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Racing Returns To Siskiyou Golden Speedway Saturday Night

Yreka, CA...After some early morning rains caused the cancellation of the show last Saturday night, the green flag will wave on a four division program at Siskiyou Golden Speedway this Saturday night. The Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks will be back in action along with the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association and the IMCA Modifieds. After checking with IMCA on Monday, Promoter Kevin Barba announced that the IMCA Sport Modifieds have been added to the program. The Easter Egg Hunt that had been planned for the kids last week will happen this week along with the bike raffle. This will be Little League Night at the races.

The Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks bring the fans some exciting Stock Car action. Yreka has become the home track for the group, who's roster is based largely out of Klamath Falls, Oregon. The reigning champion is Dr Scott lenz. Lenz has pretty much dominated things with the group in winning back-to-back titles, and he won both his heat race and the Trophy Dash last time out before the Sport Modified crash ended the night early.

Lenz comes into the night with a target on his back. Everybody is out to evict him from the Winner's Circle. Two of the drivers who may have the best shot are longtime division supporter Scott Flowers and son James Flowers. Scott is a past feature winner, though it's been a few seasons. Both he and his son have finished as high as second more recently. Others to watch for include Bryan Hammond, Jeff Haudenshild, Matt Harlow and Scott Bennett.

The Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association brings their fast, 1200cc engine race cars to the speedway for the first of two of visits Saturday night. Last season, Josh King won the championship in one of the closest battles in group history. He beat the tied Chad Cardoza, Cameron Robustelli and Brock Peters by a mere one point. Robustelli and Kalvin Morton have done the most winning in Yreka in recent years.

The Dwarf Cars are some of the fastest vehicles you'll see on Saturday night, and they can put on three-abreast racing at times. Some of the other stars to watch for this week include Ryan Smith, ageless veteran "Fast" Freddy Hay, Randy Slater and Cody Peters.

The track is hoping to revitalize their once thriving IMCA Modified show, which dates back to the 1992 season. A half-dozen competitors were on hand for the season opener with 2017 Southern Oregon Speedway champion Jesse Bailey and "Cowboy" Duane Orsburn winning the preliminaries. Among the drivers anticipated for this show are two past champions. Two-time champion Albert Gill and one-time champion Nick Trenchard are planning to be there. Trenchard is a past winner of the Wild West Speedweek visit to Yreka and should be very fast. Other drivers to watch for include rookie Jimmy Lipke and Brett Provost.

Given the fact that there are no other IMCA Sport Modified shows within a few hours of Yreka on Saturday night, Barba contacted IMCA to see if he could add the date for his racers. He got to go ahead on Tuesday morning, and a point race has been added. The season opener was cut short after Zac Potts crashed into the front stretch fencing. However, Matt Sanders was declared the winner ahead of Jimmy Ford and Ethan Killingsworth. The three drivers had a good battle going for much of the race.

After three years as one of the top competitors in the Mini Stock division, Killingsworth made his Sport Modified debut during the stretch run last season and picked up several second place finishes. The talented teen competitor seems on the cusp of getting his first career win in this class. He leads a pack of local racers that includes past champion Colt Boswell and brother Ryder Boswell, reigning champion Trevor Tiffee, Randy Wright and Gary Foster. The last minute addition of this division will make the show even more enticing for the fans.

Everybody is anxious to get the season going, and it looks like the forecast is in our favor. Saturday night should be a great show from start to finish. For further information, go to www.siskiyougoldenspeedway.com.


Tanner, Dubisar and Robison Among Winners on NASCAR Opening Night
By Daren Ricks-Campbell - www.drcmotorsportsmedia.com

Coos Bay, Oregon...April 20...Coos Bay Speedway’s 46th season of racing, and 3rd under the NASCAR banner kicked off with a bang Saturday night. Portland visitor Joey Tanner picked up the America’s Mattress Super Late Model win, piloting the Jered Bemetz owned ride to victory lane yet again at Coos Bay.

Saturday’s victory for Tanner did not come easily. At the drop of the green flag, it was defending division champion Brody Montgomery jumping out front, while Tanner and Preston Luckman quickly settled into 2nd and 3rd. While Montgomery continued to pace the field, fans were treated to a nice battle for 2nd, with Luckman eventually taking the spot from Tanner 5 laps in.

The first of two cautions would wave on Lap 7 for Luckman, moving Tanner back to 2nd and Deven Brown into the Top 3. Luckman would slowly begin his trek back towards the front on the restart, moving all the way up to a battle for 4th with Toby Mcintyre before the final caution waved on Lap 10. The ensuing restart would haunt Montgomery for the rest of the night, as one slip up sent him all the way to 5th, and handed the lead to Tanner.

Once Tanner took the lead, it looked as though a rocket was strapped to his back, as he quickly opened a big lead back to 2nd place. As Tanner ran away with the lead, Brown looked to have a solid hold on 2nd before a Lap 17 bobble cost him 2nd and 3rd to Luckman and McIntyre. Though Luckman was able to shorten Tanner’s lead by almost half in the remaining 8 laps, it wasn’t enough, as Tanner picked up the victory ahead of Luckman, McIntyre, Montgomery and Brown. Tanner and Montgomery won the division’s heat races earlier in the night. Though 14 America’s Mattress Super Late Models signed in to race, only 8 were able to make the call for the feature.

Coquille’s Steve Dubisar was the class of the Street Stock field Saturday night, sweeping both the heat race and feature event against a strong field. It was Powers native Tom Elam who grabbed the lead at the start of the feature event. Dubisar was starting all the way back in 7th, leaving him plenty of work if he wanted to sweep the night’s action. While Elam continued his steady pace up front, Oregon City visitor Josh Sheller and defending track champ Ken Fox were in a close fight for 2nd. It wasn’t long before Dubisar joined the fray, as the 3 ran practically under a blanket for the next couple laps.

Dubisar would finally clear Sheller and Fox on Lap 7, with only Elam ahead in his sights. It didn’t take Dubisar long to make his move on Elam, taking the lead on Lap 9. As the laps wound down, Dubisar’s lead only grew. When it was all said and done, it was Steve Dubisar claiming the win, with Elam, Sheller, David Smith and Wayne Clink completing the Top 5. After his win, Dubisar was elated, saying “I just want to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us drivers, and I was very happy with the car count tonight. This was a great way to start the season out, the car was hooked up.” 8 of the 9 signed in Street Stocks took the green for the feature.

Hannah Robison once again is on top of the Hornet division. A 4 time winner in 2018, the young Myrtle Point driver put on a late race classic with defending champ Tyler Tullos before eventually claiming the win.

From the start, it was Tullos out front, while Jesse McIntyre and Robison followed closely behind. While 2nd and 3rd continued their fight, Tullos looked as though he was going to easily run away with the feature win, opening a big gap back to his closest competitors. As this was going on, Leroy Rockwell was making an incredible charge through the field. Rockwell was up to 6th after starting in the rear of the field before the first yellow flag flew on Lap 13.

On the restart, Robison was determined to not let Tullos run away with the lead. While she followed closely behind, Rockwell was at it again, making his way to 4th before another caution came out with 5 to go. On the ensuing restart, Robison made her move, clearing Tullos for the lead before another caution waved with 4 to go. Though Tullos through everything he had at her, Robison would go on to secure the victory. Tullos, Rockwell, Stacy Robison and John Henry completed the Top 5. Kris Parker and Hannah Robison won the division’s earlier heat races. 11 of the 12 signed in Hornet competitors took the green.

Saturday’s race may have signified a changing of the guard in the young Jr Stingers class. Griff Smith went an undefeated 7 of 7 in 2018, but Saturday night, his streak was ended. That streak was ended by none other than Alex Butler. Smith was the one who took the lead for the early portion of the race, but Butler wasn’t going to be denied. Butler would take the lead on Lap 7.

It wasn’t a cakewalk for Butler from there, however, as Smith hung around closely behind. Smith would make a wild last lap attempt at the win, but Butler would hold on for the win in a photo finish. Florence’s James Shingleton would complete the finishing order in 3rd. Young Alex Butler was excited about her first win, saying “I’m very excited about my win tonight! That was the most fun I’ve has ever had!”

Up and coming driver Braden Fugate was the winner in the Sportsman Late Model division. Only 2 of the class’s 3 cars made the call for the feature, meaning Fugate’s only challenge would come in the form of Reedsport’s Mike Taylor. Though the 2 ran similar lap times the majority of the race, Fugate was able to pull away with the win. Fugate was pretty happy after his opening night win, saying “We had an awesome night! There’s a big learning curve for the new car but tonight was a huge step forward!”

The Coos Bay Speedway returns to action May 4th for Pepsi Night, featuring the Winged Sprints, America’s Mattress Super Late Models, Sportsman Late Models, Street Stocks, Hornets, Mini Outlaws and Jr Stingers. Find out more by going to www.coosbayspeedway.us. We hope to see you there!

Carrick, Peckham Win Silver Dollar Speedway Main Events

Chico, CA...April 19...Tanner Carrick won the 30 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway. Carrick led every lap aboard the Carrick Motorsports owned entry.

Carrick set the early pace in the Main Event, followed by Tony Gualda and Sean Becker. Rico Abreu took third from Becker on lap three, but he surrendered the position to Shane Golobic on lap seven. Golobic briefly took the second position from Gualda on a lap ten restart, but Gualda was back in second a lap later. While running in the Top 5, reigning champion Andy Forsberg flipped in Turn 4 on lap 12 for a red flag. Carrick led Gualda and Golobic on the restart, but Golobic finally took the second spot from Gualda on lap 22. Golobic ran not too far behind Carrick, but he was never quite able to mount a challenge. Carrick scored the satisfying victory, followed by Golobic, Gualda, Justyn Cox, Becker, Kalib Henry, Geoff Ensign, Colby Copeland, Rico Abreu and Marysville point leader Michael Ing.

There were 29 cars for this show, and Henry set the fast time standard of 11.837, beating the 12.035 of Cox. The first of four eight lap qualifying heat race wins went to Tanner Carrick ahead of Becker. Gualda outran Ing to win the second heat with Golobic holding off Forsberg to win the third heat. Abreu won the final heat in front of Copeland. Casey McClain dominated the 12 lap B Main in winning by a half-lap in front of Brandon Powell. Cody Hodgson, Angelo Cornet and Eli Deshaies rounded out the Top 5. Golobic won the six lap Trophy Dash in front of Forsberg.

Andrew Peckham won the 21 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. He was coming off of a victory at Merced Speedway last Saturday night. Reigning champion Philip Shelby took the lead from Phil Marino on the second lap and held it through a pair of yellow flags during the first half of the race. Peckham grabbed second from Tanner Thomas on lap six and took up pursuit of Shelby. On lap 15, Peckham made what proved to be his winning pass. On lap 19, there was a yellow flag, and rules allow for a lap to be added rather than having a one lap shootout. This didn't matter as Peckham led the final two laps to win, followed by Shelby, Jimmy Ford, Brian Cooper, Thomas, Doff Cooksey, Matt Micheli, David Pierce, Mike Merritt and Guy Ahlwardt.

There were 22 cars, and they ran three eight lap heat races. Cooper won the first one ahead of Merritt. Thomas outran Scott Savell to win the second heat, and Peckham won the third heat in front of Ford. Ahlwardt beat Shelby to win the six lap Trophy Dash.

2017 champion Kyle Allen won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Reigning Marysville çhampion Shannon Collins was the early leader, and Allen found his way into third on a lap four restart. He slipped past Mel Byers for second a lap later and put the moves on Collins for the lead on lap six. Only the lap three caution flag slowed the pace, and Allen began to pull away to over a straightaway advantage by the time he took the checkered flag. Collins found himself in a battle with Byers for second, and Byers made his move for the runner-up position on lap 15. Colins settled for third, followed by Nick Vidovich, James West, Jeremiah Creedon, Zach Lindgren, Jacob Johnson and Travis Moore.

There were two eight lap heat races, and Vidovich won his by a straightaway in front of Byers. Allen outran Creedon to win the other heat. The Hobby Stocks also got a rare six lap Trophy Dash opportunity, and Allen outran Collins to make it a clean sweep for the evening.

The next race on Friday May 3rd will feature the Winged 410 Sprint Cars for the annual Bill Brownell Memorial race. The IMCA Sport Modifieds and Hobby Stocks will also be in action. It's night #1 of a doubleheader weekend with the annual Dave Bradway Jr Memorial Classic for the King Of The West/NARC Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Cars running the following night. The Winged Crate Sprints will run in support. For further information, go to www.silverdollarspeedway.com.

Becker Back in Winner's Circle At Placerville Speedway

Placerville, CA...April 20...Sean Becker scored an impressive 25 lap Thompson's Family Of Auto Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event victory Saturday night at Placerville Speedway.

Becker ran second at the start of the Main Event behind Kalib Henry. On a lap eight restart, Tony Gualda took the second position from Becker, but Becker remained in close contention. Gualda slipped past Henry for the lead with an outside pass on the back stretch on lap 13, and Becker quickly moved into second. Becker took the lead from Gualda in Turn 4 on lap 18. Trying to regain the lead, Gualda did a  a complete 360 in Turn 2, but he somehow managed to gather it back up without a yellow flag. Henry was second ahead of reigning champion Andy Forsberg on lap 20. Becker continued to lead Henry during the final five circuits, and that's the way they finished with Forsberg finishing third, followed by Justin Sanders, Justyn Cox, Kyle Offill, Bobby McMahan, Geoff Ensign, Gualda and Jodie Robinson.

There was a strong turnout of 27 Sprint Cars, and Gualda blistered the quarter-mile oval with a lap of 10.632 for the quickest effort. Tanner Carrick was second fast at 10.773. There were four eight lap heat races, and Gualda outran Bobby McMahan to win the first heat. Forsberg held off Ensign to win the second heat with Cox beating Jodie Robinson in the third heat. Sanders picked up the win in the final heat ahead of Henry. They ran a 12 lap B Main to determine the final starters of the Main Event, and Jessie Love won impressively in that race, followed by Mike Benson, Chris Masters and Kenny Wanderstadt.

