6/16/2021
Southern Oregon Speedway
Jon DeBenedetti Wins 2021 Roger Haudenshild Tribute At Southern Oregon; Tanner, T. Peery, And Martin Also Winners
Jon DeBenedetti Wins 2021 Roger Haudenshild Tribute At Southern Oregon; Tanner, T. Peery, And Martin Also Winners
By Stephanie Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Carole Bryan/Shadows Of Light Photography)
White City, Oregon- Despite rainfall the day before, Southern Oregon Speedway managed to complete their entire racing program on Saturday, June 12th. The event was the eighth edition of the Roger Haudenshild Tribute and featured for classes including two apart of the Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing program. They included the Sweet Tea IMCA Modifieds, Dusty’s Transmissions IMCA Northern Sport Mods, CDA Late Models, and Hornets.
The thirty-lap, $2000 to win, Sweet Tea IMCA Modified main event started with Cottage Grove’s Curtis Towns taking control of the point. On lap five, he would be overtaken by Zach Fettinger from Klamath Falls. Fettinger, the most recent track title winner in 2019, peddled his way ahead of second-place but would be caught and passed on the twelfth circuit.
The Rogue River veteran Jon DeBenedetti was the one to get around Fettinger. However, a yellow would come out, negating DeBenedetti’s move to the front and putting Zach Fettinger back into the coveted top spot. DeBenedetti pulled a slider on Zach to officially plant his flag atop the leaderboard on the lap thirteen restart.
As the green flag run extended, Jon had to deal with two additional cautions. When the field returned to life after the third stoppage on lap nineteen, Darrell Hughes II made a bonsai move to the front. The Manteca, California long-distance traveler of Hughes, officially was the new leader on the twentieth circuit.
Unfortunately for Hughes, his car would have a mechanical issue affecting his ability to maintain the lead. Out of turn four on lap twenty-six, Jon DeBenedetti once again put his mount ahead of the competition.
Jon managed to keep all challengers in check and was the first to the line. It is DeBenedetti’s first win of the 2021 campaign and is the second victor in as many races at Southern Oregon Speedway. He is the newest winner in the KMJ Performance Oregon and Shaw Race Cars Western Region scenes.
The last time he inhabited victory lane in the division at SOS was back on August 15th, 2015.
With his triumph, he will be placed on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational event scheduled to take place at the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s in September.
Zach Fettinger edged out Central Point’s Jesse Bailey for the runner-up position. James Welshonse, from Shady Cove, placed fourth, with fifth being credited to Dave Duste Jr., also of Central Point.
For the $1000 to win twenty-five-lap Dusty’s Transmissions IMCA Northern Sport Mod main, it was a relatively caution-free affair. Only two stoppages were to be had with them taking place on laps three and eight. Chico, California youngster Tyler Rodgers blazed the trail for most of the race. With so few of yellows, it presented lapped traffic as a significant factor.
As the race developed, Travis Peery came to call. Peery, the veteran motorist from Yreka, California, battled hard with Rodgers in lapped traffic and eventually secured first place on lap seventeen. Peery was by no means out of the woods as he still had to deal with some heavy congestion by the tail end of the lead lap cars.
Despite the close-quarter action, Travis Peery would hit pay dirt at Southern Oregon Speedway. He is the second winner in three races for the class and is the newest victor in KMJ Performance Oregon State action.
Tyler Rodgers was a respectable second, followed by Matt Sanders, of Brookings, in third. Ryan Peery, Travis’ son and also a Yreka, California-based driver, beat out Springfield’s Dustin Comer for fourth.
Joey Tanner took care of business yet again in the CDA Late Models. The Portland driver, racing for Eagle Point car owner Ray Mitchell, seized the top spot on the opening start. He had a brief scare when Gold Beach youngster Braden Fugate motored his way around him, but the pass was not officially scored as the yellow flag waved before the entire field completed the lap.
With Tanner back in the lead, he managed to dominate the rest of the pack. The only things that made it interesting were a handful of restarts Joey had to encounter. Mastering all the restarts, Tanner went on to win his second race of the season at SOS, making his record at the track a perfect two for two in 2021.
