Note that this was written before Friday's races in Yreka were officially canceled due to rain.
The DCRR Racing radio Show
Can Be Found HERE
Pit Stops Jefferson Edition
One of the nicest things about the sport of auto racing is the fact that it brings families together. Many friendships are formed at the racetrack. Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Yreka is one of those tracks that is all about the family. On Friday night, they have another special night planned for the family.
One of the things on tap for Friday's event is the kids rides. This is an opportunity for the kids to get a ride around the racetrack. This is just one example of what they do at Siskiyou Motor Speedway to make it special, and other things are planned this year as well.
This Friday night, the popular McDonald's Mini Stocks, O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modifieds, IMCA Modifieds and another appearance by the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association highlight a four division event.
One of the highlights of last weekend's event was the Mini Stock race. In that race, David Steele was in the hunt for his second straight victory. The defending track champion has been fast out of the gate this year, having won the season opener. What he didn't count on, however, was that a pair of ladies would be there to keep him from winning two of the night's races. He did manage to capture the Trophy Dash victory.
Early on in the evening, Steele's attempt to win his heat race was thwarted by Southern Oregon Speedway competitor Marissa Henson. Coming off of a Top 3 season in the 250 Kart division at Southern Oregon Speedway as well as a Top 10 Mini Stock season, Marissa has hopes of getting some wins. It didn't take long before the up and coming star got her first heat race win of the year.
In the Main Event, it was one of the better known ladies showing the way up front. Marilyn Yawnick has been competing in the Mini Stocks for a different number of years, and she can usually be found running in the Top 5 in the Main Event. On Saturday night, she put her best foot forward and picked up her first feature win in three seasons. It was no gimme as she had to contend with David Steele, who was right behind her down the stretch.
Yawnick is a staunch supporter of Siskiyou Motor Speedway, whether she is coordinating the fundraising for the fireworks display or sponsoring the Mini Stock division with her local McDonald's franchise, she does what she can to support the cause of racing. It was nice to see her go out there and earn some of the Main Event winner's hardware last week. Can she make it two in a row?
The car count in the Mini Stock division has been off to a pretty good start with double digits both weeks, and word is that more cars are coming. While Yawnick and Steele were having their close battle up front, Aaron Jorgensen wasn't too far behind them in third. One mistake by the two of them and he would have made his move.
Terry Kendrick had a respectable showing of his own in forth. Kendrick was a Main Event winner at Yreka last season and is hoping to get himself another one here very soon. The latest member of the Fettinger family, Jim Fettinger, managed to prevent Marissa Henson from grabbing a Top 5 finish. However, sixth place finisher Henson still had a heat race victory to brag about.
The Lorenzini family has been a fixture in Yreka racing for a number of years going back to Roger Lorenzini. In this case, Kurt Lorenzini has moved back to the IMCA Sport Modified division, which is bad news for the rest of the competition. Saturday night's race was one of attrition, but Lorenzini had his act together and ran a flawless race in picking up a well earned feature victory.
Another driver making a big statement was 2015 Southern Oregon Speedway Mini Stock champion David Marble. On the heels of his Mini Stock success, Marble decided it was time to move up to the IMCA Sport Mod division. He was making his second start Saturday night after a disappointing season debut. On this occasion, however, he looked good as he earned a second place finish. Could a Main Event win be around the corner for Marble?
Still missing from the roster is last year's IMCA Sport Modified champion, Colter Boswell. However, Ryder Boswell finally made his Sport Modified debut. Unfortunately for Ryder, he had mechanical issues in his heat race and was forced to scratch from the Main Event. Having had some success in the Mini Stock division as a past runner up in the standings, it won't be a bit surprising to see Ryder up there with the leaders battling for a victory very soon.
Meanwhile, it was Gary Foster nailing down the final podium position in third as Jimmy Lipke continues to battle for his first win in his new car. Lipke is another driver we are watching as a potential Main Event winner in the weeks ahead.
The reality is, there are many competitive drivers in the Sport Mods capable of winning, and we won't be surprised to see the winner's list reach beyond ten cars by the time the end of the season arrives. Garrett Hamilton managed to hold off Doug Franklin to collect the fourth place finish. Last season, we had two different champions as the association crowned Franklin as the Sport Mod champion.
The Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association booked their first two races of the season for Siskiyou Motor Speedway. It was expected that there would be a new winner in the Main Event, and young Kalvin Morton lived up to those expectations. Coming off of his strong fourth place finish in the standings last year, Kalvin is hoping to take it up a notch. The win in Yreka was an indication that he may be a factor in this year's championship battle.
