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Fletch
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 01:56 AM |
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Fauver Shows His Best
Night Cut Short When Lights Go Out
By Jack Fordyce
Grays Harbor Raceway
Elma, WA.
Elma, WA. What started out to be a quick night of racing was marred by four red flags during the evening, two delays when track maintenance personnel had to bring the grader out and work on the track to make it suitable for racing and finally came to an abrupt end during the final feature race of the night when a portion of the lights went out shortly after midnight.
Rick Fauver of Everett, Dan West Jr. of Shelton, Blair Shoemaker of Yakima, the driving team of Brad Crawford and Mike Crawford of Aberdeen and Brian Izzi of Olympia all took the checkered flag on the final night of regular season racing before the Season Championships at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Saturday night.
Fauver turned the trick in the “360 Sprints” 30-lap feature as he led Steve Vague of Kirkland for 24 of the 30 Laps.
Shoemaker took over the lead on lap-8 of the scheduled 25-lap”Modifieds” feature when he got by early race leader, Scott Dorie of St Helens, OR.
Crawford/Crawford won the “Cruisers” 20-lap feature by default when the apparent winners, Tad Smith/Sparkin Heimer of Shelton failed the tech inspection after the race.
West continued his winning ways in the 20-lap “Midgets” feature when he won the duel between him and Lee St Paul of Shelton.
Izzi made it two wins in a row when Clifford Gill of Aberdeen left the track with a flat tire after leading the first 10-laps of the “Hornets” 15-lap feature.
“Sprints”
Fauver started the race on the pole with Vague on the outside front row. The race was only slowed for one caution flag when Kelly Mayer of Covington had mechanical problems on lap-8.
Unfortunately for two of the top five at the time the restart was not good. JJ Hickle of Quilcene left the track for repairs after spinning out in turn-4, and Jay Cole of Shelton had to go to the pits for repairs after brushing wheels with Glenn Borden Jr. of Raymond. Hickle and Cole were running third and fourth at the time.
Vague managed to take the lead on lap-20, but the speedy Fauver regained the front spot with five laps left in the contest.
Vague held onto the second spot, Shawn Rice of Tacoma took third, followed by Henry VanDam of Enumclaw and Borden.
“Midgets”
The “Midgets” feature accounted for two of four red flags during the evening and two of the three roll over’s of the night.
Austin Hespe of Snohomish brought out the red flag when he flipped in turn-2 just a lap into the race. Hespe was transported to a local hospital after complaining of pains in his legs.
The second flip of the night was by Allison Journey of Springfield, OR. when she went over on the back-stretch on lap-17. Journey was running second at the time and hoped to repeat her last lap win over West as she did in an early heat race. Journey was checked out by track medical personnel and nothing was hurt other than her pride.
West came from 4-rows back at the start to take the lead from St Paul at the mid-point of the race.
St Paul challenged the leader in the final laps, but was unable to get by the veteran West.
Jeff Bell of Marysville picked up third, Shon Valland of Bonny Lake fourth and Kelly Douglas of Poulsbo rounded out the top five.
“Modifieds”
Like the “Midgets”, the “Modifieds” feature race got off to a rough start.
Shane Rau of Shelton brought out the red flag when he got sideways in turn-2 on lap-3, rolling his car twice before coming to rest on his wheels. Rau was no worse for wear, but the car suffered major damage.
Dorie was the front runner at the start, followed by Shoemaker, Scott Miller of Shelton, Greg Dineen of Aberdeen and Leroy Lawhead of Rochester.
Shoemaker took the lead on lap-8 and the caution flag came out on the next lap, with Dorie sitting in the infield.
During the line-up for the restart, the lights went out completely in turn-4 and partially on the rest of the light standards.
Race officials declared the race over with at that point. It would have taken at least 20-minutes for the mercury-vapor lights to cool down and come back on, and it was after midnight at the time.
Shoemaker was declared the winner, Miller, second, Dineen, third, Lawhead fourth and Jason St Paul of Shelton fifth.
“Cruisers”
Sometimes Lady Luck is on your side, for Crawford/Crawford that was the case.
Jim Atkinson/Mike Atkinson, Grayland gave up the lead to Aaron Hurd/Brian Crawford on the third lap of the race.