Nick Baldwin won his second 20 lap Jay's Mobile Welding Pure Stock Main Event. The 2016 champion Baldwin had the lead from the start of the Main Event, followed by three-time reigning champion Scott Grunert. They ran in that order until Jason Leonard took the second position from Grunert on a lap 10 restart. Grunert began to fade in the later stages of the race as Leonard pressured Baldwin for the lead. However, Baldwin picked up the win just ahead of Leonard. Jarred Beddow was a solid third, followed by Kevin Jinkerson, Jason Palmer, Dave Silva, Grunert, Mel Byers, Jason Armstrong and Matthew Chacon. Baldwin made a last-lap pass on Leonard to win his eight lap heat race, and Grunert won the other heat ahead of Jinkerson.

Ray Trimble won the 20 lap Limited Late Model Main Event. Tyler Lightfoot led the early stages of the race with Trimble in close pursuit. Trimble made his winning pass on lap seven, and Ryan McDaniel gained second on lap 15. However, Trimble held about a straightaway advantage over McDaniel at the checkered flag. Lightfoot settled for third, followed by four-time reigning champion Matt Micheli, Jay Norton and Dan Brown Jr. Lightfoot won the eight lap heat race ahead of Trimble.

Chance Crum scored an impressive victory in the 20 lap BCRA Midget Lites Main Event. In recent seasons, Crum has been competing with the Northwest Focus Midget group in Washington and Oregon. Crum held the lead from the start of the Main Event ahead of past champion Scott Kinney. A red flag flew for Joseph Ferolito on lap 15. Crum resumed command on the restart and had about a half straightaway lead over Scott Kinney at the checkered flag. Dakota Albright wrestled the third position away from Hunter Kinney on lap 15 to finish there, followed by Hunter Kinney, Danica Jo Parker, Gus Carcione, Craig Holsted, Tyler Chamorro, Jeff Griffin and Ferolito. The Midget Lites got to qualify on the clock, and Crum bested the 13 car field with a lap of 11.848. The first of two eight lap heat race wins went to Scott Kinney, just ahead of Crum and Griffin in a close battle. Hunter Kinney won the second heat impressively ahead of Chamorro.

The California Hardtops made their first of four scheduled appearances at Placerville Speedway. After losing a wheel during the heat race, Ken Retzloff rebounded by winning the 20 lap Main Event. Joe Hopp set the early pace as Ken Clifford, Jason Clifford and Ron Ruiz battled closely for second.  By lap five, Jason Clifford was second ahead of Ruiz and Retzloff.  J. Clifford made an inside pass on Hopp to gain the lead on lap six.  Retzloff swiftly worked his way into second and made an outside pass on  J. Clifford to take the lead. Retzloff stretched his lead during the final ten laps to win by a comfortable margin ahead of Jason Clifford, Ruiz, Dennis Armstrong, Hopp, Joe Shenefield, Ken Clifford and Larry Wells.

Next Saturday night, Placerville Speedway welcomes the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds as part of the Tilford Tribute event. The Limited Late Models and Pure Stocks will also be in action. For further information, go to www.placervillespeedway.com.

Pit Stops

This column has been added at the last moment as we were hoping for information from a couple of tracks that we wished to include here. Unfortunately, we didn't get all the details we wanted and are instead going to mention what we do know in this column.

Southern Oregon Speedway is about to get busy. On Tuesday, the soft opening of the MX track finally happened. Riders were already starting to show up at around 1 p.m. for the first ever practice. They kept showing up, and reports were that close to 100 riders were there to put the track through its paces. It's just another thing happening at Southern Oregon Speedway.

Practice is the name of the game this Saturday afternoon as Southern Oregon Speedway will finally have its first such event under the promotion of Mike McCann. Every other attempt to do a preseason practice has been canceled by rain. Obviously, drivers are anxious to put their cars through their shakedown runs ahead of the big season-opening Spring Thaw event on May 4th. Jim Rodgers was finally able to put equipment on the track on Tuesday as the pits had dried off enough to move it through and onto the track.

There have already been a few opportunities for racers to show off their cars. The Pear Blossom Parade happened on April 13th, and several drivers were on hand, including two-time IMCA Sport Modified champion, Mike Medel, Doug Coffman and the Triple Nickel Team of Bo Shields and Joby Shields. Garrett Fredrickson also had his Mini Stock there among other Southern Oregon Speedway competitors. Medel also entered his car in a Rod And Custom Car Show and wound up winning an award.

Last weekend, the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association brought over a dozen of their cars to Granger Accounting And Tax Service. This was their annual preseason car show where they meet and greet the fans. Last season was the best year the group has had in the past few years, and there's every indication that more drivers are coming this year. On Saturday night, these competitors will head to Siskiyou Golden Speedway to officially start their season.

This Saturday at Southern Oregon Speedway is about practice laps. Every division is welcome to come test their race cars. Fans are also welcome to come watch. The facility is looking better at this time of year than it has in several years, and there is much optimism in the air heading into the season. On May 4th, Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars will be an action along with IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets. Management is hoping that the weather maintains as it has been lately and that it will be a sunny and mild day at the speedway. The racers just want to go racing and the fans want to see some great racing as Southern Oregon Speedway kicks off its 24th season.

Jeff Olschowka has been reported to be the promoter at Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville for the next six years. He revealed that little tidbit as announcer "Davey Boy" Munoz was doing a pit walk prior to last Saturday's show. We were hoping to get enough information to put an article together, but unfortunately we have been unable to track down what is needed.

We did see footage of most of the races, and we can report that 40 competitors took a green flag in the various divisions. IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds were there along with the Mini Stocks and Hobby Stocks. The Modifieds delivered a 19 Car field, while the Mini Stocks had ten cars, the Sport Modifieds had six and the Hobby Stocks had five.

The good news, as we dissect the numbers, is that car count has maintained from where it left off last year. The better news is that there's quite a buzz in Susanville. Racers are happy that an actual promoter is in charge of the speedway again, and they want to come back. Stability was very much needed at Diamond Mountain Speedway, and it appears as if they have it. The track looked to be in good shape, and there was also a good fan attendance.

We hope to include results articles for Diamond Mountain Speedway, but this depends on whether we get information that is needed or not. We can tell you that on Friday they will be holding their second race, and Saturday night, American Valley Speedway in Quincy will be opening their season.

Dave Twyman continues to do what he can to bring some stability to Shasta Speedway. The paved track had their season opener on the 13th, and they ran another race on the 20th. Photographer Christine Meeds was there at the opener and shared pictures of race cars from various divisions, including Bombers, Hornets and Legend Cars. These divisions were also on the card for last Saturday night.

Once again, getting information seems to be a struggle at Shasta. We would love to include results articles, but there is nowhere on the internet to find them. We know that Orland Raceway Hobby Stock competitor Amanda McAbel was able to make some laps in a Bomber last Saturday night and will probably get that opportunity again. Racing will continue at Shasta, and we'll do what we can to get information.

We can tell you that there are two big Bomber series events booked for Shasta. Likewise, Ukiah Speedway and Redwood Acres Speedway in Eureka are on the schedule twice. Lakeport Speedway gets one event. The seven race Bomber series will be offering point find money to the Top 10 competitors. It was revealed last Saturday that the champion will receive $2,000 and a set of tires. Runner-up gets $1,000 and a set of tires, while third place gets $750 and two tires. 10th place receives a minimum of $300. Drivers will be paying a $25 registration fee to be a part of the series, and they are eligible for point fund money as long as they compete in at least five races.

Ukiah Speedway opened their season last Saturday night, and they had a good turnout of Limited Modifieds and Legends. Bombers, Jammers and Mini Cup cars were also part of the show. The Doss team and the Lovell team did pretty well in Modifieds and Bombers. After Sierra Furia led many of the laps in the Modified race, she slipped to third behind Mike Doss and Mike Lovell. It was Jeremy Doss winning the Bomber feature ahead of Mikey Lovell. Aiden Daniels held off Peter Soto to win the Legend Car feature. We've heard that the opener at Lakeport Speedway has been delayed, but we're still fuzzy on the details.

As mentioned in the article filed by Daren Ricks Campbell, Coos Bay Speedway finally opened their NASCAR Whelen All American Series season last Saturday night. There were 14 America's Mattress Super Late Models in attendance, and 10 of those drivers could be considered locals. Furthermore, there were a few local drivers absent from the show, which indicates that the numbers could be up this season as those drivers return. It was Willamette Speedway champion Joey Tanner taking the victory ahead of 2018 Cottage Grove champion Preston Luckman and 2015 Coos Bay champion Toby McIntyre. There's reason to be optimistic at Coos Bay about this division.

The Street Stocks opened with eight cars, and it's interesting to point out that Steve Dubisar was there. Dubisar has by far been the fastest racer of the group during the past two years, but he's elected not to pursue the championship that many feel he has within him. By starting and winning the season opener, he may position himself as the man to be beat. Reigning champion Ken Fox was also there, and two-time Mini Outlaw champion Sam Talon was a feature scratch. Tom Elam, who also pilots a Late Model, made a start in this class and finished third behind Dubisar and Iron Giant regular Josh Sheller. Peyton Reigard moved up from Hornets to compete in this class. There is potential for the Street Stocks to gain some momentum as well.

The good news in the Mini Outlaw division was that the popular VW Beetle of Rob Lauver returned. The bad news is that only Sam Talon was there to compete with him. They didn't end up racing. This division has struggled at times to get cars, and we rarely see more than a half a dozen in the field lately. We did see a dozen competitors in the Hornets, and "Hurricane" Hannah Robison had quite a battle with reigning champion Tyler Tullos before picking up the win. Hornets have been the strongest car count at Coos Bay in recent seasons. Racing returns on May 4th with all of the NASCAR Whelen All American Series classes, plus Winged Sprint Cars.

As mentioned elsewhere, Siskiyou Golden Speedway gets their season back into gear with a four division program on Saturday night. However, there's quite a bit of buzz regarding the Billy Geyer Memorial race that is coming on May 4th. The fifth annual running of this race is being sponsored by series sponsor Calculated Comfort Heating and Air Conditioning in Medford. We're already hearing that there will be quite a few first-time Yreka visitors in town for this race.

Dr. Scott Lenz is the two-time reigning series champion and perhaps the best hope of any of the regulars getting the $2,000 prize money. Last season, Nevada racer Mike Learn picked up the win, and he is planning to be there along with a contingent of Nevada competitors. From as far south as Bakersfield, Dave King Jr has indicated that he will be there. Past Petaluma and current Chico racer Richard Workman was there at the ill-fated opener and is expected to be there for the Geyer race. If what we're hearing is correct, numbers could reach into the thirties for this show.

Oregon competitor Roy Bain, Nevada racer Gordon Russell Jr and Marysville star Jerry Bartlett worked together to make a five-race championship series that will see the season for that series open at the Yreka track on May 4th. At the end of June, it goes to Cedarville for the Gordon Russell Sr Memorial. In mid July, they head to the Stockton Dirt Track. In August, there's a race at Reno Fernley Speedway. The big show happens in September at the Stockton Dirt Track, the $5,000 to win Al Miller Memorial race. It's hoped that car count will be big at each one of these events and it will lead to even better things for the Pro Stocks in the years ahead.

On May 4th, Douglas County Speedway will finally get going. Actually, they have a practice day the night before in which the fans will be able to mingle with the racers in the pits. The Saturday night opener is the Rumble On The River. New to the speedway this year are the PRA Sport Modifieds. Furthermore, management is taking a big leap of faith by offering $1,000 to win the season opener for that class. Just who is intending to run, we can't say at the moment. This would be the only division of its kind in Oregon without an IMCA sanctioning.

The popular PRA Hardtops will be there along with the Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Hornets and the returning  J Class. Last year, the Hardtop division's numbers started going back up after a lower turnout in 2017. Stars such as Harlan Cox, Kyran Greene, Mike Batman and Greg Hickman make this an entertaining show. Cox is the reigning champion. Jeff Solberg was the champion in the Street Stocks in a close race with Mini Stock champion Dale Roth. The Hornet champion was Pete Lemon. The May 4th event should be a good one.

Speaking of good events, we close with news from Placerville Speedway. It's the Donnie Tilford Tribute race, which is a Stock Car themed show. The local Winged 360 Sprint Cars are off that night, and IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modified take center stage. What's interesting to note is that track promoter Scott Russell went out and got IMCA sanctioning for this one event, causing some speculation as to why.

The selling point for this race is that the winner pockets $1,500 in the IMCA Modified feature and is qualified for the special race in Boone, Iowa. There's also been speculation as to whether or not Russell might be interested in having more dates for the two IMCA classes in the future. A good turnout would certainly influence a decision on the matter. In the Modifieds, such stars as Bobby Hogge IV, Troy Foulger, Ryan McDaniel and Kellen Chadwick are anticipated.

The money is bigger for this show as Limited Late Model get $750 to win, while the Sport Modifieds and Jay's Mobile Welding Pure Stocks each pay $500 to win. The race pays tribute to long time regular Donnie Tilford, who had 71 Stock Car wins in his career. Early indications suggest that there could be a big car count for the show.