It was Chad Cardoza chasing Morton across the finish line with a second place finish. The 2014 point runner up, Ryan Smith, was in the hunt for a podium finish, but he was forced to settle for fourth behind Rob Gergel. Gergel is another driver who is hoping to emerge as one of the stars of the 2016 season.
It will be a wide open season for the Dwarf Cars with two of its top stars, Fred Hay and Camden Robustelli, not expected to be in the point battle. Robustelli will be racing a Winged Sprint Car, while still running the Dwarf Car some. Hay will be out for the foreseeable future after his hard crash at Chico.
The competitors ran the Yreka event with heavy hearts thinking of their injured fellow competitor. Hay was in the hunt for another Top 10 finish at Chico, as usual, when he had to swerve to avoid hitting the slowing leader who was in the high line. When he did that, he was hit by another car and launched into the air some 15 feet. He landed on his roof. After a few days in the hospital, he was released to his home, but he faces a lengthy recovery process.
This reporter hasn't heard about fundraisers, but we anticipate that the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association will be doing something at both Yreka and Southern Oregon Speedway this year. When we get word of details, we will pass them along in this column.
.
We were going to get into the results for the IMCA Modified division, but then we had to ask ourselves if it was worth talking about when only three cars showed up. Yreka initially booked a five race schedule for this division, but drivers voiced their concerns over that. The schedule was more than doubled to accommodate the drivers, and then only five drivers showed up for the season opening $1,000 to win race.
Despite the fact that five cars were all that showed up, the money was paid as advertised to the winner, Nick Trenchard, who has qualified for the IMCA Invitational race later this year. Trenchard celebrated his victory by heading up the road to Cottage Grove to race last week, contributing to the three car turn out that the division had. This observation may seem like we're singling out the 2015 champion, but we are not. He has one car, but others were missing too.
One has to ask the question of whether it's fair that drivers seem to only want to support Modified races in many cases when there's extra money on the line. Low car counts have been a thing that has plagued many tracks when it's just been regular shows. What is the answer? How much longer can a Modified show go at Yreka with this kind of turn out?
Yreka clearly needs a third division to accompany Mini Stocks and Sport Mods, and if it's not the Modifieds, what fits the bill? There are Pro Stock drivers who seem perfectly content to support Yreka, though that number may be in the 6 to 10 car range. Then again, six cars are better than three.
Might the track consider a Hobby Stock or Street Stock division? There are Street Stocks in the one hour radius around Yreka, but would they support a show there? Of course, this is all just speculation. For the time being, the divisions are what they are. On Friday night, the Modifieds will give it another go, along with IMCA Sport Modifieds, Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association Dwarf Cars and McDonald's Mini Stocks.
Stock Cars, Sprint Cars And More
At Southern Oregon Speedway
Southern Oregon Speedway is putting out a call for drivers in the Late Model and Street Stock division to support the new Open Stock division. In the last 8 years, the track has had a Late Model division and then a Street Stock division. There are Street Stocks sitting in the area, but will they come out and support? We haven't heard names thrown around as to potential supporters with Street Stocks, though there has reportedly been interest expressed. There are a few Late Model drivers looking to come out and race. This is an opportunity for more Stock Car type racing to take it hold at Southern Oregon Speedway and grow into something special.
While promoter Mike McCann attempts to build this class up, the Pennzoil Winged Sprint Cars are also a part of things this year with ten races on the schedule. There are some drivers who have criticized the purse being advertised, but you still have to start somewhere. As a car count is established in this division, things can get bigger.
The real question is, who will show up and support the race on April 30th? We have already heard of two young guns, Dwarf Car ace Camden Robustelli and Outlaw Pro Stock Champion Jeffrey Hudson, who will be supporting this division. Chadd Noland, the 2010 champion, is also committed to the show as is two time Orland wWingless Sprint Champion Bill Hopper. Todd Whipple and Wayne Kniffen are two other drivers planning to come support the effort.
We did get word that Kniffen is scraping up money to make it to opening day. He has always been a low buck supporter of the track who has made the most with the equipment he has. He is a two time B Main champion at the speedway. Kniffen reports that he is needing some sponsorship to support the class this year. Hopefully, there will be some good news on that front.
The rest is speculation, but rumors have begun to circulate that we could see Garen Linder a time or two and Chelsea Blevins might come in from California and run a race or two. It's anticipated that the Sprint Car class will have 6 to 10 cars at the start. And, if some of the bigger names aren't supporting the effort, new stars are going to emerge.
April 30th is fast approaching. It signals the beginning of the new era at Southern Oregon Speedway, and the Winged Sprint Cars are getting their first look at the track that night. While we speculate as to who will be in the Sprint Car field, we're also curious as to who will be running the Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks, Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association Dwarf Cars and Mini Stocks.