Hurd/Crawford did the same when Smith/Heimer got by them just three laps later.
Atkinson/Atkinson left the race for good after getting up close and personal with the wall in turn-4, bringing out the fourth red flag of the night. Neither, driver or gas-man were hurt.
Crawford/Crawford got by Crawford/Hurd on the final lap when they had mechanical problems.
Smith/Heimer took the checkered flag followed by Crawford/Crawford, JD Boling, Elma/ Ted Warner, Olympia, James Gunter, Aberdeen/ Jon Jacobs, Cosmopolis, Dana Austin, Olympia /James Hinkley, Centralia, and Dave Richert/Louie Zoren, Shelton.
Smith/Heimer failed the tech inspection after the race and everybody move up a spot.
“Hornets”
Izzi also had Lady Luck smile on him as he was chasing Gill. Gill seemed to have things well in hand as he looked like he was going to get his first feature win, but it was not to happen.
Gill had a tire go down with just five-laps left in the race, and the rest was history.
Izzi took the checkered flag, followed by Tyson Blood, Olympia, Kevin Krenz, Elma, Eddie Blood, Olympia and Travis Blood, Olympia.
Labor Day week-end will feature the “Big E” weekend of racing with three nights of racing. Saturday night will feature the Northern Provincial late model super stocks and the Cut Rate Auto Parts “Hobby Stock” challenge series, Sunday night the American Sprint Car Series Northwest Region will be on hand along with the “Midgets, and Labor Day will feature the World of Outlaws 410 sprints as they come to Elma after racing Friday and Saturday night at Skagit speedway.
Gates will open at 4:30 with racing around 6:30.
Top Finishers
Whitney’s Auto Group “360 Sprints” A Main. 1. Rick Fauver, Everett. 2. Steve Vague, Kirkland. 3. Shawn Rice, Tacoma. 4. Henry VanDam, Enumclaw. 5. Glenn Borden Jr. Raymond. 6. TJ Hartman, Puyallup. 7. Garen Linder, Medford, OR. 8. Jay Cole, Shelton. 9. Roger Crockett, Medford. 10. Jay Barnes, Everett. Heat 1. Fauver. 2. Vague. 3. JJ Hickle, Quilcene. 4. Crockett. 5. Borden. Heat 2. 1. Cole. 2. George Graham, Seattle. 3. Rice. 4. VanDam. 5. Seth Bergman, Snohomish.
Ship Wreck Beads “Modifieds” A Main. 1. Blair Shoemaker, Yakima. 2. Scott Miller, Shelton. 3. Greg Dineen, Aberdeen. 4. Leroy Lawhead, Rochester. 5. Jason St Paul, Shelton. 6. Matt Mitchell, Vancouver, WA. 7. Jim Oien Jr. McCleary. 8. Shawn Dorie, St Helens, OR. 9. Tim Isaascon, Olympia. 10. Josh Muller, Montesano. Heat 1. 1. Lawhead. 2. Gannin Thomas, St Helens. 3. Randy Nielsen, Yelm. 4. David Wolford, Seabeck. 5. St Paul. Heat 2. 1. Scott Dorie, St Helens. 2. Mitchell. 3. Miller. 4. Muller. 5. Shawn Dorie. Heat 3. 1. Shoemaker. 2. Dineen. 3. Oien. 4. Del Schnitzer, Shelton. 5. Shane Rau, Shelton.
Ford Focus “Midgets” A Main. 1. Dan West Jr. Shelton. 2. Lee St Paul, Shelton. 3. Jeff Bell, Marysville. 4. Shon Valland, Bonny Lake. 5. Kelly Douglas, Poulsbo. 6. Zak DeBakker, Olympia. 7. Todd Hartman, Bothell. 8. Han DeBakker, Olympia. 9. Jonathan Jorgenson, Auburn. 10. Jeremy Miller, Montesano. Heat 1. 1. Jorgenson. 2. Miller. 3. Valland. 4. Douglas. 5. Hartman. Heat 2. 1. Allison Journey, Springfield, OR. 2. West. 3. St Paul. 4. Bell. 5. H. DeBakker.
