If You Like Reading Our Articles
Can Be Heard HERE
Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion
Can Be Heard HERE
Ironhead Nationals Winged Sprint Car Race Saturday Night
At Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon...The big month of August at Southern Oregon Speedway continues this Saturday night with another huge event scheduled. It's the Second Annual Ironhead Nationals for the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, and it will pay $2,000 to win. Joining the Sprint Cars on the action packed program will be the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modified, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets. For fans looking to see a little bit more racing, Friday night will offer a full lineup of Karts and Motorcycles on the little track.
Southern Oregon Speedway again offers the biggest paying event in the state for the Sprint Cars using the limited rules package. The extra money in the purse is sure to bring a few surprises to the field. Last season, local Winged 360 Sprint Car star Garen Linder teamed up with TJ Winningham to claim the big prize. Word is that we may see some visitors from up north, and that may include Kinzer Cox. Last time out, Cox came to town and held off a late surge from point leader Mike Wheeler to claim the victory.
Wheeler has been the driver to beat this year with three wins. The point leader has gradually pulled away from the pack, leaving the rest to battle for second. Though he's not in the championship hunt, Tanner Holmes offers a formidable challenge whenever he's in town. Holmes picked up the win in the season opener and ran strong in third last time out. He would have to be considered a threat to get the win this week.
Likewise, David Hibbard looked strong for most of the recent race as he won both his heat and the Scramble. He was running in the Top 3 before pitting late in the race. The reigning champion is still looking for his first win of the season and would love to get it on the biggest night of the year for the class. Inaaa addition to the top drivers anticipated from out of town, top regulars such as Bailey Hibbard, Charlie Thompson, Enrique Jaime, Anissa Curtice and Johnny Burke are anticipated for the big show.
With three races in the next four weeks, this is a crucial stretch for the IMCA Modifieds. After his clean sweep performance in the fifth event, Zack Fettinger has taken a big step in his goal to win the championship. Fettinger leads 2017 title winner Jesse Bailey by 25 points. Bailey is another of the five different winners in the five races held so far. Still looking for his win is championship hopeful and top rookie Justin Foux, who ranks third in the standings. These three may be the drivers to beat this week, but three-time reigning champion Albert Gill is hoping to rebound from his motor issues at the previous race. Other stars to watch for include Ray Kniffen Jr, rookie Jimmy Lipke, David Satterfield and Duane Orsburn.
Consistency has served Jorddon Braaten and Matt Sanders well in the IMCA Sport Modified championship battle. This division will also have three races in the next four weeks. Braaten and Sanders are both feature winners this year. Jorddon has won twice, and Matt's brother Isaac has a victory as well. The span between the three drivers is 20 points as two-time champion Braaten leads the way.
IMCA Sport Modifieds continue to deliver some of the biggest car counts seen at the speedway this year. The most recent race was a flag to flag romp for Braxton Possinger, giving hope to the rest of the pack that their turn in the winner's circle could be next. Some of the stars to watch for this week include two-time champion Mike Medel, Branden Wilson, rookie Wyatt Westfall, Willie McFall and the rapidly improving Steve Lysinger.
The Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stock battle is currently being led by reigning champion David Steele. Steele recently celebrated his milestone 75th career win in a Mini Stock, and he's added four to that total this year at his home track. However, despite back-to-back clean sweeps, his advantage over second year star Ashtin Hedges is only 15 points. Like Steele, Hedges is a Main Event winner this year.
Another driver with a win to his credit is Hunter Magnan. After a rough start with motor issues, Magnan has climbed into fourth the standings, 14 markers behind 2017 champion Kristopher Mix. Mix will be gunning for his first win of the season this week, and others to watch for include top rookie Dylan Irving, Michael McLeod, Steve Goetz, Brandyn Wonsyld and Andrew Hall.
With four-straight wins to kick off his season, Dylan Sauer comes into the night leading the JOAT Labs Hornets point race. However, 2016 champion Tim Hedges has picked up back-to-back victories. Sauer still holds a nine point lead over Hedges in the hotly contested point race. Rookie Quinton Tritchler has picked up two second place finishes in the last three races and is on a quest to get his first win. He trails Jenna Hedges by just six points in another close battle for third in points. These four frontrunners are anticipated this week along with Chris Boynton, Shawn Nelson, Lacey Sauer, Ryan Nelson and Zach Nelson.
The Friday night program at Little Southern Oregon Speedway has just two events left. It's been an interesting show all season long with the two-wheel and three-wheel vehicles joining forces with the Outlaw Kart program.
The youngest stars of the speedway in the Beginners Box Stock class have been putting on some good shows, and three-time winner Jayme DeBenedetti leads Isaac Grimes in the point race. While Grimes looks for his first win, Caleb Ranney scored a clean sweep last time out.
The 250 Kart division continues to be led by four-time winner Trevor Grimes as he's on a piece to win his second championship. Jacob James, reigning champion Vinny DeBenedetti and Cadyn Smith are mixing it up in a close race for second.
It will be an exciting weekend of racing at Southern Oregon Speedway. The gates open on both nights at 5 p.m. with the first race starting at 7. On Friday night, there's a $10 admission fee that gets you pit access and a bleacher seat. On Saturday night, General Admission Adults 13+ are $15, Seniors 62+, Veterans and Juniors 7 to 12 are $10 and children 6 and under are free. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
Ensign Wins Cascade Sprint Car Challenge
At Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon...August 3...Geoff Ensign won the Third Annual Cascade Wingless Sprint Car Challenge race, presented by Herz Precision Parts, Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. This was also the third-straight win in this big event for Ensign, aboard the Ted Finkenbinder owned entry. It paid $3,500 thanks to the continued sponsorship of Mark Herz of Herz Precision Parts. Ensign and local star Jake Wheeler had a spirited dual at the front of the pack before Wheeler settled for a $1,500 second. WSS point leader Rob Lindsey finished a $1,000 third.
The format called for qualifying on the 3/10 mile clay oval. The Top 2 qualifiers would earn starting spots in the eight lap Scramble race, and fast time was worth $100. Ensign was the quickest qualifier with a lap of 13.025, beating the 13.054 of Steve Hix. Michael Millard won the first ten lap heat race with Wheeler outrunning Ryan Stolz for the second position. Rob Lindsey won the second heat race ahead of Shawn Arriaga. Seth Nunes picked up a win in the third heat, followed by Camden Robustelli. The Top 2 finishers in each of the heat races also made it into the Scramble, which would determine the first four rows of the Main Event. Wheeler got a good start on Ensign and would pick up an impressive victory. Ensign settled for second ahead of Arriaga.
The Main Event was intense from the start with Wheeler charging into the lead ahead of Ensign and Lindsey. A lap two yellow flag waved for Stolz in Turn 2. Wheeler continued to lead Ensign, Lindsey and Arriaga. Arriaga did a complete 360 in Turn 4 of the sixth lap, but he kept going without need for a yellow flag. Robustelli and Michael Millard had a good battle going for the fourth position, and Wheeler caught slower traffic by lap 12. Hix moved into the fifth position on lap 13, and a yellow flag waved for Arriaga on lap 14. The restart saw Ensign really pressuring Wheeler for the lead, and he made a strong move on the inside in Turn 3 to have the first position by the completion of the lap. Lindsey was still running third as Robustelli, three-time Hunt Series champion Terry Schank Jr and Hix were mixing it up in the battle for fourth. Arriaga was rapidly working his way back into contention. Wheeler made a slide job pass in Turn 2 to take the lead briefly on lap 21, but Ensign executed a similar maneuver in Turn 4 to maintain first. The leaders were again in slower traffic, and Ensign didn't hesitate to make his moves to keep Wheeler behind him. As Lindsay ran a solid third, Nunes moved past Robustelli for fourth on lap 24. Two laps later, Arriaga had the fifth position. Ensign drove an inspired race to earn the victory with Wheeler an impressive second. Lindsey was third, followed by Nunes, Arriaga, Robustelli, Schank, Hix, Cooper Desbiens and Millard.
Southern Oregon Speedway would like to think all of the great racers who came in from three different states to compete in this show. Stay tuned for updates on the next race and all of the action at the track at www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
Race Results
Cascade Wingless Sprint Cars
Fast Time-Geoff Ensign 13.025Heat 1-Michael Millard, Jake Wheeler, Ryan Stolz, Terry Schank Jr, Cooper Desbiens.
Heat 2-Rob Lindsey, Steve Hix, Shawn Arriaga Brad Rhoades, David Marble.
Heat 3-Seth Nunes, Camden Robustelli, Ricky Brophy, Gene Cannon, Blaine Cory.
Scramble-Jake Wheeler, Geoff Ensign, Shawn Arriaga, Michael Millard, Rob Lindsey, Camden Robustelli, Seth Nunes
Main Event-Geoff Ensign, Jake Wheeler, Rob Lindsay, Seth Nunes, Shawn Arriaga, Camden Robustelli, Terry Schank Jr, Steve Hix, Cooper Desbiens, Michael Millard, Brad Rhoades, David Marble, Ricky Brophy, Gene Cannon, Blaine Cory, Ryan Stolz, Jonathan Jorgenson, Tyler Edwards DNS Todd Whipple DNS.
King Scores Another Dwarf Car Clean Sweep
At Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon...August 3...Josh King scored another victory in the 25 lap Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. King is the three-time reigning champion of the group and has won Main Events at seven different venues so far this season. The feature win was his third of the season here as he makes another championship bid, and it also capped a clean sweep of the eight lap heat race and six lap A Dash.
There were 24 Dwarf Car competitors for the show, and King got the ball rolling with the first eight lap heat race win ahead of championship contender Camden Robustelli. It was Chad Cardoza holding off Ryan Smith to win the second heat, while Jesse Lorentz outran two-time champion Brock Peters to win the third heat race. An interesting fourth heat saw six drivers who had never won a heat race with the group, and rookie Travis Davis picked up the win over Mark Nielsen. King continued his momentum by outrunning Cordoza to win the six lap A Dash. Meanwhile, ageless veteran Fred Hay outran Cody Peters to pick up six lap B Dash honors.
