CGS Has Wild Night Of Racing
By Ben Deatherage
A great night of racing for fans in attendance at the Cottage Grove Speedway occurred Saturday May 4th. It marked the fourth race of 2013 season for the historic ¼-mile clay oval. Classes that were on hand included the Northwest Wingless Tour, Northwest Extreme Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, Street Stocks, and Hornets.
In the Northwest Wingless Tour feature Sterling Kane showed the way in the early goings. The Albany driver in his Fuel Injection Enterprises #89 XXX led the first twelve laps until he was caught by Kyle Miller. Miller, of Eugene, was one of the only drivers to make the top side of the race track work and kept his right rear on the cushion while passing Kane for the lead.
The only thing to slow him down was a late caution on lap twenty-eight. Miller would lead the rest of the distance and put his K&S Motorsports/Finest Detail/Gary’s Subaru Service #10 XXX in victory lane for the first time this year and would sweep the night. It would mark the seventh time that he has won when the series has visited Cottage Grove and his ninth career NWWT triumph overall.
“There for awhile I couldn’t get going on the start my car just didn’t feel right on the cushion,” commented Miller in victory lane, “but everyone was stacked up on the bottom there and I knew if I could get going around the top and get some momentum built up I could get by them. I’m glad everything worked out in our favor and it’s great to be back here (in victory lane).”
Sterling Kane would finish in the runner-up position followed by the Van Raden Industries #25 XXX of Pat Canfield from Ariel, Washington. Defending series champion Bill Winsley of Molalla crossed the line in fourth in his Wilson’s Napa Auto Parts/Jasper’s Café/Pepco Designs #10W XXX while fifth went to Kingsburg, California’s Austin Mero driving the 4 His Glory/1st Choice Construction/Green Gables Mini Storage #4E Rocket for car owner Nathan Ellertson.
Kyle Miller was fast time of the night with a time of 13.036 seconds and went on to win the trophy dash. Heat race winners were Kyle Miller and the Maxline Cases/Competition Suspension Inc./Speedmart Inc. #23 XXX of Rob Lindsey from Wilsonville.
In the first race of the season for the Northwest Extreme Sprints Raquel Ivie had the field covered. The young lady from Eugene led the entire distance in the caution free feature for the win. It marked the second win in two seasons, and the first of 2013, for her and the Poison Ivie Racing/Three Rivers Casino/Brook’s Cut Rate Auto Parts #70 Maxim entry.
“Starting up front seemed to work out for me,” stated Ivie, “I just stayed on the bottom and didn’t hear anyone coming and held it there. A big thanks to Puddle Jumper Towing for buying us a tire tonight that really helped us out.”
Nathan Ellertson of Fall Creek earned a respectable second place in his 4 His Glory/1st Choice Construction/Green Gables Mini Storage #4E Rocket while placing third would be the Independent Thinning/Redmond Trucking #12 J&J of Roseburg’s Orion Redmond. The rest of the top five finishers consisted of Dusty Redmond, Orion’s father, in the Redmond Trucking #57 Rocket in fourth and Kady Adelman from Salem in her BC Motorsports/K&S Motorsports #6A Maxim in fifth.
Kady Adelman was quickest in qualifications with a time of 12.079 seconds and the 1st Choice Construction/Griffith Family Racing/Crossfire Ministries #21 Gambler of Fall Creek’s Mike Griffith was the victory in trophy dash action. Adelman would win the one and only heat race for the classification.
A total of seven cautions would occur in the IMCA Modified feature which had its fair share of action. Curtis Towns of Cottage Grove would pass David Schmidt of Eugene in the first few laps to secure the lead. Towns would keep his SKS Racing/Valley Rose Construction/West End Performance #24 X-Factor out in front for the rest of the way despite a late charge from fellow Cottage Grove native Braedon Hand. It would mark the first victory of the season for Towns in only his second start of the year at CGS.
“The car was handling good I stayed on the bottom hoping nobody would pass me on the top,” said Towns, “I was kind of getting tired of all the cautions and kept hoping for the white flag there in the end. I was a little worried after the start because I got into a little fender bender and I wasn’t sure if the body would rub against the tires but they held up and survived.”
The D&D Automotive/Vintage Inn Family Restaurant/West End Performance #5 Shaw of Braedon Hand would earn a respectable second place finish while third was earned by Steven Sturdevant of Springfield in his Springfield Tire Factory/Phantom Racing Engines #11 Dirt Works. Creswell’s Gus Cooper would place fourth in the Eastside Rollforming Specialties/Raceprint.com/BBQ Oil Barbeque Sauces #10 Pro and earning fifth was Cottage Grove driver Greg McDonald chauffeuring his Jerry Robinette Performance Carburetors/J.J. & A.K. Racing #44 J-Car. Winners earlier in evening in heat race action were the T&K Services/Affordable Self Storage/Southside Tattoo #57M GRT by Yeager Racing of Shady Cove pilot Troy McElroy and Curtis Towns.
In the Street Stock feature it looked as if Daniel Ray would back up last week’s win with his second triumph in a row. That is until on lap four when he pulled off his Pure Romance-Leslie Grimes/Brad’s Car Tunes #01 Camaro while leading the feature due to mechanical problems. The lead would be handed down to Jordan Braaten of Medford who would lead the rest of the distance. Braaten would build a sizeable lead to win his first career Cottage Grove Speedway victory chauffeuring the Don Braaten Painting/Mike Van Bunt’s Home & Building Maintenance #84 Regal.
