

If the racing has been good so far this season at Southern Oregon Speedway, the indications are that the best is yet to come.  Some big events remain on the schedule, including the upcoming Dwarf Car Nationals event on August 5-6 as well as the 21st Annual Lon Skinner race on September 3-4.  When racing resumes on July 30th, Pennzoil Winged Sprint Cars will be in action along with the Mini Stocks, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Super 4's, Hornets and Open Stock Cars.  It should be another exciting night at the races, and it will be interesting to see who grabs the podium finishes this time.

2016 Points

Unofficial

Pennzoil Sprint Cars

Jake Wheeler         140

Jeffrey Hudson         84

Bill Hopper               77

Vern Wheeler Jr.      74

Wayne Kniffen         66

Mini Stocks

Bob Burkett             253

Gary Anderson        195

Andrew Hall             178

Kristopher Mix         169

Marissa Henson      163

Outlaw Pro Stocks

Steve Borror             364

Scott Flowers           331

Matt Harlow              255

James Flowers         251

Julia Flowers            246

IMCA Modifieds*

Mark Wauge            143

Duane Orsburn         140

James Welshonse    128

Albert Gill                 122

Jesse Bailey             91

IMCA Sport Mods*

Jorddon Braaten         233

Mike Medel                210

David Marble              198

A.J. Parker                185

Bob Nelsen               147

Super 4's

John Barger             95

Lee Doty                 75

Bill Spencer             73 

Krista Hadley           59

Terry Hadey             57

Open Stock

Mike Linder                74

Bob Dees                   67

Miles Deubert            29

Hornets

Tim Hedges            100

Darrel Nelson Jr.       99

John Hoult                93

Joby Shields             67

Heather Menzel        33

OTRO Hardtops

Trevor Thomason    110

Bill Trotter               96

Jimmy Del Castllile  74

Brian Crouch           69

Rhett Lange            64

SODCA Dwarf Cars

Kalvin Morton             585

Brock Peters             547

Ryan Smith               488

Randy Slater              475

Camden Robustelli     471

Can A Street Stock/Hobby Stock Division Work 

At Southern Oregon Speedway?

This is an editorial by DCRR Racing Media. Any opinions expressed in this column are my own and not to be interpreted as officially representing the race track...

It's a bit bewildering to contemplate the fact that when Southern Oregon Speedway was opened back in 1996 there was no Street Stock or Hobby Stock division as part of the program.  Back then, the track featured a Winged Dirt Modified Class, Sprint Cars, Pro Stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Trucks and Thrill Cars.  The Dwarf Cars would make occasional visits.  Seven years prior, when the old Medford Speedway was still running, there was a thriving Street Stock division.  Why a Street Stock division was not included in the plans of the new Medford track is unclear to this reporter.

For many years, the entry level division in racing at most tracks was the Street Stock division.  In the late sixties and through the seventies, many tracks just referred to them as Stock Cars or Early Model Stock Cars. As the seventies gave way and Stock Cars evolved into Late Models, the new entry level class was called Hobby Stocks or Street Stocks.  Many tracks had big Street Stock fields in the 1980's and into the 1990's.  As the Street Stock cost evolved, the same as it did with the Stock Cars in the 1970's, a Hobby Stock division was added.  Street Stocks began to evolve into what people today refer to as Limited Late Models, Sportsman cars, Super Stocks or Pro Stocks.

In the state of California, many of the race tracks have Hobby Stocks.  Admittedly, it's not as easy to get the old Camaros or Chavelles as it used to be, and some drivers are building the GM metric cars.  Speaking of the metric cars, for the last decade plus, IMCA has sanctioned Stock Cars at Kings Speedway in Hanford, California, and that class has branched out to Bakersfield Speedway.  Other tracks seem reluctant to get on board with this idea as they don't think sanctioning is needed for this level of racing.

From the mid 1990's and up to 2003, Merced Speedway had a Pure Stock division that excluded Camaros and Firebirds.  The promoter at the time, Chuck Griffin, wanted his Pure Stock division to have a more unique look from the Street Stock class.  This worked until he began running Hobby Stocks, and then Pure Stock drivers started to run that class because it actually paid money.  This is what killed the Pure Stock class at Merced speedway.

