There were fireworks on and off the racetrack at Grays Harbor Raceway Saturday Night, as 5 classes of cars took to the banked 3/8 mile clay oval, and a big fireworks display after the races made for a packed grandstands as well. There was a bit of a different format then normal, as there were no heat races, and the top 6 in the point standings of all classes would run scrambles to make up the first 3 rows of the features. Seventh on back in points would qualify, and the features would be lined up by time.
In the USAC HPD Midget Series division, Chase Goetz of Snohomish dominated last year, but this year he has ran into some bad luck, well it seems that the bad luck is gone, as he picked up his third win of the 2014 season. Goetz started the 25 lap feature on the pole, outside of him was Shorline driver Dougie James. As the field took the green, Goetz took the lead , with James, Chance Crum of Snohomish, and Montesano's Jeremy Miller in pursuit. Goetz pulled away from the field early, as cars behind him try to run him down, there were a few battles deep in the field early for sixth, seventh and eighth, between McCleary driver Ariel Biggs, Shorline's Hannah Lindquist, and McVinnville, Oregon driver Lance Hallmark. That wasn't the only action during the feature, Garrett Thomas of McCleary, who picked up a win earlier this year, had a great battle with Jeremy Miller. Thomas made a run on Miller down the backstretch to take over the 4th spot, but Miller would pull a slide job in turn 3 to gain back the position. Thomas would shoot to the lowside and they raced side by side out of turn four with Thomas regaining the fourth position. Just ahead of both of those drivers, Dougie James and Chance Crum would battle for second and third position, this would allow Goetz to pull away from the field. Lap 12, Crum would get around James for second, but the only caution of the feature would come out for Centraila driver Annika Johanson, as she spun to a stop in turn 2. This would bunch the field up and give Crum, James, Thomas, and the rest of the field a shot at Goetz for the lead. Goetz would get a good start. Going into turn 2, James would be right on the back bumper of Goetz, Jame's car bobbled, allowing Garrett Thomas to move from fourth to second, getting around both Chance Crum and Dougie James. James would regain control and work his way back into second a lap later, this allowed Chase Goetz to pull away once again. Thomas and Crum would battle for third for multiple laps behind Goetz and James. At the end Chase Goetz would lead all 25 laps for the win, Dougie James, Garrett Thomas, Chance Crum, and Jeremy MIller would round out the top five. Goetz would also pick up the Scramble win, with Garrett Thomas picking up fast time.
Jack Parshall has already picked up 2 wins this year in the Street Stocks division, and he was looking for win number 3. Starting on the pole of the 25 lap feature, the Hoquiam driver took the early lead, beating Olympia's Eddie Blood into turn one and two. Parshall and Blood were being chased down by Aberdeen driver Austin Kerrigan, and Jason Tole of Hoquiam. Kerrigan, Blood, and Tole would go three wide for position down the back stretch, but a caution would soon come out on lap 1 for debris in turn one. On the restart, contact was made between Parshall and Tole, Parshall would still continue to lead, but with that contact made between both drivers Tole would lose a few positions to Hoquiam driver Brian Izzi, and Wishkah's Don Briggs Jr. Parshall would continue to lead, with Blood, Austin Kerrigan right on his back bumper waiting for a mistake. Parshall ran smooth all around the speedway and pull away slightly until another caution would come out on lap 2 for Olympia driver Matt Babcock, Elma's Ryen Haney, and Aberdeen driver Cory Sweatman. Babcock hit the turn 2 wall doing major damage to his car. On the restart, Parshall would get a real good start on the field. Second through fourth would have a great battle between Blood, Austin Kerrigan, and Tole, with Briggs Jr right there in pursuit. Lap 6 would see another yellow for Ryen Haney, who was involved in an earlier accident with Babcock and Sweatman, Haney would spin in turn one and two. Parshall would lead them down on the restart, with Blood, Tole, Briggs Jr, Austin Kerrigan, Shelton's Brenton Schnitzer, Izzi and the rest of the field in chase. Parshall once again would have a perfect restart, and pull away from the field, leaving them in pursuit, and battling it out for second. As soon as the green flag dropped, the yellow would come out again for Cory Sweatman as he came to a stop in turn two. Numerous cautions would plague the 25 lap feature, and at the end of what seemed like a marathon, Jack Parshall would pick up the win, Austin Kerrigan, Brenton Schnitzer, Don Briggs Jr, and Tacoma's Mike Knox, who started at the tail end of the 21 car field rounded out the top five. Parshall would also win the Scramble, and Tom Hecker of Spanaway would pick up fast time.
