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Bennymite
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Posted: Wednesday May 21st, 2008 04:57 AM |
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Great Racing Continues At the Grove
By Ben Deatherage
Another great race in the books and another five card bout of racing at the Cottage Grove Speedway last Saturday night. Despite the extremely warm temperatures a good car count and great crowd was on hand.
All-American Street Stocks:
In the All-American it was T.J. Langan of Jasper the fastest of ten qualifiers. For Langan the momentum was carried over into the Ray’s Food Place Trophy Dash. After Russ Blum of Cottage Grove and Kolby Clay of Junction City got into the front stretch wall on the first start Langan moved the front and took the lead. Langan didn’t look back and took the dash victory.
In the heat race Langan and Robert Wulbrandt of Springfield could not sty side by side on the first two attempts and were put to the back. On the third start Ross Denton of Yoncalla was able to take over the race lead on the initial start. On laps one and four Wulbrandt got sideways in the first set of turns on each incident. Also another caution came out on lap six when April Howard spun on the backstretch. Soon after Denton was able to pick up the heat race win and drew a white pill and would start on the pole for the main.
For the main Gene Ashley of Jasper took the early race lead. The first caution came out on lap four when Kolby Clay spun out in turns three and four. A couple of laps later on lap seven T.J. Langan spun out on the front stretch. As Ashley continued to set the pace Robert Wulbrandt brought out the caution after spinning in turns three and four. Ashley continued his dominance leading his car to his first victory of the season in his first race of the year. Ross Denton finished in second, followed by Jeff Casto of Cottage Grove, April Howard, and Kolby Clay rounding up the top five.
Late Models:
Nine Late Models signed the registration sheets for the afternoon and the fastest of them was Don Muth Sr. of Cottage Grove. In the Ray’s Food Place Trophy Dash Kelly McDonald of Cottage Grove led the caution free race his first of the season.
In the heat race Don Muth Sr. took the early race lead and looked great out in front. Rob Williams of Cottage Grove was up in smoke on lap five that forced him to a halt and brought out the yellow. The rest of the race was green flag racing with Muth finishing on top. At the end Muth drew a white chip and set himself up to start on the pole.
For the main event Josh Sim of Albany spun out on the backstretch for the first attempt at a start. On the second attempt at the start Don Muth Sr. got the early race lead. Lots of side by side racing action was seen from inside and outside the top five. Muth lapped many with only three others finishing on the lead lap. In the end Muth picked up his second win of the season with Kelly McDonald finishing in second, Tom Tesch of Brooks third, Kevin Ropchan of Veneta in fourth, and Sim rounding up the top five.
Limited Sprints:
In the Limited Sprints Brandi Bounds of Cottage Grove earned her first fast time of the season over the nine other drivers. Later in the Ray’s Food Place Trophy Dash Bounds beat Ron Cooper of Cottage Grove by mere inches at the stripe. It was Bounds’ first dash victory of the season as well.
In the heat race Brandi Bounds took the early race lead and pulled away from the rest of the field. On lap four Ron Cooper spun in turn number four and on the restart Monte Smith of Springfield got sideways in the same turn. On a late race restart Bounds got into the loose stuff up high and Ted Baker of Cottage Grove made the move and took over the race lead. Baker held on and was able to pickup the victory his second of the season and drew a white chip and would start on the front row.
For the main Brandi Bounds took the early race lead and took off from the rest of the field. On lap eleven Ozzie Osburn of Springfield spun in corners one and two to bring out the yellow. Again Bounds showed her dominance on the restart and on lap twenty Heath Shelton of Drain came to a halt in turn two to bring out the second caution. But the next five laps were all green flag racing and Bounds won her fourth race of the season in five starts. Ted Baker finished in second, followed by Smith, Steven Horner of Cottage Grove, and Ron Cooper in fifth.
360 Sprints:
An amazing fifteen 360 Sprints were on hand for their fourth race of the season and Kyle Miller of Eugene was the fastest of them all. In the Ray’s Food Place Trophy Dash Kyler Barraza of Myrtle Creek picked up his first dash victory of the season.
In the first heat race Ron Crume of Grants Pass flipped his machine in turns one and to on the first lap. On the second attempt at the start Charlie Cash of Medford was able to secure the lead and on lap five Chad Noland of Central Point and Phillip Del Rosa of Medford collected one another in turn two resulting in Noland getting upside down. Cash was able to bring his vehicle to victory and transferring to the second heat.
In heat number two the race was caution free and Brendan Boyce of Cottage Grove was able to get out in front. Boyce would lead the whole way and win his first heat race of the season. Boyce drew a blue chip though and would have to start in row three outside for the main.