Hay had the outside front row for the Main Event and charged into the early lead ahead of Cardoza and King. King slipped past Cardoza for second on lap four and made a Turn 2 pass a lap later to take the lead from Hay. Cody Peters settled into third on lap six and put the moves on Hay to take over second on lap eight. Moments later, a yellow flag flew for Bud Lorentz in Turn 3. Cody Peters challenged King on the restart and made an inside pass in Turn 2 to gain the lead. Again, a yellow flag waved for Bud Lorentz and Davis in Turn 4. Peters led Cardoza and King on the restart with a lap 10 yellow flag waving for Nielsen in Turn 2. King regained second on the restart and he set his sites on leader Peters. He made an outside pass on the backstretch on lap 13 to regain first. King drove a great race over the final seven circuits and kept Cody Peters at bay for the impressive victory. Cardoza settled for third, followed by Brock Peters and Jesse Lorentz.
The Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars are back as part of the two-day R Charles Snyder Salute on August 31st and September 1st. The Modified portion of the big show on the 1st will pay $5,000 to win, while the Sport Modifieds will be racing for $2,000 to win. The Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks will also be competing on September 1st. For further information, go to www.sodca.net or www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
Race Results
Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars
Heat 1-Josh King, Camden Robustelli, Kalvin Morton, Steve Walker, Bud Lorentz, Michael Johnson.Heat 2-Chad Cordoza, Ryan Smith, Fred Hay, Paul Haslow, Chad Lorentz.
Heat 3-Jesse Lorentz, Brock Peters, Cody Peters, Joseph Sanders, Sean Trujillo, 77.
Heat 4-Trevor Davis, Mark Nielsen, Ashleigh Strain, Shane Hines, Dane Halbert, Dan Penland.
A Dash-Josh King, Chad Cardoza, Ryan Smith, Brock Peters, Jesse Lorentz, Trevor Davis, Mark Nielsen, Camden Robustelli.
B Dash-Fred Hay, Cody Peters, Steve Walker, Ashleigh Strain, Shane Hines, Paul Haslow, Joseph Sanders, Kalvin Morton.
Mean Event-Josh King, Cody Peters, Chad Cardoza, Brock Peters, Jesse Lorentz, Camden Robustelli, Fred Hay, Ryan Smith, Joseph Sanders, Don Gifford, Shane Hines, Ashleigh Strain, Mark Nielsen, Paul Haslow, Chad Cordoza, Steve Walker, Bud Lorentz, Dan Penland, Michael Johnson, 77, Sean Trujillo, Trevor Davis, Kalvin Morton DNS, Dane Halbert DNS.
Elliott Scores Third Late Model Victory
At Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon...August 3...Trent Elliott picked up a convincing victory in the 25 lap Late Model Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. This was the third win for Elliott this year as he increased his lead in the standings with the absence of Darren Coffell. The win paid $1,000 thanks to additional sponsorship from the Northwest Trucking Academy.
In preliminaries, it looked like there was a possibility of a new feature winner emerging on the evening. Dave Everson kept Elliott at bay to pick up his first four lap Trophy Dash win. Everson followed that up by outrunning Miles Deubert to win their eight lap heat race. Meanwhile, Mark Wauge held off Elliott to win his eight lap heat race. Unfortunately, Wauge had more motor problems after taking the checkered flag and would scratch from the pole for the Main Event.
Elliott and Everson shared the front row for the Main Event with Everson charging into the lead. Everson led the first two laps before contact between the lead duo saw Everson's race come to an end in Turn I. Elliott had the lead for the restart ahead of Dave Foote and Chris Biggs. Elliott set a rapid pace with Foote running a solid second. The battle was for third between Biggs and Bob Dees. Elliott lapped second place Foote on lap 18, and a low pass in Turn 4 of the 19th lap gained Dees third from Biggs. Elliott went on to victory ahead of Foote, Dees, Biggs, Deubert, Kelly Justason and Everson.
The Late Models will return to action as part of the August 17th Hall of Fame Night event. Also competing will be the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks, and JOAT Labs Hornets. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
Race Results
Late Models
Heat 1-Mark Wauge, Trent Elliott, Dave Foote, Chris Biggs.Heat 2-Dave Everson, Miles Deubert, Bob Dees, Kelly Justason.
Trophy Dash-Dave Everson, Trent Elliott, Bob Dees, Dave Foote.
Main Event-Trent Elliott, Dave Foote, Bob Dees, Chris Biggs, Miles Deubert, Kelly Justason, Dave Everson, Mark Wauge DNS.
Arnold Benefits From Miscue To Win Late Model Lites Feature At Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon...August 3...Greg Arnold won the nine lap Valley Store All Late Model Lites Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. The race came to an early end due to a miscommunication with the flag man that resulted in a white flag being waved on lap eight instead of a yellow flag. Arnold seized on the opportunity to gain the lead and scored his third win of the season as he increased his point lead over rival Charlie Eaton.
Krista Hadley won the four lap Trophy Dash with Eaton a close second. Ross Payant piloted the Lee Doty car to the eight lap heat race win with Eaton again finishing second. This put Payant and Eaton on the front row for the Main Event. Payant took the lead at the start, and a yellow flag waived after one lap when Eric Aos spun in Turn 2. Payant continued to lead Eaton on the restart, and a high pass in Turn 2 of the third lap gained Arnold third from Krista Hadley. Payant and Eaton had pulled away from the pack when Eaton spun in Turn 2 on lap seven. Eaton got going at the back of the pack as Arnold was now second. Moments later Dusty Aos spun in Turn 2. The white flag waved as they crossed the line on lap eight. Eaton gained the lead with Hadley moving into second. They took the checkered flag a lap later in that order with Payant third ahead of Eric Aos, Eaton and Dusty Aos.
The Valley Store All Late Model Lites will be back in action on August 24th as part of the $4,000 to win Late Model Cottonwood Classic. Other divisions competing that night will be the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks, JOAT Labs Hornets and OTRO Hardtops. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
Race Results
Valley Store All Late Model Lites
Heat-Ross Payant, Charlie Eaton, Eric Aos, Krista Hadley, Greg Arnold, Dusty Aos.Trophy Dash-Krista Hadley, Charlie Eaton, Ross Payant, Greg Arnold.
Main Event-Greg Arnold, Krista Hadley, Ross Payant, Eric Aos, Charlie Eaton, Dusty Aos, Jim Cunningham DNS, Terry Hadley DNS.
Minter Wins OTRO Hardtop Main Event
At Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon...August 3... Mark Minter won the 20 lap OTRO Hardtop Main Event Saturday Night at Southern Oregon Speedway. Minter becomes the third different winner in four races, and he's also the only driver to win a Main Event with the group in each of the last four seasons.
Newcomer Briyan Weberg II picked up the four lap Trophy Dash win ahead of Eric DeRamus. Weberg was going for an eight lap heat race win, but Minter forced him to settle for second. Minter jumped into the lead at the start of the Main Event ahead of previous winner Dan Fouts and two-time winner Dean Cast. Weberg pitted on the opening lap. Minter pulled away to a decent lead in the non-stop event and would score the victory ahead of Fouts, Cast and DeRamus.
The OTRO Hardtops will be back on August 24th as part of the $4,000 to win Late Model Cottonwood Classic. The Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars will be there along with the Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks, Valley Store All Late Model Lites and JOAT Labs Hornets. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
Race Results
OTRO Hardtops
Trophy Dash-Bryan Weberg II, Eric DeRamus, Dan Fouts, Dean Cast.Heat-Mark Minter, Bryan Weberg II, Dan Fouts, Dean Cast, Eric DeRamus.
Main Event-Mark Minter, Dan Fouts, Dean Cast, Eric DeRamus, Bryan Weberg II.
Southern Oregon Speedway Names Hall Of Fame Inductees
White City, Oregon...Southern Oregon Speedway will be hosting the third Annual Southern Oregon Racing Hall Of Fame on August 17th. In addition to a night that will be offering up some great racing action with the Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets, Southern Oregon's racing tradition will be honored and acknowledged once again. Six people will be joining the Hall Of Fame this year.
Southern Oregon Speedway history stretches back 24 seasons now, and before that there was the famed Medford Raceway, the White City track and the track in Ashland. Racing has been going on in Southern Oregon for many decades. During that time, we've seen some great racers and some great people behind the scenes who have kept the sport alive through good times and bad times. On Saturday, August 17th, you're likely to see some faces at the speedway you haven't seen in a while as we look back on the golden era of racing.
When you enter the gate to the grandstands, you'll see some beautifully prepared clipping displays looking back at racing in Southern Oregon through the years. Racing historian Denny Deatherage and his brother Curt Deatherage put together the first three for the speedway. Sadly, Curt passed away last September, but he has been memorialized as the Historical Night at Cottage Grove Speedway has been named in his honor. Denny Deatherage is preparing a new display board with more clippings and photos from days gone by.
On those display boards, you will see the name Markey James several times. The James family has been a fixture in Southern Oregon racing for decades, going back to his father Cecil James. Markey is one of the six inductees this year. Joining him in the Southern Oregon Racing Hall Of Fame class of 2019 will be Jim Walker Sr, Sam Dykes, Jay McCleary, Dave Shinn and Freddy Higginbotham.
Markey James won many races through the years at the Medford Posse Grounds and other venues. James ran wheel-to-wheel with the best of them through the years, and he managed to win Main Events in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and into the 2000s. From the days of Hall of Famers Harold Hardesty and Ben Neel to the era of Hall of Famers Bruce Rayburn and Dane Smith to the early years at Southern Oregon Speedway competing with racers like Don Estermado and Tom Glover, James ran wheel to wheel with the best and beat them.
The name Jim Walker is familiar to people in Medford. Watching Jimmy Walker win races and championships in the Street Stock division was a common site. However, years earlier, Jim Walker Sr was burning up the scene at the old White City track, where he won a pair of championships. Throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s, Jim was a front runner and a winner at Medford Raceway as well. He was truly one of the all time greats.
