WILLIAMSON CROWNED MODIFIED CHAMPION

7/23/2017

Cottage Grove Speedway

WILLIAMSON CROWNED MODIFIED CHAMPION

It was a weekend full of Modifieds at Cottage Grove Speedway for the Mark Howard Memorial Modified Nationals. Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sportmods were in action for 2 nights of racing, Quality RV Hornets raced just one day on Saturday as well as the one and only stop by the Super Sports.
32 Modifieds signed in to honor the late Mark Howard the best way we know how, to race in his memory. The unique format meant every time they hit the track they were earning valuable points to lock them in to the big show on Saturday.
Mohawk Metal Modifieds started their night on Friday with qualifying, the high car count split the qualifying into 2 groups. Nick Trenchard and Grey Ferrando were the fastest lap setters in each group with Ferrando being the best overall with a 14.416 over Trenchard’s 14.438. A 15.100 was the quick time of the night in the Sportmod class by Justin McCreadie.
James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races were lined up off season point averages for the Sportmod class putting the guys that consistently finish at the front to the rear of the heats. Mike Medel and Jayson Nelson proved that starting towards the back wasn’t a problem as they both made their way from 6th to pick up the Sportmod heat race wins. There were 4 James Heating and Air Conditioning Heat Races ran for the Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds all with a 6-car invert from qualifying, putting the fastest cars in the third row. Collen Winebarger, Eric Ashley, BJ Wild, and John Campos all picked up not only the wins but also extra heat race points.
Dot’s Trophy Shop Dashes put the fastest 4 drivers competing against each other for 4 quick laps and the trophies went to Jesse Williamson in the Mohawk Metal Modified and Jorddon Bratten in the Sportmod class.
The Sportmod main event was once again lined up with the top point guys at the rear. Kevin Keller and Roy Kirk Jr led the 18-car field around to take the green and Doug Coffman quickly moved from third to the lead on lap 2 and led until Daniel Ray took the top spot on lap 7. Ray was able to hold off the field until the familiar number 84 of Jorddon Braaten took the lead and the win over Ray, Shawn Hand, Art Hiatt, and Buddy McHargue. The Mohawk Metal Modifieds had one last shot to earn a spot in the preliminary night main event and that was thru the B Mains. Grey Ferrando and Gus Cooper were able to transfer from the first race and Kevin Williamson and Mark Gaylord transferred from the 2nd b main. The A Main was the last chance to earn points for Saturday. Jesse Williamson and Ethan Dotson shared the front row and ran the entire race 1 and 2 with Dotson picking up the win and Williamson finishing 2nd over John Campos, Collen Winebarger, and Bricen James.
There was 1 final race of the night for some extra money and bragging rights, the Race of Champions. 13 of the best Modified drivers on the West Coast battled in a 25-lap caution free race. Jesse Williamson picked up the win over Bricen James, Nick Trenchard, Craig Hanson, and Grey Ferrando.
The points were tallied up and the 10 cars locked into the top 10 spots were Jesse Williamson, Ethan Dotson, Collen Winebarger, Bricen James, John Campos, Curtis Towns, Grey Ferrando, Jake Mayden, BJ Wild, and Aaron Sheelar.
Saturday night added 2 extra classes to the field and the pits overflowed with Modifieds, Quality RV Hornets and cars we haven’t seen here in years, Super Sports!
Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds had already earned heat race or main event spots for the night leaving them no need to race the clock in qualifying. The 3 other classes however would and the fastest laps of the night were set by Josh Corley in the Quality RV Hornets, Jorddon Braaten in the IMCA Sportmod, and Brian Smith in the Super Sport!
James Heating and Air Conditioning Heat Races were up next and the Quality RV Hornets were up first the 2 quickest timers started 4th in each heat and Josh Corley and Burnie Bryant would both go onto win from that spot. IMCA Sportmods were up next and that lucky 4th place starting spot proved to be good again, with Roy Kirk Jr and Jayson Nelson winning their heats. Super Sports then hit the track for the first racing laps that class would take on the ¼ mile. Brian Smith and Doug Elkins were the big winners. The last James Heating and Air Conditioning Heat Races were the Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds. The top 3 from each heat would advance and join the locked in cars in the A Main, everyone else would line up for the B. DJ Shannon, Derrick Young, and Craig Hanson won the 3 final heat races of the evening.
Dot’s Trophy Shop trophies would go home with Josh Corley, Mike Medel, and Randy Barley. The Mohawk Metal Modified dash was for more than just that Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy however and Ethan Dotson earned the hardware and the pole position for the main event.
Mohawk Metal Modifieds had one last shot at making the main event as 14 cars battled for 4 precious transfer spots. Those spots were secured by Austin Bloom, Kolby Clay, Rob Jeffers, and Mark Gaylord. The Quality RV Hornets had a relatively small class of cars with just 11 on hand and only 10 starting the main event but it was still an action packed race. The 10 cars raced hard for 20 laps with just 3 cautions bunching the field back together. When the checkers flew KC Scott was once again victorious over Rich Dickinson, Josh Corley, Mike Swaim, and Steven Sturdevant pulling double duty in a Hornet and Modified. Donnie Fain and Travis Pruitt paced the IMCA Sportmod class around the track and to the green flag where Pruitt got out front. A few early cautions restarted the field 2 by 2 behind Pruitt who then got a long green flag run to finish the race and capture his first win in the white and green #43, Doug Coffman, Mike Medel, Jayson Nelson, and Roy Kirk Jr. rounded out the top 5. 17 Super Sports entered the track for the first time they would all race together at Cottage Grove Speedway and the 6-car invert had put the 2 James Heating and Air Conditioning Heat Race winners in row number 3. Randy Barley and Clay Debban started the race side by side at the cone and Debban got to the line first leading the first 4 laps before Brian Smith made his way by. Smith and Debban raced hard for position along with Chris Mott who made his way to the front from a 15th starting spot. Brian Smith picked up the very first Super Sport win at Cottage Grove Speedway with Mott, Debban, Jeff Rash and Randy Barley who made an impressive run back to the front after involvement in a lap 3 caution. The final race for the night was for all the money, fame, and glory that comes with this prestigious race. Ethan Dotson and Jesse Williamson led 22 Modifieds onto the track and to the green flag. Williamson got the lead on lap 1 with Dotson close behind, John Campos made an impressive pass on Dotson and was able to take over 2nd place. The field began to spread out and each time the leaders saw the lapped cars the caution lights would flash and the field would bunch back together. The last caution of the night came on lap 43 and the field stopped to top off their fuel cells. They bunched back up side by side behind Williamson and went for the final 9 laps of the night. On lap 52 the checkered flag waved and Jesse Williamson had led all 52 laps. John Campos was 2nd, Ethan Dotson 3rd, Collen Winebarger 4th, and Grey Ferrando rounded out the top 5.
Join us for 2 more days of racing July 28th and 29th with a FREE FAST FRIDAY and Couples 2 for 1 Night on Saturday. For more information call us at 541-942-7561 or visit our website at www.cottagegrovespeedway.com!