What is interesting is that as the Street Stock division evolved in California and the look of the cars evolved, the name of the class changed to Super Stock, Limited Late Model or Pro Stock.  As the Hobby Stock division evolved into what is basically an old school Street Stock, the name didn't get handed down to them.  In Oregon, however, the track's have Street Stocks as a fan from the 1990's might remember them. On the list of Oregon tracks that still have Street Stocks are are Sunset Speedway in Banks, Cottage Grove Speedway, Willamette Speedway, Coos Bay Speedway and River City Speedway in Saint Helens.

This still leaves Southern Oregon Speedway and neighboring Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Northern California as the two tracks on the outside looking in.  In the case of Sunset Speedway, they even have a Pure (Hobby) Stock division that evolved from the Bomber class.  Car counts are not huge at any of these tracks, and you'll see anywhere from 6-10 cars competing at these tracks on any given night.  Recently, Coos Bay Speedway has been struggling to even get that.  Earlier this year, Sunset Speedway held a 100 lap event for the division that saw a big enough field to require a B Main Event.

It still begs the question, what the heck happened with the Street Stock division at Southern Oregon Speedway, and why can't they make it happen?  What's interesting is that nearly 15 years after the track was opened, an attempt was made to start the class.  In 2010, as the track was struggling to keep the Late Model division as a semi-regular class, the decision was made to add Street Stocks.  Two of the biggest names to come from this division are Jorddon Braaten and Duane Orsburn.  A few names familiar with Outlaw Pro Stock fans, Scott Flowers, son James Flowers and Scott Bennett, dabbled in this division in the beginning.  Braaten was also one of the first competitors.

It looked like the division had a fighting chance.  In 2010, they ran some Enduro races alongside Street Stock races, and a few drivers did both.  No point tabulation was kept in 2010, but there were roughly a dozen competitors that year.  The numbers held steady in 2011 as Orsburn wrote his name into the books as the first champion.  It looked like the division had a fighting chance to take hold, but as often happens when you try to start a class, rules started getting messed with.  The growth of things declined.  The division went stagnant just as it was about ready to break out.  Orsburn was 2012 champion, and just like the year before, he had to beat Braaten to do it.

Some of the names on the list at that point in addition to those mentioned included Bob Knight, Steve and Jeff Haudenshild, Neil Coaty, Garrett Dees, Darron Arnold and Brett Provost.  There were some car counts in the 6-10 car range, but after a July event in 2013 that hit nine cars, the division petered out.  The track attempted to run the division several times in 2014, but there were never more than four cars in attendance.  Miles Deubert is listed as the final champion.  If you talk to people, they'll say that track management's insistence on messing with the rules did the class in.

A majority of the names that you have seen on the roster throughout the division's brief  history either dabbled in Pro Stocks or are competing with them today.  Braaten is at the top of the list in Sport Modifieds, Orsburn is competing for two track championships in Modifieds and Provost made an appearance in Modifieds last year.  But this still leaves the question, can a Street Stock division work at Southern Oregon Speedway today, and if so, how?  What happened to all the cars that were there in this five year run?  What about any leftovers from the old Medford track?  The reality is, if you run around the Medford area, you are going to see Street Stocks that are parked.  How do you get them back at the race track again?

This is where the "bring what you have and lets race" promoting style of Mike McCann could be just the ticket to reviving this division.  The easiest way to start the class back up again is to let the drivers bring what they have back to the track.  The idea is to build a class back up and get the cars back to the track in the quickest way possible.  The strictest of rules people may not like this idea.  There are those who crave structure, and when they don't get it, they rebel.  This only works if the racers embrace the concept, such as the way the Super 4 division is embracing the concept of bringing what they have.  If the drivers are not on board, you might as well not even try.

Why even bother to start a division of this nature when the track is already rotating 10 different divisions?  The easiest answer to that question is that Southern Oregon Speedway is lacking an eight cylinder fendered stock car class.  After the Pro Stocks, there is nothing there.  An attempt to bring something back to the track with Open Stocks so far has met with little response, and the response that has been seen is of a Late Model nature.  The track has shown commitment to this idea in the hopes of building something, but Street Stock drivers may be reluctant to run an Open Stock class where they have no chance to compete against a Late Model.  This means the Open Stock class is in jeopardy of failure if Late Model drivers don't get on board.  Pro Stock drivers are showing solidarity and not crossing the line to support this class, despite the fact that it pays more.