Silver Dollar Speedway Unofficial Race Results April 19, 2019
360 Sprints
A Main
Tanner Carrick
Shane Golobic
Tony Gualda
Justyn Cox
Sean Becker
Kalib Henry
Geoff Ensign
Colby Copeland
Rico Abreu
Michael Ing
John Clark
Cody Hodgson
Casey McClain
Blake Carrick
Ryan Souza
Brandon Powell
Angelo Cornet
Andy Forsberg
Kyle Offill
Eli Deshaies
Korey Lovell
Jake Wheeler

B Main
Casey McClain
Brandon Powell
Cody Hodgson
Angelo Cornet
Eli Deshaies
Wyatt Brown
Steel Powell
Jeremy Wilson

IMCA Sport Mods
Andrew Peckham
Phillip Shelby
Jimmy Ford
Brian Cooper
Tanner Thomas
Doff Cooksey
Matt Micheli
David Pierce
Mike Merritt
Guy Ahlwardt
Scott Savell
Craig Nieman
Jake Van Tol
Alan Furuta
Keith Brown
Richard Vander Ploeg
Jim Waller
Shayna Nieman
Timothy Allerdings
Phill Marino
Justin Foux

Hobby Stocks
Kyle Allen
Mel Byers
Shannon Collins
Nick Vidovich
James West
Jeremiah Creedon
Zach Lindgren
Jacob Johnson
Travis Moore


Ukiah Speedway Unofficial Race Results April 20, 2019
Limited Modifieds
Mike Doss
Mike Lovell
Sierra Furia
Cole Brown
Kevin Coburn
Tony Ramazzotti
Trystan Mucci
Roy Ingalls Jr
TJ Buzzard
Bo Robertson
Kylei Keown
Gene O'Dell Jr
Sami Nuno
Tyler Caturegli

Bombers
Jeremy Doss
Mikey Lovell
Charley Tour
Dan Munier
Amber Portlock
Denny Cashada
Jimmy Sorrels

Legend Cars
Aiden Daniels
Peter Soto
Jaden Fisher
Cameron Austin
Scott Sabol
Kevin Travels
JK Kinney
Roger Fletcher
Kylie Daniels
Carlee Austin
Dylan Washburn 

Jammers
Dave Rogers
Danny Helm Sr
Donovan Arreguin
Christian Sanchez

Bandoleros
TJ Sorrels
Charles French


Coos Bay Speedway Unofficial Race Results April 20, 2019
South Coast Shopper Car Load Night
America's Mattress Super Late Models
Joey Tanner
Preston Luckman
Toby McIntyre
Brody Montgomery
Deven Brown
Chris Ray
Wayne Butler
Paul Culp
Tom Elam
Dave Foote
John Dees
Bob Dees
Richard Wallace
Chris Kristensen 

Sportsman Late Models
Braden Fugate
Mike Taylor
Charlie Withers

Street Stocks
Steve Dubisar
Josh Sheller
David Smith
Wayne Clink
Payton Reigard
Ken Fox
Tom Elam
Michael Hollingsworth
Sam Talon

Hornets
Hannah Robison
Tyler Tullos
Leroy Rockwell
Stacy Robinson
John Henry
willam hitner
Dusty Shingleton
Ray Marshall
Gabrielle Boles
Steven Parker
Jesse McIntyre

Jr Stingers
Alex Butler
Griff Smith
James Shingleton 


Placerville Speedway Unofficial Race Results April 20, 2019
Thompson's Auto Group Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Main Event
Sean Becker
Kalib Henry
Andy Forsberg
Justin Sanders
Justyn Cox
Kyle Offill
Bobby McMahan
Geoff Ensign
Tony Gualda
Jodie Robinson
Jesse Love
Mike Benson
Greg DeCaires
Shane Hopkins
Cody Lamar
Justin Johnson
Chris Masters
Kenny Wanderstadt
Blake Carrick
Steven Tiner

B Main
Jesse Love
Mike Benson
Chris Masters
Kenny Wanderstadt
Mike Cook
Ryan Souza
Jared Van Bebber

Jay's Mobile Welding Pure Stocks
Nick Baldwin
Jason Leonard
Jarred Beddow
Kevin Jinkerson
Jason Palmer
Dave Silva
Scott Grunert
Mel Byers
Jason Armstrong
Matthew Chacon
Dennis Armstrong
John Ewing
Lonnie Lennard
Clarence Holbrook III

BCRA Midget Lites
Chance Crum
Scott Kinney
Dakota Albright
Hunter Kinney
Danika Jo Parker
Gus Carcione
Craig Holsted
Tyler Chamorro
Jeff Griffin
Josef Ferolito
Brandon Leedy
Terry Bergstom 

Limited Late Models
Ray Trimble
Ryan McDaniel
Tyler Lightfoot
Matt Michelli
Jay Norton
Dan Brown Jr

California Hardtops
Ken Retzloff
Jason Clifford
Ron Ruiz
Dennis Armstrong
Joe Hopp
Joe Shenefield
Ken Clifford
Larry Wells

Siskiyou Golden Speedway, Southern Oregon Speedway, Coos Bay Speedway, Mountain Valley Raceway, California Hardtops

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Siskiyou Golden Speedway Has Little League Night 

This Saturday

Yreka, CA...Siskiyou Golden Speedway officials are working hard to get things ready to go for their second show this Saturday night. Promoter Kevin Barba announced on Monday that the materials needed to repair the damaged fence would be at the track on Thursday. He further added that the crew would work all night if need be to get things ready to go on Saturday.

The Saturday night program is being billed as Little League Night at the races. It's another example of the kid friendly approach that Barba is bringing to the speedway this year. The track will be having an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids and also raffling off two bikes. On the track, the fans will be treated to some exciting racing in the IMCA Sport Modifieds, Mini Stocks and IMCA Modifieds.

The IMCA Sport Modifieds had a wild season opener that came to a halt when Zac Potts crashed through the fencing on the front straightaway, destroying both that section of fencing and his car. Potts was in good spirits and joking after the races. He already has another car in the works and will be taking parts off of his damaged race car to get the other car ready to race.

When the race was halted, Matt Sanders was the leader ahead of Yuba City visitor Jimmy Ford and young gun Ethan Killingsworth. Killingsworth led several laps as he is still looking for his first career win in the division. Some insiders are saying that after an impressive Mini Stock career, he could very well be the driver to beat in the championship chase. However, there are still many weeks ahead.

Past Siskiyou Speedway champion Colt Boswell was a welcome sight in the pits. We didn't see him so much last season, but we did see his brother Ryder Boswell. Ryder finished second in the standings last year. He didn't do so well in the opener, but Colt managed to grab a fifth place finish. The Boswell Brothers are tough competitors anytime we see them at the speedway. Some of the drivers to watch for this week include last week's Trophy Dash winner, Randy Wright, Donovan Rodgers and Gary Foster. There are likely to be several visitors in the field, and locals such as reigning champion Trevor Tiffee and Merissa Henson in the Donny Bottoms car have yet to debut.

If you were to take the last 30 starts that David Steele had behind the wheel of his fast #67 Mini Stock, you'd be hard-pressed to find him not at least getting a podium finish at either Yreka or Medford. Usually, Steele is winning. He won again at the opener ahead of Mike Whitaker. With Whitaker having problems with his car, three-time reigning champion Marilyn Yawnick decided to put him behind the wheel of her fast #11 car after she won the Trophy Dash. Yawnick was smiling as she was the first trophy winner under the new management team at the speedway.

Whitaker has won his share of races through the years and is a two-time champion at the speedway in addition to being runner-up in last season's points. Terry Kendrick has a stable of cars again this year as he remains a staunch supporter of Mini Stocks. This includes Mike Kendrick and Zak McMurry. Young Darek Alford showed that his season-ending efforts last year were no fluke as he grabbed a heat race win and a third place feature finish last week. Some are saying this young racer could be a serious title contender.

The IMCA Modifieds have struggled to gain car count in recent seasons. A half-dozen racers, mostly from the Medford area, were in town to give the fans a show last week. Though they were unable to get their Main Event in, 2017 Medford champion Jesse Bailey and Hornbrook's Duane Orsburn were preliminary winners. Two-time Yreka champion Albert Gill, Brett Provost and Jeremy Ohlde were also in the field last week. Management is hoping to re-spark interest in the Modified division, which has been a staple class in Yreka since 1992.

Kevin Barbra says that everything will be ready to go when the gates open for racing this Saturday night. There are family-friendly things happening at the speedway and great racing set to happen on the track. For further information, go to www.siskiyougoldenspeedway.com.

24th Season At Southern Oregon Speedway Opens On May 4th

White City, Oregon...The 24th season of racing at Southern Oregon Speedway is set to begin on May 4th. The lineup offers some of the best racing the 3/10 mile clay oval track has to offer. Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars and IMCA Modifieds headline along with IMCA Sport Modifieds, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets. The Practice Day scheduled for April 13th was cancelled due to wet grounds, but the track is hoping to get a practice in on April 27th ahead of the opener.

As he enters his fourth year as promoter of the speedway, Mike McCann of KJE Enterprises has offered a great schedule of racing that will bring the fans all of the great things they've been enjoying in recent years and more. The track will also have the Malicious Monster Truck Tour once again, presented by Dave's Carpet And Vinyl Liquidators of Medford. This time, however it happens on June 8th and 9th, giving the fins a great opportunity to see these gargantuan vehicles flying through the air and crushing cars beneath them.

The highlights on the schedule include such standards as The Iron Giant Street Stock Series visit on May 25th and the Seventh Annual Roger Haudenshild Tribute race on June 1st, which will feature the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks, among other classes. IMCA Modifieds will roar into town as part of the IMCA Wild West Speedweek event on June 22nd, also featuring IMCA Sport Modifieds and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars.

The Modifieds also get one of the signature events once again as the Third Annual R Charles Snyder Salute  will happen on August 31st and September 1st. The Sunday portion of that event, which honors the popular local radio DJ and longtime voice of Southern Oregon racing, will pay $5,000 to win for the Modifieds. Sport Modifieds will pay $2,000 to win that night. The Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars will be there both days and the Pro Stocks will be a part of the September 1st program.

Sprint Cars will be shining brightly in August, starting with the 3rd Annual Cascade Wingless Sprint Car Challenge, presented by Herz Precision Parts. This event pays $3,500 to win and is the biggest paying Wingless Sprint race in Oregon. A week later, the Ironhead Nationals offers $2,000 to win for the local Winged Sprint racers. The track proudly offers a Stock Car oriented show as part of the Third Annual Hall Of Fame Night on August 17th.

Another big attraction has been added to the program on August 24th. This is the $4,000 to win Cottonwood Classic for the Late Models. It's the biggest paying race on the West Coast for Dirt Late Models and is already attracting interest from drivers up and down the coast. This is just a taste of what is to come at Southern Oregon Speedway this year.

On May 4th, reigning Winged Sprint Car champion David Hibbard and son Bailey Hibbard will make their presence known as the family tries to keep their name at the top of the list. Last year's IMCA Sport Modified champion, David Marble, is moving up to the Sprint Car ranks, joined by past 500 Open Kart champion Johnny Burke and California Kart racer Anissa Curtice. The new blood in the class will join such stars as past champions TJ Winningham and Charlie Thompson, Mike Wheeler, Merissa Henson, Blaine Cory, Aaron Miller and rising young star Tanner Holmes.

Mark Wauge announced that he's competing for an unprecedented eighth IMCA Modified championship. He is currently one win shy of 50 career IMCA Modified wins as he sits on top of that division's all time win list. Reigning champion Albert Gill has brought that championship trophy home in three of the past five years and remains a threat in the pursuit of a fourth title. Other stars, such as Zach Fettinger, Dave Duste Jr, Preston Jones and David Satterfield, will be out to put their names in the record books.

With Marble only running part-time in the IMCA Sport Modified ranks, two-time champion Mike Medel announced that he's coming back to race locally again. He puts his name at the top of the contender's list, but other such hard chargers as Branden Wilson, Willie McFall, Tony Duste and Doug Coffman, will be making this a wide-open battle that the fans are sure to enjoy.

David Steele has set the bar high in the Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks, but there are drivers gunning for his spot. Hunter Magnan comes off of a strong runner-up season and will be looking to get his first career win. Others, such as 2017 champion Kristopher Mix, 2014 champion Gary Anderson and 2013 champion Steve Goetz, will be battling fiercely at the front of the pack.

The Hedges family has been at the center of the JOAT Labs Hornets class trying to help it grow. With Ashtin Hedges moving up to Mini Stocks, his father Tim Hedges is out to see if he can capture his second division title. Last year, the honors went to the consistent Bree Tritchler, who will be back for a title defense. Other drivers to reckon with this year include Brandyn Wonsyld, Chris Boynton, Jenna Hedges and Darrel Nelson Jr.

There's a lot of excitement in the air as Southern Oregon Speedway gets ready to start a new season. Last season was the most successful the speedway has seen in about a decade, and efforts are underway to make it even better this year. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Carload Night Kicks Off 2019 Season At Coos Bay Speedway

Coos Bay, Oregon...Last Saturday night, Coos Bay Speedway had their hopes of getting the season kicked off thwarted by a pesky storm front that moved in on Saturday afternoon. Promoter Drake Nelson hoped to start things off for the NASCAR Whelen All American Series, but he had to make the unfortunate decision on Saturday morning to cancel. As it turned out, the forecast was right and it started raining that afternoon.

The good news is that racing will happen this Saturday night. The better news is that it will be South Coast Shopper Carload Night at the races. Get as many people as you can into your vehicle, and it's $23 total for everybody. On top of that, there will be lucky ridealongs for the kids during intermission, which has been another popular tradition seen at the speedway for years. The NASCAR lineup of racing will include the America's Mattress Super Late Models, Sportsman Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Outlaws, Hornets and Jr Stingers.

Whether it's the fact that 2018 champion Brody Montgomery pocketed $5,500 for his effort at the end of the year or whatever it might be, word in Coos Bay is that there are several drivers gunning for the championship this year. Past Sportsman Late Model and 2015 Super Late Model champion Toby McIntyre will be racing this season as well.

2012 champion Dave Foote is returning home, and word is that 2018 Cottage Grove Speedway champion Preston Luckman will also be racing locally this year. If this holds true, Coos Bay will have quite a competitive show. Roseburg driver Tom Elam has a very fast car, formerly driven by 2017 champion Mike George. Thor Kristensen is coming off of his second runner-up ranking in the past three years. Chris Ray and Richard Wallace are others to keep an eye out for this week, and you never know who might show up.

In fact, we were informed recently that two-time Sportsman Late Model champion Wayne Butler, who is coming off of back-to-back runner-up  rankings in that class, we'll be focusing primarily on the Super Late Models this year. This leaves the door wide open for Dyllan Siewell to repeat as champion, but the word is that he may not make the early goings of the season. After looking very impressive in Hornets with several wins to his credit, Braden Fugate is in a Sportsman Late Model and was a feature winner last year. He could emerge as the driver to beat, but racers such as Tom Williams, Justin Krossman, the steady Charlie Withers and Stacey Robison will be among those to watch.

Sam Talon was pretty dominant in winning his second straight Mini Outlaw division title. When the opportunity came for him to purchase a Monte Carlo to go Street Stock racing, he jumped at the chance. He still has his Mini Outlaw, but he's hoping to join reigning champion Ken Fox in being a double division racer in both classes. David Smith is coming off of a nice runner-up season last year, but he would certainly like to get his first feature win. Feature wins are nothing new to Steve Dubisar, but people are waiting to see if he starts at the beginning of the year and makes a run for points. He would certainly be the man to beat if that is the case. Daniel Land has gotten the job done before with a championship a few years ago.

Talon and Fox may be drivers to contend with in the Mini Outlaw ranks this year. However, there are other drivers that may be there to give it a go, including Jason Kellam, Tom Siewell, Dan Daniels, Jason Berrier and Carl Johnson. Still at large is that potent VW Beetle driven to many wins by Rob Lauver.