“Cruisers” A Main. 1. Brad Crawford/Mike Crawford, Aberdeen. 2. J. D. Boling, Elma, Ted Warner, Olympia. 3. James Gunter, Aberdeen, Jon Jacobs, Cosmopolis. 4. Dana Austin, Olympia, James Hinkley, Centralia. 5. Dave Richert/Louie Zoren, Shelton. 7. Robyn Laso, Sarah Whipple, Elma. 8. Tom Conrad, Zeb Conrad, Montesano. 9. Jim Atkinson, Mike Atkinson, Grayland. Heat. 1. Conrad/Conrad. 2. Tad Smith/Sparkin Heimer, Shelton. 3. Crawford/Crawford. 4. Crawford/Hurd. 5. Boling/Warner.
HiLine Homes “Hornets” A Main. 1. Brian Izzi, Olympia. 2. Tyson blood, Olympia. 3. Eddie Blood, Olympia. 4. Kevin Krenz, Elma. 5. Travis Blood, Olympia. 6. Chris Muceri. 7. Mark Muller, Montesano. Heat 1. 1. Muller. 2. E. Blood. 3. Krenz. 4. Travis Blood. 5. Izzi.
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Here For The Fun Of It, And Doing Just That !
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skinny42
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 02:18 AM |
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bummer about the lights--wish there was a solution to keep it from happening. and I really hope it doesnt go down next weekend :-/
major kudos to the track for at least attempting to improve the track with the grader!!! unfortunately the time that it takes to make that happen will probably keep it from happening again 
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standoner
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| Location: | Elma, Washington USA |
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 02:55 AM |
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skinny42 wrote:
major kudos to the track for at least attempting to improve the track with the grader!!! unfortunately the time that it takes to make that happen will probably keep it from happening again
Here are my thoughts on why we took the "time" to work on the track.
When you climb into a race car you do so with the understanding of the dangers of the sport you have chosen to compete in. We decided that we needed to do something to try and improve the surface for safety.We did what we could do and personally I feel the track improved quite a bit. It by no means was great but at least we could race on it in a safer manner than where we were headed.
In the future if the track "goes" that direction again for whatever reason, I'm sure "time"will be taken to do what is necessary. JMO
Shaun
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sprint_car_fan2007
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 04:54 AM |
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| I will be honest here and say this, After hotlaps, I thought the track was gonna be extremely rough, and was gonna be a bad track, and after the first time the crew did work, I thought it was gonna get worse, but ya know, the track ended up getting faster, especially in the sprint car A-Main, and was still rough, but showed for some awesome racing. I wanna say good job, to the track prep crew and to everyone for getting the races in last night. See ya next weekend!! Last edited on Monday Aug 25th, 2008 05:01 AM by sprint_car_fan2007
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PUSHTRUCK1
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 04:59 AM |
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Shaun,
I would like to personally give credit where credit is due. You and everyone that helps you on the weekend and during the week bust there butts to give the fans and racers a good track. Nobody can control mother nature and working a dirt track is a daily gamble especially in Washington. I personally have stopped by to help you and am always willing to help a friend anytime. Maybe some of the people that want to criticize should get off there butts and be like you, come down to the track early in the morning and be the last one to leave every night. Then maybe they would see the time and effort that goes into the track every week.
Thanks to the Track prep team, Staff, Firecrew and Pushtrucks without everyone we couldn't watch our favorite sport of dirt track racing every weekend.
oh yeah also thank the fans for coming and watching every week!
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skinny42
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 05:35 AM |
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standoner wrote: skinny42 wrote:
major kudos to the track for at least attempting to improve the track with the grader!!! unfortunately the time that it takes to make that happen will probably keep it from happening again
Here are my thoughts on why we took the "time" to work on the track.
When you climb into a race car you do so with the understanding of the dangers of the sport you have chosen to compete in. We decided that we needed to do something to try and improve the surface for safety.We did what we could do and personally I feel the track improved quite a bit. It by no means was great but at least we could race on it in a safer manner than where we were headed.
In the future if the track "goes" that direction again for whatever reason, I'm sure "time"will be taken to do what is necessary. JMO
Shaun
big ups to Shaun and the track crew :-D nice job gentlemen (and any ladies involved!)