So how do you get the Street Stock division back?  And if you do bring it back, can it be more than a 6-10 car class?  There is no reason to believe that it could not grow.  The rules should be simple, the cars should be affordable and the schedule shouldn't be too busy.  One of the big suggestions has been to keep the rules in line with the tracks that already run the class.  Make it easier for a driver who wants to tow to be legal to race at Southern Oregon Speedway.  A more relaxed rules set would accommodate this.

An intriguing suggestion made by one observer was to go with the IMCA Stock Car rule set.  But, is a sanctioning body really needed for this level of racing?  What does IMCA really offer that having a good set of rules couldn't handle?  And, would it be worth using an IMCA sanction for this class if you were the only track doing it?  The metric car run in the IMCA Stock Car class is admittedly a nice looking race car.  However, the area has several Street Stocks parked and just waiting for an opportunity to come back.

It is just a question right now.  The racing program at Southern Oregon Speedway is a major rebuilding project at this point.  Car count has been so down in the past few years that every class has felt the pinch.  Some classes are responding better than others so far this year, but while a solution is looked for in reestablishing the existing classes, it doesn't hurt to look at other classes that have been effective at other tracks.  Something made management look at Street Stocks back in 2010, and there was enough interest to think that it had a shot during its first two seasons.  Is there something to be learned from the way it was handled before that would maybe give it a better chance to be successful now?

Would the Street Stock division be just the class to establish a fenderd Stock Car presence at the track that would give Hornet and Mini Stock drivers another division to go to?  In an informal poll of sorts, photos were uploaded to the Southern Oregon Speedway Facebook page earlier this year for various classes, and one of the most popular groups of pictures was that of the Street Stock division.  People like this class.  It is because of that fact that this division should at least be considered.  Maybe there's nothing here.  Then again, maybe the Street Stock division is an opportunity for a breakout division just waiting to happen.  One thing is for sure, more discussion is needed on this topic.  Maybe there is something there.

What Makes Being At The Races So Special

My reflections on things as we have come up on the halfway point of the season at Southern Oregon Speedway.  Any opinions expressed in this column are my own and not to be interpreted as officially representing the race track...

I happen to be working on a book as I do my duties at Southern Oregon Speedway. I'm doing it a little bit at a time. It's sort of a diary of my first year up here in Oregon. I'm still getting used to everything here to be perfectly honest with you. I'm in a bit of culture shock. The one thing I have found at Southern Oregon Speedway is that there are a lot of good people here.

I found a quote by Mark Wauge to be very interesting. He was pretty much licking his wounds from a hard crash he had at Cottage Grove Speedway, and he said this, "90% of the fun in racing is hanging out with good friends...all year, these people have been GREAT."

Really, I like his philosophy. Here's a guy who has won I don't know how many Main Events through the years. I still haven't had time to count all of the wins he's had at Southern Oregon Speedway, but he has six championships there. The guy wins. But, there comes a time in your racing career where it ceases to be about wins. It's an interesting dynamic.

I have witnessed race car drivers race for years at the speedway where I come from and not win. We have a guy who was one of the first drivers on our Wingless Spec Sprint roster named Rick Panfili. He hasn't won anything yet. He's finished second twice this year, and it could be his time. If he wins this year, and I hope he does, I can just imagine the joy he, his wife and crew will be feeling. That is something I'd love to witness. I never get tired of that.

My hero in racing was a driver who raced for nearly twenty years before he won his first championship. As a kid growing up, people would laugh at me or say I should be cheering for one of the front runners, but I never gave up on him. When he won the championship, it hooked me as a fan and set me on my path to be more involved in the sport. The fact that he spent an hour after the races talking to me when he really didn't even know me solidified his status as my hero as a young fan.

Those are just two examples, and there are many more even at Southern Oregon Speedway, where a win really does mean a lot. Drivers work hard for wins, and they don't come easy.  However, you come to a point where Mark is and it's not just about winning. Make no mistake, he comes out there to win, but that isn't the only driving force. I'll give you another example of that from my old home track.