An amazing rookie season last year netted Tyler Tullos eight wins out of 21 starts and the Hornet division championship by a wide margin ahead of "Lady Venom" April Warmack. Both Warmack and "Hurricane" Hannah Robison were feature winners last season as Robison finished third with four wins to her credit. These three may be leading the charge this year, but others to contend with include Chris Parker, Chuck Peck, Leroy Rockwell, Dusty Shingleton and David Pellum. Word is that the McIntyre team will field a pair of cars this year as well.

Hornets are also what are driven in the Jr Stinger division. The division, launched by Nelson last season, was an initiative to get the young drivers out on the track. Kids 11 to 14 years old get behind the wheel to make their first laps at the speedway. With seven wins to his credit last year, Griff Smith was the champion by a wide margin ahead of Alex Butler. Butler could be one of the kids looking to get his first win, and others such a Sebastian Freedel, James Singleton and Hunter Berrier, were among last season's racers in this class.

Carload Night at Coos Bay and kids lucky ridealongs make this an affordable family option to come out and enjoy. It's NASCAR racing, and Coos Bay is the only track in Oregon offering up the popular sanctioning body for their racing program. If the weather holds, the fans will get a great show this Saturday night. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us.

Hardtops Set To Return To Placerville Speedway

Placerville, CA...Placerville Speedway has become a favorite among the racers in the California Hardtop Association. The tight bullring has produced some exciting battles in recent years. On Saturday night, the group makes their first of four scheduled appearances at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds facility.

It's a special place for the Armstrong family. Dennis Armstrong has raced at Placerville for years, as has his son Jason. In Hardtop competition, both have won Main Events there in the past, and Jason was a feature winner on the tour this past season. He's coming off of a disappointing non finish at Orland two weeks ago as there were still some bugs to be worked out of his car.

The driver of the moment at Orland is Ron Ruiz. Ron was a feature winner last season, and he reminded everybody at the opener that this wasn't a fluke. It was quite a battle between himself and past Orland Raceway champion Mario Romano. The two drivers came up on the battle for third place, and Ruiz made the move to the inside at just the right moment to keep Romano at bay.

The driver getting the people talking on social media is "The Rocketman" Ken Clifford. Every car at Orland had a GoPro as they were getting video footage, which would be used the following week in the various video releases that Clifford put out.

During the offseason, the Clifford Racing Team added another Hardtop to their stables. He purchased a car from the McCaslin Racing Team down in Bakersfield, giving him three cars. At some point during the season, we're likely to see Ken's son, Jason Clifford, behind the wheel of one of those cars. Jason has won multiple features with the Hardtops.

A welcome sight in the Orland pits was Joe Hopp. We haven't gotten the opportunity to see Joe do much racing in the past couple of years, but during that time he did manage to grab a feature victory at Roseville. Hopp looked good at Orland as he battled Joe Sheneield all race long and held on to the third position. Shenefield still brought home to a respectable fourth, and the most important thing was that the drivers were able to drive their cars back up on their trailers after a fun night at the speedway.

It's always a fun night at the speedway when these drivers bring their beautiful vintage race cars to Placerville. Some of the competitors who could make appearances on Saturday night include Tom Grady, Larry Wells, Roger MacShain and Dave Reed. For further information on the group, look up the California Hardtop Association page on Facebook.

Newman, Smith, Fogle Win Mountain Valley Raceway 

Season Opener

Hayfork, CA...April 13...Mountain Valley Raceway in Hayfork finally had their 2019 season opener last Saturday night. It was also a special family gathering with an Easter Egg Hunt in the infield for the kids during intermission. Main Event checkered flags were grabbed by Russ Newman, Tressen Smith, William Fogle and Bryan Gummerus.

The Hobby Stock Main Event proved to be an exciting race between Russ Newman and past champion Josh Smith. Smith was hoping to grab a clean sweep after winning the heat race and Trophy Dash. He jumped out to the lead and had a good advantage when he spun. Newman had the lead at that point, but it wasn't long before Smith was nipping at his heels. When the checkered flag waved, however Newman prevailed ahead of Smith and Mikey Ruth.

Tressen Smith continues to be the driver to beat in the B Modified division. After winning the Trophy Dash, Smith drove to a rather sizable lead in the winning the Main Event ahead of Patrick Solomoto and Joe Short.

Orland Raceway star William Fogle paid Hayfork a visit and left with victories and both the Mini Stock Main Event and Trophy Dash. The division had a nice mixture of Mini Stocks and Mini Trucks, and Fogle brought his Truck for the occasion. Ricky Berry shared the front row of the Main Event in his Pinto, and the two did battle throughout the race. However, Fogle was just a bit quicker in winning ahead of Berry and Freddy Lieber.

The rough-and-tumble Enduro division closed the show with an exciting brand of racing not seen at most Speedways on the West Coast. The watered track before the race makes things that much more interesting. JD Hudman was looking good at the front of the pack until a flat tire sent him pit side. Bryan Gummerus showed why he's one of the biggest stars in the class as he won by a wide margin ahead of Joe Young and William Young.

It was a great night of racing entertainment for the fans, and it continues on May 4th with First Responders night at the races. All First Responders with ID get in free with one guest. For further information, check out the Mountain Valley Raceway Facebook page.

Crash Puts A Halt To Season Opener 

At Siskiyou Golden Speedway

Yreka, CA...April 13...Saturday night was the inaugural event promoted by Kevin Barba at Siskiyou Golden Speedway. With rain causing the cancellation of the three scheduled practice days, the crew worked hard to get everything ready for the season opener. Fans noticed the difference with the various improvements that have been made.

Everything seemed to be going well. The pits swelled to roughly 50 cars across four divisions of racing, and there were some top name competitors in town to give the race track a go. Race track conditions held up nicely as the night went on. The racing went well throughout the heat races and into the Trophy Dashes. It was looking like an ideal night for racing. Then it happened.

As Ethan Killingsworth, Matt Sanders and Jimmy Ford battled at the front of the pack in the scheduled 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event, Gary Foster rolled on the front straightaway to bring out a red flag. He was not injured, but it took a few minutes to clean things up and get racing going again.

The green flag waved once again on the exciting battle at the front of the pack, but only a few more laps took place before the big crash happened. Zac Potts crashed into the front stretch fence near the flag stand and took out a big section of fencing. It was a hard crash that brought another red flag on the race. Neither Potts nor anybody else was injured, but his race car was totaled.

With a big section of fencing and some poles taken out, Barba was faced with the unfortunate decision of having to cancel the remainder of the program. It was the best decision for safety. The takeaway from this incident was the fact that the safety precautions put into place did their job. The fencing kept the crash from being worse, and IMCA safety precautions written into the rules for construction of the race cars did their job in protecting Potts.

Barba and his crew were already hard at work on Sunday getting the fencing back up so that next Saturday's scheduled event can still take place. As for the opener, the IMCA Sport Modified feature was called complete with about half of the laps in the books. Matt Sanders was the winner ahead of Jimmy Ford, Ethan Killingsworth, Brandon Hand and Colt Boswell. Isaac Sanders, Hand and Scott Savell won their respective eight lap heat races, and Randy Wright was the four lap Trophy Dash winner.

The Mini Stock division was able to complete their full program. 2015 champion and reigning Southern Oregon Speedway champ David Steele won the 20 lap Main Event. Mike Whitaker got to take a turn behind the wheel of the Marilyn Yawnick car after Yawnick picked up a win in the four lap Trophy Dash. He finished second to Steele in the Main Event as Darek Alford, Mike McLeod and Terry Kendrick completed the Top 5. Eight lap heat race wins went to Steele and Alford.

The Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stock heat race wins went to reigning champion Dr Scott Lenz and John David Duffie. Lenz also won the four lap Trophy Dash. Jesse Bailey won the IMCA Modified eight lap heat race, and Duane Orsburn was the four lap Trophy Dash winner.

Next Saturday night is Little League Night at the races. There will be an Easter Egg hunt in the infield during intermission, and there will be two bikes raffled off. The IMCA Sport Modifieds and Mini Stocks will be on the card that night. For the latest information, go to www.siskiyougoldenspeedway.com or go to the Siskiyou Golden Speedway Facebook page.


All American Speedway Unofficial Race Results April 13, 2019
Southwest Tour SWT Main
Jeremy Doss
Derek Thorn
Jacob Gomes
Cole Moore
Linny White
Jace Hansen
John Moore
Tyler Fabozzi
Jeff Bischofberger
Justin Marks
Kyle Neveau
Matthew Wendt
Jason Gilbert
Scott Sanchez
Tracy Bolin
Michael Hite
Jesse Love
Eric Schmidt
Eric Nascimento Jr
Dylan Lupton
Bobby Hodges
Craig Raudman
Jack Wood
Mike Beeler
Blaine Rocha 

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New Era Set To Begin At Siskiyou Golden Speedway 

This Saturday Night

Yreka, CA...A new era is set to begin at Siskiyou Golden Speedway this Saturday night. The track is in the midst of a long and continuous run of seasons that began back in 1992. Kevin Barba is taking the helm as the promoter, and he's been working very hard behind the scenes for the past several weeks to make sure everything is in place to make this the best season people have seen at the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds based facility in recent years.

Barba and his crew have been working to make the clay oval dirt track racier and safer, and several improvements have been made to the facility itself. The key is getting the fans to come back out to enjoy good old-fashioned Saturday night racing, and Barba is working on making each race special. The goal is to increase the attendance numbers at the speedway, and there will be several things done to make that a reality.

Fan friendliness is the plan. There will be special promotions throughout the season that are geared towards making the older and younger fans want to come back to the speedway. One upcoming event will be on April 20th Little League Night, which will feature an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids in the infield before the races. They will also be raffling of two bikes for the kids.

From a racing perspective, there will be several marquee events on the calendar, including the annual Billy Geyer Memorial Pro Stock race on May 4th, Mike Caveye Memorial Mini Stock Blowout on May 18th, the Bo Hittson and Memorial IMCA Sport Modified race on May 25th, John Arnberg Memorial IMCA Modified race on May 26th and the Rod Restad Memorial IMCA Modified and Sport Modified race on September 21st. There will also be a new special race paying tribute to the father of the promoter. The Rod Barba Memorial Sport Modified race will happen on August 31st.

The track will be offering the divisions you're used to seeing along with some very special appearances from the Winged 360 Sprint Cars, BCRA Midgets, Focus Midgets, Iron Giant Street Stocks and the Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars. This Saturday night, an action-packed lineup will include the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks and Mini Stocks.

For fans wanting to see lots of race cars at the facility, this Saturday's season opener will be your chance. Barba is hoping to rebuild the interest in the popular IMCA Modified division, which has waned in recent years. With neighboring Southern Oregon Speedway not opening for a few weeks, it's hoped that a few drivers venture south to do some racing. Barba has made every effort to not book on top of the Medford IMCA Modified show.

Last season, Ryan McDaniel was the IMCA Modified champion. Drivers such as two-time champion Albert Gill, Jeremy Ohlde, Dan Thomas, John Toolanen, Duane Orsburn, 2017 champion Nick Trenchard and Mark Wauge are among those who have been willing to support the Modified show in recent years. It is hoped that the local effort will regain momentum in this class, and it's been confirmed that 2016 IMCA Sport Modified champion Jimmy Lipke and Justin Foux are moving up.

The Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks will be calling Siskiyou Golden Speedway their home track this year. Last year, the track had a special point race, and it turned out that series champion Dr Scott Lenz won the track championship as well. Lenz enters the season as the driver to beat and he has won the lion's share of races for the group in Yreka these past two seasons. However, he knows he can expect some stiff competition from 2016 champion Steve Borror, long time division competitor Scott Flowers and son James Flowers, Bryan Hammond, Jeff Haudenshild and Matt Harlow. The Pro Stocks always put on a good show when they are in town.

The IMCA Sport Modified division has sort of taken the reigns as the top class at the speedway. This has been the place where young drivers have come in and made a name for themselves. The latest young gun to keep an eye on is Mini Stock graduate Ethan Killingsworth, who may be prepared to make a serious challenge at the championship. To get to that, however, he'll have to beat reigning champion Trevor Tiffee. Tiffee has a new car this year as he hopes to contend for more wins.

Among the many talented local competitors are Ryder Boswell, Colter Boswell, Randy Wright, Gary Foster, Colton Cheffey and Doug Franklin. Word is that car owner Donny Bottoms will be teaming up with Medford Sprint Car star Merissa Henson behind the wheel this year. Henson will be piloting the car driven to the 2017 championship by Donny's son, DJ Bottoms.

Last but certainly not least are the Mini Stocks. The entry point into racing at Siskiyou Speedway has had some great battles through the years, and it continues to come down to three-time reigning champion Marilyn Yawnick, two-time champion "Magic" Mike Whitaker and multi-division champion Terry Kendrick as to who will win the honors. The trio comes in as heavy favorites, but there are some new drivers poised to make a challenge.

Last season, Darek Alford was a Main Event winner, but he was unable to overtake Zac McMurray for top rookie honors. Both drivers will be looking to make a run for the money, and others to watch for include Jason Frost, Aaron Jorgensen, Tiffany Cobb and Mike Frost. It's possible that we will see 2015 champion David Steele and others from Medford this weekend as well.

The season opener is just the beginning of a great schedule of racing that we will be seeing from now through October. It's a race you won't want to miss as there should be a full pit area of race cars on hand to put on a show for the fans. For further information, go to www.siskiyougoldenspeedway.com or check out the Siskiyou Golden Speedway Facebook page.


We are pleased to welcome Daren Ricks Campbell to the Jefferson Racing blog as our contributing Coos Bays Speedway writer.

Season Opener on Tap Saturday Night on the NASCAR Oval

By Daren Ricks Campbell - DRC Motorsports Media - Website drcmotorsportsmedia.com/

As Coos Bay Speedway draws closer to Saturday night’s 46th season opener, excitement is building in anticipation of the upcoming season. A seven division program is on the card this Saturday night, featuring the America’s Mattress Super Late Models, Winged Sprints, Sportsman Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Outlaws, Hornets and Jr Stingers.

Brody Montgomery will be back this season to defend his America’s Mattress Super Late Model title. The Bandon native was dominant this past season, racking up 9 wins across his 15 starts. One competitor looking to dethrone Montgomery is Coos Bay’s own Preston Luckman. Luckman is coming off a career year that saw him win 7 races en route to the Cottage Grove Speedway Late Model track championship. Luckman will be joined by a host of others looking to unseat Montgomery in 2019.

