The fans of Grays Harbor Raceway were treated to another great night of racing, with Round 3 of the Summer Thunder Sprint Series, and the finale of the Street Stock Nationals. The weather was hot, and so was the action on track.
In the Street Stock division, Jack Parshall of Hoquiam was looking to go 3 in a row, as he picked up the win Friday night, but his sights were also set on that $1000 to win. The 30 lap feature had Olympia driver Eddie Blood, and Brenton Schnitzer of Shelton starting on the front row. The field took the green flag with Blood taking the early lead, but Schnitzer was right on his back bumper and made the move for the lead in turn 2, both drivers raced side by side down the back stretch and into turn 3 and 4, with Schnitzer taking the lead on lap 1. Hoquiam driver Brian Izzi would work his way into the third position with Parshall right on his back bumper. The race to watch was between Don Briggs Jr of Wishkah, and Austin Kerrigan of Aberdeen, as they raced for fourth and fifth. Kerrigan ran this bottom, and Briggs Jr up top racing side by side for position. Schnitzer continued to pull away from Blood and Parshall. Parshall would make his move on lap 4 on Blood for second, both drivers would race side by side, Parshall would take over the second position out of turn 2, and set his sights on Schnitzer. The first yellow flag of the feature would come out on Lap 5 for Tacoma's Mike Knox, as he would slow to a stop in turn 2. On the restart, it was Schnitzer, Blood, Parshall, Izzi and Kerrigan, with Schnitzer leading them down. Parshall and Blood would battle for the second position, while Spanaway's Tom Hecker would work his way into the top five. Parshall would work his way around Schnitzer out of turn 4 to take the lead on lap 6 as Schnitzer got a bit to high up the track and that opened the bottom for Parshall. Schnitzer would try the middle groove of the speedway and this allowed Blood, and Hecker to make their move for second and third, while Parshall pulled away from the field. Lap 7 would see another caution for Tim Phillips of Spanaway who slowed to a stop in turn 4. Parshall would lead the field down on the restart and pull away out of turn 2. Out of turn 4, Hecker tried to run the high side, this allowed Schnitzer, Izzi, and Kerrigan to get by. The caution would soon fly once again on Lap 8 for Kelly Fugate of Spanaway. Parshall would lead them on the restart, but the caution would quickly be displayed for Izzi and Schnitzer, as contact was made between both drivers in turn one, and both cars were stuck together. Parshall, Blood, Matt Babcock of Hoquiam, Kerrigan and Hecker would lead the rest of the field to the green flag on the restart. Parshall would pull away, but the battle for second, third, fourth and fifth would soon heat up between Blood, Babcock, Kerrigan, and Cory Sweatman of Aberdeen, Blood and Babcock would race side by side, with Kerrigan right on their back bumpers, Kerrigan would make the move on Babcock in turn 1 to take over third. Parshall would start to pull away from the field as they would battle for position behind him. Another caution would come out on lap 10 for Schnitzer and Phillips, as both cars stopped in turn 4, with Schnitzer spun out. Parshall would once again lead the field down, with Blood and Kerrigan right on his back bumper, Kerrigan and Blood would race side by side out of turn 2 with Blood getting the advantage. The battle for fifth started to get exciting between Sweatman and Briggs Jr, with Babcock and Knox, who slowed to a stop earlier, right behind them. Briggs Jr and Sweatman would race side by side, Briggs Jr getting the advantage down the backstretch, allowing Knox to pull right up on the bumper of Briggs Jr and take the advantage of getting by Sweatman. Kerrigan and Blood would race for second, as Parshall would pull away, Kerrigan would bump Blood on the back bumper, letting him know he was there, as Blood would hold him off for a handful of laps until the caution would fly once again on lap 14 for Michael Brewester of Spanway, spinning to a stop in turn 4. Parshall's restarts were almost flawless, as he would get a great start on the field, Kerrigan would get by Blood for the second position. As Parshall would reach lap traffic, Kerrigan would get close to the back bumper of Parshall and try to work his way to the lead. Parshall would work his way through the traffic until the caution once again would fly on lap 20 for Tim Phillips, that would setup another restart. As the field took the green flag, Parshall would lead them, Blood would move by Kerrigan for the second position, and Izzi would move his way past Kerrigan for third, Kerrigan would get him back as they raced side by side down the front stretch. The final incident of the night would be the first red flag of the year as a multi car incident in turn 3 on lap 25 would involve Knox, who had just worked his way into second, Babcock, Blood, and Nick Bramer of Spanaway. At the end of the 30 lap feature. Jack Parshall would pick up win number four of the season, and three in a row at Grays Harbor Raceway. Not only that, $1000 in winnings. The rest of the top five was Austin Kerrigan, Brenton Schnitzer, who came from the back after being involved with a few incidents, Brian Izzi, and Eddie Blood. Heat race winners were Brian Izzi and Jack Parshall, while Mike Knox picked up quick time.
