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Wonderful Race #3 At Willamette

Wonderful Race #3 At Willamette
By Ben Deatherage
(Photos Courtesy of Doc's Photos)
It was another great night of racing at the historical Willamette Speedway on Saturday May 4th. A good field of cars and another great crowd was on hand for the third race of the 2013 season at the 1/3-mile clay oval. Classes that were in competition included the DIRTcar Super Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and Mini Trucks.

Despite having problems in the first night the Mini Trucks were in action two weeks ago Kenny Keefer had a flawless main event on Saturday. The Prineville pilot in The Guy’s Automotive and Lube/Prineville 76 #SIX Datsun would lead every single lap of the main event to become the second different winner in as many races.

“To win tonight feels great,” commented Keefer, “in the first race this year we blew a head gasket so we weren’t able to run in the feature. But Saturday our truck was really good once I adjusted the stagger and air pressure. It was really hooked up.”

Keefer’s team mate Don Croy would finish in second in the Carson Oil/Guy’s Automotive and Lube/Prineville Sign and Banner #24 Toyota while third went to defending champion Mark Vonsild of Scio in his Xtreme Motorsports/Schram Brothers Excavating #21½ Chevy. Crossing the line in fourth was the Walters Racing/The Hangout Sports Bar and Grill/Kartco Racing #3 Chevy of Banks driver Jeremy Stinnett and behind him in fifth was Jefferson driver Jennifer Robbins in her Progressive Tile and Marble #12 Mazda.

In the Street Stocks Albany youngster Bricen James would grab his first career victory in the division. James in the James Gang Pizza/Lebanon Auto Body/Rainbow Rentals #13 Monte Carlo would take the lead from the Precision Towing #24C Camaro of Salem driver Randy Jackson around the halfway mark. Once James got the lead he found himself battling with David Cronk of Portland who had won the two previous features but would keep Cronk behind him.

“I think what really helped me was starting in the middle of the pack and getting to the front before some of the other faster guys could,” said James, “as soon as I got to the front I just rode the berm on the bottom. I know next weekend it’s going to be harder to win because they now know I’m a true contender.”

David Cronk would finish the feature in second in his Metro Services/Dog Lovers Gold #29 Camaro and in third was Randy Jackson. The rest of the top five was made up of two Lebanon natives with the #40 Camaro of Dan Kingsberry in fourth and the Bullygang.com #K4 Camaro of J.J. Irvine in fifth.

In Sportsman action Todd Miller from Albany would win his second race of the season in two starts. Miller would be the only guy in the main event to make the bottom work. In the early stages of the feature the Wirth Wireless/Hackney Racing #1 of Albany’s Brian Smith and the Bullygang.com/Wirth Wireless #33 Jet of Phil Housworth from Lebanon were the leaders. But Miller would over take them around the halfway point and would check out from that point on.

“I found some nice tacky stuff on the inside berm,” commented Miller, “the main event started out rough because I spun to miss a guy and had to restart in the back. It’s been a great start to the year. The car was really fast all night.”

Brian Brown in the #10 entry from Portland would finish in second followed by the aforementioned Brian Smith in third. Phil Housworth would end the night in fourth while the Ye Olde Pizza Shoppe/Flatt Muffler #88 Rayburn of Brian Winkler out of Newberg was fifth.

In a caution free IMCA Modified thriller it looked as if Jeremy Shank was going to visit victory lane for the first time in 2013. Leading the majority of the race the Leftcoast Motorsports/South Pacific Auto Sales and Service Center #30 Swartz would be passed by Jeffrey Rivers. Rivers, of Lebanon, bided his time to get around Shank and would hold off Shank in the final five circuits. It marked the first career IMCA Modified feature win for Rivers driving the Scott Byram owned Western Metal Fabrication/Monster Energy Drink/Newport Candy Shoppe #45 Shaw.

“I think I just played my cards right and just waited for Jeremy to make a mistake,” stated Rivers afterwards, “I saw that he bobbled a little bit in the middle of three and four and I was just there to take advantage. This win feels great because in the first race we fought fuel problems and up until Saturday it had been a rough season so far. I just got to thank Scott Byram and Robert Hoefs for letting me drive this car.”