In the 360 Sprint Car division, Evan Margeson would start on the front row of the 25 lap feature, with 9 time track champion Jay Cole of Shelton. The Tacoma driver, would jump out to the lead and never look back. Cole, Elma driver Jason Reed, Dan Dunlap of Renton and the rest of the field were in chase of Margeson, who started to pull away lap after lap. By lap 3, Margeson had almost a straightaway lead on the field of cars. The battle for fifth started to heat up between Tulalip driver Sean Johnson, who also picked up a wingless win earlier this year at Grays Harbor Raceway, and Lynnwood driver Michael Hodel. Hodel would get the advantage on Johnson for a lap or so, and Johnson would reel him back in. Margeson was like a rocket, going through the lap traffic, as he extended his lead. Another great battle to watch was for the third position between Reed and Dunlap, as Dunlap would reel in Reed for position, but Reed would get a good run down the straightaways and pull away. Lap 15 of the 25 lap feature would see it's first caution for Daniel McGrew of Mountlake Terrace spinning in turn four. Bert Johnson of Tulalip, also got sideways, and both cars kept going. Under the yellow, Jay Cole who was running second pulled off the speedway, giving up the second position to Jason Reed. On the restart Margeson would pull away from the field once again, and it wasn't long before Margeson would have a straightaway lead on the field. The final caution of the evening would come on lap 24 for Daniel McGrew, who would spin to a stop once again in turn four. On the green, white, checkered restart, Margeson would pull away, and go on to win the 25 lap feature, picking up his first win of the season. Jason Reed, Dan Dunlap, Michael Hodel, and Sean Johnson would round out the top five. Margeson would also win the Scramble, and fast time went to Daniel McGrew.
Last time the Modifieds ran at Elma, it was Kyler Moore picking up his first career win with his father Craig Moore right behind him. Craig Moore who picked up a win back on May 24th was looking to pick up his second win of the season. Craig started on the pole of the 25 lap feature, right next to his son Kyler. The Seaback duo raced down the front stretch to take the green flag. Craig Moore jumped out to the early lead, but right behind him was the race to watch between Kyler Moore, Shelton driver Scott Miller, and McCleary's Josh Muller as they were three wide for second. Muller would get a good run on the high side to take the second position down the backstretch but the yellow would soon come out for Kelso driver Carl Larson on lap 2 as he slowed in turn two. On the restart it was Craig Moore taking the lead, with Muller on the high side and Scott Miller battling for second. The battle for third, fourth, fifth and sixth would also heat up between Muller, Kyler Moore, Shelton's Kris Asche, and Dayton, Oregon driver Bubba Foster. All four drivers would be side by side with each other and swapping positions each lap, and even getting three wide for position. It wasn't long before the battle turned into a five car battle as Shelton driver Del Schnitzer joined the mix up for position. Lap 5 would see another caution for Matt Arnold of Elma who spun in turn 1, and Raymond's Bill Rowe, who also came to a stop avoiding Arnold's car. On the restart, Craig Moore would once again get the jump on the field, and pull away although it wasn't long for another cauton for a multi car crash on the backstretch. Four cars were involved, Del Schnitzer, Austin Kerrigan, Olympia's Alan Muenchow, and Parksville, British Columbia driver Graham Cook. On the restart, Bubba Foster would make a dash to the outside from his fifth place starting position to try and take over second from Scott Miller, Foster on the high side, had the position briefly before Scott Miller took the position back on the low side of the speedway. This battle for second allowed Craig Moore to pull away slightly. Lap 10 would see another caution for Matt Arnold, who was involved in an earlier caution, he would spin to a stop in the same corner as he did earlier. On the restart it was Craig Moore, Scott Miller, Bubba Foster, Kyler Moore, and Melvin Decker of Mt. Vernon rounding out the top five, Moore would get the advantage, Foster would run the high side and try to make the move for the lead, but on lap 12 he would slow to a stop in turn 2 with mechanical issues. Like the Street Stock feature the Modifieds would have many cautions, and at the end of the 25 lap feature. Craig Moore would pick up his second win of the season, Scott Miller, Kyler Moore, Kris Asche and Josh Muller would round out the top five. Craig Moore won the Scramble earlier in the evening.
The Outlaw Tuners would be the final feature of the evening. On the initial start of the 15 lap feature saw Willie Wright of Aberdeen go for a wild ride in turn one after contact from Ryan O'Nasch. Wright would go over 2 times before the car rested back on all four wheels. Wright did walk away, and was ok. On the complete restart, it was Tenino driver Chad Norton, and Ocean Shore's Jeff Daniel who would lead the field down. Norton and Daniel would race side by side for a lap, until Daniel would take the lead out of turn four. Daniel would continue to lead with Norton, Shane Turner, Brittany Diggle and O'Nasch rounding out the top five. Besides the opening red flag for Wright, the rest of the feature went green to checkers, with Jeff Daniel picking up his third win of the year, Chad Norton, Shane Turner, Ryan O'Nasch, and Brittany Diggle rounded out the top five. Chad Norton would win the Scramble earlier in the evening.