At a time when Hardesty and Neel were seen regularly at the front of the pack, Sam Dykes emerged as a worthy adversary for the two. In 1968, Dykes rose above and won the track championship ahead of Hardesty. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he was a Main Event winner on several occasions.
Jay McCleary was a fierce competitor in Stock Car racing at the Posse Grounds in the 1970s and the 1980s. He won many races along the way and had some great battles with hard chargers like Jimmy Walker Jr and Ben Neel. His last championship was at the Posse Grounds in 1988. People still consider him to be one of the greatest Street Stock racers of all time.
Dave Shinn was one of the stars of the Stock Car/Super Stock scene in the 1970s and 1980s. At a time when the POSSE Super Stock Tour was at its pinnacle, Shinn beat the best that California and Oregon had to offer to win the 1987 championship.
The man throwing the flags during some of the most legendary battles in Medford Raceway history was Freddy Higginbotham. He won the respect of all of the competitors for the way he handled his duties, and that also got him the flagman position at other venues for some of the biggest races through the years.
Racing is about family and friends and good times. When you're out there enjoying a show, it's the stars of the speedway who keep you enthralled and entertained. They are the ones who compel you to come back to the speedway week in and week out. They are the ones who inspire the next generation of competitors and capture the imagination of the new fans growing up. On Saturday, August 17th, Southern Oregon Speedway honors six people who made a huge impact in auto racing in Southern Oregon. It will be a night you won't want to miss. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
Cottonwood Classic Format And Purse Announced For Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon...All year long, people have been talking about the First Annual Cottonwood Classic at Southern Oregon Speedway. The date is set for August 24th, and it's been known that the speedway will be paying $4,000 to win, making this the highest paying Late Model race on the West Coast this year. However, Promoter Mike McCann recently released more details for this big event, which will also include the support of the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks, Valley Store All Late Model Lites, JOAT Labs Hornets and OTRO Hardtops.
The money at the top of the purse will be quite attractive for the top Oregon and California Late Model competitors. Besides the $4,000 winner's prize, second place will earn a cool $2,000 in cash. Third place will receive $1,000, and even fourth place will pay more than most regular shows at $700. Just to take the green flag in 30 lap race will assure the racers that they will receive $200 minimum at the pay window.
Entry for the show is $100 for car and driver, and pit crews will be charged the regular $30 fee. Drivers will draw a pill to determine their lineup in the four scheduled 10 lap heat races. The Top 3 finishers in each heat race will earn Main Event starting positions. The Top 2 finishers will earn starting births in the eight lap Scramble race. Drivers will again draw for starting positions in the Scramble, and the finishing order in that race will set the first four rows for the high dollar Main Event. All other non transfers will run a 12 lap B Main, sending the Top 4 finishers into the show. B Main non transfers will receive $150.
That money is sure to attract several racers to town. Reportedly, car owner Paul Guglielmoni will be bringing multiple cars to the show, and one of them is likely to be piloted by Bobby Hogge IV. Hogge has a knack for winning big shows everywhere he goes and was a winner in the second Late Model race at Southern Oregon Speedway. He has won several big money races at the track in the past and could be the driver to beat.
Trent Elliott currently leads the standings by a comfortable margin as he looks to win the Southern Oregon Speedway championship. Elliott has won three Main Events so far this year and may be the top regular competitor in the battle to get the win on this occasion. Two Southern Oregon Speedway champions, 2017 title winner Nathan Augustine and 2016 champ Bob Dees are both anticipated.
Darren Coffell has looked very impressive this year with a win and a pair of second place finishes. He ranks third in the current standings behind 2013 Pro Stock champion Dave Everson. Everson has been rapidly improving this year with a pair of third place feature finishes and a win in the most recent Trophy Dash. The Medford regulars will be lining up to take a shot at the money, led by seven-time IMCA Modified champion Mark Wauge, 2012 Coos Bay champion Dave Foote, last season's "Rookie Of The Year" Miles Deubert, Eric Massey and Chris Biggs. There have been unconfirmed reports that Biggs was talking with a certain California star to put him behind the wheel of his fast #20 car. There are further rumors of track record holder Dustin Knight making his new car debut, though none of this has been confirmed yet.
As the purse information and race details have just been released, you're likely to hear some big name drivers from other tracks declare their intent to make a run for the big money being offered at Southern Oregon Speedway. The Cottonwood Classic has been established to bring big time Late Model racing back to the area, and this is sure to be a race you won't want to miss. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com. The Cottonwood Classic Flier is viewable at http://www.southernoregonspeedway.com/Cottonwood19.pdf.
Another Big Show Set For
Mountain Valley Raceway Saturday Night
Hayfork, CA...This Saturday night, Mountain Valley Raceway is having another big event, which comes along with the annual Trinity County Fair. This is the Eighth Annual Clyde Cordell Memorial race. The Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, B Modifieds and Enduro Cars will all be part of this exciting program on the three-eight mile clay oval. Plus, there will again be increased purse money up for grabs.
In July during the Independence Day Celebration event, the Hobby Stocks had an exciting program that offered $500 to win, $300 for second and $200 for third. The increased payday brought some tough competition from top racers from other tracks. When the checkered flag flew, it was past champion Josh Smith picking up one of the biggest wins of his career. Smith figures to be one of the drivers to beat going into this big show, and local stand out Russ Newman is another driver with his eyes on the prize. Not only has Newman won several times during the past two seasons, he's also a past winner of this race.
Another past winner of the Clyde Cordell Memorial is Burl Richardson, and he too would have to be considered a threat to keep the winner's prize money in the local area. There are some good local stars looking to grab the glory, including Tressen Smith, Isaac Kephart, Josh Michaels, Mikey Ruth and Tony Quinones. Some top competitors from Orland Raceway are likely to make appearances as well, and two who could offer a serious challenge for the victory are 2017 Orland champion Jeremy Langenderfer and current Orland title contender Keith Ross, who finished third last time out.
The local stars will be hoping to get their hands on some of the increased purse money being offered in the Mini Stock division. After his win last time out, Ricky Berry will be hoping to drive his truck to another victory. Joey Young, Larry Richardson and William Young are three other local stars who have won this year and want to do so again on the bigger stage.
Likewise, hard chargers like Ian Thulin, Freddie Leeper and past champion Jack Turner hope to be at the head of the pack this week. Some top competitors from Orland Raceway are likely to make appearances, and the last time the money was on the line, Orland Mini Stock point leader Tom Davis was the one scoring the victory. Orland star Paul Stephens, Ross Vige and William Fogle are others who could show up. Vige is a past Orland and Hayfork champion, and Fogle picked up his first win at Hayfork earlier this year.
The track is advertising increased purse money in the wild and crazy Enduro and B Modified divisions as well. In the Modified class, Yreka Promoter Kevin Barba has offered encouragement to his IMCA Sport Modified racers to make the trip to Hayfork. Last time, Ryder Boswell came to do battle with eventual winner Tressen Smith. Smith, Joe Short and Patrick Solemeto are the three drivers on the ground floor in growing the B Modified effort in Hayfork, but word is there could be a couple of visitors making things interesting this week.
The Enduro division is not for the feint of heart, and there are some fearless competitors doing battle for the win in this class. Two of the biggest stars this season are Bryan Gummerus and Jeff Drake, and both may be favorites to win this week. However, they can expect some stiff competition from the likes of William Young, JD Hudman, Matt Yoder, Ralph Thurman and others.
The Fairtime Clyde Cordell Memorial race is one of the biggest events of the season at Mountain Valley Raceway every year and usually gets a bigger car count. This show promises to be one that you won't want to miss. For further information, go to the Mountain Valley Raceway Facebook page.
Lenz Wins Pro Stock/Sportsman Late Model Shootout
At Coos Bay Speedway
Coos Bay, Oregon...August 3...Dr. Scott Lenz won the 30 lap Pro Stock versus Sportsman Late Model Shootout race Saturday night at Coos Bay Speedway. Lenz is the Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stock Series point leader, and this was his seventh win in eight starts this season. After winning his heat race, Lenz had the pole position for the Main Event. He charged into the lead at the waving of the green flag, followed by James Flowers. Local star Braden Fugate gave a good accounting of himself as he raced past Flowers for second on lap three. Fugate, who is the track point leader, stayed reasonably close to Lenz, but Lenz was smooth and fast in victory. 2016 Pro Stock champion Steve Borror was another heat race winner, and he finished third in the feature race, followed by James Flowers, heat race winner John David Duffie, Bryan Hammond, Matt Harlow, Scott Flowers, Jared Simmons and Kenneth LaPlant.
Brody Montgomery won the 30 lap America's Mattress Super Late Model Main Event. This was the fourth win of the season for the reigning division champion. Richard Wallace had the pole position and raced into the lead at the start, followed by Kristy Grout. Montgomery moved past Grout for second on lap three and overtook Wallace for the lead on lap seven. Point leader Preston Luckman started back in ninth and had gained the third position by lap seven. Luckman put the moves on Wallace for third on lap 10, but problems arose for Luckman as the yellow flag waved on lap 13. Montgomery continued to lead Wallace on the restart, but the resurgent Luckman regained the second position on lap 18. Montgomery drove a great race and went on to victory with Luckman not too far behind in second. Wayne Butler finished third, follow by Chris Kristensen, Thor Kristensen, Toby McIntyre, Wallace, Grout, Chris Ray and Trina Post. The ten lap heat races were won by Montgomery and Thor Kristensen.
Donovan Prather won the 20 lap Winged Sprint Car Main Event. This was the first win for Prather, who is the current point leader. Prather had the pole position and led from flag to flag for the victory. Austin Sause ran second for the first four laps before being overtaken by Michael Cinollo. Cinollo would finish second, followed by Sause, Ricky Hulsey, Kyle Oaks heat race winner Lawrence Van Hoof.