La Pine driver Trent Elliott and Miles Deubert, from Medford and driving for Dave Foote, were second and third. Richard Wallace, from Gold Beach, got fourth, while Eugene’s Chuck Christian was fifth.
The Hornets witnessed Dylan Sauer set a torrid pace in their main event. Sauer held first place for about the first half of the race before he and Brad Martin put on a great battle for the lead. Martin, of Dexter, eventually got to the front and went on to win the main event.
Dylan Sauer and Gold Beach’s Brittany Scott were second and third. The rest of the finishing order would consist of Bre Tritchler and Medford’s Darrel Nelson in fourth and fifth.
Southern Oregon Speedway will take next weekend off before returning to racing on Saturday, June 26th. Sweet Tea IMCA Modifieds, Dusty’s Transmissions IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Mini Stocks, and Outlaw Pro Stocks. For more information, be sure and keep up to date by visiting the track’s website and Facebook pages.
Race Results:
Roger Haudenshild Tribute
Saturday, June 12th, 2021
Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon
Hornets
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 22-Brad Martin[1]; 2. 7D-Dylan Sauer[3]; 3. 18-Brittany Scott[2]; 4. 17-Bre Tritchler[5]; 5. 56-Darrel Nelson[4]
Sweet Tea IMCA Modifieds
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 21J-Jon Debenedetti[3]; 2. 88-Zach Fettinger[6]; 3. 68-Jesse Bailey[4]; 4. 2G-James Welshonse[10]; 5. 73M-Dave Duste Jr[5]; 6. 25-Craig Cassell[9]; 7. 24-Curtis Towns[2]; 8. 30F-Andy Freeman[14]; 9. 1M-Mark Wauge[19]; 10. 5M-Jake Mayden[11]; 11. 34G-Albert Gill[13]; 12. 21-Jeremy Ohlde[17]; 13. 42-Paul Culp[15]; 14. 64-Ray Kniffen Jr[23]; 15. 8-Tom Elam[21]; 16. 28H-Darrell Hughes[7]; 17. 54N-Nick Trenchard[1]; 18. 83R-Jeffrey Hudson[16]; 19. W5-Jesse Williamson[8]; 20. 15JT-Justin McCreadie[12]; 21. 4Y-James Lipke[22]; 22. 82M-James Anderson[18]; 23. 3-Jeremy DeGroot[20]
Dusty’s Transmissions IMCA Northern Sport Mods
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 21TP-Travis Peery[6]; 2. 44-Tyler Rodgers[1]; 3. 2M-Matt Sanders[11]; 4. 21P-Ryan Peery[7]; 5. 26-Dustin Comer[2]; 6. 69-Dwayne Melivin[9]; 7. 7S-Steven Sanders[3]; 8. 08-Ryder Boswell[12]; 9. 12W-Branden Wilson[8]; 10. 7SEVEN-Jantzen Knips[18]; 11. 12I-Isaac Sanders[13]; 12. 7W-Wyatt Westfall[10]; 13. 14JR-Billy Richey[19]; 14. 11J-Jesse Merriman[16]; 15. 42-Jacob Hoppes[23]; 16. 18G-Chance Gordan[22]; 17. 555-Joby Shields[17]; 18. 25P-Braxton Possinger[20]; 19. 30M-Mike Medel[5]; 20. 84-Jordan Braaten[4]; 21. 95-Rich McCoy[14]; 22. 5-Nick Berryhill[15]; 23. 4B-Bart Foster[21]
CDA Late Models
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 18-Joey Tanner[1]; 2. 4E-Trent Elliott[5]; 3. 75-Miles Deubert[3]; 4. 7W-Richard Wallace[7]; 5. 422-Chuck Christian[10]; 6. 88-Braden Fugate[2]; 7. 7-Bryan Norton[4]; 8. 20-Chris Biggs[9]; 9. 42JD-John Duffie[6]; 10. 6-Bob Dees[8]
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
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