After the races, the packed grandstands were in for a real treat with an amazing fireworks display to end the evening.
Grays Harbor Raceway will be back in action this Friday and Saturday night with a double header, as the Summer Thunder Sprint Series will make their second stop to Grays Harbor Raceway for the 360 Nationals. Also on hand will be the Street Stocks for the Street Stocks Nationals. Gates open at 5:30 PM and racing starts at 7 PM.
RESULTS:
Grays Harbor Raceway
Mid Season Championship
July 5, 2014
(All Classes)
USAC Northwest HPD Midget Series:
Fast Time:
14 Garrett Thomas
Scramble:
- 91 Chase Goetz, 2. 29 Dougie James, 3. 8 Chance Crum, 4. 46 Jeremy Miller, 5. 4 Michael Vollbrecht, 6. 2 Ariel Biggs
Feature:
- 91 Chase Goetz, 2. 29 Dougie James, 3. 14 Garrett Thomas, 4. 8 Chance Crum, 5. 46 Jeremy Miller, 6. 2 Ariel Biggs, 7. 8H Lance Hallmark, 8. 3H Hannah Lindquist, 9. 21 Todd Hartmann, 10. 27 Annika Johanson, 11. 4 Michael Vollbrecht
Street Stocks:
Fast Time:
5 Tom Hecker
Scramble:
- 9 Jack Parshall, 2. 97 Eddie Blood, 3. AK47 Austin Kerrigan, 4. 34 Jason Tole, 5. 13XXX Don Briggs Jr. 6. 43 Shane Kerrigan
Feature:
- Jack Parshall, 2. AK47 Austin Kerrigan, 3. 87 Brenton Schnitzer, 4. 13XXX Don Briggs Jr., 5. 40 Mike Knox, 6. 97 Eddie Blood, 7. 17 Brian Izzi, 8. 4 Will Madison, 9. 8 Mike Mann, 10. 91 Mike Clingen, 11. 41 Tim Phillips, 12. 19 Tayler Miller, 13. 34 Jason Tole, 14. 88 George Hohn, 15. 43 Shane Kerrigan, 16. 11 Cory Sweatman, 17. 67 Ryen Haney, 18. 4X Scott Madison, 19. 5 Tom Hecker, 20. 99 Matt Babcock, 21. 23 Nick Bramer
360 Sprint Cars:
Fast Time: 78 Daniel McGrew
Scramble:
- 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 0J Jay Cole, 3. 15 Dan Dunlap, 4. 97R Jason Reed, 5. 25 Michael Hodel, 6. 70 Leroy Hudson
Feature:
- 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 97R Jason Reed, 3. 15 Dan Dunlap, 4. 25 Michael Hodel, 5. 14 Sean Johnson, 6. 70 Leroy Hudson, 7. 78 Daniel McGrew, 8. 1 Bert Johnson, 9. 0J Jay Cole
Outlaw Tuners:
Scramble:
- 75 Chad Norton, 2. 14 Jeff Daniel, 3. 17 Willie Wright, 4. 11 Ryan O'Nasch
Feature:
- 14 Jeff Daniel, 2. 75 Chad Norton, 3. 23 Shane Turner, 4. 11 Ryan O'Nasch, 5. 69 Brittany Diggle, 6. 4. Dale Vacknitz, 7. 8 Dale Vacknitz Jr, 8. 78 Eric Watson, 9. 17 Willie Wright
Modifieds:
Scramble:
- M14 Craig Moore, 2. 14K Kyler Moore, 3. 26 Scott Miller, 4. 3M Josh Muller, 5. 6M Alan Muenchow, 6. 44 Del Schnitzer
Feature:
- M14 Craig Moore, 2. 26 Scott Miller, 3. 14K Kyler Moore, 4. 50K Kris Asche, 5. 3M Josh Muller, 6. 75CDN Graham Cook, 7. 6M Alan Muenchow, 8. 13M Matt Arnold, 9. 1D Dave Burns, 10. 22M Melvin Decker, 11. 44 Del Schnitzer, 12. 4R Bill Rowe, 13. 68 Bubba Foster, 14. 34 Gene Miller, 15. AK47 Austin Kerrigan, 16. 55 Carl Larson, 17. 47 Steve Signal
- Steve Beitler on Jul 07, 2014
- Article Date: 7/7/2014 by Aaron Reed