We have a guy named Larry Damitz. You may or may not have heard of him, but he's been racing since the 1950's. He raced Hardtops for 20 years. He spent probably the first ten years of his career without a win. These days, winning is second nature to him. He has three wins this year at Antioch Speedway and is leading the points. Only one driver in the division has won more than he has, and Larry has won four of the last five championships, finishing second the year he didn't win.

There is no doubt about his ability, even at 87 years old, and if he would come up here, he would certainly give the #b40 car a run for the money in The Outlaw Pro Stocks. But, winning isn't why he's there. Larry doesn't look at the point sheet, and he's the same whether he loses or wins. The night at the races is what matters to him. Being among his friends and family and enjoying a good night is why he is still doing this after all these years.

This is the secret ingredient to racing. If you see a team that is out there a decade later, it's because they understand more about racing than teams that give up, or teams that win their championship and leave. It's not just about winning and losing, it's about being a part of the track, being with your friends and family and just keeping a great tradition alive.

Just as I have seen at my old home track down in California, I have noticed the teams that are up here hanging out with their friends. You see it in the Mini Stock division where Andrew Hall and Kris Mix pit together and Kris's father Keith is a mentor to both of them. You look over in the area of Bob Burkett, where he is joined by Gary Anderson, Eric Hanson and Mike Cloud. These guys work together, and Bob has made a difference in helping keep the other guys out there. I don't believe it's just about winning for Bob, though I know he'd like to win his first championship. It's the camaraderie.

Over by the fence, Mike Medel, Jorddon Braaten, Glen Severson and Bob Nelsen park together, enjoying a good barbecue and lots of great conversation before the races. They may go out there and do battle on the race track, but they hang out as friends. That's what it's all about.

As a fan you have certain rituals too. For instance, there is your favorite seat. It seems silly to some people. Some people can just go in there and take a seat and be happy where they're at. Other people have to have their usual seats. The gates are open for people to save their spots before the races. At my old home track, there was a seat that I had to have since I was a kid. I wouldn't always get up there early, because I'm running around the pits getting names and information as a reporter.

Fortunately for me, when I got up there, I had somebody saving my spot last year. The press box was open to me, but as I wasn't announcing at that track last year, I saw no reason to sit up there. I prefer to be among the people. You get a first hand glimpse of people's reactions and if there is something you should be concerned about. I prefer being among the people. Last year, I was actually using an old tape recorder and doing audio announcing into that recorder and putting it up on the internet later. I did that for years with my partner Joe Martinez at California Racing Online and then after that.

Last week, I witnessed an older gentleman a little bit out of his element. He has a spot at the top of the grandstands right next to the press box that he is used to having. Because it was Sprint Car Speedweek, somebody went up there and threw a blanket over his spot. It threw him off. He actually wandered up to the press box for a few minutes to talk to us. He wasn't really complaining or anything, but it threw him off. It makes a difference to some people. I would love to be able to offer reserved seating, but it's just another thing that requires somebody to really pay attention to. First and foremost, our goal is to keep the races going every week.

Let me also make the point about why I talk about tradition at a racetrack. I love the history of a race track and all of the great people through the years who make it special. That press box that I sit in on race night holds special meaning to me. I didn't know the man, but I know how much he was respected, and there is a plan to eventually dedicate the press box to the late R. Charles Snyder. There are a lot of neat things planned when it comes to honoring tradition, but the goal right now is to just keep things running.

And we've had a bit of an adventure that people don't quite see. They see the things that don't go right, and then some people react to it by putting us down on the internet. Believe me, I understand. As I said, I probably would have done the same thing in some instances from the point of view that the average fan sees. Now that I learned through the last several years what it takes to put this together, I understand the difference between a race track messing up and things just not going right. I admit we have a lot of work to do, and we're doing what we can to turn things around.

Rather than just take pot shots at anybody that came before us, I prefer to look ahead and see the future. Plus, I respect the people who came before us for keeping it going. I look at some of the things that are going on well at the race track right now. I see a Mini Stock division with drivers that want to race. I see a Sport Modified division that has been generally supportive considering their roster isn't as big as some of the others. The drivers with cars are making every effort to race. It takes that to make it happen. When you have a group of drivers in the area who continue to keep their cars parked rather than support their division, it makes it tough to keep that division going.