Steve Dubisar won the 20 lap Street Stock Main Event. This was the eighth victory of the season for the runaway point leader. Dubisar and reigning champion Ken Fox shared the front row for the feature race and ran closely for the entire distance with Dubisar just ahead of Fox. They finished in that order. Leroy Rockwell finished third ahead of Jeff Krossman as Charlie Withers was a Main Event scratch. Dubisar won the ten lap heat race.
Seth Kristensen won the 25 lap Hornet Main Event. This was the first win for Kristensen. Peyton Reigard charged from the second row into the early lead with Kristensen running second. Kristensen made his winning pass on Reigard on lap seven. Reigard held the second position until point leader Hannah Robison slipped past him on lap 15. Robison put the pressure on Kristensen in the waning laps, but Kristensen stayed cool for the victory. Reigard settled for third, followed by Gabrielle Boles, Kris Parker, Sebastion Freedle, Dusty Shingleton, George Wheeler and Steven Parker. Kristensen and Robison won their respective ten lap heat races.
Sam Talon remained perfect in Mini Outlaw competition with his ninth win in nine starts. The current point leader and two-time reigning champion trailed Hunter Berrier for the first three laps before grabbing the lead. Talon pulled away rapidly from there as only Berrier was able to keep up the pace on the lead lap. Dan Daniels finished third ahead of Jason Kellam. Talon also won the 10 lap heat race.
Griff Smith continues to dominate the Junior Stingers division as the point leader and reigning champion won his seventh 15 lap Main Event of the season. The division for kids 11-14 years old had six competitors for the show as the car count continues to grow, but Emory Johnson and Mary Vincent were feature scratches. Smith had a front row start and led from the outset, followed by Alex Butler. James Shingleton took the second position from Butler on lap four, but Smith won by half a lap ahead of Shingleton. Butler finished third ahead of Drake Vincent. Smith also won the eight lap heat race.
The oval track will be dark this Saturday night as there will be a big NHRA Drag Racing event at the speedway. On August 12th, Coos Bay hosts an ISCS Winged Sprint Car Week Of Speed event with the Dwarf Cars running in support. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us.
Offill Wins First Silver Dollar Speedway
Sprint Car Main Event
Chico, CA...August 2...Kyle Offill won the 33 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main event Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway. Offill has a pair of victories at Antioch Speedway, but this was the first win at Silver Dollar Speedway for the current point leader. Due to three late spins, there were three overtime restarts, and Offill had to deal with multi-time champion Sean Becker every time before taking the checkered flag in victory.
Offill raced into the lead at the start with Petaluma Speedway point leader John Clark and Becker in close pursuit. Becker made a move around Clark for second on lap 11 and set his sights on Offill. By lap 20, the leaders hit heavy traffic, and Becker used that to briefly gain the lead from Offill on a couple of occasions. However, each time a lap was completed, Offill still led. Cole Macedo moved in on Becker to make it a close three-car race up front, and a Clark spin in Turn 2 caused a yellow flag instead of the checkered flag that was coming. With spins occurring on lap 30 and 31, Offill was forced to deal with two more restarts. However, Offill had a strong race car and kept his composure as he scored a will earned victory. Becker settled for second, followed by Macedo, Andy Forsberg, Blake Carrick, Billy Wallace, Clark, Jodie Robinson, Bobby Butler and Peter Paulson.
There were 22 Sprint Cars for this event, and Forsberg set the quickest time of 12.026, beating the 12.211 of Robinson. Offill won the first eight lap heat race ahead of Clark, and Wallace outran reigning Marysville champion Mike Monahan to win the second heat. It was Becker outrunning Butler to win the six lap Trophy Dash.
Matt Micheli won the 20 lap Street Stock Main Event. This was the third feature triumph for Micheli, who is the current point leader. Matt Micheli raced into the lead at the start, followed by his father Ken Micheli and Corey Hall. Hall was pressuring Ken Micheli until he made the pass for second on lap six. However, Hall got a flat tire on lap 14 as a yellow flag waved. Matt Micheli continued to lead the way and pulled ahead to nearly a straightaway advantage in victory. Ken Micheli settled for second, followed by Gary Newman, Hall, Richard Brace Jr, Richard Workman and Jake Van Tol. Hall was the eight lap heat race winner.
Matt Micheli continued his momentum with a 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event win. Micheli is also the point leader in this division, and this was his third win of the season. Micheli led from the waving of the green flag and through five yellow flags as Todd Cooper was a race long second. Scott Savell gained the third position from Tyler Rodgers on lap 16 and would finish there, followed by Shawn Smith, Ethan Killingsworth, Timothy Allerdings, Rodgers, Justin Funkhouser and Mike Ficklin. Micheli also won the eight lap heat race.
Kyle Allen scored an unlikely win in the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Allen is the current point leader, and this was his seventh-straight victory. Reigning champion Jeremy Langenderfer raced into the lead at the start with Allen in close pursuit. The two begin an intense side-by-side battle for second on lap nine with Allen briefly nudging ahead on lap 10. A low pass in turn 4 of the 12th lap regained the lead for Langenderfer, but the two had contact exiting Turn 2. Both ended up with flat tires as a yellow flag waved. Zach Lindgren had the lead on the restart as Allen restarted last. Danny LaBonte settled into second. Allen had managed to gain fourth when LaBonte brought out a yellow flag on lap 18. On the restart, Lindgren, James West and Allen engaged in an intense, three-car duel for the lead. Allen got momentum on the outside as they went through the final turn, and it was Allen beating Lindgren back to the checkered flag for the victory. West settled for third, followed by Jeremiah Creedon, Paul Newman, Maurice Merrill, Jason Johnson, Shannon Collins, Zack Thornton and LaBonte. Creedon and Lindgren won their respective eight lap heat races.
After a week off, racing resumes on August 16th with the annual Tyler Wolf Memorial Winged 360 Sprint Car race. Also on the card will be the Hobby Stocks and the Street Stocks. For further information, go to www.silverdollarspeedway.com.
McKnight Wins Yreka Outlaw Kart Race
Yreka, CA...August 2...Logan McKnight won his first 20 lap 250 Kart Main Event Friday night at the Yreka Outlaw Kart track at the fairgrounds. McKnight ran strong in preliminaries with a heat race win and a second place finish, putting him on the pole for the Main Event. McKnight would score the victory ahead of Nicholas Perrin. Reigning Medford champion Vinny DeBenedetti came from eighth starting to finish third, followed by Jacob James, Dryver Dothage, Cale Cunial, Taylor Fuller, Dallin Dagada, Cole Cunial and Drew Berry. The other eight lap heat race wins went to Cole Cunial, Cale Cunial and Fuller.
Brionna Fuller won the UAS Speedway Kart 12 lap Main Event. Fuller was the only driver to bring a 500 Open Kart. With nobody to compete against in that class, she jumped into a Speedway Kart and collected her second win of the season ahead of point leader Steve Rambo, Larry Fuller and Ed Grubb. Rambo and Brianna Fuller were the eight lap heat race winners.
Four visitors from the Medford track necessitated the need for a Beginners Box Stock 20 lap Main Event. Medford point leader Jayme DeBenedetti outran Caleb Ranney to win the 20 lap Main Event. Talia Colley and Saige King completed the finishing order. DeBenedetti and Ranney each picked up eight lap heat race wins.
Point leader Chayce Smith scored his fourth Restricted Box Stock 15 lap Main Event win. Austin Bartholomew won both eight lap heat races, putting him on the pole. However, it was Hayfork's Smith winning ahead of his closest championship rival, Carson Hanson, and Bartholomew.
Debbie Medeiros made her fifth appearance and won her fifth 15 lap 4 Cycle Main Event. Medeiros and Steve Rambo won eight lap heat races, and Medeiros had the pole. She out-dueled Rambo to get the win with point leader Lori Fuller completing the finishing order.
Malachi Johnson won the 15 lap Unrestricted Box Stock Main Event. He also won an eight lap heat race. Point leader Hunter Granger won the other heat race and finished second in the Main Event.
The next event at the Yreka Outlaw Kart track is on August 16th and will feature a full slate of different classes. For further information, go to the Yreka Outlaw Kart page.
Pit Stops
There are some big things happening at Southern Oregon Speedway these days. Part of the effort to turn a declining program around when Mike McCann stepped in as promoter in 2016 was to add a couple of different featured classes to the roster, but the other piece of the strategy was offering up some big time racing events. One such event happened last Saturday night, and it was the Cascade Wingless 360 Sprint Car Challenge race.
Mark Herz of Herz Precision Parts is a racer, but he's also a big supporter of Sprint Car racing in Oregon, Wingless in particular. Herz liked the idea when Mike proposed it at the end of the 2016 season, and this big August event happened for the first time in 2017. It went well that year, though there was a scary moment involving Kyler Barraza on the backstretch that made a few racers nervous and may have impacted the car count numbers a year later. This led to some uncertainty heading into this third event. How would it go?
McCann himself had been doing what he could to recruit racers, and race director Tony Parker was doing the same from Portland. What resulted was 19 competitors turning out for this race, and things went so well that Herz has already committed to sponsoring the fourth event in 2020. One of the things that helped was the fact that more local racers decided it was time to take off their wings and test themselves against the others who would be coming from up north and from California.
Win, lose or draw, you have to give some praise to Jake Wheeler, Camden Robustelli, Blaine Cory, David Marble, Todd Whipple and Seth Nunez for giving this race a shot. It was nice to see so many racers from the area on hand to compete. Whipple had been struggling to get his car ready, and unfortunately he had mechanical problems early on to put him on the sidelines. One may have been a bit surprised to see Marble show up. However, this guy is a champion in multiple divisions at Southern Oregon Speedway, and he's always up for challenging himself on the track. He did well in making the effort. Cory, meanwhile, was dealing with a few mechanical issues.
Jake Wheeler had been in the hunt for the championship at Cottage Grove in the 360 Sprint class, but the team made the decision to take the wing off and make a run for the big bucks. They certainly have had Southern Oregon Speedway figured out pretty well over the past few years. Jake has come a long way as a driver. With his father, Vern Wheeler Jr, as his crew chief, Jake figured to offer a formidable challenge to two-time reigning event champion Geoff Ensign and car owner Ted Finkenbinder. Finkenbinder will be honored at Calistoga Speedway as a Hall of Fame member in September.