Jeremy Shank was second while last week’s winner Kyle Yeack, of Crawfordsville, placed third in his Mountain View Woodworking/Cascade Outdoor Power Equipment #47 Pro. Vernon “Bubba” Foster Jr. from Dayton was fourth in the Pam Pam’s Auto Wrecking/Busy Bee Cleaning #68 Alien and crossing the stripe fifth would be the James Gang Pizza/Linn-Benton Insurance #26 GRT of Brett James from Albany.

In the final race of the night the DIRTcar Super Late Models produced a very entertaining feature. Joey Tanner from Portland grabbed the early lead in his Woodshed Bar & Grill/Xtreme Motorsports/Phantom Racing Gear #111 X-Factor but would find himself defending it from Rob Mayea in the J&S Farms/Cornett Racing Engines #37 Victory Circle.

Brownsville’s Russ Sell would make his way to the front and would get the lead on lap eighteen. Sell would pace the field in his KRKT 99.9 Cricket County/Leftcoast Motorsports/South Pacific Auto Sales and Service Center #50 Swartz for quite some time. A late caution would produce a late restart which would see a couple cars get together up front resulting in a large multi-car pileup on the race track. After that incident Russ Sell would take off and earn his first win of the season in the three starts.

“This win is very important to my team,” said Sell, “about five years ago I made a deal with my crew that if there is a year where I don’t win a race I was going to hang it up and retire. Well looks like we’ll be racing in 2014. In the main our set up was very good and I got to thank Norm Davis, Jeff Reeves, and Devin Patterson for giving me such a good race car.”

Trevor Glaser of Tangent would finish in second in the Bayer Crop Science/Farmland Tractor Supply/Ground and Water #2 Trak-Star and in third was Joey Tanner. The balance of the top five consisted of the Leftcoast Motorsports /South Pacific Auto Sales and Service Center #44 of Cody Sell from Shedd in fourth and Jeremy Shank in fifth.

Next week it will be a doubleheader at Willamette Speedway as the Kart program will have their second race of the season on Friday May 10th and action on the 1/3-mile clay oval continues on Saturday the 11th. Classes that will be competing will include the DIRTcar Super Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Super Sports, Sportsman, and Street Stocks. For more information log on to www.trophymotorsports.com or call the brand new Northwest Tracks Hotline at (360)-699-RACE.

Race Summary
Saturday May 4th, 2013
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, Oregon

Mini Trucks
6 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Kenny Keefer, 2. Don Croy, 3. Mark Vonsild, 4. Jeremy Stinnett, 5. Jennifer Robbins, 6. Shane Stull

Street Stocks
12 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Bricen James, 2. David Cronk, 3. Randy Jackson, 4. Dan Kingsberry, 5. J.J. Irvine, 6. Bill Allison, 7. James Brooks, 8. Christina Foster, 9. Austin Bottcher, 10. Mark Gaylord, 11. Doug Scott, 12. Michael Byram

Sportsman
15 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Todd Miller, 2. Brian Brown, 3. Brian Smith, 4. Phil Housworth, 5. Brian Winkler, 6. Casey Rhoades, 7. Brad Gentry, 8. Loren Kruesi, 9. Steve Jorgenson, 10. Dave Miller, 11. Austin Gorham, 12. Briley Pompe, 13. Clyde Rood, 14. Brian Goetz, 15. John Campos

IMCA Modifieds
9 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Jeffrey Rivers, 2. Jeremy Shank, 3. Kyle Yeack, 4. Vernon Foster Jr., 5. Brett James, 6. Tom Yeack, 7. Dustin Dittman, 8. Craig Cassell, 9. Matt Mitchell

DIRTcar Super Late Models
24 Entries
B-Feature: 1. Bryan Norton, 2. Todd Shandy, 3. Randy Barley, 4. David Brooks, 5. Tony Brakeall, 6. Larry Sharp, 7. Curt Fry, 8. Blaine Taylor, 9. Keith Marson, 10. Dan Dieble, 11. Tony Seeley, 12. Jeff Marson
A-Feature: 1. Russ Sell, 2. Trevor Glaser, 3. Joey Tanner, 4. Cody Sell, 5. Jeremy Shank, 6. John Campos, 7. Brian Cronk. 8. Rick Wyatt, 9. Rob Campos, 10. Rob Mayea, 11. Thomas Hunziker, 12. Randy Barley, 13. David Brooks, 14. Todd Shandy, 15. Bryan Norton, 16. Justin Duty, 17. Kye Frick, 18. Kevin Roberts, 19. Trent Croy, 20. John Duty

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