6/9/2014
Grays Harbor Raceway
VanDam, Tole & Daniel Victorious at Grays Harbor Raceway
The first ever appearance of the Summer Thunder Sprint Series at Grays Harbor Raceway is in the books, and Enumclaw driver Henry VanDam was victorious in the 25 lap feature. In the Street Stock division, Jason Tole of Hoquiam held off a hard charging field to pick up his first win of the season, and in the Outlaw Tuner's division, Jeff Daniel of Ocean Shores picked up his second win in a row.
Jason Tole started the 25 lap Street Stock feature outside front row next to Aberdeen driver Shane Kerrigan, with Kerrigan right on his back bumper all night long, including many side by side battles between both drivers, as well as hard charges from Wishkah's Don Briggs Jr throughout the night. On the long green flag runs, lap traffic became a factor throughout the field, and at times 3-wide racing between Briggs Jr, Austin Kerrigan, and Mike Knox for the third position. The final restart of the night saw Don Briggs Jr work his way into second place running the high side of the speedway, Briggs Jr and Shane Kerrigan would battle back and fourth, as well as a late race charge from Jack Parshall who worked his way back up to 4th after an early caution. At the end of the night, it was Jason Tole picking up the victory, Shane Kerrigan, Don Briggs Jr, Jack Parshall and Austin Kerrigan rounding out the top 5. Picking up heat race wins in the Street Stock division were Shane Kerrigan, Jason Tole, and Olympia driver Eddie Blood. Jack Parshall was quick time for the evening.
Henry VanDam started on the outside front row next to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Tayler Malsam in the 25 lap feature. Going into turn one, VanDam took the lead, with Malsam in pursuit. It wasn't long before the leaders hit lap traffic, which allowed Malsam to catch VanDam, and Everett driver Jayme Barnes to reel in the leaders. Henry VanDam worked his way through lap traffic, but a lap 13 caution for Snohomish driver Jared Ridge would bunch the field back up, and allow Malsam another shot at VanDam for the lead. On the restart, Barnes went to the low side to try and take second place from Malsam, but Malsam had momentum on the high side out of turn to to keep the position. Lap 17 saw another caution for Cam Smith in turn 3, which set up the final restart, giving Malsam and Barnes another shot at VanDam. Barnes and Malsam went back and forth for position, with Barnes pulling a slide job in turn 3 and Malsam turning back under him in turn 4, allowing VanDam to pull away. In the closing laps, Malsam ran the high side and started to catch VanDam, but ran out of time as Henry VanDam picked up the inaugural Summer Thunder Sprint Series race win. Tayler Malsam, Jayme Barnes, Colton Heath, and Jared Peterson rounded out the top 5. Picking up the heat race wins were Cam Smith, VanDam, and Jared Peterson. Quick Time went to Tayler Malsam.
Jeff Daniel started on the pole for the Outlaw Tuners 15-lap feature, the top four drivers, Daniel, with a pair of Aberdeen drivers, Willie Wright, and Ryan O'Nash, along with Tenino driver Chad Norton made for an exciting start to the feature. It wasn't long before Jeff Daniel pulled away from the field with a straightaway lead. This allowed O'Nash, Wright, and Norton to battle for second, third, and fourth throughout the whole race. At the end of the 15 lap, caution free feature, Jeff Daniel picked up his second win of the season, followed by Ryan O'Nash, Chad Norton, Willie Wright and Ben Mosher. Jeff Daniel was also victorious in the heat race.
Racing resumes next Saturday night at Grays Harbor Raceway, with the Northwest Wingless Tour/Oregon Double Shot Series wingless sprint cars, the USAC Northwest HPD Midget Series, Modifieds, and Outlaw Tuners. Gates open at 5:30PM, and racing starts at 7:00PM.
Summer Thunder Sprint Series
Heat One: 1) 17 Cam Smith, 2) 24 Tyler Anderson, 3) 9 Jayme Barnes 4) 9r Reece Goetz, 5) 26 Taylor Malsom, 6) 3 JJ Hickle
Heat Two: 1) 33v Henry VanDam, 2) 0j Jay Cole, 3) 22 Garen Linder, 4) 22r Mike Romig, 5) 97r Jason Reed
Heat Three: 1) 7n Jared Peterson, 2) 33 Colton Heath, 3) 12 Jared Ridge, 4) 42 Derek Roberts, 5) 44h Eric Fisher
Main: 1) VanDam, 2) Malsom) 3) Barnes, 4) Heath, 5) Peterson, 6) Goetz, 7) Linder, 8) Cole, 9) Hickle, 10) Fisher, 11) 17 Cam Smith, 12) Anderson, 13) Roberts, 14) Romig, 15) Reed, 16) Ridge
Street Stocks
Heat One: 1) 43 Shane Kerrigan, 2) 9 Jack Paeshall, 3) 47 Austin Kerrigan, 4) 41 Tim Phillips, 5) 40 Mike Knox, 6) 22x Kelly Fugate, 7) 42 Daryl Brumfield
Heat Two: 1) 34 Jason Tole, 2) 13x Don Briggs, 3) 87 Brenton Schnitzer, 4) 91 Mike Kiegan, 5) 4 Will Madison, 3d Shannon Redell
Heat Three: 1) 97 Eddie Blood, 2) 8 Mike Mann, 3) 99 Matt Babcock, 4 17 Brian Izzi, 5) 19 Taylor Miller, 6) 12x Michael Brewster
Main: 1) Tole, 2) S Kerrigan, 3) Briggs, 4) Parshell 5) A Kerrigan 6) Knox, 7) Schnitzer, 8) Izzi, 9) Blood, 10) Fugate, 11) Phillips, 12) Madison, 13) Kiegan, 14) Mann, 15) Miller, 16) Brewster, 17) Redell, 18) Babcock, 19 Brumfield
Outlaw Tuners
Heat: 1) 14 Jeff Daniel, 2) 17 Willie Wright, 3) 11 Corey Sweatman, 4) 75 Chad Norton, 5) 8 Ben Mosher, 6) 69 Dan Briggs
Main: 1) Daniel, 2) Sweatman, 3) Norton, 4) Wright, 5) Mosher
Article Credit: Aaron Reed
Submitted By: Steve Beitler