Wheeler made a key move in his heat race that would put him into the Scramble. This was important because Ensign picked up the $100 prize for setting the fast time and automatically had a spot in the Scramble. As luck would have it, Wheeler drew a front row spot and surprised Ensign by taking the lead at the start of the eight lap race. Wheeler prevailed, sending a message to Ensign that he had a clear challenger for the $3,500 prize.
Wheeler looked as if he'd been running Wingless Sprints for quite a while as he charged into the lead early in the Main Event. This race was close throughout the first 20 laps, and even when Ensign got the lead, Wheeler stayed with him. The duo exchanged slide job passes one lap as Wheeler gave it everything he had. In the end, however, Ensign prevailed to make it three years in a row for the team at the Cascade Wingless Sprint Car Challenge.
For Jake Wheeler, however, people need to start taking notice. He's continually challenging himself by going to different venues and testing his ability. The team continues to gather more knowledge that makes them even faster every time they go to the track. Though he didn't get the grand prize, Wheeler still pocketed a tidy sum of $1,500 for the second place finish.
We don't get to see Rob Lindsey very often at Southern Oregon Speedway. He is a star on the Wingless Sprint Tour in Oregon and Southern Washington. He has collected four Wingless championships and is leading the current point race. He did well in his inaugural visit as he ran a race long third for $1,000 after winning his heat race.
Two other Medford area competitors were in the mix in the battle for a Top 5 position. We haven't seen Seth Nunez very often as he runs a Winged 360 Sprint Car. He used to compete at the Little Southern Oregon Speedway track before moving to the Sprint Cars. As the track runs a limited rules package, the only opportunity Seth has to run is to remove the wing and give it a go. He mixed it up with Dwarf Car star Camden Robustelli and Californian Shawn Arriaga. Arriaga seemed to be doing well early on until he did a 360 and kept going. He later spun and had to come from the back of the pack.
Running wingless is something that Robustelli isn't used to. He's competing for the ISCS Winged Sprint Car title this year and is also in the mix for the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car crown. Given the speed and nature of the Dwarf Cars, it's not too much of a reach for a driver in that class to be able to run well in a Wingless Sprint. Robustelli ran in the Top 5 for most of the race before settling for a sixth place finish ahead of three-time Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint champion Terry Schank Jr and CRA Sprint Car racer Steve Hix. Arriaga managed to get up to fifth, but Nunez did a great job of bringing it home to a fourth place finish.
Though this event has happened for the past two years, this race had a different feel to it. The crowd seemed more into it, and the racing was exciting all night. Wingless racing is not something that Southern Oregon racing fans get an opportunity to watch very often. It's a different type of discipline for the drivers, but it offers another exciting form of open will racing for fans to enjoy. It's easy to see that as the fans see more of it, they will become more interested in it. Could there be more than just the big race on the schedule next year? Time will tell.
The Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars continued to crash the gates with a huge field of competitors. On this occasion, there were 24 cars in the pits to do battle. Josh King was doing what he's been doing for most of the year. He was winning. The preliminary battles saw King winning both his heat race and the A Dash. There was an unusual situation that saw a heat race in which nobody had won with the group before. In this case, it was young Trevor Davis getting his first career eight lap victory.
Another driver winning a heat race was Jesse Lorenz, who had to battle two-time champion Brock Peters to get it done. It's interesting to know that Jesse is one of three drivers in the group who runs a Mod Lite, which has been allowed in the series rules. The association is moving to eliminate this style of race car in 2020. The Lorentz team fields a second Mod Lite, driven by Chad Lorentz, while long time Medford area racer Reggie Ayers has a Mod Lite as well. Ayres has already moved to a Dwarf Car. What is interesting is if there had been a few more drivers with this type of car, the potential would have been there to start a new Mod Lites class. The Bakersfield area in California has a thriving Mod Lites division.
Fred Hay picked up the win in the B Dash and would lead the Main Event early before being passed by King, Cody Peters and Chad Cardoza. Cody Peters made his best effort of the year and at times seemed to have King covered. However, King was back in front during the second half of the race and wasn't about to let his third win at his home track slip away. Point listings are hard to come by, but King is currently in the hunt for his fourth championship. For Peters, second place was his best finish of the year and a clear indication that he could be a threat to get a win before the season is over. Cardoza remains consistent as he grabbed a third place finish ahead of Brock Peters, while Jesse Lorentz had one of his best finishes yet in fifth.
Numbers were down slightly in the Late Model division. Several racers are gearing up for the Cottonwood Classic event on August 24th. With the purse and format having been released, this event looks even more attractive to racers coming in from out of the area. It appeared as if incoming point leader Trent Elliott would have an easy go of it as chief rival Darren Coffell was a no show. However, Elliott found himself shut out of the winner's circle during the preliminaries. Mark Wauge looked impressive in winning his heat race, but he suffered a motor issue in the process to end his night.
Dave Everson, however, had the real momentum as he won both his heat race and the Trophy Dash. Everson even bolted into the lead ahead of Elliott at the start of the Main Event and he figured to have something for Elliott and the rest of the competition. Elliott shadowed his every move, however, and when there was contact between the leaders, Everson's race ended in Turn 1. From that point on, Elliott certainly had things in hand as he set a blistering pace. Dave Foote had no competition for the season best second place finish that he earned, but he was unable to deny Elliott his third win.
This meant that Chris Biggs, 2016 champion Bob Dees and Miles Deubert were left to battle for the third position. Biggs held the spot until the later stages of the race when Dees went by for his season best third place effort, which moved him into the Top 5 in the standings. Biggs still took a checkered flag in fourth. The Late Models will be a part of the Hall of Fame night race on August 17th.
There's been an effort to get cars back out to the track in the Late Model Lites. Reportedly, the Narramore team will be back in action as they have the former Bob Burkett championship car. The Narramore team competed in the old Thrill Car division in the early 2000s. Furthermore, there is another report that past Modified champion Don Estramado could be seen in a car before the season is up. This would certainly make things very interesting.
As it was, there were eight competitors, and Krista Hadley was giving the fans a show at she held off reigning champion Charlie Eaton to win the Trophy Dash. Eaton was still in the hunt for a heat race victory, but it was Ross Payant forcing him to settle for second. Still, Eaton was in the midst of a good night that would gain him some ground on point leader Greg Arnold if things continued. This is when a miscommunication between the flagman and an official shook things up in the Main Event.
Payant was doing what he needed to do in the Lee Doty car as he led the way in front of Eaton. On the seventh lap, Eaton spun trying to make a bigger challenge for the lead. He didn't hesitate to get going, but moments later a yellow flag was going to come out when Dusty Aos spun. At that point, Payant was expecting to see the yellow flag and reduced his pace, allowing both Arnold and Hadley to get by for the first two positions. They took the checkered flag in that order with Payant wondering what just happened as he finished third. It was indeed a miscommunication between officials.
The win meant Arnold gained a few more points on Eaton, but because Eaton had a good preliminary effort, the damage wasn't as bad as it could have been. The one thing Eaton might have going for him in his hope to regain the lead from the three-time feature winner is the increased car count. If that continues, anything can still happen in this championship battle between the two drivers.
Bryan Weberg II managed to picked up his first ever Trophy Dash win in his yellow #18 Hardtop. OTRO generally puts the newer drivers into the Trophy Dash as they are racing for fun, not points. Because the count was a bit down, two-time winner Dean Cast and recent winner Dan Fouts were in that race, but club president Mark Minter didn't put himself in the race. It got a little bit crazy behind Weberg, who set a good pace in getting the Dash win.
Minter has had a disappointing season that saw him have mechanical problems leading one race and then brushing the wall on the back straightaway while battling for another win. He missed the most recent race, but the Minter family #33 car was in good working order for this event. To demonstrate, Mark drove it to a heat race win and then picked up the 20 lap feature victory. He is the only driver in the group to win a Main Event in each of the past four seasons as Fouts placed second in the Dusty Trotter #26 car, followed by Cast and Eric DeRamus.
The racing engines have been silenced in Yreka until August 17th as it's time for the annual Siskiyou Golden Fair. Promoter Kevin Barba has continued to be very active in getting things ready for the next race and has continued to engage in community outreach as well. There has been some intriguing possibilities raised regarding Yreka and the potential for an ISCS Winged Sprint Car race. They created what they call Week Of Speed, which kicks off at Coos Bay Speedway on August 12th. It's known that there was an interest in having Yreka be a part of this series last year, but as the race track gets torn down for the Fair, it can't happen. However, you're talking about a group of potentially 15-25 Sprint Cars and even more Dwarf Cars. The event could be a winner for the track if somehow it was able to be included on the 2020 schedule.
What is on the schedule for August 17th is a big Street Stock race. The Iron Giant Series Gold Rush/Chew On This Jerky 50 lapper was set to happen during Memorial Day Weekend, but rain had other plans. The drivers got on the track to run heat races, which gave the fans just a glimpse of what they've been missing in Yreka for the past few years. People keep talking about the potential return of a Street Stock or Hobby Stock class to Yreka on a more regular basis. Whether that happens or not, the Iron Giant Street Stocks should bring anywhere from a dozen to 20 competitors for a show that will also include the IMCA Sport Modifieds and Mini Stocks. What's interesting is the IMCA Sport Modified car count has been growing in recent races as other drivers have been returning to action.
The hits will keep on coming and Yreka has the John Arnberg Memorial race on August 24th. This has been a tradition going back more than a decade, and it was to happen on Memorial Day Weekend before the rain put an end to that event as well. This will be a $1,038 to win race in honor of Arnberg, who ran the #38 Modified and Late Model and was a champion before a boating accident tragically took him away from us. Joining the IMCA Modifieds will be the IMCA Sport Modifieds, Mini Stocks and Jefferson State Jalopies. As a promoter, when you try to reschedule an event, it can be challenging to find the right date. The Medford track will not have IMCA Modifieds that night, though Cottage Grove will. Yreka should still do well with this event, and these next two shows should be good.
