3/3/2015
WSS - Wingless Sprint Series
Northwest Wingless Tour Prepares For Seventh Season Of Racing
Northwest Wingless Tour Prepares For Seventh Season Of Racing
By Ben Deatherage
Cottage Grove, Oregon- Since 2009 the Northwest Wingless Tour has been entertaining fans from all over the Pacific Northwest at several different racing facilities throughout it's storied history. In this news feature we will go over some of the past champions as well as a look at the all-time win list. In total the NWWT has hosted sixty-four complete events resulting in twenty-eight different feature winners.
Before we get into any of that business Brad Rhodes of Aloha (pictured on the right with crew chief Chris Peterson) is coming off a banner year by winning the 2014 Northwest Wingless Tour championship. Despite not winning a feature Brad became the sixth different champion in six seasons with the tour.
“Last year was unexpected that we won the championship,” stated Rhodes, “everyone is so good in this series that we approached last year to just get some more seat time and we ended up winning the deal. This year's schedule turned out perfect to where I can make every race and defend the title.”
High atop the all-time win list with the NWWT is Salem's Kyle Miller who has won nineteen features. Miller won the inaugural series championship in 2009 and in the summer of 2013 won every single race of the Non-Wing Speedweek. He is also undefeated in the annual Non-Wing Nationals at Cottage Grove Speedway.
2012 champion Bill Winlsey has the second most wins with four. The Molalla veteran won all of his main events at Sunset Speedway Park in Banks and has the most ever wins with the NWWT at that facility.
A three-way tie exists for third on the win list between Salem driver Gary Davis, Reece Goetz of Snohomish, Washington, and Steve Vague who now resides in Gold Bar, Washington. All three drivers have three wins to their credit.
Drivers with two victories include Roseburg's Kyler Barraza who won the first ever series race back in 2009. Seven other drivers with two wins are, hometowns listed in parentheses, Roger Crockett (Medford), Mitch Hoffses (Beaverton), Evan Margeson (Tacoma, WA), 2010 champion Theo McCarty (Hillsboro), Mark Nichols (Eagle Creek), and Colin Baker (Cottage Grove).
And finally fifteen drivers have managed just one single career win with the Northwest Wingless Tour. They are Jeff Bell (Marysville, WA), Seth Bergman (Snohomish, WA), Ryan Bothwell (Oregon City), Shane Forté (Junction City), J.J. Hickle (Quilcene, WA), Jake Gilman (Forest Grove), Kyle Mehner (Damascus), Shawn Rice (formerly Tacoma, WA but now residing in San Tan Valley, AZ), Travis Rilat (Forney, TX), Dale Smith (Cottage Grove), Tony Thomas (Mill City), Mike Romig (Vancouver, WA), Sean Johnson (Snohomish, WA), Jesse Thistle (Creswell), and Guy Weedman (Moro).
In 2015 the Northwest Wingless Tour will host nine events at four different race tracks in the states of Oregon and Washington. Will this finally be the season that a repeat champion will emerge or will it be seven different champs in seven seasons? For the latest news and information log on to wingless.nwextremeseries.com.
2015 Tentative Northwest Wingless Tour Schedule
May 9th Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, Oregon
May 16th Grays Harbor Raceway Elma, Washington
June 13th Grays Harbor Raceway Elma, Washington
June 20th Sunset Speedway Park Banks, Oregon
June 27th Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, Oregon
July 18th Coos Bay Speedway Coos Bay, Oregon
August 1st Sunset Speedway Park Banks, Oregon
August 22nd Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, Oregon
September 12thCottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, Oregon
Former Northwest Wingless Tour Champions
2009- Kyle Miller
2010- Theo McCarty
2011- Corey Esteban
2012- Bill Winsley
2013- Rob Lindsey
2014- Brad Rhodes
Northwest Wingless Tour All-Time Win List (2009-2014)
Kyle Miller- 19
Bill Winsley- 4
Gary Davis- 3
Reece Goetz
Steve Vague
Colin Baker- 2
Kyler Barraza
Roger Crockett
Mitch Hoffses
Sterling Kane
Evan Margeson
Theo McCarty
Mark Nichols
Jeff Bell- 1
Seth Bergman
Ryan Bothwell
Shane Forté
Jake Gilman
J.J. Hickle
Sean Johnson
Kyle Mehner
Shawn Rice
Travis Rilat
Mike Romig
Dale Smith
Jesse Thistle
Tony Thomas
Guy Weedman
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