“We love this track,” said Braaten in victory lane, “we ran here twice and plan on running here some more this year. This is my first win here and we’ll definitely be back for sure.”
Crossing the line in second would be Eugene’s Steve Begeley in the Stacy Graves LMT #00 Nova and the West End Performance/Team S.D.M.F. #8 of Kolby Clay from Junction City. The rest of the top five included defending track champion Darin Crooks of Cottage Grove in his #73 Nova in fourth and the Froggy’s Towing Interstate Batteries #16K Camaro of Larry Crane from Eugene in fifth.
Jordan Braaten was quickest in time trials with a time of 16.947 seconds and Darin Crooks would go on to win the trophy dash. The only heat race of the night was won by Jordan Braaten.
In Hornet action Kolby Clay would make it two features in a row that he has won. After a great battle with Opie Donaldson of Dexter for the lead Clay would secure the point by lap seven. Clay would keep the lead as he would pull away and earned the victory in his West End Performance/Team S.D.M.F. #8 machine and also would earn the clean sweep.
“The #0 was pretty fast I wasn’t sure how I was going to get around him,” said Clay, “I figured I would get him in lapped traffic and I got lucky and got around him.”
Joe Maricle of Veneta would make a late race pass to earn second in his #11 machine over Opie Donaldson in the Chase Gardens Café & Bistro/Southside Auto and Muffler #0. Mike Simmons would end the night in fourth in his Industrial Finishes/Kimwood Corporation #34 followed by the Dan’s Automotive #11X of Dan Jenkinson from Marcola in fifth.
Kolby Clay would earn the victory in the trophy dash while heat race winners were Clay, Cottage Grove’s Jim Simmons in the Small Town Treasures/Nichol’s Napa Auto Parts #89, and the D&D Automotive/Harris Machine and Design #7D of James Deatherage also from Cottage Grove.
The Cottage Grove Speedway returns to action next Saturday night for Fan Appreciation Night presented by Knecht’s Auto Parts. Classes that will be in action include the 360 Sprints, Late Models along with the Northwest Extreme Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, and Street Stocks. All cars that show up will be put on the track for about an hour and all of the fans will be allowed to go up to the cars and visit with the drivers. For more information log on to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com or call the brand new Northwest Track Hotline at (360)-699-RACE. Mylaps results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/en/events/892540.
Race Summary
Saturday May 4th, 2013
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, OR
Northwest Wingless Tour
17 Entries
Fast Time: Kyle Miller, 13.036
Trophy Dash Winner: Kyle Miller
Heat Race Winners: Kyle Miller (1), Rob Lindsey (2)
A-Feature: 1. Kyle Miller, 2. Sterling Kane, 3. Pat Canfield, 4. Bill Winsley, 5. Austin Mero, 6. Kyle Mehner, 7. Guy Weedman, 8. Zack Spaulding, 9. Rob Lindsey, 10. Joe Bosso Jr., 11. Andrew Reitman, 12. Brad Rhodes, 13. Kady Adelman, 14. Jesse Thistle, 15. Johnny Butler, 16. Raquel Ivie, DNS Tim Alberding
Northwest Extreme Sprints
7 Entries
Fast Time: Kady Adelman, 12.079
Trophy Dash Winner: Mike Griffith
Heat Race Winner: Kady Adelman (1)
A-Feature: 1. Raquel Ivie, 2. Nathan Ellertson, 3. Orion Redmond, 4. Dusty Redmond, 5. Kady Adelman, 6. Mike Griffith, 7. Dan Philpott
IMCA Modifieds
12 Entries
Heat Race Winners: Troy McElroy (1), Curtis Towns (2)
A-Feature: 1. Curtis Towns, 2. Braedon Hand, 3. Steven Sturdevant, 4. Gus Cooper, 5. Greg McDonald, 6. David Schmidt, 7. Austin McTaggart, 8. Corey Russell, 9. Brian Gray, 10. Don Muth Jr., 11. Troy McElroy, DNS Dave Foote
Street Stocks
7 Entries
Fast Time: Jordan Braaten, 16.947
Trophy Dash Winner: Darin Crooks
Heat Race Winner: Jordan Braaten (1)
A-Feature: 1. Jordan Braaten, 2. Steve Begley, 3. Kolby Clay, 4. Darin Crooks, 5. Larry Crane, 6. Mark Henderson, 7. Daniel Ray
Hornets
20 Entries
Trophy Dash Winner: Kolby Clay
Heat Race Winners: Kolby Clay (1), Jim Simmons (2), James Deatherage (3)
A-Feature: 1. Kolby Clay, 2. Joe Maricle, 3. Opie Donaldson, 4. Mike Simmons, 5. Dan Jenkinson, 6. Jim Simmons, 7. Jake Williams, 8. Mike Swaim, 9. Melvin Walker, 10. James Simmons, 11. Teresa Walker, 12. Dale Jenkinson, 13. Kayla Simmons, 14. Patricia Walker, 15. James Deatherage, 16. Taunton Swaim, 17. Chris Pierce, 18. Josh Corley, DNS Mark Walker, DNS Steve Moore
- Ben Deatherage on May 05, 2013
- Article Date: 5/5/2013