Relay For Life Night Provides Good Racing In Front Of Large Crowd
By Ben Deatherage
The Cottage Grove Speedway was back in full swing last Saturday June 15th as they hosted Relay For Life Night At The Races. The evening is quite special as the local Relay For Life chapter comes out and informs folks about their wonderful programs. Also all fans were invited to take part in a walk around the ¼-mile during intermission. Classifications on the card were 360 Sprints, Late Models, Northwest Extreme Sprints, Street Stocks, and Hornets.
In the 360 Sprint division Medford’s Roger Crockett was looking to accomplish a goal that he had set when he was a young teenager just starting out in Sprint Cars. That goal was to surpass his father Brian’s all-time win total of one-hundred-seventy-nine victories. Two weeks ago at Cottage Grove Roger tied his father at one-hundred-seventy-nine but was looking for one-hundred-eighty on Saturday night.
Off to a great start Roger Crockett put the SKS Racing/Al Parker Racing Engines/Champion Racing Oil #11 KPC to the front out of the exit of turn two on the first lap. Crockett was primed and determined to capture the main event as he nearly lapped the entire field. The only thing that appeared to slow him down was the two cautions that would occur. Roger would go on to the win and break the tie in all-time wins between his father and himself. It was also the fourth victory of 2013 in local action at CGS for Crockett.
The Myers Logging/Armstrong Contract Cutting #21T XXX of Zack Spaulding from Springfield had a great night finishing in second, for car owners Sam and Tony Myers, while crossing the stripe as the last car on the lead lap in third was Central Point chauffeur Garen Linder in the Linder Powdercoating/Rodgers Racing Engines #22 KPC. Jesse Thistle of Creswell was fourth in the All Around Printing/Cobalt Computer Services #4 Maxim and Mike Griffith of Fall Creek would score the fifth spot in his 1st Choice Construction/Griffith Family Racing #21 Gambler.
Garen Linder was fast time of the night at a quick 10.669 seconds around the ¼-mile caly bullring. Kyle Miller of Eugene would score the trophy dash in the Gary’s Subaru Service/Steelhouse Metal Roofing Supply/Oregon West RV #71 XXX for car owner Hedge Carter. Heat race winners were Miller and Roger Crockett.
Once Shaun Mayea got the lead he was gone in the Late Model feature. It would take the Bend driver several laps though to catch the front of the pack. In fact it looked like Paul Culp of Springfield was on his way to winning his second race of the year until Mayea would make the pass around the outside on lap twelve. Mayea would go on to lead the rest of the distance in his Cold Springs Resort/R.G. Remanufacturing #36 Rocket to earn his first career Late Model win at CGS.
Paul Culp ended the evening in the runner-up position in his X-Factor Race Cars/All Pro Steel #42 X-Factor and earning the third place position was the My Boy’s Slate Fired Pizza/Mueller Commercial Restaurant Services #18 MasterSbilt of Creswell’s Blaine Taylor. Mike Peters from Cottage Grove placed his Send Transportation/Interstate Cargo #88 Swartz in fourth and fifth was Brittany Ray of Beaverton in her #12B Swartz entry. Taylor was quickest in qualifying at 13.643 seconds while Shaun Mayea would win both the heat race and trophy dash.
The Northwest Extreme Sprint feature was a hotly contested affair between two young ladies which were Kady Adelman and Raquel Ivie. Before either of them battled for the lead it looked like Dan Philpott was going to possibly win the event. Glide’s Philpott, in his Eveland Sandblasting/Double R Powdercoating #29 Rocket, would set the pace in the first seven circuits before being overtaken by Kady Adelman of Salem.
Adelman looked in control and was seeking to park her BC Motorsports/K&S Motorsports #6A Maxim into the winner’s circle for the second time this year. Before too long though Raquel Ivie of Eugene was closing the gap and eventually would pass Adelman on lap fourteen.
Ivie would start to develop a lead before two late race cautions put Adelman back into contention. Ivie would not let the pressure get to her as she would win her second race of the year in her Three Rivers Casino/Bi-Mart/Northwest Training Center #70 Maxim.
Kady Adelman was second followed by Mike Griffith in third. Finishing fourth and fifth respectively were Nathan Ellertson of Fall Creek, in the 4 His Glory Racing/1st Choice Construction #4E Rocket, and the C&H Motorsports/Tangible Real Estate Investments #3 Zeitler of Dave Hibbard from Medford. Adelman was quickest in qualifying with her time of 11.384 seconds and would also win the trophy dash while Hibbard was the victor in the heat race.
