Submitted by Grays Harbor Raceway
A night of wonderful action occurred at Grays Harbor Raceway on Saturday June 15th as the 3/8-mile clay oval facility had the pleasure of kicking off the 2013 Wild Wild West Modified Shootout. This series consists of the best IMCA Modified drivers in the area in competition for seven nights at seven different tracks over a period of eight days. The other classes providing some great entertainment were the 360 Sprints, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, and the Hornets.
The Wild Wild West Modified Shootout opener was a good one with defending champion Jesse Williamson of Coburg, Oregon trying to set the bar early in the first race. The main event would end up being a caution filled affair with several short green flag runs. Kyle Casson of Yreka, California got the initial race lead in the Ken’s Glass Company #11K Rayburn and would set the pace for several laps before being overtaken by Williamson.
Williamson and Casson would battle hard for the lead with Casson taking the lead back briefly. The Furniture Options/Housing Options #W5 Hughes of Jesse Williamson would get the lead back on lap twenty-five. Williamson would stay in front for the remaining distance and for the second year in a row capture the first race in the Wild Wild West Modified Shootout.
Casson would finish second while in third was the Left Coast Motorsports#30 Swartz of Jeremy Shank from Salem, Oregon. Completing the top five finishers were Klamath Falls, Oregon’s Nick Trenchard, driving for car owners Rich and Nicky Bean, in the Biehn Racing/Airgas #54N Loose Gruff in fourth and the Payroll Specialties/Hoppes Construction #F1 Impressive of Monte Bischoff of Medford, Oregon in fifth.
Two sets of heat races were ran earlier in the night among four groups. Winners of the first set of heats were the PBM Trucking/DVO Custom Guitars #3M Skyrocket of Josh Muller from Elma, Jesse Williamson, Kyle Casson, and Jeremy Shank. The winners of the second set of heats were Brian Poppa of White City, Oregon in the Ron Martin Racing #0P entry, the Skinner Auto Plex/Meineke Car Care Center #1M Loose Gruff of Jacksonville, Oregon’s Mark Wauge, Kyle Casson, and the SKS Racing/Valley Rose Construction #24 X-Factor of Cottage Grove, Oregon’s Curtis Towns.
The Jacknut Apparel/C&K Machine #12 Shaw of Zack Simpson from Hoquiam and Kyler Moore from Seabeck in his Williams Family Salsa/DNC Competition Engines #14K Dirt Works were the two consolation feature winners. Joe German of Wishkah would capture the last chance qualifier in his Wishkah Iron Works/Ozman Services Inc. #75X Skyrocket.
In the 360 Sprint main event Jay Cole of Shelton was the early pace setter for the first laps in the early going in his familiar Our Community Credit Union/Bulldog Trailers #0J XXX. The Shelton chauffeur would lead the first seven circuits before being passed by Henry Van Dam. Van Dam, of Enumclaw, would simply run away from the rest of the field to put his Kovash Logging/Johanson Excavating #33V A.R.T. in victory lane for the first time this season.
Jay Cole would end the night in second followed by Snohomish’s Reece Goetz in the Great Western Transport/Elma Lanes #9R Eagle in third. The TFC Plating #50 XXX of Tacoma native Evan Margeson was fourth and completing the top five was the Lucas Oil Products/Napa Auto Parts #5N Maxim of Seth Nunes from Medford, Oregon.
Reece Goetz was quick time earlier in the night at 13.425 second during qualifying. Heat race winners were Goetz and Van Dam.
The Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks put on one heck of a show with multiple cars challenging for the win. It would be no surprise to see three cars all get side by side for the lead on more than one occasion. Eddie Blood of Olympia and Brian Izzi from Lacey were the first two leaders of the main event. Izzi would be scored the leader for several laps in his Fusion Graphix/Eddie’s Auotmotive #17 Camaro before losing the lead to the #43 Mustang of Shane Kerrigan from Aberdeen on lap eighteen.
Kerrigan was mighty quick but would be passed by the Cut Rate Auto Parts Iron Man 100 victor Jason Tole. Tole, of Hoquiam, got to position number one on lap twenty-one to lead the rest of the distance of the thriller. It would mark the fourth straight main event that Tole’s Western Washington Construction/Crowell Brothers Automotive #34 Camaro has visited the winner’s circle.
