Pit Stops - Jefferson Edition
It is time once again for the Speedweek Sprint Car Series. The Western Sprint Tour closes this year's series with a visit to Siskiyou Motor Speedway on Friday night and Southern Oregon Speedway on Saturday night. Admittedly, this series is not as strong as it once was, and whether it's lack of promotion to the racers or something else, car count has been down this year.
The California racers didn't seem to get the memo. Once again, it is California drivers leading the way in the standings. It didn't start out that way as Oregon Sprint Car star Roger Crockett opened things up with back to back wins at Sunset Speedway and Cottage Grove Speedway. Then, things took a turn for the worse when he ended up on his lid at Willamette Speedway. Roger was a no show at Coos Bay.
Three of the California stars in the series are Steven Tiner, Cory Eliason and Justyn Cox. Despite no win yet, Steven Tiner finds himself second in the standings after four Top 5 finishes. The current leader continues to be Willamette Speedway winner Cory Eliason. At Coos Bay, however, it was Justyn Cox putting on a dominant performance in scoring the victory. Also of note was Southern Oregon Speedway Pennzoil Winged Sprint Car point leaders Jake Wheeler's third place performance.
Car count has been a mixed bag so far. Sunset Speedway and Coos Bay Speedway were both at 18, while Willamette and Cottage Grove reached into the mid twenties. Traditionally, you would expect mid-twenties to be a minimum car count for a series of this stature. For whatever reason, however, this is not the case. Of course, when you deal with things of this nature, the finger needs to be pointed squarely at the promotional team that has put the series together. They command a high price tag for their race dates, and when they don't deliver the cars, what is the future of the series?
There are some notable racers in Oregon that you might expect you to come. However, we can't make that claim as they head to Medford and Yreka. The Washington names that have been a part of the series will likely fall by the wayside as they are racing at Skagit and Elma this weekend. The possible exception might be Trey Starks, who is third in points after four races. Why were the two Washington tracks not included in the series this year?
So, the question remains, who is coming to Southern Oregon Speedway and Siskiyou Motor Speedway? Estimations would put the car count in the 12 to 16 car range, possibly 18. Medford area racers like Garen Linder, Jake Wheeler, Jeremy Lowe, Brent McGrath and Aaron Miller are anticipated. What are the names of those who will be at Siskiyou Motor Speedway is unknown at this point. Since Yreka is closer for Todd Whipple, it is likely that he will be there.
The California names mentioned above are anticipated. Kyle Hirst, the 2014 Series champion, had made some of these races, but he has a King Of The West point lead to protect on Saturday. It is not likely that he will make it to Southern Oregon Speedway. Herman Klien joined the series midway through, and the past Petaluma Speedway champion may possibly be at the two tracks, though this would only be a guess at this point. There is another California driver making all of the races named Mitchell Faccinto, who is a second generation racer from the Hanford area.
The Wheeler Racing Team will be on hand, and we anticipate that it will be Jake rather than Vern driving the car. However, Vern did take the wheel at Willamette and earned a Top 10 finish. Garen Linder made the first two races and had a Top 5 finish at Cottage Grove before he disappeared from the next two races. It seems likely that he would race at his home track in Southern Oregon, but we don't take that for granted. The team has already made a policy of not running there for less than a certain amount of money, but if there is another grudge held against the racetrack, will he show up? Hopefully, for the fans sake, he'll be racing.
The bottom line to all of this is that the fans want to see Sprint Car racing. The leadership that puts this series together needs to do a better job of organizing it and making the racers want to be a part of it. The fans do not think about the politics of the races, they just go to the race track and see the cars. If the cars aren't delivered, how much longer will the fans want to put up the money to go watch them? It seems that the Sprint Car racers and their leaders need to start thinking about the fans, or the state of Sprint Car racing in Oregon will get worse.
We are hoping for a good turnout for this series and at least a good performance by whoever is there. There is no reason for a low car count for the Sprint Cars at this point in time, and it doesn't bode well for the state of Sprint Car racing if it doesn't improve. Another thing that will affect the car count at Southern Oregon Speedway is the fact that the Limited Sprint division has been booked that night at Cottage Grove Speedway. It is not really fair that a track that participates in the Sprint Car Speedweek Series has booked a Sprint Car race on top of a track running a series race. Is that in the best interests of the series? People may say that these are Limited Sprints, but there are Limited Sprint racers willing to support the bigger show if not forced to commit elsewhere for the sake of point races.
The Yreka show on Friday night will include the O'Reilly Auto Parts IMCA Sport Modifieds. Garrett Hamilton continues to lead the way in the standings, but Jimmy Lipke is still very much in the hunt. Last time out, they were visited by Jorddon Braten. The Southern Oregon Speedway point leader impressed with his second victory at the track, and he is likely to show up for Friday night's race. With him will likely be reigning IMCA Oregon State champion Mike Medel.