This brings us to another reality of this day that we live in. There are many reasons a racer ends up not being able to make it. You have financial realities to deal with. It's a tough thing to watch. As a reporter a, I have a difficult time sometimes reporting about what the next race is going to be when I'm not sure who's going to be there. It wasn't maybe 15 years ago when you could pretty much count on the Top 10 drivers in the points making most of the races. That's just not the case anymore. I miss the times when we could have a 22 race schedule and know that our stars were all going to be there every week. It wasn't about the money being paid, because I can assure you the race track didn't pay that much back then. The old Street Stock division raced for free, and they had a ton of cars too.

But, the reality is people have bills to pay. The family wants to do other things too, so you have to figure that out. I understand that several of our racers have marked July 23rd on their calendar to go on vacation with their families. Even with big races happening that might get them to look at going to other places, it's time for the family. I understand. That's why my philosophy when it comes to putting a schedule together is to not book any division two heavily. Make it easier to have a bigger car count for the fans, I think the Sport Modifieds and Mini Stocks are only booked for a dozen or 13 races for the year. We do have racers wanting to race a little bit more, but when you look at our car count, you need to be careful. We're trying to get the most out of each division.

Personal crisis can occur from time to time for a family. Quite simply, there are budgetary reasons for not making it to the races. They may look at the schedule and figure out that they can only afford to run half the season. So, they race when they can. You also have teams that are burnt out and taking a break. And, there are teams that are parked and trying to prove a point with the race track. I've certainly seen my fair share of both of these things happen through the years. To those who park to try to prove a point, what if the point you eventually prove is that there is no longer a race track in your area? Would you be happy with that? Sometimes there's a valid reason, and sometimes there isn't. Either way, racing needs cars so fans have cars to watch on the race track.

The point of this little column is not to point out problems, just to look at the overall picture of what it takes to make anything happen at the race track and why people do it. When you get to the official side, I'm sure that many of the people that we have on staff would rather be kicking back up in the stands with an ice cold beverage. But, they come up here and do their best. For my part, I appreciate each and every one of them. Without them, we're going to have a difficult time doing what we do. If we do our jobs right, the show goes on smoothly and the fans generally don't notice. If we screw up, we have a situation like we had back in May, and everybody notices. When we had that night, I realized that I needed to step up a little bit more than I had been doing. And we have others doing the same.

In Mike McCann, we have a leader who has tried to put people in place and let them do their jobs. He doesn't sit around and micromanage everybody and look over their shoulders. He counts on them to be effective. He keeps an eye on things, and when things aren't quite right, he will make adjustments or changes as needed or just recommendations to his people. He's watching all of this pretty darn closely, and he already has a good idea of where we're going next. Some people might doubt his passion for racing, but the man has been involved in the sport for many decades and has promoted since this mid 1980's. He knows what he's doing, and there are some people who remember Cottage Grove (Riverside) Speedway and Sunset Speedway under Mike's leadership. Give him a chance, and Southern Oregon Speedway will be just as fun.

I see the work that Mike puts into it, and I do not doubt his dedication. There is another man, Uncle Rich, who is working pretty hard too. Rich is very quick to volunteer his labor when it needs to be done. He always points out he's doing it for family. When I came up here, he told me that I can refer to him as Uncle Rich. He calls me nephew. Uncle Rich is the one who painted the ticket booth and the pit sign in booth and the flag stand. He's going around doing weed abatement and generally working his butt off to get the track ready by doing so many other things I can't even describe here. I don't know where we'd be without an Uncle Rich.

There is this lady who has been a part of this track for I don't know how many years. She's our head of concessions Cathy. Cathy works very hard to make sure everything is ready to go so the fans have good food to enjoy on nice night. She's also running back and forth all night keeping herself busy. Plus, people tend to unload on her during the night when something isn't quite right. She takes it all in with a smile and just does her best. I don't know what we'd do without her. There's also her daughter Heather. Let me tell you about Heather.