The word on the street is that defending Sportsman Late Model champ Dyllan Siewell is likely to only run a partial schedule this upcoming season. Siewell’s absence could possibly leave the door open for someone like Mike Taylor or Tom Williams to take over the reigns of the division.Taylor picked up the car that Wayne Butler piloted in 2018. Butler was able to take that car to 9 wins and was within 14 points of the track title. Will Taylor find the same success? Williams was also quite consistent this past season, finishing in the Top 5 in all but one race.

Ken Fox returns looking to repeat as Street Stock champion this season. Fox looked to be in a league of his own for most of last season, picking 9 feature victories and winning the championship by almost 100 points. Coquille’s Steve Dubisar was easily Fox’s biggest threat in 2018. Dubisar was only able to make 12 starts last year, but picked up 7 wins in his limited races. Should Dubisar make a run at the title this season, these two could steal the show night in and night out.

The Winged Sprints return to Coos Bay Speedway in 2019 after a 5 race slate in 2019. Lawrence VanHoof lead in the win department with 2, while Dave May, Aaron Miller and Ian Bandey all came away with a singular victory. Brett Hulsey was the most consistent of the bunch though, accumulating the most points over the 5 races held.

The Hornet division looks to bring another healthy car count to the track this season. Leading the charge will be defending champion Tyler Tullos. Tullos took home 8 wins last year on the way to winning the track title by over 100 points. Should they both make a run at the track championship Braden Fugate and Hannah Robison could be in the thick of the title chase. These two drivers combined for 9 wins on the season, but neither was able to race the full season to make a serious charge at Tullos.

The Mini Outlaws return this year, and Sam Talon will be looking for a repeat of 2018. Talon took home the track championship by an overwhelming margin, picking up 12 victories along the way. Street Stock champ Ken Fox was also very fast in his limited starts last season, posting 4 wins in 7 races. As the season develops we’ll see if a serious contender emerges for Talon’s title.

Griff Smith was an unstoppable force in the Jr Stingers class this past season. Smith went undefeated in 2018, winning all 7 of his starts. Bandon’s Alex Butler made all but one race this past season, and is hoping to reach victory lane for the first time in 2019.

Make sure you don’t miss Saturday’s action! The Grandstands open at 4 P.M, with racing beginning at 6:30.

General Admission prices are as follows:
Adults $10
Seniors & Kids (7-17) $8
Children 6 & Under FREE
Family Pass (2 Adults & 3 Kids) $25

It’s easy to join the Coos Bay Speedway text service! Fans can text CBSPEED to 84483 to receive fan information. Message and data rates apply. Updates are also available by calling Coos Bay Speedway at 541-269-2474.

Coos Bay Speedway is located in Coos Bay, OR a short jump off Hwy 101 then two & a half miles east on Hwy 42. The facility currently houses a 3/8-mile NASCAR dirt track, 1/8 mile NHRA drag strip, and hosts yearly Mud Drag events. For breaking news and updates on the 2019 season, visit our website www.coosbayspeedway.us and like the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/coosbayspeedway 

Racing And An Easter Egg Hunt Planned 

For Mountain Valley Raceway Opener Saturday Night

Hayfork, CA...The sound that people may have heard echoing from around the Trinity County Fairgrounds last Saturday was the sound of race cars turning laps at Mountain Valley Raceway.  After two previous practice day attempts were called off due to bad weather, the racers got the go ahead to come practice.  Notable stars such as past champion Josh Smith, Russ "The Newmanator" Newman and Larry Richardson showed up to test their cars.

This Saturday night, the curtain comes up on a new season of racing.  The popular Hobby Stocks will be in action along with the Mini Stocks, the wild and crazy Enduros and the B Modifieds.  In addition to the racing action, the speedway will celebrate Easter a bit early.  There will be an Easter Egg Hunt in the infield for kids 7 and under and for the older kids.  It's going to be a great night of family entertainment.

It's hard to ignore the popularity of the IMCA Sport Modifieds as this class is featured at several racing venues across the United States.  Tressen Smith was one of the first drivers to come on board to help build this open wheel Stock Car class in Hayfork.  Joe Short was among the drivers testing his B Modified last Saturday.  Track officials are hoping that this division can take root and grow in the weeks ahead.

The Hobby Stocks have been at the speedway since it opened in 2011, and Josh Smith was one of the first big stars and champions of the division.  Between his own racing and his efforts getting his young son Chayce Smith started in Outlaw Karts at various tracks in California and Oregon, Josh keeps very busy.  He is hoping to race more at his home track this year, and some of the stars in recent events include Newman, 2017 champion William Kasper and Burl Richardson.

The Mini Stocks have continued to grow their car count.  Last season, Larry Richardson emerged as one of the stars of the entry evel, four cylinder class.  Others, such as young up and comer Ian Thulin, Andy Blackburn and Jack Turner have put on some great races in the past.  Much like the Hobby Stock division, this class sees visitors from Orland when that track isn't running, which is the case this weekend.

William Young has raced in both the Mini Stocks and the Enduro class.  The Enduros seem to be the most unpredictable and exciting class at the track.  Drivers are competing in just about anything with four wheels.  The track is wet down before the races and the competitors are turned loose to do battle.  You'll see close racing and slam-bang action in this race.  This class produces some of the biggest car counts with drivers like Bryan Gummeras, Kevin Kasper and Rich Stewart among its ranks.

General Admission on Saturday is $10 with Seniors 62 and older $8.  Youth 17 and younger are $5 with children 5 and under free.  It's going to be a great night at the track that you won't want to miss.  For further information, check out the Mountain Valley Raceway page on Facebook.

Cox, Morgan Win Sprint Car Features At Placerville Speedway

Placerville, CA...April 6...Justyn "Indiana" Cox won the 25 lap Thompson's Family Of Dealerships Winged 360 Sprint Car Main Event on Law Enforcement Night at Placerville Speedway. Cox had the lead from the start and withstood a challenge from Tony Gualda for the victory. Cox led early ahead of Sean Becker and reigning champion Andy Forsberg. Gualda slipped past Forsberg for third on lap seven. Cox and Becker had a good battle going out front when a lap 15 yellow flag bunched the field. Gualda took second from Becker on the restart, and the final caution flag of the race flew on lap 23. However, Cox withstood some serious pressure from Gualda on the final two laps for the impressive win. Becker settled for third, followed by Justin Sanders, Kalib Henry, Forsberg, Colby Copeland, Colby Johnson, Bobby McMahan and Jessie Love.

There were an impressive 26 cars on hand for the Winged 360 Sprint Car show, and Gualda set the fast time standard on the quarter-mile clay oval of 10.722. Sanders was second quick at 10.832. The first of four eight lap heat race wins went to Gualda ahead of Blake Carrick. Becker won the second heat in front of Shane Hopkins, and the third heat race win went to Johnson in front of Chris Masters after a last-lap pass. Cox won the final heat in front of Copeland. The 13 lap B Main win went to Zane Blanchard ahead of Love, Shawn McMahan, Justin Johnson and Bradley Dillard.

Jake Morgan kicked off the 10th season for the Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint Tour with a thrilling 25 lap Main Event victory ahead of reigning series champion Shawn Jones. Morgan raced into the lead at the start ahead of Cody Spencer and Billy Aton. A red flag waved on lap two, and Morgan continued to lead Spencer and Shayna Sylvia on the restart. Sylvia gained second on a lap seven restart with Jones settling into third. Jones took second from Sylvia on a lap 11 restart and gained the lead on lap 13. The battle was close between Jones and Morgan with Morgan regaining first on lap 18. Jones kept the pressure on in the waning laps, however he was unable to make the move as Morgan won ahead of Jones, DJ Johnson, Troy DeGaton, Alan Miranda, Bryan Grier, Boy Moniz, Scott Chapeta, Angelique Bell and Ryon Siverling.

Billy Aton had the quickest lap of 12.498, to beat the 12.583 effort of Sylvia. The 21 competitors were divided into three eight lap heat races with Morgan winning the first one ahead of Moniz. The second heat race win was scored by DeGaton in front of Sylvia, and the final heat race victory went to Spencer ahead of Johnson in a very close battle.

2016 champion Nick Baldwin won the 20 lap Jay's Mobile Welding Pure Stock Main Event. Dave Silva led the first three laps before being passed by Kevin Jinkerson on lap four. Jinkerson only held the point for one lap before being overtaken by Baldwin. Baldwin led from there through two yellow flags to score the victory. Jinkerson settled for second ahead of Silva, three-time reigning champion Scott Grunert, Mel Beyers, Lonnie Leonard, Jessie Bryant, Jason Palmer, Jason Leonard and Matthew Chacon. Baldwin won his eight lap heat race ahead of Grunert, and the second heat race win was collected by Jinkerson over Chacon.

Tom Stanwood won the 20 lap Little Truck Main Event. Reigning champion John Littlejohn led the first three laps before encountering problems for a red flag that ended his race. Russ Murphy had the lead at that point in front of Stanwood and Aaron Rupley. On lap six, Ryan Murphy took the third position from Rupley as Stanwood was challenging Russ Murphy for lead. Stanwood finally made his winning pass on lap 12 and brought it home to victory. Russ Murphy settled for second, followed by Ryan Murphy, Thomas Jensen, Rupley and Littlejohn. The eight lap heat race win went to Littlejohn.

Racing resumes on April 20th with the Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Limited Late Models, Pure Stocks, BCRA Midget Lites and California Hardtops making this an action-packed program. For further information, go to www.placervillespeedway.com.

Ing Scores Third Straight Victory At Marysville Raceway

Marysville, CA...April 6...Michael Ing continues to be the dominant force in Winged 360 Sprint Cars at Marysville Raceway. Driving the David Ing owned entry, Michael Ing led from the start to win the 25 lap Main Event. Reigning champion Mike Monahan ran in pursuit of Ing in the early stages, only to be passed by reigning Petaluma champion Jake Haulot for second on lap four. Haulot pressured Ing for a while, but a lap 14 yellow flag waved for Kevin Lovell in Turn 3. Three-time champion Coby Wiesz settled into second behind Ing on the restart with Haulot still holding onto third. However, nobody was going to challenge Ing as he maintained his advantage over Wiesz to the checkered flag. Brent Bjork made a lap 18 pass on Haulot to claim the third position all the way to the checkered flag. Haulot settled for fourth, followed by Monahan, Korey Lovell, John Clark, Eli Deshaies, Justin Henry and Jimmy Steward. Haulot once again set the fast time of 12.220, beating the 12.279 of Korey Lovell. Brent Bjork outran Wiesz to win his eight lap heat race, while Clark outran Ing to win the other heat.

Jeremy Blackshere scored the victory in the 20 lap NorCal Dwarf Car Main Event. The rapidly run race had just one yellow flag slow down. Blackshere was leading Michael "Spanky" Grenert on lap 12. Ben Wiesz made a move on Grenert for the second position, but his hopes ended in a yellow flag in Turn 4 on lap 18. Blackshere continued to lead Grenert on the restart, but Grenert was passed by Kevin Bender. However, nobody was passing Blackshere as he won ahead of Bender, Grenert, Mike Reeder, Ryan Plexico, Shawn Whitney, Tim Fitzpatrick, Jeff Fitch, Ben Wiesz and Robert Johnson. Ben Wiesz beat Ryan Winter to win the first eight lap heat race. Reeder won the second heat in front of Grenert, and the final heat race victory went to Blackshere over Fitzpatrick.

Placerville champion Matt Micheli went flag-to-flag to win the 20 lap Super Stock Main Event. The race had three yellow flags, but each time Micheli moved ahead and was never seriously threatened in winning by over half a lap in front of Brent Lawrence. The battle was for second, held by past Marysville champion Jerry Bartlett until his run ended in Turn 2 on lap 11. At that point, Eddie Gardner held the runner-up position ahead of Lawrence. However, Lawrence made the move around Gardner for second on lap 18 to finish there behind the flying Micheli. Mike Learn grabbed third with past Marysville champion George Magenheimer following him into fourth on the last lap. Gardner settled for fifth, followed by Richard Vander Ploeg, Tucker Garcia, multi-time champion James Castleberry, Bartlett and Kyle Cheney. Micheli won his heat race in front of Vander Ploeg, while Bartlett outran Learn to win the other eight lap race.

Racing returns on April 20th with Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Dwarf Cars and Hobby Stocks. For further information, go to www.marysvilleraceway.com.

IMCA Modifieds Back For 24th Season 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...Racing season is just around the corner at Southern Oregon Speedway. The 24th season of racing on the 1/3 mile clay oval will kick off on May 4th, and the IMCA Modifieds will be a part of the show. The Modifieds have been a featured division at the speedway since it opened in 1996.

Many great competitors have come through the gates. Some of the early greats of Modified racing include two-time champion Tom Glover, Dennis Silva, Jay Hinton Jr and Don Estremado. When it came to setting the bar on Main Event wins, Estremado was the man. The 1999 champion racked up some 27 feature wins in his time during the early years of Southern Oregon Speedway, which included an impressive 14 wins in one season.

The Modified career win record stayed in place until Mark Wauge began to hit his stride. Wauge has won some 50 Main Events in his career at Southern Oregon Speedway, and he has racked up an impressive seven Modified championships along the way. Anytime there's a big race on the schedule at Southern Oregon Speedway, Wauge's name comes up as one of the top local drivers who should contend for the win.

There are many big events sprinkled throughout the season at Southern Oregon Speedway, but the Modifieds will continue to offer up some of the showcase events, which will include the Roger Haudenshild Tribute race on June 1st, the annual Wild West Speedweek visit on June 22nd and the Third Annual R Charles Snyder Salute on August 31st and September 1st. All three events pay bigger purses than normal, and the win in the Snyder Memorial will net somebody $5,000.

Wauge had people talking during the offseason when he put his race car and trailer up for sale. He hinted at the possibility that if everything sold he would be giving Late Models a try. Recently, Mark has declared his intent to compete for an unprecedented eighth career Southern Oregon Speedway IMCA Modified championship. This would also match him with Speedway all-time Pro Stock feature win leader Frank Word III as an eight-time champion if he could accomplish it.

There was speculation heading into last season that Mark would be the driver to beat in the championship chase. When he won the season opener, people were talking. Unfortunately, his luck went downhill from there after blowing a motor in the second race. Mark has put everything in place in the hopes that he can bring the championship trophy back home this year.