Orland Raceway kept trucking along with another good show this past weekend that saw 14 Pure Stocks and 10 Spec Sprints compete. The Winged 600 Micro class even delivered a nine car field in a good race, won by Jessica McManus. The Sprint Cars are where the action is, but even if Tony Richards continues to win this year, the bad night he had at the opener may be his undoing. Denny McNary gave him a serious challenge for the lead on this occasion, but Richards made a move back in front on the last restart. Though Richards won, McNary finished second and didn't lose much of his lead as a result.
The Orland Wingless Spec Sprint class doesn't get a lot of fanfare, but they continue to deliver good fields every week and give the fans a good show. The racers usually run pretty closely and are fairly competitive. Ryan Owens turned in one of his better performances of the year as he battled two-time winner Josh Tucker to get a third place finish. People talk quite a bit about the excitement offered up by the Mini Truck and Pure Stock divisions, but the Sprint Cars are definitely entertaining.
After the night he had at Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday, nobody could blame 2017 Orland champion Jeremy Langenderfer if he decided on a night of fishing instead of racing Saturday. Langenderfer was in a spirited duel for the lead with point leader Kyle Allen. Unfortunately, contact with Allen left Langenderfer with not only a flat tire but rear end damage. The reigning Chico champion got the car situated and came back to Orland.
Unfortunately for Langenderfer, he ended up starting back in the seventh row of the 14 car field. Kevin Pendergrass has driven just about every division at the speedway, so why not a Pure Stock? Pendergrass and championship hopeful Keith Ross had a nice battle at the front of the pack as Langenderfer picked them off one by one in his move to the front. It was on the seventh lap when Pendergrass messed up just a little bit, allowing Ross and Langenderfer to move ahead. Langenderfer stalked Ross until making a lap 11 pass. He went on to a satisfying victory.
Orland Raceway results are not always as forthcoming as we've like to see, but it's very likely that if Ross isn't leading the standings right now, he's only a few points behind Phil Spencer. Spencer would finish fourth ahead of reigning champion, Paul Stephens. Pendergrass finished third. The action is close and very competitive in this division. Even if a little bit of paint gets traded, the fans are sure to see an exciting show with this class at Orland.
The Mini Trucks got the night off and will return as part of the annual Kids Bike Night event on August 17th. Mini Stocks were back, but it was again Tom Davis picking up the win. He was interrupted last time when Paul Stephens jumped into the Pendergrass car and got the win, but Stephens wasn't in the class this week. Nobody had much for the two-time reigning champion and current point leader Davis, who sped to victory ahead of past champion John Kirkpatrick. Looking at the video, it appears as if Barbara Crain made a checkered flag pass on Jason Libbee for third, although that's not official. Numbers have been down in this class, which has been a staple at the speedway since the 1990s. Hopefully, a few more competitors will return in the weeks ahead.
It's possible that a few of the Mini Stock and Mini Truck racers will be heading to Hayfork for the Clyde Cordell Memorial event, which is part of the annual Trinity County Fair. Orland racers have done very well through the years as competitors like Davis, past Orland Mini Truck champion Ross Vige and William Fogle have won Main Events. Fogle is a feature winner in Hayfork this year, and Tony Quinones, who races at both Hayfork and Orland, got a win last year. Tony could be competing in both his truck and a Hobby Stock, and numbers are expected to swell in all classes.
Mountain Valley Raceway in Hayfork is not as well known as other venues, but it has been an exciting season so far. Some of the competitors there choose to compete in two different classes, and the Mini Stocks will see the Young family. They also compete in the exciting Enduro class at the end of the night. William Young and Joey Young are both winners in the class as is Larry Richardson. Ricky Berry got the win last time out in his truck, and the ranks continue to grow in the Mini Stock class in Hayfork. It's anybody's guess who might pick up the increased purse, which may be paying $500 to win again on Saturday.
The Hobby Stocks have some good racers in Hayfork, led by Josh Smith, himself a past champion and winner of the recent Independence Day Celebration. Tressen Smith, Burl Richardson and Russ Newman are three others who are definitely formidable competitors to anybody coming in from out of town. There are some good drivers rising through the ranks at the speedway, including Isaac Kephart and Mikey Ruth. There's much potential for growth in Hobby Stocks at Hayfork, and there's a good possibility of a few Orland racers like Ross, Langenderfer and maybe even Paul Stephens coming to town.
Hayfork officials for the past few years have been trying to find a faster division that people could afford to get into. At first, they set their sites on the Pro Stock division, but this evolved into a B Modified class, being supported pretty well by Tressen Smith, Joe Short and Patrick Solometo. However, they are hoping to get a few racers to come in from out of town.
Porterville area promoter Jerm Smith made an appearance for the Independence Day Celebration race and was so impressed that he's coming back for this show. Jerm is hoping to persuade some racers to bring their B Modifieds to the show, but perhaps it will take a movement to get IMCA sanctioning on this class in 2020 to really get it to take off. With a sanction, you have a better chance of getting racers to come in from places such as Chico, Yreka and possibly even Medford.
Speaking of Oregon tracks, we close on Coos Bay Speedway once again, where an ISCS Week Of Speed race will be happening on August 12th. This is for Sprint Cars using the limited rules package, and they are being joined on the card by the Dwarf Cars, which are being supported by the Southern Oregon, PHRA and Northwest groups this year. It should be a big event for Coos Bay, and they have some other ones still on the radar, including the August 24th Iron Giant Battle At The Beach III race, which is proving to be a big hit at the track.
The NASCAR America's Mattress Super Late Model division continues to be a battle between reigning champion Brody Montgomery and 2018 College Grove title winner Preston Luckman. Luckman is from Coos Bay, but he's been racing elsewhere in recent seasons. The lure of a potential $5,000 championship paycheck brought him back home, and he's been very consistent with more Top 5 efforts than anybody so far. Luckman could only manage a second place finish last week as Montgomery picked up his division leading fourth victory of the year. However, he still has ground to make up in a championship battle that may just go down to the wire.
Wayne Butler is doing everything he can to preserve his third place point ranking. He enjoyed a season best third place finish, which gives him six Top 5 efforts so far. His lead over two-time division point runner-up Thor Kristensen is now 50 points as Thor finished fifth in the Main Event. Last week saw an 11 car field, which is one of the better turnouts the division has had in recent weeks.
The stars of the show were the Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks as they went head to head with the local Sportsman Late Models. Last season, the Pro Stock stars pretty much dominated the local Sportsman Late Model competitors. This year, Braden Fugate gave a good accounting of himself as he ran second behind the flying Dr Scott Lenz. Lenz has won seven of the eight Pro Stock races he has started and is the point leader and two-time champion of his group. Mike Taylor was unable to start the Main Event, allowing Fugate to break things wide open. Steve Borror is the only driver to beat Lenz in the Pro Stock races this year, and he finished third ahead of James Flowers and John David Duffie as only Fugate was able to represent the locals in the Top 5. Reigning champion Dyllan Siewell was also a feature scratch.
Steve Dubisar has eight wins to his credit and appears to be headed for the Street Stock championship this year. Basically, he's just getting tuned up for the coming Iron Giant event at this point. Dubisar got his latest win ahead of Ken Fox, who moved to within four points of second in the standings as a result.
Meanwhile, two-time reigning Mini Outlaw champion Sam Talon is dominating the scene in his division with nine wins in nine starts. He won the latest race, but he did not complete in the Street Stocks, where he is currently the top rookie and second in the standings.
Hannah Robison leads Steven Parker by 32 markers in the Hornet championship chase on the strength of her five wins in nine starts. Parker is still looking for a win. As drivers keep randomly missing races, this one is far from over. One-time winner Ray Marshall and two-time winner and reigning champion Tyler Tullos are still very much in the hunt. With multiple second place finishes, Gabrielle Boles is still within 88 points in the lead, despite taking a nasty tumble on the back straightaway a few races back.
Coos Bay Speedway continues to have its own Winged Sprint Car class, though many people outside of the area may be unaware of that. This was an effort launched by previous Promoter Chuck Prather, who went as far as to invest in several race cars to rent them out. The Prather family continues to be involved in this class, and it's Donovan Prather who won the most recent race. This kept him in the point lead by 12 markers ahead of Austin Sause and 22 over Ricky Hulsey. There is one point race left as the ISCS shows are not for points with the local group. It seems like Prather may be on the verge of winning a championship.