Heather does a lot of things to keep the show going. Basically, she works concessions, but she will come up to the booth and help us out with the MyLaps situation when it is being a problem. She knows the computer program well enough to get it situated. Through the years, she has jumped in and done many things to keep it all going. Heather also runs the concessions out at the Outlaw Kart track. She is also the one who has taken on the responsibility of reporting the finishes to IMCA for the Modifieds and Sport Modifieds. She's definitely an MVP on the team. I have heard there was always a tendency to kind of shift blame to her and throw her under the bus when things didn't go well at the track, but I don't want to hear any of that. I appreciate what she does.

Jim Rogers is out there applying his expertise to the track. The reason we've had some pretty good tracks here this year is because of his efforts. Now, I know there's been a couple of nights where we got rain and still got races in. The track was rough. But, that is going to happen after a heavy rain. We fought to keep the races going, and the reason we had a presentable track at all was because of Jim.

We also have Bryce on the microphone on race night. Bryce is the voice you've come to expect out there on Saturday night, and I appreciate the way he delivers the information to everybody. For my part, I'm trying to keep the information flowing to Bryce and our head scorekeeper Betty. If I can help make it easier on them, that's what I do. I'm trying to give Bryce a little bit more information that he can use. For instance, nobody through the years his chronicled the point standings from the beginning and kept them on paper. Earlier this year, I gave him the points going back to 1996. I also gave him the champions list on one piece of paper. Like I said, I appreciate the job Bryce does, and I'm proud to work with him.

Our head scorer Betty is getting those duties for the first time. I know that can be a big responsibility when you're jumping in and running the booth, but she has done a good job. I'll try to do what I can to help make things go smoothly for her. If I were needed, I would be a scorekeeper up there as I have experience in that. It's not where I want to be, but I do what I can to help make things happen. Betty is doing a good job of keeping things going and also getting all the data entered into MyLaps. Nicole has stepped up big time too.

Right now, Nicole is just doing a great job of keeping things going with Betty. The two seem to be working great together, and then Nicole is scoring for our Kart track. Basically, it's her show as she signs them in too. If we were wondering how Nicole was going to do, she's been amazing. Our whole staff has been amazing. There are so many names that I can't mention them all here, and I'm sorry to anybody that I forgot. Everybody has made a difference.

If we do our jobs right, the fans are able to enjoy a seamless racing program. Of course, there are nights in which the drivers are going to have their rough times as well, but that's all part of the show. The fans come out there just like the drivers do every week to not just enjoy a good race, but to hang out with their friends and family. It gives them special memories that they can take home with them. There are some fans who started watching the races, eventually ended up racing for a little bit and then ended up being fans again after that. There are also those who may not race, but they want to support the track. They become sponsors.

I can't say enough about the sponsors, because without them, we do nothing. There are many great sponsors who sponsor the race cars, and there are some great sponsors sponsoring our race track this year. All of you are appreciated.

The great thing is the show will go on, and the fans will be entertained. The racers are going to be out there giving it everything they've got. We're going to have a great show next Saturday night as we come off of our one week break. We've still got two months of racing to go after that. We're going to be busy trying to keep this thing going. I know the racers are going to be working hard to be able to come back out there and race. And, it all makes a difference. If nothing else, we're helping build memories that will last a lifetime.  In the end, that's why we do what we do.

 News And Notes

Orland Raceway keeps right on moving along.  Promoter Rich Hood continues to do things with the community as he works to rebuild a depleted racing program on the one-fifth mile dirt oval.  Last time out, the track welcomed a local Girl Scout Troop to sell cookies and do a 50/50 drawing with the proceeds going to their troop.  The girls also served as trophy girls for the winners.

Things are progressing slowly at Orland, but the good news is racing continues.  Hood is looking at adding race dates as per his agreement with the Glenn County Fair Board.  Also, he is looking into adding divisions.  Some of the popular ideas so far are Wingless Sprint Car races, B Modifieds, Street Stocks and 500 Outlaw Karts.  In the case of the Sprint Cars, the track has included them on their schedule almost every years since the early 2000's, but they were dropped this year.  Marysville and Chico have growing B Mod shows, and Placerville is looking to get in on it,  We'll see what decisions are made in the coming weeks.