The Street Stock feature proved to be a nail biter. Several teams from outside the area converged on the Cottage Grove Speedway to bring the Street Stock count up to the best it has been all year long. Steve Begley of Eugene was the early leader in the Stacy Graves Massage Therapy #00 Nova seeking his first win of the year.
Begley would lose the top spot to Daniel Ray of Springfield in the Pure Romance-Leslee Grimes/Team S.D.M.F. #01 Camaro around lap five. Ray would start to check out and was seeking his third win of 2013. Disaster would strike as the rear axle would break on Ray’s machine ending his night prematurely. This would give the lead back to Begley.
Begley was by far not out of the woods yet as he would receive considerable pressure from teammate Darin Crooks of Cottage Grove. Crooks, in the #73 Nova, tried to find a route around Begley but was unable to make the pass. In the later stages of the race Crooks had to keep challengers in check from trying to overtake his second place position which allowed Begley to build a little lead. Despite a late race caution and an exciting finish Begley would hold on to the lead to earn the victory and become the fourth different winner this season in the division.
Darin Crooks would hold on to second followed by Josh Bearden of Coos Bay in the Shinglehouse Auto & Salvage/Warbis Excavating #31 El Camino in third. Steve Dubisar of Coquille would end the night in fourth in the Lil’ Stinker Portable Toilets/West Coast Powerwashing #10 Monte Carlo and fifth was the Emerald Valley Reclaimed Timbers #4 Camaro of Cottage Grove’s Jeff Casto.
Matt King of Eugene was quickest in qualifying at a time of 16.720 seconds. Earning heat race victories were Daniel Ray and Medford’s Jordan Braaten in his Don Braaten Painting/Hands On Detail #84 Regal.
The Hornets were added at the last minute but despite the late notice a good show was produced. Chris Pierce of Cottage Grove was pretty quick in his Material Fabrication/Racing Trends #28 leading several of the early laps. Eventually the lead would be taken over by James Deatherage, also from Cottage Grove, with only a few laps remaining. Deatherage would lead the rest of the distance to put his D&D Automotive/Harris Machine and Design #7D into victory lane for the first of the season.
Jim Simmons of Cottage Grove was second in the Small Town Treasures/Nichol’s Napa Auto Parts #89 machine followed by the Santa Clara Transmissions #15 of Aaron Hanson of Creswell in third. The balance of the top five finishers included Chris Pierce in fourth and the Brittney Bailey-Chandler Photography/Kyle Kishan Construction #16 of James Simmons, from Cottage Grove, in fifth.
The Cottage Grove Speedway will be in action this Wednesday June 19th as the Wild Wild West Modified Shootout makes their annual visit. The race will feature the top IMCA Modified teams around the Pacific Northwest for what is always a great night of racing. Races will be held this Saturday June 22nd with 360 Sprints, Late Models, Street Stocks, and Hornets on the card. For more information log on to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.
Race Summary:
Relay For Life Night
Saturday June 15th, 2013
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, Oregon
Hornets
5 Entries
A-Feature: 1. James Deatherage, 2. Jim Simmons, 3. Aaron Hanson, 4. Chris Pierce, 5. James Simmons
Street Stocks
11 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Steve Begley, 2. Darin Crooks, 3. Josh Bearden, 4. Steve Dubisar, 5. Jeff Casto, 6. Trina Post, 7. Larry Crane, 8. Mark Henderson, 9. Daniel Ray, 10. Jordan Braaten, 11. Matt King
Northwest Extreme Sprints
7 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Raquel Ivie, 2. Kady Adelman, 3. Mike Griffith, 4. Nathan Ellertson, 5. Dave Hibbard, 6. Dusty Redmond, 7. Dan Philpott
Late Models
6 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Shaun Mayea, 2. Paul Culp, 3. Blaine Taylor, 4. Mike Peters, 5. Brittany Ray, 6. Kye Frick
360 Sprints
14 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Roger Crockett, 2. Zack Spaulding, 3. Garen Linder, 4. Jesse Thistle, 5. Mike Griffith, 6. Vern Scevers, 7. Kady Adelman, 8. Nathan Ellertson, 9. Jake Waddell, 10. Raquel Ivie, 11. Kyle Miller, 12. Dusty Redmond, 13. Dan Philpott, 14. Dave Hibbard
- Ben Deatherage on Jun 16, 2013
- Article Date: 6/16/2013