Robustelli, Borror, King, Knight, And Get Diamond Home Improvement Night Wins At SOS
By Ben Deatherage
White City, Oregon—Southern Oregon Speedway resumed its 2024 race season on Saturday, June 8th, for Diamond Home Improvement Night. Five divisions, including the Dave's Home Supply Iron Head Sprints, Kona Bento Sport Compacts, Outlaw Pro Stocks, Stone Heating & Air Dwarf Cars, and the Rapp Racing Super 4s, were on tap.
Blaine Cory grabbed the lead on the first lap of the Dave's Home Supply Iron Head Sprint main event. The Central Point driver, racing for car owner Brandon Govenor, had some fast company with the likes of Camden Robustelli of Medford right behind him. Robustelli, in the T.J. and Stacy Winningham-owned car, mounted a strong challenge on lap four, but Cory would keep him back in second.
It was a battle of wills as Robustelli finally managed to overtake Cory on lap twelve, executing a brilliant maneuver in lapping traffic. Once in the lead, Robustelli began to pull away, creating a significant gap between himself and the rest of the field. Despite facing significant traffic and a late race caution, which brought about a late challenge from Cory, Robustelli maintained his composure and skillfully cruised on to claim a well-deserved victory.
Cory was a respectable second, while third was credited to Ryan Hirschbock from Klamath Falls. Eagle Point's Johnny Burke was fourth at the line, followed by Charlie Thompson of Central Point.
Bri Fisher set the tone early in the Kona Bento Sport Compact finale. Representing Central Point, Fisher was lights out quick, but as the race continued, David Medeiros caught and overtook her in traffic with nine trips around the 3/8-mile clay oval remaining. A late race caution stacked the field up. Still, it would be no issue for Medeiros of White City to assert his dominance over all challengers to score the victory.
Fisher was second, followed by Jim Medeiros of Central Point in third. Andrew Medeiros, also from White City, was credited with fourth, and fifth was Marilyn Yawnick of Yreka, California.
The Outlaw Pro Stock main had Colby Hammond pace the pack early. The Bonanza trailblazer dealt with some cautions in the first ten laps. However, each time a restart occurred, Hammond was still quick to get away from anyone else.
Rick Lukens would put quite the challenge on a lap fifteen restart. Lukens would snatch the lead from Hammond on the seventh circuit, but a caution came out, and the Keno driver had to give the lead back because it was not a fully completed lap.
On the next restart, Klamath Fall's Steve Borror stormed the castle and came out of nowhere to grab the top-place position on lap fourteen. Borror poured it on the rest of the field, immediately extending his advantage. He would dominate the rest of the way to score the huge win.
Jeff Haudenschild, also from Klamath Falls, beat Rusty Azevedo from Bonaza to the wire to finish second. Lukens was fourth, followed by Hammond in fifth.
At the start of the Stone Heating & Air Dwarf Cars, Colby Bergquist paced the field on the first circuit. The Central Point pilot acted as if he were shot out of a cannon and took off from all other contenders. Things would get interesting with less than ten laps to go when Josh King began to reel him in.
King, from Medford, started to pressure the leader just as they were getting into some lapped traffic. On lap eighteen, King took the lead with a divebomb maneuver out of turn four.
Bergquist tried his best to stay in stride with King, but King was slightly quicker. Alarmingly, King began to smoke a little before the white flag dropped, but the field was slowed by a late race yellow, setting things up for a dramatic finish. When racing got back underway, the smoke went away for King, as he held on to win the main event.
Trevor Davis, of Central Point, made a late charge to second, with Bergquist earning third. Medford's Cadyn Smith and Travis Gergel of Grants Pass were fourth and fifth.
The Rapp Racing Super 4 feature began with Dustin Knight grabbing the marshal's baton and running away with it. The Central Point chauffeur was ultra-dominant as the race remained under green flag racing conditions. Whether on the open track or in heavy traffic, Knight conquered the field to score his second win in the division's two races.
The race concluded with Medford's John Barger securing the second position, followed by Rikki-Lynn Knight from Central Point in third place. Medford motorists Skyler Fuhrman and Hunter Morgan finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
- Ben Deatherage on Jun 11, 2024
- Article Date: 6/11/2024