The final feature of the evening was the 30 lap, $5000 to win, Summer Thunder Sprint Series 360 Nationals feature. Marysville's Colton Heath, and Lake Havasu, Arizona driver Logan Forler lead the 22 car field to the green flag. Heath and Forler would race side by side into turn one and two, with Heath having the slight advantage, a caution would soon come out for Elma's Jason Reed, who spun to a stop in turn 3, also involved was Snohomish driver Derek Roberts, and Luke Didiuk of Vancouver, British Columbia. DIdiuk would make contact with Roberts, and bicycle the car getting up on two wheels but not going over. On the complete restart, Forler would get a good run on the high side of the speedway, and pull away quickly. Slide jobs were traded back and forth between Forney, Texas driver Travis Rilat, and Puyallup's Trey Starks for the fourth and fifth position, with Stanwood driver Jared Peterson working his way into the picture. Forler would soon hit lap traffic, and he would work his way quickly through, until a caution would come out on lap 4 for Snohomish driver Jared Ridge, as he slowed to a stop in turn 4. On the restart, Everett's Jayme Barnes would dive to the bottom of the speedway, to try and make a move on Forler, but the momentum would swing in Forler's favor, this also allowed Rilat to get by Barnes a lap later. Starks would work pull a slide job on Barnes in turn 1 and 2, Barnes would race side by side down the back with Starks. Heath would be right there as well as Peterson as they raced on the top side of the 3/8 banked clay oval. Forler would once again hit lap traffic, with Rilat closing in on him. Forler would time his moves just right on lap traffic to pull away slightly on Rilat. Caution would come out on lap 11 for Derek Roberts, as he slowed to a stop in turn 3. On the restart, Starks would dive bomb into turn one, pulling a slide job on Rilat, Rilat would get by out of turn 2 and down the backstretch. Starks would once again pull another slide job in turn 3, as Barnes would join in the mix making it a three car battle for second. Rilat would get by Starks off of turn four to regain second. The battle between Starks and Rilat was the one to watch, both drivers pulling slide job after slide job for a handful of laps, making it very exciting for the crowd. While this was going on, Forler would pull away from the field, running the high side of the speedway. As the three car battle continued, contact was made between Barnes and Starks down the backstretch, both cars would keep going, this allowed, Heath, Colin Baker of Cottage Grove, Oregon, and Peterson to join in the battle. Lap 15 would see caution once again, as contact was made between Baker and Barnes, sending Barnes into the turn 2 wall. Barnes was unable to return as he had heavy damage on the car. Forler would lead the field down as Rilat would try to reel him in. Most of the field would run the top side of the speedway, as that seem to be the advantage. Lap 19, Forler would once again hit lap traffic, maneuvering his way through the field, but a caution would soon come out on the same lap for Burlington's Kelsey Carpenter, as he would come to a stop on the backstretch. This would allow no lap cars and a open track ahead for Forler. Under the caution, and right before the restart, Starks would come to a stop on the backstretch for a mechanical issue, he did go to the work area, and was able to make it back out. He was running third at the time. On the restart, Rilat stay right with Forler, and would try to make the move into turn 1. Rilat was side by side with Forler out of turn 2 and down the backstretch, but Forler would once again pull away. At then end of all 30 laps, Logan Forler would take the checkered flag, and pick up the $5000 pay check. Travis Rilat, Colin Baker, Jared Peterson, and all the way from the 15th starting position, Enumclaw's Henry Van Dam would round out the top five. Heat race winners were, Jason Solwold of Burlington, Jayme Barnes, Shelton's Jay Cole, and 2014 Dirt Cup Champion Brock Lemley of Bellingham. Colton Heath would pick up fast time.