Cory Sweatman of Cosmopolis was second in his Sweatman Trucking/D&D Dyno/Ewing Engines #11 machine followed by Oakville driver Brian Harding’s Northwest Mountain Winery/Wilcox and Flegel Petroleum Supply #28 Camaro in third. The rest of the top five finishers would consist of Shane Kerrigan in fourth and the Eddie’s Automotive/Fusion Graphix #97 Malibu of Eddie Blood in fifth. Earlier in the evening Jason Tole and Shane Kerrigan would capture the heat race wins.
In the Hornet classification defending track champion Chad Norton in the Free Junk Removal #75 from Tenino would win his second race of the year. That is after he would pass the Centralia Pet Resort #27 of his own wife Jeserae on lap eight. The event would go non-stop green to checker with Norton becoming the second driver to win more than once in 2013.
Jeserae Norton was second at the end of the feature with the #22 of Shane Turner of Tacoma crossing the line in third. The Kerrigan and Sons Trucking #17 of Willie Wright of Aberdeen was fourth followed by the #95 of Shane Norton in fifth. In heat race action Wright and Turner were the victors.
The Grays Harbor Raceway will be back in action this Saturday June 22nd for Pepsi Night. Classifications on hand will include the Northwest Extreme Sprints, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, and the Hornets. For more information be sure and visit www.graysharborraceway.com.
Race Summary:
Wild Wild West Modified Shootout Race #1
Saturday June 15th, 2013
Grays Harbor Raceway
Elma, Washington
IMCA Modifieds
31 Entries
1st B-Feature: 1. Zack Simpson, 2. Doug Davenport, 3. Steven Sturdevant, 4. Brody Pompe, 5. Matt Jenner, 6. Jeremy Brookshire, 7. Jesse Bailey, 8. Jeff Foster
2nd B-Feature: 1. Kyler Moore, 2. Nick Trenchard, 3. Joe German, 4. Chris Hallberg, 5. Jerry Schram, 6. Carl Larson, 7. James Wolford, 8. Graham Cook, 9. Tanner Baldwin
Last Chance Qualifier: 1. Joe German, 2. Jerry Schram, 3. Brody Pompe, 4. Tanner Baldwin, 5. Chris Hallberg, 6. Steven Sturdevant, 7. Graham Cook, 8. Matt Jenner, 9. James Wolford, 10. Carl Larson, 11. Josh Muller
A-Feature: 1. Jesse Williamson, 2. Kyle Casson, 3. Jeremy Shank, 4. Nick Trenchard, 5. Monte Bischoff, 6. Zack Simpson, 7. Joe German, 8. Tom Sweatman, 9. Curtis Towns, 10. Scott Miller, 11. Craig Hanson, 12. Craig Moore, 13. Tanner Baldwin, 14. Mark Wauge, 15. Kyler Moore, 16. Brian Poppa, 17. Doug Davenport, 18. Jerry Schram, 19. Brody Pompe, DQ Mark Carrell
360 Sprints
8 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Henry Van Dam, 2. Jay Cole, 3. Reece Goetz, 4. Evan Margeson, 5. Seth Nunes, 6. Allison Journey, 7. Jason Reed, 8. Mike Romig
Street Stocks
15 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Jason Tole, 2. Cory Sweatman, 3. Brian Harding, 4. Shane Kerrigan, 5. Eddie Blood, 6. Ryan Haney, 7. Austin Kerrigan, 8. Don Briggs, 9. Nick Bramer, 10. Kelly Fugate, 11. Mike Clingen, 12. Mike Knox, 13. Matt Babcock, 14. Jack Parshall, 15. Brian Izzi
Hornets
11 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Chad Norton, 2. Jeserae Norton, 3. Shane Turner, 4. Willie Wright, 5. Shane Norton, 6. Peggy Harding, 7. Jansen Willis, 8. Chris Pugsley, 9. Heidi Waugh, DNS Michael Brewster, DNS Jeff Daniel