Results are still forthcoming from the July 2nd event, but winners according to pictures were Skyler Richter (600 Mini Sprints), Andrew Love, (250 Karts), Brad Ray (Hobby Stocks), Dan Webster (Mini Trucks) and Robert Hunt (Mini Stocks).  We're still working on getting more details.  Richter won the 600 Mini Sprint race on July 15th.  Meanwhile, Donovan Chilton won his second Mini Stock feature ahead of the Hornet of Dustin Hills and past champion John Kirkpatrick.  Reigning Mini Truck champion Keith Ross won his first Main Event of the season ahead of Webster and past champion  Ross Vige.  The Hobby Stock win went to Shannon Collins ahead of Steve Martin and Jeremy Langenderfer.  The  next race at the track is on July 30th.

Down in Southern Jefferson, Chico and Marysville were off, but the Thompson Automotive Group Winged 360 Sprint Cars headlined Placerville Speedway.  Sean Becker won their Main Event ahead of Michael Kofoid, Jimmy Trulli, Jake Morgan and C.J. Humphries.  The DOMCO Plumbing Limited Late Model win went to Ryan McDaniel ahead of Matt Micheli, Mike Lightfoot, Tom Tilford and Wayne Trimble.  Dan Smith captured his second Jay's Welding & Fabricating Pure Stock Main Event win ahead of point leader Nick Baldwin, Russ Murphy, Dan Jinkerson and Orville Owens,  Rounding out the program was another good field of Nor Cal Dwarf Cars with Shawn Jones winning ahead of Kevin Bender, Scott Dahlgren Buddy Olschowka and Johnny Reeves.

In Northern Jefferson, Coos Bay hosted a big Fireworks, Night Of Destruction Spectacular, headlined by a $2000 to win Wingless Sprint Car race.  Lance Hallmark won that race ahead of Rob Lindsey, local regular Lawrence Van Hoof, Cottage Grove Limited Sprint ace Cooper Desbiens and Lindsey Barney.  Point leader Wayne Butler won the Sportsman Main Event ahead of rookie Dylan Siewell and Street Stock racer Jeff Krossman.  Jeremiah Reiber continued his domination of the Hornets class by winning their feature ahead of Jason Greer and Sam Taylor.  Ryder Johnson won the Mini Outlaws Main Event in front of point leader John Henry and Samuel Talon.

At Douglas County Speedway on the Northern Edge of Jefferson, they ran the Hardtops on the pavement, and a few Canadians were among the field.  The Friday night 35 lapper was won by George Jenson ahead of Doug Coffman, Douglas Richens, Kail Beck and Troy Tarbuck.  On Saturday,  K. Beck took it up a notch with his 35 lap win in front of Tarbuck, Richens, Roger Beck and Greg Hickman.  Friday night also saw Hornets and Street Stocks in action.  Neil Pecor won the Hornet 20 lapper ahead of Skyler Thompson, Donnie Fain, Chris Cole and Gary Carnes.  Nicholas Hansen won the 25 lap Street Stock race ahead of Kevin Ballard and Steve McMahan  The Saturday show also had Mini Stocks and Modifieds.  Kevin Welch won the Mini Stock feature ahead of Tony Shoptaw, Greg Hickman, Jimmy Smith and Dale Roth.  Herman Pulyer won the Modified race ahead of Tom Ford and Tom Elam.

Staying with the pavement theme, Ukiah Speedway had Pacific Late Models, and Mike Beeler won that 75 lap feature ahead of Joel Courage, Chris Scribner, Mike Roman and Corey James.  Jimmy Badeker won the Pro 4 Main Event in front of Marty Lewis and Scott Brown.  The local Bomber division also competed with Raymond Taylor Sr. winning their 30 lapper ahead of hard charger Bob Mook, Ray Ingalls Jr., Dave Land III and Dave Land Jr.  Not to be forgotten were the Jammers, and David Rogers won their 30 lap race ahead of Brandi Robertson, Raymond Taylor Jr., Gene Odell Sr. and Gene Odell Jr.

We are still waiting to get any results at all from American Valley Speedway in Quincy or Shasta Speedway.  As we do, we'll let you know who is winning there.