The championship trophy in three of the past five years has had the same address. That would be the home of Albert Gill. Gill was involved in a very close battle for the championship last season, but he used consistency to get the job done. He finished as high as second on multiple occasions, but he is hoping to return to the Main Event Winners Circle for the first time since 2017.

Zach Fettinger had the opportunity to buy the Monte Bischoff car prior to last season, and it's a purchase that enabled him to step up his game. Fettinger scored three feature wins during the year and made himself a serious title contender. It's just possible that had he not missed the Speedweek race, Zach would have won the title. Anybody who thinks he can't win the championship this year may be in for a surprise.

The bounty hunter of the field is Nick Trenchard. Nick has won some of the biggest Modified races ever at Southern Oregon Speedway, but the lure of the big prize money being offered at other tracks sometimes takes him out of the field. Trenchard has certainly shown that he has what it takes. He's a championship contender if he wants that, and he is certainly a threat to win on any given night in which he appears. He also has a brand new car for this season.

Jantzen Knips and David Satterfield are two drivers who did well in the standings last season. Both were Top 5 ranked, and Satterfield, who is a past Pro Stock competitor, was the top rookie. Not wanting to lose his point status, Knips was left scrambling after a hard crash destroyed his car, but he came back with another car to keep things going. Both of these drivers have been working hard to get faster, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them score wins at some point during the season.

The Duste family has been a part of Southern Oregon racing for many decades, and last season saw Dave Duste Jr make several appearances. He is a past feature winner and championship runner-up who reportedly will be in a newer car this season. You would have to consider him to be one of the contenders to win on any given race date.

Jesse Bailey and Preston Jones are two others to contend with. Bailey may have been a surprise in 2017 when he notched his first career championship with a very consistent season. He is certainly a driver to watch anytime he's there. Jones finally stepped up and showed everybody last season what he can do. He's done well in Sprint Cars and Late Model Lites in the past, but he won a crowd pleasing battle to win the season finale last season.

"Cowboy" Duane Orsburn has worked very hard to a step up his racing program, and the two-time Street Stock champion will be a threat anytime he's in town. Among the many talented racers to watch for during the course of the season are Jeremy Ohlde, Andy Freeman, Brett Provost, Ray Kniffen Jr, Stan Gunderson, Bo Shields, Jon DeBenedetti and division rookies Jimmy Lipke and Justin Foux.

Car count wise, the numbers were up last year over the proceeding few seasons, and there is a buzz within the community that Southern Oregon Speedway is the place to be to race IMCA Modifieds this year. The speedway continues to reaffirm its commitment to close, competitive racing under IMCA sanctioning. You definitely won't want to miss the show anytime these fast, open-wheel Stock Cars are in action. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

2019 Southern Oregon Speedway IMCA Modified Schedule
April 13 - Playday
April 27 - Playday
May 4
May 25
June 1 - Roger Haudenshild Tribute
June 15
June 22 - Wild West Speedweek
July 20
August 10
August 17 - Hall Off Fame Night
August 31 - R Charles Snyder Salute
September 1 - R Charles Snyder Salute
September 14

2018 IMCA Modifieds Points
89 Albert Gill 299
88 Zach Fettinger 275
211 David Satterfield 256
54n Nick Trenchard 251
7 Jantzen Knips 248
1m Mark Wauge 215
0 Duane Orsburn 193
73m Dave Duste Jr. 187
68 Jesse Bailey 181
21 Jeremy Ohlde 165

Past IMCA Modified Champions
1996  Tom Glover
1997  Dennis Silva
1998  Tom Glover
1999  Don Estramado
2000  Mark Wauge
2001  Jay Hinton Jr.
2002  Jon DeBenedetti
2003  Jeremy Richey
2004  Brad Alfrey
2005  Mark Wauge
2006  Brian Poppa
2007  Mark Wauge
2008  Justin Holt
2009  Mark Wauge
2010  Travis Peery
2011  Mark Wauge
2012  Mark Wauge
2013  Dustin Knight
2014  Albert Gill
2015  Albert Gill
2016  Mark Wauge
2017  Jesse Bailey
2018  Albert Gill

Southern Oregon Speedway Modified All Time Win List
Mark Wauge 49
Dan Estremado 27
Brian Poppa 23
Dave Duste Sr. 21
Scott Lenz 18
Tom Glover 16
Dennis Silva 14
Jon DeBenedetti 12
Nick Trenchard 11
Bobby Hogge IV 10
Albert Gill 9
Dave Duste Jr. 9
Travis Peery 8
Matt Duste 7 
Jeremy Richey 7
Bruce Rayburn Sr. 7
Jesse Williamson  6
Brad Alfrey 6
Justin Holt 5
Ken Scales 5
Monte Bischoff 4
Rich McCoy 4
Richard Papenhausen 4
Markey James 4
Kevin Hewitt 4
Jesse Bailey 3
Jay Hinton Jr. 3
Bud Walberg 3
Zach Fettinger 3
C.J. Putnam 3
Dustin Jenks 2
Scott Weldon 2
Dane Smith 2
Collen Winebarger 2 
Duane Orsburn 1 
Preston Jones 1
Travis Holt 1 
Steve Aprin 1
Jerry Severson 1 
Lenny Toolanen 1
Derek Nance 1
Kevin Putnam 1
Justin Estremado 1
Dustin Knight 1
Anthony Restad 1
Tom Berry Jr. 1 
B.J. Wild  1
Andy Freeman 1
Kellen Chadwick 1
Ryan Scott Gaylord 1
James Welshonse  1
Danny Lauer 1
Zach Fettinger 1
Troy Foulger 1
Chris Biggs 1
Roger Lorenzini 1
Steven Croucher 1
Rob Gavin 1
Mike Phillips 1

Late Models Offering Bigger And Better Things 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...For many years, Late Models ruled the racing scene in Medford. At the old Posse Grounds race track, some big-name drivers and big events made a night at that historic venue something people didn't want to miss. Sadly, the gates closed for the final time in 1989. When Southern Oregon Speedway opened in 1996, the Late Models were a surprising omission from the regular schedule.

While the speedway has offered some big Late Model races through the years, there hasn't really been much of a commitment from track management to cultivate a division of their own. Though the track did have a couple of champions in the later part of the last decade, it wasn't until Mike McCann of KJE Enterprises stepped into the picture that a new commitment was made. The Open Stock division was added in 2016.

When the drivers overwhelmingly threw their support behind the Late Model idea, the Open Stock class became Late Models in 2017, and the division has begun to pick up momentum since then. Management has taken notice, which has led to the addition of the $4,000 to win Cottonwood Classic event, set for August 24th. This race has gotten so much attention that drivers from Northern Oregon all the way down through California have expressed interest in supporting the show.

Some things are still in the works for the Late Model division in 2019, which will include an increased purse from last season. Other announcements regarding the division will be forthcoming very soon, but the word in Medford is that drivers are wanting to support this division in the coming season. Oregon has a thriving Late Model division, and it's high time that Southern Oregon Speedway takes its seat at the table.

One of the drivers leading the charge into 2019 will be 2018 champion Nathan Augustine. Augustine has not committed to point racing at this moment, but he plans to start things off and see where it goes. After winning the Coos Bay championship in 2016, he won the championship here a year later. Nathan was on his way to getting it done again last year when an unfortunate crash left him scrambling to get a new race car. If not for blowing his motor in the season finale, the championship could very well have been his. Nathan is a threat to win Main Events whenever he's there, and he's certainly a championship contender if he chooses to be.

The man who surprised everybody last year to win the title is second-generation racer John Dees. Dees improved quite a bit in his second full year of competing in this class, and this included five second-place finishes and his first career wins at both Sunset Speedway and Southern Oregon Speedway. Word is that John may be looking to race up north as he has moved there, so we're not certain how much will be seeing the #16 car.

Not only do we know that we're going to see the #38 car of Miles Deubert, we know that the 2018 "Rookie Of The Year" and two-time feature winner has a new ride after purchasing the former Bill Egleston car from California. Racing Late Models has been a dream come true for the 2014 Street Stock champion, and he would love to be able to make a challenge for another division championship. To do that, he knew he had to step up his game.

Two drivers who have fought hard to establish Late Models again in Medford are 2016 Open Stock champion Bob Dees and Mike Linder. Though Bob's two sons may not be seen around the speedway as much this year, it's likely that we'll see him competing for victories in the #6 car. Linder, however, has sold his car to Chris Biggs. Biggs raced a couple of years ago, and he's looking to come back again. Furthermore, another car is being prepared by the team for the return of 2010 champion Jeremy Richey. Richey's return will certainly make things more interesting in the battle for victories.

Since moving to Oregon as one of the top Nevada Street Stock racers, James Welshonse has competed in Mini Stocks, Sport Modifieds and Modifieds and has been fast in all three classes. Welshonse is preparing to take on the next challenge as he has purchased the former Deubert car to make his Late Model debut this season. If his history is any indication, you can expect James to be a quick study and become one of the faster drivers in the field.

Two drivers with new cars this year are Eric Massey and John David Duffie. Massey ran about half the season last year before a change in location took him out of the field. He has a new car this year. Duffie has won many Pro Stock races through the years at Southern Oregon Speedway and has been putting together a Late Model for a move up. Past Pro Stock champion Dave Everson moved up last season, and word is that he is stepping up his game to try and be more competitive this year.

Two drivers who showed up and scored feature victories last season, Trent Elliott and Darren Coffel, are reportedly planning to do more racing at Southern Oregon Speedway this year. In the event that either one of these drivers makes a full-time commitment, they could very well be the drivers to beat for the championship. Both drivers scored their victories in very impressive fashion last season.

One racer who could answer that call and challenge the fast guys from up north is Dustin Knight. Reportedly, the Rapp Racing Team has picked up a pair of Late Models, and one of those cars would be driven by the past Southern Oregon Speedway Modified and Pro Stock champion Knight. When he ran Late Models two years ago, at times he was very dominant. It all depends on what the team decides to do with these cars, but Knight certainly becomes a threat to win anytime he's in the race.

We heard that California-based racer Paul Guglielmoni will be bringing multiple cars to Southern Oregon Speedway, and this isn't just about the Cottonwood Classic. He's hoping to work the track into his schedule several times. Paul is a two-time Petaluma Speedway champion. It's possible that there will be other teams from California coming on various nights as well. Though we've heard that Dave Foote will be racing closer to his Coos Bay home, we hope to see the two-time 2018 feature winner on some occasions this year. longtime Southern Oregon competitor Don Garrett Jr is selling his car, but he'll likely be out there racing until it sells. It's likely that we'll see Brian Bowman and Garrett Dees at least a time or two.

We've also recently heard that 2018 Late Model Lites runner-up Greg Arnold will be moving up to the Late Model class. Arnold is also a past Southern Oregon Speedway Truck champion.

There's been lots of talk about Late Model racing at Southern Oregon Speedway, and for good reason. There are some big things on the horizon and more exciting news to be announced very soon. There's nothing quite like watching Late Models go side-by-side around the 1/3 mile clay oval, and it's a show that the hardcore Late Model fans do not want to miss. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

2019 Southern Oregon Speedway Late Model Schedule
April 13 - Playday
April 27 - Playday
May 11
May 18
June 1 - Roger Haudenshild Tribute
June 15
July 6
July 20
August 3
August 17 - Hall Of Fame Night
August 24 - $4,000 To Win Cottonwood Classic
September 7

2018 Late Model Points
16 John Dees 274
24 Nathan Augustine 270
38 Miles Deubert 263
75 Dave Foote 250
6 Bob Dees 226
22 Mike Linder 132
05 Don Garrett 99
66 Garrett Dees 83
7 Eric Massey 76
40 Dave Everson 47

Past Late Model Champions
2008  Chris Salyer and Roger Lorenzini Jr.
2009  Andy Freeman
2010  Jeremy Richey
2016  Bob Dees
2017  Nathan Augustine
2018  John Dees

All Time Late Model Winners
Nathan Augustine 5 
Dustin Knight 4
Trevor Glaser 4
Rob Mayea 4
Chris Salyer 3
Richard Papenhausen 3
Bob Boyd 3
Darren Coffell 3
Bob Dees 2
Trent Elliott 2
Clay Daly 2
Jon DeBenedetti 2
Mike Linder 2
Jeremy Richey 2
Mikes Deubert 2
Dave Foote 2
Jason Wines 2
John Dees 1
Casey Vitale 1
Steve Croucher 1
John Silva 1
Bill Pearson 1
Steve Moore 1
Ron Haggard 1
Jeremy Shank 1
Dane Smith 1
Jim Whisler 1

Pit Stops

There's a Garth Brooks song about unanswered prayers. You may not have been asking for what happened, but it turns out it's a good thing. Southern Oregon Speedway Mini Stock racer Kristopher Mix was going into the 2016 season with high hopes when he took his car down to Yreka for a practice event. Unfortunately, that was the last time he drove that particular car. Chris was sharing a memory on social media recently regarding the crashing of that car.

But as his father, Keith Mix, pointed out, it turned out to be a good thing. He was left scrambling, but he got himself a newer and better car. He had a good season that year, and he followed that up with the championship the next year. Last year, though he had his share of bad luck, Mix also got his first career win. Kris has been very blessed in recent years as he and Carrie Weiser are expecting their second son this year, life has been good to them, the race car is ready and racing season is only a few short weeks away.

The Annual Pear Blossom Parade is coming up on the 13th, and Tony Incerty of the Southern Oregon Speedway safety crew has been organizing all of the drivers who will be a part of the parade. They will be showing off their cars to people who in some cases are not even aware that Southern Oregon Speedway exists. It's great exposure for the track and it also shows speedway support for the community at large.

The grounds of Southern Oregon Speedway are looking better than they have at this time of the year in many years. This is because Matt Butler and Kelly Minter have been working very hard at trimming the trees, reducing the blackberry bushes, keeping the grass trimmed, landscaping and just whatever they can do to make things more pleasing to the eyes. Their work also helps in the efforts to dry the pits should weather cooperate. Matt and Kelly have even put a new shade of blue on the handicap parking curb.

All that is needed now is dry enough weather during the week to allow for the pit area to be accessible, and then the cars could return to the 3/10 mile clay oval as well as the 1/8 mile dirt oval that the Karts will be racing on eight times this year. The inaugural playday that is scheduled for April 13th isn't looking so good right now, though it's too early to tell. The track had considered a practice on April 20th, but as it's Easter Weekend, this was decided against. Optimism is high that if the weather doesn't allow the first playday, the one on April 27th will happen. Stay tuned for news on that.