It was a rematch of the previous week’s race between Shane Forté of Junction City and Kyle Miller on the front row. On the first start everyone made past but not the second time as Phillip Del Rosa spun in the second turn but kept going but the yellow was already out. Kyle Miller capitalized early over the field taking the lead and seen another caution on lap eleven with Del Rosa and T Hall of Dallas spinning in turn two. As the race continued pole sitter Shane Forté struggled and found his car slow to a halt in turn four on lap fifteen.
On the next restart Miller continued his dominance as it got interesting in the in top five with drivers shuffling back and forth. On lap sixteen Lowell’s Ricky Ashley tire hopped Chad Groves of Bend and slammed into the tractor tires in turn three head on and brought his car to an abrupt halt. After the red the race went smooth after that and only a scary last lap spin literally blocked the leader Miller’s path but no one stopped but all the cars were very slow. For Miller he was the third different winner in five races and his first career 360 Sprint victory in only his first season in the class. Brendan Boyce finished in second, followed by Kyler Barraza, Hedge Carter of Cottage Grove, and Chad Noland in fifth.
Modifieds:
In the final class of the evening the Modifieds seen Jesse Williamson of Coburg outpace the fifteen car field and pickup fast time of the night in qualifying. For the Ray’s Food Place Trophy Dash Gus Cooper of Creswell managed to hold off a hard charging Williamson to pick up the dash victory.
In the first heat of the Modifieds the race was caution free seeing Bret Muth of Cottage Grove grab the one and only transfer spot. In the second heat race it was another caution free event with Jesse Williamson picking up the win. Williamson managed to draw a white chip and start on the pole but both Williamson and Gus Cooper elected to start in the back and take on the front row challenge for some extra cash.
For the main event Braden Hand of Cottage Grove battled Aaron Sheelar of Springfield hard for the race lead. Hand secured the lead and appeared to take off from the rest of the field as Jesse Williamson and Gus Cooper both moved forward. On lap twelve David Schmidt of Eugene came to a halt in turn four and brought out the yellow eliminating Hand’s lead.
On the restart Williamson had already penetrated inside the top five and continued to move forward until lap sixteen when Craig Hanson of Albany got sideways in turns one and two. On the restart Williamson was able to work his way up to second and eventually the lead passing Hand. As the final third of the race concluded Williamson was able to win his third race of the season and second straight. Hand finished in second followed by Sheelar, Gus Cooper, and Robert Hand of Cottage Grove.
Well race fans another weekend behind us and another great one ahead. Don’t miss out on some more great racing action this Saturday night for Ray’s Food Place Night at the races featuring Limited Sprints, Modifieds, Late Models, and All-American Street Stocks. The 360 Sprints are out of town this weekend on hand for the American Sprint Car Series-Northwest Region season opening races at the Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, WA. For more information on ticket prices and times log on to cottagegrovespeedway.com. Until then race fans have a great rest of the week and I’ll see you at the races.
Race Summary
May 17th, 2008
All-American Street Stocks:
Fast Time- T.J. Langan, Jasper
Trophy Dash- Langan
Heat Race- Ross Denton, Yoncalla
Main-
1. Gene Ashley, Jasper
2. Denton
3. Jeff Casto, Cottage Grove
4. April Howard, Eugene
5. Kolby Clay, Junction City
Late Models
Fast Time- Don Muth Sr., Cottage Grove
Trophy Dash- Kelly McDonald, Cottage Grove
Heat Race- Muth
Main-
1. Muth
2. McDonald
3. Tom Tesch, Brooks
4. Kevin Ropchan, Veneta
5. Josh Sim, Albany
Limited Sprints:
Fast Time- Brandi Bounds
Trophy Dash- Bounds
Heat Race- Ted Baker, Cottage Grove
Main-
1. Bounds
2. Baker
3. Monte Smith, Springfield
4. Steven Horner, Cottage Grove
5. Ron Cooper, Cottage Grove
360 Sprints:
Fast Time- Kyle Miller, Eugene
Trophy Dash- Kyler Barraza, Myrtle Creek
Heat Race One- Charlie Cash, Medford
Heat Race Two- Brendan Boyce, Cottage Grove
Main-
1. Miller
2. Boyce
3. Barraza
4. Hedge Carter, Cottage Grove
5. Chad Noland, Central Point
Modifieds:
Fast Time- Jesse Williamson, Coburg
Trophy Dash- Gus Cooper, Creswell
Heat Race One- Bret Muth, Cottage Grove
Heat Race Two- Williamson
Main-
1. Williamson
2. Braden Hand, Cottage Grove
3. Aaron Sheelar, Springfield
4. Cooper
5. Robert Hand, Cottage Grove
-A couple of corrections of last week’s report Heath Shelton finished in fifth for the Limited Sprint main event and Roger Crockett now calls Medford his home not his previous home in Eugene, Crockett is originally from Rio Linda, California
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