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Bennymite
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Posted: Sunday Jun 15th, 2008 09:02 AM |
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WILLIWNS WINS NATIONALS, TANNER TOPS LATE MODELS
By Ben Deatherage
Every year modified drivers mark the date on the calendar for the annual Modified Nationals. This year the action was presented by Brook’s Cut Rate Auto Parts and the National Guard and found the event returning to its traditional July date after a two year hiatus. The exception was that it was only one night of action but despite that there was great racing in both the modifieds and the late models. In addition it was “Battle of the Grove III” between the open motors and the crate motors of the touring Pacific Coast Fast Trak Late Model Series.
Late Models:
The evening started off with another late model record falling again to Casey Vitale of Lebanon in qualifying this time at an impressive 12.527 seconds. In the Ray’s Food Place Trophy Dash Terry Ferrando of Salem picked up the victory his first of the year. In the first heat Doug Trout of Banks was able to take the lead away from Noel Radway of Cottage Grove on lap eight to pick up the win and move into heat race two.
In the second heat a large pileup occurred in turns one and two on the second lap only to have Darvin Trammel of Aurora drive away and cruise to the win in heat two. In the final heat Rick Hodges of Albany made his first visit a good one and picked up the win but would have to start in row five outside for the main after drawing a blue chip.
Before the feature race there was a fifteen lap B Main taking five lucky transferees from the B to the A. The main was practically caution free until lap twelve when Cottage Grove’s Craig Britton spun in turn three challenging for the lead. With only a handful of laps to go Springfield’s Paul Culp led the field to the checkers with a large interval followed by Josh Sim of Albany, Doug Trout, Micah Burkley of Redmond, and Jon Ireland of Banks rounding up the top five transferees.
For the thirty lap main Robbie Ireland of Banks took the early lead and was able to stay out in front until lap twelve when Joey Tanner of Portland took the lead. From there on Tanner dominated the entire race despite cautions on lap seventeen which included Darvin Trammell spinning in turn three and a hard charging Paul Culp coming from the back spinning in turn one on restart while running in seventh. The rest of the race was caution free except lap twenty seven when Ireland spun on the front stretch to bring out the late race caution. But Tanner showed no signs of slowing down winning the main with Terry Ferrando in second followed by Jason Wines of Lebanon, Kelly McDonald of Cottage Grove, and Rick Hodges. But Ferrando was disqualified for being four pounds too light and Steve Sucow of Hillsboro earned the fifth position.
Modifieds:
In the modifieds Jesse Williamson posted fast time of the evening at 13.774 seconds and was the only car in the thirteen second bracket. For the Ray’s Food Place Trophy Dash Albert Gill of Medford held off the competition and picked up the win. In the first heat Jerry Severson of Medford came out on top to move into heat two caution free.
In heat two a nasty wreck occurred with John Skinner of Medford getting into the wall hard on lap five. But that being the only caution Ron Wilson of Coburg was able to score the win and move on. In the third heat Jesse Williamson led the caution free race and drew a white chip which guaranteed a pole position start and hoped to capture his first nationals title.
But before we would find out the ending of that story there was a fifteen lap B Main with five transfer spots available. Only three cautions occurred amongst the race and Jerry Severson wound up on top followed by Gus Cooper of Creswell, Curtis Towns of Cottage Grove, C.J. Putnam of Medford, and Ricky Ashley of Lowell earning positions to start in the back of the main.
For the forty lap main event the race opened up with Jesse Williamson taking the lead followed by four cautions before the half way point. The race would see two more cautions for the evening as Williamson had no problems whether he was by himself or in lapped traffic. Brian Poppa of Medford found himself unable to catch Williamson but hold his own the entire race to stay ahead of third place. Williamson piloted his machine to his fourth victory of the year and his first Modified Nationals title. Poppa would finish in second followed by Jerry Severson, Ron Wilson, and Albert Gill.
That does it for another great week at the races and despite two classes each had around thirty one cars compete during the night. For next week the 360’s return as well as the All-American Street Stock and Limited Sprints and of course Modifieds and Late Models. Also don’t forget that the karts will be in action on Friday night for their first race of June. For ticket pricing and times log onto cottagegrovespeedway.com and I’ll see you at the races.
Race Summary:
Brook’s Cut Rate Auto Parts/National Guard Modified Nationals
June 14th, 2008
Late Models:
Fast Time- Casey Vitale, Lebanon, 12.527 NTR
Trophy Dash- Terry Ferrando, Salem
Heat One- Doug Trout, Banks
Heat Two- Darvin Trammell, Aurora
Heat Three- Rick Hodges, Albany
B Main-
1. Paul Culp, Springfield
2. Josh Sim, Albany
3. Trout
4. Micah Burkley, Redmond
5. Jon Ireland, Banks
A Main-
1. Joey Tanner, Portland
2. Jason Wines, Lebanon
3. Kelly McDonald, Cottage Grove
4. Hodges
5. Steve Sucow, Hillsboro
Modifieds:
Fast Time- Jesse Williamson, Coburg, 13.774
Trophy Dash- Albert Gill, Medford
Heat One- Jerry Severson, Medford
Heat Two- Ron Wilson, Coburg
Heat Three- Williamson
B Main-
1. Severson
2. Gus Cooper, Creswell
3. Curtis Towns, Cottage Grove
4. C.J. Putnam, Medford
5. Ricky Ashley, Lowell
A Main-
1. Williamson
2. Brian Poppa, Medford
3. Severson
4. Wilson
5. Gill
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