The Mini Stock division is one of these speedway's core classes and has been since it opened in 1996. With David Marble making his move up to the Sport Modified division and looking good in the process, there are still some unknowns. We do know that teammates Mike Cloud and Eric Hanson are ready to go. We also spotted Chris Mix, Marissa Henson and rookies Devon Weiser and Dillon Lausen in recent weeks.
The two other members of the Top Trio over the past few seasons, Bob Burkett and Gary Anderson, are two names that we haven't had confirmation of for this season. Anderson finished third in the standings last season, coming off of his 2014 championship. Burkett has been runner up four times in the past seven years and third one season as one of the big stars of the division. He seems to be due for a championship, but we're waiting to see what he and Anderson are planning to do. It would certainly be bad news for the competitors as between these two and Marble, nobody else won any Main Events last year.
The two Outlaw Pro Stock drivers who have already thrown their hats into the ring as potential title contenders are Scott Flowers and James Flowers. In fact, Julia Flowers has begun her Pro Stock career, making her first start in Yreka recently. As for Scott Flowers, he is coming off of back to back runner up seasons, and he seems poised to get his first championship this year. At the opener, it was James finishing second, Scott 3rd and Julia 5th.
Meanwhile, Roy Bain ended up finishing fourth in the opener, while Scott Bennett had to settle for seventh. These two drivers are also potential point racing front runners this season. Bain just missed the Top 5 in the standings last year, settling for sixth behind two time champion Ken Irving.
Steve Borror opened the season in Yreka with an impressive Main Event win, but will he actually run regularly for points? Though he won several times last year, he did not race regularly for points. Car count was not strong at the opener, but it could as much as double for Southern Oregon Speedway on the 30th. Some names we hope to see are Dave Everson, Irving, Dave Quick, John Cobb and Rocky Nash
We know that the outlaw Pro Stocks put on a good show, so the opener at Southern Oregon Speedway on April 30th should be a good one. With Outlaw Pro Stock, Dwarf Cars, Mini Stocks and the debut of the Pennzoil Winged Sprint Cars, the opener should be a good race. It will also help answer some of our questions as to who's on board now.
There is a confidence at Southern Oregon Speedway. Even if things don't start off strong, it is going to grow. There is change in the air, and people will feel it. The official website has changed, and the new website is www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
News From Southern Jefferson
We are still waiting for some information for other tracks in the Jefferson area. Hayfork Speedway is set to have their playday on the 30th, and the tracks in Susanville and Quincy are also ready to go. American Valley Speedway in Quincy recently had their playday, but there's been no word as to who was there.
Two other tracks should be opening at the beginning of May, Coos Bay Speedway and Shasta Speedway. As you know, Shasta Speedway was saved thanks to the last minute efforts of local businessmen and long time track supporter Dave Twyman. Twyman has put together a ten race schedule, and he's done it all in about a month's time.
Further down in Marysville, Chico and Placerville, racing season is in high gear. The IMCA Sport Modified division seems to be performing very well at Marysville and Chico this year, to the delight of promoter Dennis Gage. Numbers don't look to be doing too badly in the Sprint Car ranks either. The same can be said for Placerville, where there's been a strong car count in all three divisions under new promoter Scott Russell. It's good to know that the change in promoters has not effected Placerville in a negative way.
As for Placerville Speedway results, the Limited Late Model Main Event winner was Willie McMillan. McMillan is affiliated with fifth place finisher Paul Guglielmoni, who appears to be running for points in the class this year. Paul's teammate, Terry Kuntz, ended up ninth. The win for McMillen was notable in that he beat Ryan McDaniel to earn it. In the Pure Stock ranks, Nick Baldwin was the Main Event winner over Scott Grunert and season opening winner Dan Jinkderson. Baldwin had to work hard to get his Antioch legal car up to speed at Placerville, but he seems to have figured it out now.
Also notable in the field was the #24 car of Rico Abreu. Abreu skipped the World of Outlaw events to participate in the Sprint Car races at Placerville and Chico, winning both nights. Abreu bested the 20 car field in Placerville with Mason Moore and Jonathan Allard rounding out the Top 3. Also notable was Shawn Jones winning the NorCal Dwarf Car Main Event over Mike Bender and Kevin Bender. NorCal is riding High so far this year and had 20 cars in action.
The Abreu win in the 410 Sprint Cars at Chico came ahead of the Dan Menne owned the #75 car, driven by Sean Becker and Jonathan Allard. There were 19 cars in this field. It's noteworthy that Chico Silver Dollar Speedway is the last remaining track that has a regular 410 Sprint Car show.