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princen17
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 05:45 AM |
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| I agree with SCF2007 here actually during the first time they worked on the track we were on the phone with each other talking about it thinking that it was just going to make it worse but it made it better. All in all from the racing that we did see on the track it was good, couple of really nasty flips and glad that everyone was okay and nobody seriously hurt
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FlagmanRuss
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 05:52 AM |
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Thanks to all of the track workers who did their best to give us a great race last night.
I appreciate you! 
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Remember December 15th! Should be a good news day!
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standoner
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 07:30 AM |
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First of all thanx to everyone for their support.Tim you already know how I feel Thank-you.
This thread has gotten away from the original subject matter and thats my fault.When I posted I wasn't trying to get thanx or an atta -boy.Not my intentions.
Week in and week out I do what Fred taught me how to do with the track.My greatest satisfaction comes from watching a great night of racing and knowing that I played a small part in it.You have to believe me when I say that if the track is terrible (and being rough isn't the only way it can be terrible) No one takes it more personally than I do,Guaranteed.
I've come to learn that you will forever chase "the perfect track" and that you take the sub par ones in stride.Fred told me one day "it is what it is and they all have to race on it,good ,bad or otherwise" It takes many "people" to come together and put on a show for the fans and I'm glad we have a venue to do it in.
Thanks to all of you for the roles that you play and for letting me ramble.
Shaun
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kineticmonkey69
Member
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 03:12 PM |
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Correction on the hornet results. The driver of 69 for this week was Mark Muller not Cliff Gill. Mark normally drives the Herbie 53. Sounds like he did pretty good till the tire blew.
Also want to send out a big THANK YOU to the number 15 modified for letting me use their equipment to fix the 69 car after I hit the wall on the 16th. Made it back out for the main.
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BENNY
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 03:50 PM |
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TRACK PREPERATIONS BEFORE THE RACE????
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Benny, you are obviously disappointed with outcome saturday night but I would suggest rather than taking a cheap shot at George Wade or his track crew on here that you take it up with him personally or the crew.
I am sure many were disappointed saturday night but coming on here and taking a cheap shot like this accomplishes nothing.
We don't tolerate this no matter what track or venue it is posted in.
Rickt
Last edited on Monday Aug 25th, 2008 04:01 PM by
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Double Nickel
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| Location: | Poulsbo, WA |
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 04:10 PM |
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BENNY wrote: TRACK PREPERATIONS BEFORE THE RACE????
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Benny, you are obviously disappointed with outcome saturday night but I would suggest rather than taking a cheap shot at George Wade or his track crew on here that you take it up with him personally or the crew.
I am sure many were disappointed saturday night but coming on here and taking a cheap shot like this accomplishes nothing.
We don't tolerate this no matter what track or venue it is posted in.
Rickt
Rick, I figured that post was a thread locker for sure. I will admit the track might not have been perfect, but the show did go on and the sprint A main was pretty darn good.
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BENNY
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 04:46 PM |
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| I WAS NOT TRYING TO TAKE A CHEAP SHOT BUT THOUGHT I COULD EXPRESS MY FEELINGS AND COULD LET OTHERS SEE THAT THEY MAY NOT BE THE ONLY ONES THAT FEEL THIS WAY. AS FOR TALKING TO GEORGE I HAVE SPOKEN TO HIM MANY TIMES ALONG WITH FRIENDS TALKING TO THE OTHER TRACK STAFF AND HAVE NOT SEEN HIM CHANGE HIS WAYS. IF YOU STILL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH WHAT I TYPE PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
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BENNY
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 04:48 PM |
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AS IT WAS I DO NOT WANT TO RACE THE SMALLER CAR COUNT SPRINTS. I CAME TO SEE A GREAT MODIFIED RACE.
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ghrfan2
Member
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Posted: Monday Aug 25th, 2008 05:11 PM |
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hey you guys do a great job every weekend, most weekends the track is great other times you deal with things that are out of your control and somehow still seem to put on a great show. wheather i have my ascs push truck in the infeild helpping out the push trucks who have tought me a great deal about pushing sprint cars or sitting in the stands with the rest of the fans i would like to say tanks to shaun and all track personel for all the hard work hard work you guys put in each and every week
Last edited on Monday Aug 25th, 2008 05:12 PM by ghrfan2
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randy
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