Coos Bay Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 3, 2019
America's Mattress Super Late Models
Brody Montgomery
Preston Luckman
Wayne Butler
Chris Kristensen
Thor Kristensen
Toby McIntyre
Richard Wallace
Kristy Grout
Chris Ray
Trina Post
massey eric
Winged Sprint Cars
Donovan Prather
Michael Cinollo
Austin Sause
Ricky Hulsey
Kyle Oaks
Lawrence Van Hoof
Austin Sause
Outlaw Pro Stocks/Sportsman Late Models
Scott Lenz
Braden Fugate
Steve Borror
James Flowers
John Duffie
Bryan Hammond
Matt Harlow
Scott Flowers
Jared Simmons
kenneth laplant
Johnny Cobb
Garret Smith
Darek Alford
Street Stocks
Steve Dubisar
Ken Fox
Leroy Rockwell
Jeff Krossman
Charlie Withers
Hornets
Seth Christensen
Hannah Robison
Peyton Reigard
Gabrielle Boles
Kris Parker
Sebastion Freedle
Dusty Shingleton
george wheeler
Steven Parker
Mini Outlaws
Sam Talon
Hunter Berrier
Dan Daniels
Jason Kellam
Jr Stingers
Griff Smith
James Shingleton
Alex Butler
drake vincent
All American Speedway Unofficial Race Resuts August 3 2019
NASCAR Whelen All American Series/Back To School Night
Late Models
Main Event 1
Jason Romero
Jeremy Doss
Chris Scribner
Jason Aguirre
Ron Chunn
Justin Marks
Michael Mitchell
Aiden Daniels
Mike Hite
Rick Scribner
JJ Ferguson
Chrstopher Heim
Kolby Juarez
Main Event 2
Jason Romero
Jason Aguirre
Jeremy Doss
Ron Chunn
Chris Scribner
Justin Marks
Aiden Daniels
Rick Scribner
Mike Hite
JJ Ferguson
Chrstopher Heim
Kolby Juarez
Limited Modified
Nick Lyons
Mike Mitchell
Mike Lovell
Tyler Wentworth
Ralph Bailey
Josh Blackwood
Tyler Mullican
Derrick Doering
Don Shalla
Niles Strever
Super Stock
Byron Gonzales
Andrew Peeler
Billy Ray
Chris Paulson
Tony Latimer
Tim Walters
Nathan Hickok
Ericka Ray
Harry Lambert
Dan Farington
Jeremy Fritz
Blake Disomma
F4
Ray Molina
Mathew Fuhs
Vic Theberg
Rich Ennis
Jerry Nunes
Tony Vino
Bill Clark
Ricky Rose
Mini Cup/Bandolero
Kenna Mitchell
Trey Daniels
Bella Thomsen
Tayler Mitchell
Jr. Late Model Feature
Brody Armtrout
Aiden Daniels
Silver Dollar Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 3, 2019
Kids Bike Night
360 Sprints
Kyle Offill
Sean Becker
Cole Macedo
Andy Forsberg
Blake Carrick
Billy Wallace
John Clark
Jodie Robinson
Bobby Butler
Peter Paulson
Caden Sarale
Wyatt Brown
Mike Monahan
Landon Brooks
Jeremy Wilson
Ashlyn Rodriguez
Alex Fowler
Casey McClain
Eddy Lewis
Angelo Cornet
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Matt Micheli
Todd Cooper
Scott Savell
Shawn Smith
Ethan Killingsworth
Timothy Allerdings
Tyler Rodgers
Justin Funkhouser
Mike Ficklin
Street Stocks
Matt Micheli
Ken Micheli
Gary Newman
Corey Hall
Richard Brace Jr
Richard Workman
Jake Vantol
Hobby Stocks
Kyle Allen
Zach Lindgren
James West
Jeremiah Creedon
Paul Newman
Maurice Merrill
Jacob Johnson
Shannon Collins
Zack Thornton
Danny LaBonte
Jeremy Langenderfer
Toby Merrifield
John Williams
Carl Pavlik
Robert Warf
The Editor's Viewpoint
The racing history in the Medford area goes back many decades. I have found it fascinating that I ended up here and that the old Medford Raceway was a sister track to Antioch Speedway for a few years back in the 1980s. I didn't know a lot about this history, and I've endeavored to learn as much as possible. It has been a bit of a challenge since I'm not there on on the scene close enough to go to the library and really research things. I've done online research, which has revealed the early history of the 1950s and early 1960s, surrounding the Posse Grounds, the White City track when it first opened and the Ashland track.
It's a fascinating history, but I don't know that there is any place to go to get a full scope of history going from the beginning of the Ashland track to the end of the Medford Raceway at the Posse Grounds, other than the Medford Mail Tribune newspaper. I doubt that anybody's got a box full of records with point standings and all of that, so even research may only give you a certain percentage of the history. It might be a high percentage of the champions and the feature winners, but you're not likely to get 100% of the picture. That's a shame.
What I have learned in my time in racing is that the promoter's first goal generally isn't to preserve the history. Heck, a lot of times a promoter isn't even worried about what happened last week other than whether they made money to pay the bills. Some tracks will be better than others. Antioch Speedway, my old stomping grounds, did not preserve the history. Heck, there's a 1970s program that listed Stock Car champions, and only a few years removed from that particular season, they fail to list one of JD Willis's championships. Another driver is given credit for that. I'm not sure how that happened other than that wasn't the first priority Pops had back in those days.
It's entirely possible that you could find a box with a list of the race results and point standings for all of the seasons that the Medford track and the Antioch track were NASCAR sanctioned. Perhaps this would be in Florida? There is no Scotts Valley headquarters anymore as the West Coast Speedways operation pretty much ceased to exist in the mid part of last decade. So, you're left having to go to the newspapers for research or the very valuable gold mine of Racing Wheels Magazine, if you kept your issues through the years. I have, and there's a lot of information within those pages.
Even before I became a writer covering racing, I was into statistics. I learned to score keep before I started writing articles and would be a pain in the ass to the score keepers as I would tell racers where I had them. If the racers had a better finish in my notes compared to what was officially posted, often times they might go argue and win that argument. In other words, I helped make some racers money at Antioch Speedway back in the 1980s, and I'm sure I began the little rivalry that I had between myself and the late Sharon Smith. It was never personal with me. I was a crusader looking out for the racers, at least in my mind.
So, back in around 1982, I was beginning to keep my record books with finishes. I had some newspaper clippings from before that, but somehow all of those got thrown out. Those were the days when Charlie Zeno used to write some pretty darn good reports. But I do have all of my record books that were kept from 1982 onward, and I would make trips to the Pleasant Hill and Antioch libraries until I had an all time Main Event winners list compiled. I still maintain that to this day.
Upon my arrival in Oregon, it was my goal to put the Southern Oregon Speedway history in order, come up with a Main Event winners list, champions list and Top 10 point listings from every season. A lot of that information wasn't too difficult to track down, though it certainly wasn't maintained on the web page that was up at the time. Through going back on The Wayback Machine, looking through my Racing Wheels magazines and going through MyLaps, I was able to put a Main Event winners list together for the track that is probably 90-95% complete. There are a few gaps in the records, but it's certainly better than what they had.
The goal for me was then to start attacking the Medford Raceway history, the White City track history and the Ashland track, but other than the things I've been able to do online and through my old Racing Wheels magazines, I haven't really been able to attack it the way I would have liked. I would like to have had that history featured on the website by now. I would like people to be able to go back and see the Top 10 point earners through the years and the Main Event winners, but sadly, I have failed in that endeavor so far.
It's such an amazing history up here. There's a different dynamic between the racers and the race track up here than what I was used to down in California. At times, it has become adversarial. Racers up here weren't always content to just come back if they weren't happy. They might open a whole new track, which they did in White City in the 1960s. A group of 12 racers, nicknamed "The Dirty Dozen", got the ball rolling. Hall a Famer Ben Neel and soon to be Hall of Famer Sam Dykes were a part of that group. Actually, another of this year's Hall of Famers, Jim Walker Sr, won two championships at that track.
Before NASCAR really had a chance to take hold back in those very early years, there was the Rogue Valley Racing Association. Barkhimer had been trying to put things in place, and Antioch Promoter John M Soares tells me that his dad had a hand in cutting the track at the old Posse Grounds in the 1950s. However, the Rogue Valley Racing Association was a thing. What's interesting is that this association continued throughout the run of the old Medford track, and NASCAR didn't really like seeing associations pop-up at tracks at which they sanctioned. You ended up with adversarial situations such as Barkhimer had with the old WAR group that ran other Bay Area race tracks in opposition to his tracks. He ended up winning that battle, but it took a few years.
Dennis Huth, who was the promoter at Antioch in the 1980s for a few years and promoted the Medford track for most of the 1970s and up to the mid 1980s, had to deal with the association and racers standing up against him. Dennis didn't seem to care. He went about doing his business. This situation might exist, but he was going to run the track his way. He may not always even be on the scene, and Hall of Famer Peggy Henry was the one who often times had to deal with the racers. When he was there, he certainly butted heads with people, including a man who will probably be in the Hall of Fame one day, Tom Wyatt. There's some interesting stuff about Tom Wyatt when you look him up online. He was a heck of a racer, but he was certainly somebody who stood up for what he believed in.
The point is, the racers were willing to stand up against track management, and that might be a thorn in the side of the promoter from time to time. You can still see some of that attitude today at Southern Oregon Speedway. Yes, it's annoying, but I do get it to a point. It is a proud racing history that they have there, and the more I read about it, the more fascinated I am. I just want to do justice to the history of this track and to the history of racing in this area. That was what I always had in mind when I pitched the Hall of Fame idea to Mike McCann when I got up here in 2016. Mike, like myself, is another one of those racing traditionalists who believes in the legacy of the sport. It might be a romantic notion these days as many times people don't even care about what happened last week anymore.
I don't really have a decision making position on the committee the way I have had for the Antioch Hall of Fame these past two years. I simply speak up for what I have learned and try to provide the statistical analysis of the racers. I suggested one of the people behind the scenes who actually is getting inducted into Hall of Fame, but even then, this was based on the overwhelming love shown to him by racers at the speedway back in those days. You don't get that kind of out pouring from people like that unless you've earned it. Certainly, you don't get the respect of the racers in Medford unless you earned it.
By the way, where I learned about the people's love of Freddy and other fascinating things was the old Posse Grounds Medford Raceway Facebook page. The place is a treasure trove of information. Though it doesn't have the statistics and point standings all lined up, you get a nice snapshot of racing in the area from the early days until the end of the old Medford Raceway. There are lots of pictures, clippings and fascinating anecdotes. I would go so far to say that somebody could cobble together a nice book about the history of Medford Raceway just by going to that page.
I could see myself doing that, but I have to back off on the idea. First of all, other people provided the pictures and information. So, if I were to attempt to do something for profit, I would ruffle some feathers most likely. The thing is, it would require hours and hours of me combing through Facebook, which doesn't make it easy to get specific information. You have to struggle through the tedium. Then, I would have to write set up stuff, grab quotes, clippings and photos as needed. Then, the editing process. It's work. While it's not my intention to get people for a bunch of money, I think a buck or two for my time is worth it.
Otherwise, one could put a book together very easily, upload it to Lulu and let people order it as they like. Lulu would do all the work, and I get my buck or two every time a book is ordered. Alas, because I don't know how people would take me doing something like this, it's doubtful that I would do it. Maybe that's something for a guy like Jason McCleary or Robert Crowley? I have Antioch books, the sequel to Just A Kid From The Grandstands and other things in mind, but Medford racing will factor in there somewhere down the line.