The track may have been hoping for an increase in Limited Late Models with the dropping of the IMCA Modifieds, but Ryan McDaniel got his win in a six car field. Long time Late Model supporter Ken Micheli ended up second ahead of Ray Trimble. Also stumbling out of the gate was the Winged Economy Sprints, where Wyatt Brown bested Ron Wyman in the five car field.
Hobby Stocks continue to maintain their show, and two time champion Brian Compton picked up his recent victory ahead of Kyle Allen and Cy Cooper. Two of the Cooper Clan have moved into the IMCA Sport Modified division this year and are making their presence known.
On Friday night, it was Brian Cooper finally grabbing a victory ahead of two time Marysville Mini Stock champion Jimmy Ford and Todd Cooper. Jerry Bartlett had to settle for fourth. A night later at Marysville, Bartlett was still finishing fourth, but this time it was Todd Cooper getting the win ahead of Brian Cooper and Phillip Shelby. There were 15 Sport Mods at Marysville.
Not doing so well at Marysville right now are the Street Stocks and the Pro 4 Sprints. Long time Speedway supporter Courtney Dozier picked up the Street Stock Main Event win over James Castleberry and Philip Shelby. It was Tim McLaughlin winning the Pro 4 Sprint Car race over Matt Beardsley and Jaylon Deas.
Sprint Car racing was well represented at Marysville as Peter Paulson picked up the Wingless Spec Sprint Main Event win over Corey Combs and Josh Vieira. There were 11 cars in that field and 16 in the Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event. Past Winged Sprint Car champion Jeremy Burt won their Main Event ahead of Brad Bumgarner and 2015 Champion Justin Sanders.
NW Modified/Sport Mod Series Talk And Closing Thougts
It is getting difficult to keep up with the progress of the Northwest Modified Cup/Northwest Sport Mod Challenge Series that Steve Kerstulovich has put together. Why? Because Steve keeps adding more goodies to the point fund and prizes. For instance, the Sport Mod purse has been increased twice since it was announced earlier this year. It started out as a Top 3 deal at $500, $300 and $200. Sponsorship increased it to a Top 5 point fund. Plus, Steve is gathering more contingency prizes for both the Modified and Sport Mod Series.
We'll try to get more details on the amazing sponsors in the weeks ahead, because they deserve to be recognized for helping build something that only benefits Northwest racing more. The two point races are in high gear now, and one of our Jefferson Area racers, Jorddon Braaten, recently won at Cottage grove in the Sport Modified Main Event, while defending Modified Cup champion Collen Winebarger won the Modified season opener there.
What Kerstulovich now sees is that he may need a helping hand in keeping things going. For the person who has the time and wants to see this grow bigger, it might be a good time to get on board and help. The way this has grown in the last year is only the beginning of what can be. The problem is, Steve may make it so big that he can't keep up with it by himself. There are other tracks out there interested in getting involved in this, but help will be needed. We keep a link on the Jefferson Racing News Blog over on the right to the NW Modified Cup page for those interested in helping out.
We are already running long and late with this column, and we can tell you that we heard one of the reasons Yreka attempted a Friday night race this week before the rains came and canceled it was to see how it effected car count. We can't help but wonder if a move like that might be just the thing to usher in an era of cooperation between Yreka and neighboring Southern Oregon Speedway. Of course, both tracks have their own needs, and Saturday night is the night most tracks swear by. However, if something ever came of this, it would be a good thing for both tracks. This writer would certainly do whatever possible to help make it work for both tracks.
Siskiyou Motor Speedway was to be back in action this week with a four division show featuring the McDonald's Mini Stocks, O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modifieds, IMCA Modifieds and the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association. Thanks to rain, that was canceled. Next up on the 30th will be a Canned Food Drive that offers $2 off entry with canned food donation. Mini Stocks, IMCA Sport Mods, IMCA Modifieds, Powder Puffs and Mud Bogs are on the schedule that night. As always, www.siskiyoumotorspeedway.com, is the site to find out the latest happenings at the Yreka race track.
According to the schedule at the Lassen County Fairgrounds website, Diamond Mountain Speedway will be opening this weekend with IMCA Modifieds, Strictly Stock Cars and Mini Stocks. Hayfork Speedway has a playday on the 30th, while American Valley Speedway in Quincy will be having their season opener that night. We'll see what information we can track down on the winners.
Southern in Speedway comes at you with their season opener on April 30th, featuring Pennzoil Winged Sprint Cars, Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks, Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association Dwarf Cars and Mini Stocks. Information on the happenings at Southern Oregon Speedway can be found at www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