The Little Southern Oregon Speedway track gets eight races this year. All of the usual Kart classes are scheduled, which will include the 500 Open, 250s, Box Stock and Beginners Box Stock divisions as well as UAS Speedway Karts. Management is working on establishing a program for both Flat Track Motorcycles and Quads as a way to get more vehicles onto the track. Promoter Mike McCann will continue to oversee things on the little track.

Another point of concern surrounds the JOAT Labs Hornets division. Last season, there was some discussion about cars being too dominant in the field and the need to adjust rules. Initially, management took the PSI Rule and dropped it down to 160. However, this has been raised to 185 after further discussion and review of notes. What seems to be a concern is that the division does not get out of hand and it remains an entry-level point for drivers to get into racing without spending too much money.

In the old rulebook, prior to KJE Enterprises taking over Southern Oregon Speedway and growing this class, it was pointed out that these aren't race cars but rather cars that the drivers race. Consider that statement and what it means. Yes, drivers are racing around the track in these cars, but when you start putting more money into performance things on these cars, the costs go up. One way we gain new drivers into the field at Southern Oregon Speedway is to have a good entry-level division that doesn't require a big budget to maintain.

The Hornets division has a growing, dedicated group of competitors, and we are starting to see more drivers venturing into other divisions from here. For instance, after a rather dominant performance in 2016 and early 2017, Joby Shields went Sport Modified racing. After last season, we have seen both Ashtin Hedges and Dylan Irving make the move up to the Mini Stock division.

Longtime Mini Stock supporter and reigning champion David Steele has expressed his thoughts in the past about whether the Hornet division might be affecting numbers in the Mini Stock class. The Mini Stocks left alone would be the entry-level division, though now drivers have a division that allows you to do less and might be just a little bit cheaper on the wallet. This isn't to suggest that the Mini Stock division is getting too expensive, which it really isn't. However, it is hoped that more drivers get a year or two of experience in the Hornet class and give Mini Stock racing a chance. As drivers can do just a little bit more with their Mini Stocks, the racing its just that much more competitive.

Of course, the pinnacle of 4 Cylinder racing at Southern Oregon Speedway is the Valley Store All Late Model Lites division. Recently, we got word that 2018 runner up Greg Arnold was preparing to make a move up to the Late Model division. Arnold would be taking the car he has and putting a Late Model motor in it. We were wondering what this might do for car count, but we know of two drivers that were not mentioned in our recent season preview article who are going Late Model Lites racing this year.

One such driver is Jim Cunningham. Jim took the wheel of the #99 car last season and did well enough to become one of the Top 10 drivers in the standings. He has gotten his hands on a rather competitive car. This would be the #40 car that both Randy Hansen and Late Model Lites legend Andy Westcott had driven to victories in 2017. Cunningham becomes a driver to watch in the race for victories this season.

Mike Cloud has had his frustrations with rules. He had wanted to return to Mini Stock racing, only to find that the rules no longer involved the inclusion of Mini Trucks. After running his truck with the Late Model Lites a time or two, he went out and got himself another car to run with the Late Model Lites. Mike has done well in Mini Stocks in the past and felt that this was the right challenge for him. We're happy to see that he will be joining the Valley Store All Late Model Lites division the season.

Through the years, Late Model Lites racing has been pretty exciting when there have been enough cars on the track. The fans have seen great racing from the likes of Brian Johnsen, Terry Hadley and Parker Jones, and now we've got another great crop of racers that will include stars such as Eric Aos, Ross Payant, Dusty Aos and reigning champion Charlie Eaton. These cars are fast, and there are some good drivers to entertain the fans this season.

Entertainment will be the order of the day for the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars. The banner race for the division is the $2,000 to win Ironhead Nationals on August 10th, but there are plenty of other racing opportunities. We've been a little concerned where the car count might be as drivers like Jeffrey Hudson, Blaine Cory, Enrique Jaime and Merissa Henson may not be on hand when the season opens on May 4th.

However, the roster is growing with new drivers. We had reported in the recent season preview of the addition of past 500 Open Kart champion Johnny Burke to the roster along with reigning IMCA Sport Modified and past Mini Stock champion David Marble. We've also heard about the addition of California racer Anissa Curtice and Jared Hood of the famous Hood family. Don Hood is a Southern Oregon Racing Hall of Famer, inducted in 2017. Jared will be continuing the family tradition. Curtice has been racing 500 Open Karts in California as she hails from Eureka.

We have continued to hear rumblings of other drivers putting cars together, but as we haven't seen names, it's difficult to say anything else. We're hopeful that there will be some surprises in the field. Southern Oregon Speedway has made a commitment to Sprint Car racing, and this has led to more variety for the fans to enjoy on any given week when they are there.

Not to be forgotten in the discussion are the Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars. The group will once again be doing a barbecue, car show, fan meet-and-greet at Granger's Accounting on April 20th. Some fans may not be familiar with this group of racers, but they are some of the nicest people you'd want to meet. This will be an opportunity for everybody to get an up-close-and-personal look at the race cars and get to talk with the people who drive them.

Everything going around the community now has been very positive in terms of drivers getting ready. All they're looking for right now is some clear weather and the go-ahead to do some racing. The April 13th practice day might be 50/50, but there should be a better chance of a practice taking place on April 27th. After that, it's time to get down to business on May 4th with a show featuring IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets. Are you ready for racing season to get started?


Placerville Speedway Unofficial Race Results April 6, 2019
Law Enforcement Night
Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Justyn Cox
Tony Gualda
Sean Becker
Justin Sanders
Kalib Henry
Andy Forsberg
Colby Copeland
Colby Johnson
Bobby McMahan
Jesse Love
Shane Hopkins
Zane Blanchard
Blake Carrick
Mike Benson
Jimmy Trulli
Jodie Robinson
Chris Masters
DJ Freitas
Shawn McMahan
Justin Johnson

B Main
Zane Blanchard
Jesse Love
Shawn McMahan
Justin Johnson
Brad Dillard
Mike Cook
Steel Powell
Jeff Romo
CJ Humphries
Greg DeCaires

Hunt Wingless Spec Sprints
Jake Morgan
Shawn Jones
DJ Johnson
Troy DeGaton
Alan Miranda
Bryan Grier
Boy Moniz
Scott Chapeta
Angelique Bell
Ryon Siverling
Paul Vandenberg
Scott Clough
Dillon Tucker
Brian Speary
Scott Martin
Billy Aton
Shayna Sylvia
Cody Spencer
Josh Young
Matt Stewart
Tim Sherman Jr

Pure Stocks
Nick Baldwin
Kevin Jinkerson
Dave Silva
Scott Grunert
Mel Byers
Lonnie Lennard
Jesse Bryant
Jason Palmer
Jason Leonard
Matthew Chacon
Tommy Sturgon
Stephanie Hanson

Mini Truck
Tom Stanwood
Russ Murphy
Ryan Murphy
Thomas Jensen
Aaron Rupley
John Littlejohn


Marysville Raceway Unofficial Race Results April 6, 2019
Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Michael Ing
Colby Wiesz
Brent Bjork
Jake Haulot
Mike Monahan
Korey Lovell
John Clark
Eli Deshaies
Justin Henry
Jimmy Steward
Pat Harvey Jr 
Kevin Lovell

Super Stocks
Matt Micheli
Brent Lawrence
Mike Learn
George Magenheimer
Eddie Gardner
Richard Vander Ploeg
Tucker Garcia
James Castleberry
Jerry Bartlett
Kyle Cheney

NCDCA Dwarf Cars
Jeremy Blackshere
Kevin Bender
Mike Grenert
Mike Reeder
Ryan Plexico
Shawn Whitney
Tim Fitzpatrick
Jeff Fitch
Ben Wiesz
Robert Johnson
Tom Vantuyl
Sam Wren
Michael Williams
Mike Reed
Kenny Cucuk
Colby Wiesz
Josh Wiesz

 The Editor's Viewpoint

Since I'm standing here on Wednesday morning waiting for information on something, I decided to cobble together a brief column to add to the Jefferson Racing News post. The weather in Oregon is what it is. You can book races in April, but chances are those races will be rained out. You get points with your racers for at least trying, but that's usually all you end up doing. On those occasions where the weather allows it, you're a hero.

Cottage Grove Speedway booked races going back to the last two weeks of March. They even had a practice day scheduled, but the severe snow that we had saw to it that practice ended up becoming a clean up party. After that, they've been dealing with rain out after rain out. A trip by the track on Tuesday showed that the pits were under quite a bit of water. They're having to deal with the runoff from the mountains, so racing on Saturday doesn't look so good there. It doesn't surprise me. What can you do? Try again next week.

I am delighted to report that Daren Ricks Campbell has agreed to have his columns featured on the Jefferson blog. Daren has been brought in as the official Coos Bay Speedway Publicity Director. For the last three years, since we founded this blog, Coos Bay has been a featured track. I started writing articles just to help spread the word for them and as a favor, not asked for, for Chuck Prather. I wanted to continue Coos Bay being featured here, as I feel it's a cornerstone track for this blog. While I would be willing to continue writing articles, I didn't see a reason to do so if Daren is doing it. I'd rather support him, offer any help he needs and feature him here. I'm grateful that he's agreed and we have scrapped our own Coos Bay preview this week to feature his. Thank you Daren.

Drake Nelson entered the picture at Coos Bay Speedway once again in 2017. He had been involved with the program prior to that, moved out of state and then came back with an eye on that particular track. Drake had seen a few things in his journeys and felt that if he brought the NASCAR sanctioning in and continued the fan friendly practices that the speedway has, it would be a winner. Thusly, the NASCAR Whelen All American Series program got kicked into gear in 2017.

On paper, this is a very attractive thing. You've got point fund money being given to your Top 4 divisions. The Top 5 drivers in each class get some of that cash. When we're talking about the premier Super Late Model division, you factor in the State point fund money as well. The champion stands to bring in over $5,000, as was the case last year with Brody Montgomery and even Mike George the year before. Even the money going to second and third is quite attractive.

The thought was that more Late Model drivers would come to town. Coos Bay itself is known to have over a dozen Super Late Models in various conditions, but Drake still found it a struggle to produce six cars for a race. Because the purse gets adjusted when there are less than six cars, drivers started complaining about payouts, and that has hampered the progress just a little bit. The point fund money at the end of the season goes out as advertised, but for the local drivers or even traveling drivers who don't think they'll get a whiff of that money, knowing there is a guaranteed purse on any given week is what really matters.

During the offseason, we've heard rumblings of the return of Toby McIntyre, a past champion. Also Dave Foote, another past champion. Preston Luckman, who took his show on the road and won the Cottage Grove title last season. Really, what we are hearing suggests that they could have a double-digit car count in this class. Will that happen? My guess is they will get some nights like that, and the opener could be one of them.

The thing that I've learned from local track racing is that you need to start with your local base of drivers. You can't depend on having people travel from out of town all the time to build that base up. Much more than an hour of traveling distance, and the likelihood of seeing that driver is not very good. Add to the fact that half of the base of Coos Bay Speedway is in the ocean, and you're challenged even further. The track does have a respectable roster of available cars across different divisions, but getting them to come support the show on any regular basis can be challenging. This is what Drake Nelson was tasked with.

Coming in with a NASCAR sanctioning made quite a bit of sense. I understand that most of the other Oregon tracks are using IMCA sanctioning, but they also run Modified classes. Coos Bay only gets those cars on special occasions. You have to play to your strengths, and Stock Car racing is the strength of that track. It's doubtful that Drake thought he was going to see instant success. There are going to be racers taking a wait-and-see stance before jumping in. There are racers who don't believe what you're saying. You have to win them over.

Everything I know about Drake suggests that he's a hustler. He is willing to do what it takes to make things happen. Coos Bay isn't some new race track. They've been around before some of the current Oregon tracks even came into existence. Once upon a time, they were a NASCAR track when they were paved. This is before Chuck Prather bought the place and made it a dirt track. Some good races have happened at the speedway in the past, and there were some big events last year as well.

What I'm hearing suggests that there's going to be an increase in support this year. Not sure exactly how much we're talking, but any improvement is better than none. The fan friendliness that they use is a necessity to keep the people coming out there. With the kids ride alongs, Daredevil Mister Dizzy, Monster Trucks and so on, there's plenty of things to interest the fans in wanting to come out and see what's happening. If the weather allows it, Saturday should be a good show.

There's that thought again. If the weather allows it, there will be a race. Siskiyou Golden Speedway has entered a new era. It's been a while since they've had a promoter running the track rather than an association. I'm not taking sides in what is, let's just say, a tense situation. My thought is that I appreciated the association for keeping those gates open, because without that, maybe we're not here now. It may not have been perfect, but at least it was there. It gave Kevin Barba the opportunity to come in, make a proposal and become the new promoter.

It's not all fun and games, because people are going to have expectations. What are you going to do to make it better than it's been? That is always the question posed to any new promoter that comes to a race track. Kevin wants more butts in the seats watching the show, and he's already devising several fan-friendly things to make that a reality. He understands there's a concern over the safety of the track and is addressing that this year and plans to do more going forward. There's a lot in his game plan, so he's not talking about doing everything overnight. It's a process.

The people have to get on board, and if they are seeing some changes for the better, they become a part of making it happen. I say when you're dealing with a race track that's been down for a few years and had some pretty darn good years a couple of decades ago, you don't come in there and tell the people they're going to get what they had two decades ago. That might be your goal, but you tell them you're going to give them something better than they've seen in recent years. That's achievable, not a gimme, but achievable. It happens though hard work.

It's kind of a catch-22 situation. You want butts in the seats? You need cars in the pits and on that race track. Bottom line is fans are less likely to spend money on tickets if they don't see enough race cars and races. This has contributed to the decline in attendance. Kevin inherited a program with only two regular divisions. IMCA Sport Modifieds and Mini Stocks were the only two regular track championship divisions. Leading up to the banquet last year, the association decided to honor the top Pro Stock drivers because they visited enough, but that was something they did just prior to the banquet. Don't misunderstand me, it was a good move. The Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stock Association already keeps their own points and has their own banquet.