I like the Hall of Fame committee idea, and I just hope there is enough commitment from people who hold those positions to preserve the Hall of Fame up here for years to come. I've taken on the task of making decisions for the Antioch Hall of Fame for two years in an effort to get it going, but I need a committee to be put into place for the day in which I'm no longer involved. So many great people need to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at both of these tracks, and weather I'm involved or not, I want the tradition to continue. I just hope that it means as much to the people as it does to me. In the end, you don't know. You just have to put it out there and let the people decide for themselves.
I had two names in mind when I came up here, and those were people I knew by reputation. Bruce Rayburn was inducted last year, and Jimmy Walker Jr was the other one that I know was simply amazing in the 1980s and into the 1990s and the beginning of this track. It just so happens that his father Jim was pretty much a badass back in the days of the White City track in the 1960s, and Jim Sr, who passed away prior to the season, will be getting in. I feel pretty good about the list of Southern Oregon Racing Hall of Famers. Markey James, Sam Dykes, Jim Walker Sr, Dave Shinn, Jay McCleary and Freddy Higginbotham are all deserving of the honors, and looking at the list of people who were being considered, there's so many more that deserve it.
I marvel at the idea that John Skinner didn't attempt to establish something like this when this track was built in 1996. You have to understand that even though racing had been missing from the area for seven years after the closure of the Medford Raceway, the history of racing in the area stretched back decades. You want to talk about a great racer who went on to win 54 NASCAR West races and two championships on that tour? Jack Walker won his first championships at the Medford track and Ashland in the 1950s before moving on to bigger things. It all continued from there. Cecil James, Crock Hunter, Jack Keck, Joe Sullivant, Harold Hinton, Tom Wyatt and I can name names further on. The point in, there are some great people who should be considered for the Hall of Fame here.
Eventually, there's going to be a debate as to whether to induct Dennis Huth or the man who built Southern Oregon Speedway, John Skinner. In my mind, both will be deserving of the honors when the time comes. There is some negative baggage that both people carry, but you take the good with the bad. Good things happened at the old Posse Grounds with Dennis running things, and if they had let him do what he wanted to do, there would not have been a seven year absence of racing in the area.
He knew the days were numbered at the Posse Grounds, but local politics will be what it is. Local politics helped to get Southern Oregon Speedway built, and John Skinner was the one who bankrolled the building of the track. Though there's plenty of negative you can say about the man, I wouldn't be standing up here in this tower the way I am now, the tower that Skinner built, if not for him believing in the track.
Those are debates for another time, and I really need to get on with the editing of this column so that I might post this today. It's Wednesday as I'm doing this, and there are things to be done. The Hall of Fame was decided for Southern Oregon yesterday, and the Cottonwood Classic Late Model Race flier information was finally given to me so that I could release it to others. A little bit later than I'd like to see, but I also sort of understand the hesitancy that Mike may have had. When you're putting this much money on a race that you're first establishing, there is a tendency to worry a little bit about how much money you could lose in the endeavor, versus how much could be made. It's an unknown. I think it will work out for the track. Good things are in store for these final races this season, though I'm seeing a negative weather forecast for our big Winged Sprint Car race this Saturday. Rain in August? Come on Oregon, what is with your weather?
I continue to be enamored with the little track, Arena Racing type of deal. My mind gets going every time the Alameda Figure 8 comes to town. The Siskiyou County Motorsports Association had been talking about creating a Lawnmower track in Yreka. Seems to me that this idea has died as there has been no further mention of it publicly. What the Association may be planning next, I couldn't tell you. Lawnmower racing is something that does happen at various places throughout the United States. In Oregon, there were two tracks, and the one in Wamic, right next to the road, is still going.
This leaves another track in Oak Ridge, Oregon. It's at the Old Mill site, and it's been called Old Mill Raceway. The town was for the idea of building a Lawnmower track, and the Tourism Board gave $10,000 to the cause a few years back. The unfortunate reality is that Lawnmower racing may have lasted for about two years, and then it fell by the wayside. There were some hurt feelings in the deal, and the track still sits idle. I've heard some chatter about an Old Mill Raceway popping up, and this particular venue would allow for bigger cars. This would be the 10th outdoor car racing venue in Oregon that I have speculated on in the past.
However, there were people talking about this thing that have since moved on to other projects. The talk of actually doing this facility with auto racing seems to have died down at the moment. Oak Ridge is kind of an out of the way place. It's sort of a tourist destination that has a venue for live music. It's interesting that a man who made racing happen in Medford again some 25 years ago, John Skinner, owns a business that he bought in Oak Ridge. Am I saying that John would invest in something like this? Nope. It's more of an observation than anything else. As of now, the Oak Ridge Lawnmower track still sits idle, and what will become of it, who's to say. It's a shame that the rumored Hornets division never came to be there as I bet it could have worked in a little town like that.
Being around Mike McCann, I hear many different ideas and observations. This is a man who can make things happen and has in the past. He's currently promoting Southern Oregon Speedway in the fourth year of a turn around that is still in progress. I've been amazed to see some of the things that have come to pass at the big track, although there's been some interesting stories along the way that will get told at some point. I'm not sure what keeps Mike going at this track, but that's a whole other subject.
Prior to my decision to return to the sport, I noticed the Facebook website called Bring Back Grass Valley Racing. I looked at what was going on there, and the discussion had kind of died down by then. This was in January of 2015. When I looked through the archives, what is found was a couple of people who wanted to talk about a board and procedures and all of that when it came to creating a committee of sorts to explore bringing racing back. In my opinion, it was a total waste of time. Not the idea of bringing racing back to Grass Valley, but the idea that you need to come up with a board and all of that nonsense. You need one person who knows who to go to and what questions to ask to get the answers.
I try to look at things logically. We all know why racing was closed when it was, and I don't think the track management at the time was completely innocent in it's demise. Had a been better approach been taken and had they dealt with the community a little bit better, racing may not have been silenced when it was. I've heard this information from people in the know, so I don't completely dismiss it. I also look at it and say that this was the past, but what about now? So, when it comes to the revival, I say you just need one person to go in, find out exactly weather it's possible to bring racing back, what would be the terms, how much racing could they have and other such things. If you get an answer of no, it can't come back, then fine. You have your answer.
So looking at it that way, nobody's going to come into a situation like that and invest money unless they know there's something real there. I doubt that anybody who was part of the Bring Back Grass Valley Racing Facebook page had two pennies to rub together when it comes to promoting a race track. But, anybody from the community can go to meetings and discuss things with people who have the power. They can find out what is possible and what is not. They can get things in writing and they can proceed from there. If you get the answers you want and put it out to the right people, a person with the money could bring racing back. That was my thought then, and I sort of moved on as I had important things I needed to worry about for my own sake.
Mike made the comment to me last year that the time was right for some sort of racing to come back to Grass Valley. His hypothesis was that somebody coming in with the right proposal could get it done. He'll generally study these kinds of things before he comes to these conclusions. Actually, there's a couple of other Fairgrounds venues within that area that he says are ripe for racing, but that's another subject. Somebody enterprising with a little bit of time and money might make something happen one day.
Somebody has stepped in and made a proposal to the fairgrounds in Grass Valley, and they listened. Back in May, they got a unanimous vote of nine to nothing in favor of allowing this person, Patrick Weger, to promote a different kind of racing event in the arena. What Patrick is talking about is Dwarf Cars and only running two cars at a time. I guess you could compare this to a drag race type of thing, only on a very tight little oval. You'll be doing elimination races until you ultimately get a winner. It is an interesting concept, although I'm not sure how this would play out.
I contacted Patrick as I was curious what the thought process was and were there any other things he was considering. It's my belief that in a venue such as this one, a promoter could create a Hornets Figure 8/Agra Racing oval type of thing similar to what you'll see Alameda or Salinas doing during the Fair. You're not even talking of a track that is a 1/5th mile. In this case, I believe it's about 1/8th.
Patrick isn't looking at any of that as the idea right now is to run this one event with Dwarf Cars and see how it goes. Even if successful, we're not talking regular racing, but possibly quarterly racing. They've got a date for October 5th, according to the board minutes, but I'm not sure if that's going to be the day that is finalized or if it might be a little later in the month. You also have to factor in that weather will be changing, so if you don't get into the October window, it may not happen.
I had some concerns about whether the association would give their blessing. I know that most of the Dwarf Car divisions are run by associations, and some of them tend to be very protective. I know that's the case with the NorCal Dwarf Car Association, but Patrick assures me that the association has given him their blessing. If that's the case, then he'll get NorCal race cars. If not, the leadership could put the kibosh on getting cars, other than a few people who realize that it's their car and they can take it anywhere they damn well please. The other thing is, this is not a threat to any association in what they do as it's not exactly the same thing.
What something like this can do, if done right, is rekindle the interest in having an actual racing venue again in Grass Valley. The grandstands are still there, and the property is still there enough to make something happen. However, you want to hit the right notes and run it properly or the board could get soured on the idea and the gates could be shut again. This is something that Mike has pointed out to me. If Patrick doesn't have everything lined up just right and handle this thing just right, not only could he fail, but he could screw it up enough where nobody else can come in there and do anything.
Therefore, this may seem like low stakes. I know a few people will probably roll their eyes because you're talking about match races and an elimination type deal. Many hard core fans probably won't even give this a second thought, and I can understand that. But, if the program is run well and executed well, it still matters for the future of racing in Grass Valley. I would not call this Ernie Purcell Memorial Speedway exactly, but it is Grass Valley racing to start with. If it's executed in a proper manner, you'll see more racing in the future. Patrick would like to do similar style things in the future.
My personal view is I say go for it. More power to you. I don't completely understand the vibe of what he's going for, and I'm not really feeling it all that much. I'm just going to take a sit and watch approach and hope for the best. We've been wanting to see some activity in Grass Valley for 25 years now, and something is about to happen. If it's done right, who knows what could come next?
On that note, I'm going to end this column. Until next time...