The Sport Modifieds delivered a 16 car field last time, and two drivers running pretty strong in the most recent race were the Top 3 finishers Jesse Morton and reigning champion Colter Boswell. Morton has been a competitor at the speedway for the past several seasons, and the return of his #56 Sport Modified is a welcome addition to the field. The racing has been good in this competitive division at Siskiyou Motor Speedway, and that's not likely to change on Friday night. It should be a good show.
Southern Oregon Speedway will be delivering two reliable support division to their Saturday night Sprint Car race. First of all will be the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association. Last week, 17 cars competed and they had a wild finish in the Main Event. Point leader Kalvin Morton was coming out of the final turn and looking for his fourth checkered flag of the year when he made contact with a slower car, sending both cars flipping. Morton was done, and teammate Brock Peters seemed headed for a victory at that point.
However, the race had to be restarted, and Camden Robustelli had other ideas. Coming off of his win at Coos Bay Speedway a week earlier, Camden charged around Peters and took the checkered flag for his second win of the year. It is not clear where he will be racing this week. He remains Top 5 in the Dwarf Car points, but he also likes to run his Limited Sprint Car at Cottage Grove.
It seems likely that you will see Brock's son Cody Peters in action. Cody had a third place finish at Yreka on Friday and came to Southern Oregon Speedway a day later and picked up a fourth. He also won the B Dash that night. Third place finisher Rob Gergel should also be in action, and other hard chargers anticipated for the Medford race include Chad Cardoza, Ryan Smith, Randy Slater, Don Gifford and Joe Sanders.
The Valley Boys Auto Sales Outlaw Pro Stocks will be gearing up for the Billy Geyer Memorial Race on July 22nd and 23rd in Yreka, but they hit Medford with 17 cards last week. Steve Borror was the guy people hoped to beat, and he started his night off with Trophy Dash and heat race wins. The man who won the recent Medford race, Rocky Nash, won the other heat race with a last lap pass on Miles Deubert. However, the farthest up these two drivers could get was third, and Borrror ended up pitting just before the mid point of the race. Nash spun, but he managed to come back up to third. That was good news for the competition as Deubert and second place point runner Scott Flowers fought for the lead throughout the entire 25 lap distance. Deubert never could quite shake Flowers from his rear bumper, but he still picked up the win, while Flowers settled for his second Top 3 finish in four Medford starts.
The Flowers family also had daughter Julia Flowers driving to an eighth place finish, and wife Ginny earned a tenth place finish in the Arlen Garrison car. Unfortunately, James Flowers broke before the heat race to keep the fourth member of the family, Scott and Ginny's son, from being in action. However, there was another Scott doing well as the #15 car as Scott Bennett picked up a fourth place finish. John David Duffie was hoping to repeat his solid top three performance of the last time, but his motor let go during hot laps to end his night. The Outlaw Pro Stocks will be back in Medford on July 30th.
The Mini Stock division will be there this weekend, and the drivers will be gunning for point leader Bob Burkett. In five races, Bob has driven to a pair of second place finishes and three victories. Two drivers spending much of the season running up front and accounting for the other wins are 2014 champion Gary Anderson and 2015 Yreka champion David Steele. Both drivers are anticipated this Saturday night.
The question remains, who in the rest of the pack can get up there and challenge the "Big 3" drivers for a win? Leading that charge might be teammates Kristopher Mix and Andrew Hall, but Hall had a DNF in the previous race. Hall came into the night ranked second in the standings, but he surrendered that spot to 14 year old sensation Marissa Henson, who finished fourth in that race. All she could do was watch ahead of her as Burkett won that thriller ahead of Anderson, while Steele nearly spun trying to get the lead and ended up third.
Marissa had her hands full with Eric Hanson, who has been running much better since his two non starts to begin his season. Henson & Hanson are two other drivers you have to consider when talking about potential Main Event winners. Somebody is going to break the stranglehold of the Big 3, but who will it be? A field of about a dozen or so Mini Stocks will be out there, and it should be a good race.
Speaking of good races, the McDonald's Mini Stocks ran at Siskiyou Motor Speedway last week, and once again you had David Steele reclaiming his spot at the front. He didn't get the win without a fight as 2014 champion "Magic" Mike Whitaker was a very close second. Whitaker has had a dreadful season, but in the previous race, he finally picked up his first feature win of the year. Whitaker and Steele have spent much of the previous two seasons at the front of the pack as Whitaker was second to Steele in 2015 after holding Steele off for the 2014 championship.
When it comes to this year's championship, "Big Mac" Marilyn Yawnick and "The Holy Terror" Terry Kendrick are the two fighting it out. Kendrick came into the previous race with a slim lead over Yawnick, but Yawnick picked up a Trophy Dash victory and finished third in the Main Event as Kendrick was a few positions behind her. Mike Colson and Mike Frost picked up Top 5 finishes that night. The truck of Ethan Killingsworth did not finish, dropping him further behind Yawnick and Kendrick in the championship battle.