What Kevin must do to have some kind of longevity as the promoter is add to his roster of divisions. I've been saying this to the association as well. You can't put the pressure on those two divisions and expect car count to be good. You also had issues that were keeping certain drivers in those classes from coming out and supporting as much as they probably could have. Kevin needs to make those divisions as strong as he can, so the trick is making the track appealing enough that these guys want to come back. I think you'll have that at the beginning of the season.

He still needs more divisions. Traveling shows coming to town, such as the popular Winged 360 Sprint Car Speedweek race, The Iron Giant Street Stocks.and the BCRA Midgets, are a good thing. You're giving the fans a taste of things they don't normally see. However, you need to add local divisions that you can call upon during your season at various times. This is what Kevin must do, and he has to look around town and see what he has to work with.

The best building blocks that he has for third, fourth and even fifth divisions, seem to be a Street Stock/Hobby Stock class, Jefferson State Jalopies and IMCA Modifieds. The Modified car count disappeared, and I think the sliding pay scale that didn't even give these guys the money that any other Modified tracks would pay contributed to its current state. But you have to remember, Modifieds have been a crowd favorite in Yreka since the track opened on its current run of successive seasons in 1992.

What I might have been inclined to do is call a special IMCA Modified meeting. There are a dozen or so drivers in the area, so gather them up and see. You want to know who will seriously come out and support. You want honesty. Don't tell me you're coming if it's not something you are prepared to do. What is it that we can do to get you back out there? Those questions haven't been asked and no real meeting has been held with these drivers. I could name you the names, but the people down there know who I'm talking about. Cars are there. Kevin might book creatively when Medford is not running Modifieds to get cars from there, but he also needs to have enough local cars that the pressure isn't on Medford to make the show happen.

He's already put the call out to the Street Stock crowd as to who might be interested in supporting additional dates. The Iron Giant race that's coming on Memorial Day Weekend is huge, and they should deliver a car count in the twenties. My hope would be that any local driver with a car sitting in the field that they can get to run will bring it out there. Will there be six locals? If so, you've got the makings of another division.

One of the things a promoter has to deal with is a bottom line. You need at least so many people in the stands. If you don't get to that number, you're in trouble. You also want so many cars in the pits. This is why tracks will run five divisions, sometimes more. You've got to get your cars somewhere, or you don't pay the bills. You also give the fans more different things to look at. Six cars may not seem like much, and back in the glory days it wasn't. However, six cars is a heat race and Main Event these days. A Trophy Dash if you have one.

I can start doing the car math. I see ten Mini Stocks. I see 12 Sport Modifieds. I see five Jalopies. I see six Street Stocks. I see six or eight Modifieds. A dozen visiting Pro Stocks, maybe the same with visiting Dwarf Cars. I'm talking rough average here.

Okay, now we start looking at numbers and working on the schedule. The Modified division does have a price tag to it that the Street Stocks and Jalopies don't. You need to pay these guys a good purse if you want them to come race for you. When you're not dealing with big budgets, you might look at other things that you can build up without having to spend too much money.

I know Kevin is keen on trying to do something with a 4 Cylinder Modified class. Whether this comes to fruition, I don't know. However, he's been looking at it. No announcement has been made. Speaking of 4 Cylinder cars, a Hornet division could be cultivated pretty quickly. What that means is, maybe you find somebody who can put cages into these cars and get a half a dozen or so produced in a short amount of time. This is your entry point to the speedway.

So, getting a car count is going to be the challenge, but looking at the April 13th opener, I feel as if Kevin is set to have a nice show. He has four divisions booked, and there's no reason to think they couldn't have over 40 cars, and maybe even 50. I don't see that as a given on some nights out there, but it could happen on Saturday night. Because of that, you certainly are wanting to have that race. Kevin and his crew are working hard at the track as I speak, but we'll see what happens.

One thing I would like Kevin to consider is the race date that he has chosen for the Rod Barba Memorial. This was something I brought up to Ryder Boswell last year when he came up for the R Charles Snyder Salute. I totally understand Kevin wanting to have a big show on Labor Day Weekend and honoring his father. Southern Oregon Speedway will have a big field of IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds with the purse they're paying, and Saturday is a crucial day because it qualifies you for the big money show on Sunday.

Kevin has booked the memorial race for his father opposite the opening day of the R Charles Snyder Salute, which I feel is a mistake. It won't really affect Medford at all, because the people are going to come up for the money. He didn't book Modifieds, but he did book Sport Modifieds. However, the Medford weekend pays $2,000 for the Sport Modifieds to win. What can be done if Kevin were to pursue a big race that weekend is a very easy solution. It involves moving the date one day backward to Friday.

Because Southern Oregon Speedway doesn't really believe in having practice days ahead of the big show, there will be no practice on Friday. Drivers will be towing up to Medford and will be filling the pits on Friday. If somebody were to offer a nice purse, even something that's not too big, they could get the cars. What I'm saying is, let's just say he wanted to pay $1,500 to win and have a Modified show on Friday. Add in $750 to win for Sport Modifieds. There's a good chance he's going to get some takers, but such a move would need to be promoted soon as I know there aren't a lot of resources in his budget. Get the word out, take pre sign ups now and make it happen.

Yreka could still have a big Rod Barba Memorial race on August 30th with IMCA Modifieds as part of the show, along with IMCA Sport Modifieds and Mini Stocks. It's all in what you do. Going head-to-head with Medford is a foolish move. Not because he's going to affect Medford. He probably won't. The reason the association stayed off of that date is because they knew they would lose too many cars. What they didn't consider was if they had run Friday, they may have gotten drivers who are coming up to Medford to come race on Friday. Easy solution.

The important thing is having somebody at the helm of the race track trying to do the things to not only keep the gates open but improve things. With improvement will come more race cars and fans. It's a week-to-week process. One thing I've learned is whether you have a big success or a failure, you don't dwell on it. You learn whatever the lesson is you need to learn from that particular night, keep it in mind and move ahead to have the best show you can next week.

This was the model used in rebuilding the Southern Oregon Speedway program. We're not there yet. We are simply further along down the road from where we came in back in 2016 with a better product heading into 2019. Numbers are up. They aren't where they were in the glory days, but they compare pretty nicely to what's happened out there in the past decade. Mike McCann did what he could to make a better show all around. He knew one thing. Having three core divisions with visiting classes was not going to get the fans the show that he wanted to give them.

The track was running IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Mini Stocks. There were visiting Dwarf Cars and Pro Stocks and a Hornet division there in name only. Absolutely nothing was done to promote that class. We came in there and turned the Hornets into something, added Late Model Lites, added Sprint Cars, added Late Models and several visits from the Hardtops. By having a roster of nine different divisions to rotate, it means you're not putting the pressure on one or two classes. Look at it this way, Southern Oregon Speedway had 18 Cars one night in 2015 with their three primary classes. 18 damn cars. Can you sell tickets to that?

Because those three classes were booked every week, it became harder on a racer's pocketbook. They might want to be there every week, but they couldn't afford it. Or, family came first and they missed that race. When you can rotate divisions and give them nights off, it helps your car count average. So, Southern Oregon Speedway might have averaged 35 or 40 cars per race in 2016, but those numbers have reached into the 50s and 60s. This is called progress.

As a longtime racing fan, I admit it's a bit excruciating. I don't like saying that an eight car division is good because we can divide that into two heat races, a dash in a main. That's where we are now, but back in the day we called eight cars a heat race. I would much rather have two good divisions, a traditional night that goes from qualifying all the way to Main Events, has a car count big enough for B Mains and gives the fans something special. We don't live in the 1970s or 1980s anymore. We have to make what we have work in 2019. Therefore, I'm quite proud of the way things are going at Southern Oregon Speedway. It's getting better, and as long as we stay the course and do the right things, this will continue to be the trend.

Drivers want a practice day, but the weather is saying you will get nothing and like it. That seems to be the trend since Mike got here in 2016. We have yet to have a practice day. I'm more concerned with actual races. Your window in Oregon seems to be from May through about mid September. You can go later. In Medford, there are opportunities to race into October, but people start doing other things. They get out of racing mode. Oregonians know they have a five-month window of racing, and they're okay with that.

There are other Jefferson area race tracks that people might not have thought were still around. We will attempt to cover them all, but that is dependent upon the information that we get. In Cedarville, the race track will now host five races. There is the Gordon Russell Sr Memorial Pro Stock event at the end of June, plus, there are four other races. A local Hobby Stock group will be supporting it, but there will also be Pro Stocks. Not sure what Pro Stocks will support the other four shows as they are not officially association backed dates.

I had heard rumors that the Lakeview Fairgrounds might be a spot where the Hobby Stock drivers would visit a time or two. There has been a rumor for a few years now that the fairgrounds is interested in auto racing. However, in a situation like that, you're faced with the daunting task of building a program from scratch. You have Klamath Falls to draw upon, but as has been pointed out to me, it's easier for those racers to go to Yreka or Medford than to go to Lakeview. I don't know that anything will happen there, and I personally think the tenth outdoor racing venue in Oregon that has the most promise right now would be Worden. Lots of work to be done, but if either Carl decided to reopen the place or sold that property, they could have racing there within a year.

They will have racing at Mountain Valley Raceway in Hayfork. About a dozen or so racers came out to practice last week, and the weather is looking promising. They are in their eighth year of racing there, and they're not making big announcements. There will be no championship point racing as they focus on just building up the program. The popular Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks return.

They are trying to build a B Modified class and really that Enduro race that they have at the end of the night is something to see. All different types of cars get on that track, and it gets wild. I don't think there's a track on the west coast that has something quite like that. If the information comes across my desk, I will do what I can to support this race track.

I would do the same for Cedarville and also for Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville. The Susanville track looked to be closed, but an 11th hour effort to take over the track has been successful. The new promoter is 2018 American Valley Speedway IMCA Modified champion Jeff Olschowka. Jeff isn't reinventing the wheel here. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Strictly Stocks and Mini Stocks will race there, and he has scheduled every race so as not to conflict with American Valley Speedway in Quincy. Through the years, these two tracks have had a good working relationship, and it's my guess that Jeff will try to strengthen that in the future.

I didn't intend to go on as long as I did here. I hope the weather is kind to our tracks this week and we can finally start doing something. Until next time...


This one was already written prior to Daren joining us, so I figured we'd run it here.  It's been a fun three years writing Coos Bay articles, but I know Daren will do a great job for the track.

NASCAR Racing Season Ready To Go At Coos Bay Speedway

Coos Bay, Oregon...The curtain is about ready to rise on the 2019 NASCAR Whelen All American Series season at Coos Bay Speedway. Drivers had an opportunity to do some practice laps a couple of weeks ago, but it's time to do it under racing conditions. Promoter Drake Nelson has lined up an exciting season from start to finish, and it begins on Saturday night. Featured divisions include the NASCAR Super Late Models, Sportsman Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Outlaws, Hornets and Junior Stingers. Not to be forgotten in the mix are the popular Winged Sprint Cars.

Two of the biggest stars of Winged Sprint Car racing at Coos Bay in recent years are two-time champion Dave May and 2017 title winner Lawrence Van Hoof. Both drivers were feature winners last season, and May got attention when he won the season finale for the ISCS Series at Coos Bay in September. However, the driver taking home the hardware as champion last season was Bret Hulsey. All three are anticipated this week, and others include Donovan Prather, Kayla Green and Mike Crawford. Plus, you never know who might show up from out of town to take on the locals.

The money is on the line in the NASCAR Super Late Model division. Last season, Brody Montgomery turned in a rather dominant performance at times, and he was awarded $5,500 for his track and State championships. Word is that Montgomery can expect some tough competition for this year's championship. 2015 champion Toby McIntyre, who like Montgomery is also a past Sportsman Late Model champion, is back this year. Word is that another past Late Model champion, Dave Foote, will be returning to race locally this year as well.

The lineup of Late Model racers should also include Roseburg resident Tom Elam, who is wheeling a former Mike George car and was a feature winner last season. Thor Kristensen is coming off of his second runner-up ranking in the last three years and is hoping he can take it up a notch this year. Other drivers to watch for this week include such notables as Chris Ray, Wayne Butler, Richard Wallace, Chuck Bracelin and Deven Brown.

Butler has been racing in the Sportsman Late Model division as well and is coming off of his second straight runner-up ranking after posting back-to-back championships prior to that. Wayne scored a division-leading nine feature wins last season but lost out by 14 points to reigning champion Dyllan Siewell. Drivers who could be joining the action this week include Tom Williams, Charlie Withers, Braden Fugate, Justin Krossman and Stacy Robison.

Ken Fox comes into the season as the reigning Street Stock champion after winning nine times last season. Steve Dubisar's late start may be the only thing that prevented him from mounting a serious challenge to Fox. Dubisar won seven Main Events last season to ranked fourth in the standings ahead have past champion Daniel Land. These two notables should be there this week along with 2018 runner up David Smith, Jeff Thurman and possibly Josh Bearden. Sam Talon has a Monte Carlo for a move up to the Street Stocks this season.

There was never any doubt that Talon would back up his 2017 championship with another Mini Outlaw title as he won 12 times last season. Talon beat John Henry for the honors as late starter Ken Fox picked up four wins to finish third. Double division racing is nothing new at Coos Bay, so Talon and Fox might be seen in both Street Stocks and Mini Outlaws this year. Other notables in the Mini Outlaws include such hard chargers as Jason Kellam, Tom Siewell, division veteran Carl Johnson and Jason Berrier.

The fastest growing division at Coos Bay Speedway is the Hornets class. In an amazing rookie season, Tyler Tullos won an impressive eight Main Events to secure the championship by a wide margin. Two of the popular racers in the field, April Warmack and "Hurricane" Hannah Robison, finished second and third, respectively. All three are anticipated this week. Some of the notables last season to watch for this week include Kris Parker, Chuck Peck, Leroy Rockwell, Dusty Shingleton and David Pellum.

Bringing new and younger racers into the sport is important to Coos Bay Speedway, and the Junior Stringer division was created for just that purpose. This division puts racers in the 11 to 14 year old bracket into Hornet cars to make their first laps. Last season, Griff Smith was rather dominant with seven wins and the inaugural championship. Drivers on last season's roster included Alex Butler, Sebastian Freedle, James Shingleton and Hunter Berrier. New drivers are anticipated this season, and management hopes to see this division grow in the weeks ahead.

Everybody has been eagerly awaiting the kickoff of the new season, and if the weather allows this to happen, Saturday night will offer something that every fan can enjoy. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us.