Racing will resume at Grays Harbor Raceway with something a little different next Saturday night. AMA Grand National Pro Flat Track Series will make it's debut on the 3/8 banked clay oval. Gates open at 3PM, with opening ceremonies at 7PM, and racing at 7:30PM. For more info go to http://www.dandwracing.com/
www.graysharborraceway.com
Street Stocks - Street Stock Nationals
Fast Time
40 Mike Knox
Heat 1:
- 17 Brian Izzi, 2. 97 Eddie Blood, 3. 91 Mike Clingen, 4. 5 Tom Hecker, 5. 3D Shannon Redle, 6. 23 Nick Bramer, 7. 12X Michael Brewster, 8. 40 Mike Knox, 9. 41 Tim Phillips
Heat 2:
- 9 Jack Parshall, 2. 87 Brenton Schnitzer, 3. AK47 Austin Kerrigan, 4. 13XXX Don Briggs Jr, 5. 99 Matt Babcock, 6. 22 Kelly Fugate, 7. 11 Cory Sweatman, 8. 8 Mike Mann, 9. 19 Taylor Miller
Feature:
- Parshall, 2. Kerrigan, 3. Schnitzer, 4. Izzi, 5. Blood, 6. Sweatman, 7. Fugate, 8. Clingen, 9. Miller, 10. Briggs Jr, 11. Knox, 12. Babcock, 13. Bramer, 14. Mann, 15. Redle, 16. Phillips, 17. Brewster, 18. Hecker
Summer Thunder Sprint Series - 360 Nationals
Fast TIme:
33 Colton Heath
Heat 1:
- 18 Jason Solwold, 2. 2L Logan Forler, 3. 33V Henry Van Dam, 4. 33 Colton Heath, 5. 42 Derek Roberts, 6. 22R Mike Romig
Heat 2:
- 9 Jayme Barnes, 2. 12 Jared Ridge, 3. 22 Garen Linder, 4. 55 Trey Starks, 5. 24 Tyler Anderson, 6. 97R Jason Reed
Heat 3:
- 0J Jay Cole, 2. 7N Jared Peterson, 3. 71 Colin Baker, 4. 9R Reece Goetz, 5. 50 Evan Margeson, 6. 21 Phil Schemenauer
Heat 4:
- 14 Brock Lemley, 2. 39C Travis Rilat, 3. 79K Kelsey Carpenter, 4. 98 Matt Jensen, 5. 28 Mark Herz, 6. 9A Luke Didiuk
B-Feature:
- Margeson, 2. Roberts, 3. Anderson, 4. Didiuk, 5. Reed, 6. Herz, 7. Romig, 8. Schemenauer
Feature:
- Forler, 2. Rilat, 3. Baker, 4. Peterson, 5. Van Dam, 6. Solwold, 7. Goetz, 8. Cole, 9. Jensen, 10. Lemley, 11. Starks, 12. Anderson, 13. Herz, 14. Reed, 15. Heath, 16. Linder, 17. Carpenter, 18. Barnes, 19. Roberts, 20. Ridge, 21. Didiuk, 22. Margeson
- Steve Beitler on Jul 14, 2014
- Article Date: 7/13/2014 by Aaron Reed