Rumors are circulating concerning another Southern Oregon race track possibly opening again in the near future. This would be Worden Speedway, not far from Klamath Falls. We've been unable to confirm anything at this time and will be keeping an eye on things here. We do know the man in charge there is a past Oregon Limited Sprint Car racer named Carl Tresser. Carl owns the track, but hasn't done much with it other than run motorcycles there. Pro Stocks were a part of the show roughly 14 years ago, and Scott Flowers was a champion there in 2002. We'll see if there is any news to report in the future.
In Southern Jefferson news, Justin Henry won the Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event last Saturday night at Marysville Raceway ahead of Colby Wiesz and Jeremy Phillips. Colton Slack grabbed a Wingless Spec Sprint feature win ahead of Tim Sherman Jr. and Josh Viera. Jerry Bartlett won the IMCA Sport Modified Main Event over Antioch regular Shane DeVolder and point leader Brian Cooper, and past champion Phillip Shelby won the Super Stock race ahead of another champion, James Castleberry and Steve Hammett.
Placerville had a double header weekend on Saturday and Monday. Shane Golobic won the Thompson Auto Group Winged 360 Sprint feature on Saturday ahead of Andy Gregg, Michael Kofoid, point leader Greg DeCaires and Mason Moore. Ray Trimble won the DOMCO Plumbing Limited Late Model race ahead of Mike Lightfoot, Wayne Trimble and Tom Tilford. Reigning Jay's Welding & Fabricating Pure Stock champion Scott Grunert won that Main Event ahead of Dan Smith, Russ Murphy and Jason Palmer, and Taylor Simas won the BCRA Midgets Main Event ahead of Cory Elliott, Shane Golobic, Greg Bragg and Chico 410 Sprint Car point leader Sean Becker.
They were back again on Monday, July 4th, and Mike Benson won the Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event ahead of Tyler Walker, Greg DeCaires, Shane Golobic and Ryan Bernal. Wayne Trimble won the Limited Late Mode feature ahead of Ray Trimble and Ryan Peter. Another packed Pure Stock field saw the Main Event win go to Dan Smith ahead of Scott Grunert and Dan Jinkerson.
Chico Silver Dollar Speedway ran the David Tarter Memorial Race for 410 Sprint Cars on July 4th with point leader Sean Becker wheeling the Dan Menne car to a win ahead of Michael Ing and Andy Foreberg. Past Modified champion Mark Abouzeid won the IMCA Sport Modified feature ahead of Clinton Earl and Todd Cooper as 16 cars again competed. Dan Dozier won the Street Stock Main Event in front of Brett Lawrence and Kevin Lesch, while reigning Hobby Stock champion Brian Compton won their feature ahead of Cameron Hammett and Brad Ray.
We're still waiting on results from both Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville and Orland Raceway as of Thursday, but Coos Bay Speedway hosted a Sprint Car Speedweek race with Justyn Cox winning that feature. J..J. Hickle made a last lap pass on Jake Wheeler for second as Trey Starks and Steven Tiner rounded out the Top 5. The Sportsman Main Event win went to rookie Dylan Siewell ahead of point leader Wayne Butler.
It was time for the Deak Lyndall Memorial race at Lakeport Speedway on Saturday as Darrin Knight won the Modified feature ahead of Darrin Sullivan, Mike Collins and Eric Johnson. The Bombers 40 lap Main Event went to Erik Ray ahead of Matt Manollis, Bob Mook and Lauren Snider. The NCMA Sprint Cars began a double race weekend with past champion Audra Sasselli winning their 35 lap feature ahead of Cody Jessop, Denny Burrell and Pat Ariaz.
Furia Motorsports and the NCRA then promoted another Fireworks event at Ukiah Speedway on Sunday with David Lyndall winning the Modified Main Event ahead of Charlie Collins, Matt Collins and Eric Johnson. The Bomber Main Event win went to Erik Ray ahead of Raymond Taylor Sr., Bob Mook and Roy Ingalls Jr. as 19 cars competed. Jammers also competed with Bo Robertson winning their feature ahead of Gene Odell Jr. and Gene Odell Sr. Zach Frazer won the Legends Main Event ahead of Bill Kistenmacher, Colby Furia and Jaden Fisher. It was David Burcett winning the NCMA race ahead of Cody Jessop, Denny Burell and Audra Sasselli. Wes Feliz won the Bandolero race.
To recap, Siskiyou Motor Speedway will attempt to beat the weather and hold a Sprint Car Speedweek race on Friday with IMCA Sport Modifieds in support. The track has a new official web page at www.siskiyoumotorspeedway.com.
At Southern Oregon Speedway on Saturday, the weather may still permit the Sprint Car Speedweek Series finale, joined by the SODCA Dwarf Cars and Mini Stocks. Further information can be found at www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
