With the temperature close to the mid 80's, the weather was perfect for another night of racing at Grays Harbor Raceway with the 360 Sprint Cars, Street Stocks, and Outlaw Tuners.
In the Street Stocks division, Jack Parshall of Hoquiam, was looking to start where he left off with another win. Parshall would start deep in the 25 lap feature. Aberdeen's Shane Kerrigan, and Brenton Schnitzer of Shelton started on the front row. Schnitzer and Kerrigan would race side by side down the front stretch and into turn one. Kerrigan would pull to the lead out of turn two. Schnitzer would pull side by side with Kerrigan on lap 1 out of turn four, but Kerrigan would retain the lead down the front stretch. Coming out of turn two, Kerrigan's car would start to smoke heavily. He would lead for another lap, until finally pulling to the infield, this allowed Olympia driver Eddie Blood to get around Schnitzer for second, and inherit the lead after Kerrigan pulled off the track. The first caution of the evening would come out on lap 4, Mike Clingen of Westport would slow to a stop in turn two.
On the restart, Blood would continue to lead, Tacoma's Mike Knox would pull into the second position, but the caution would soon come out once again for Schnitzer, who would spin in turn four, collecting Wishkah's Don Briggs Jr, and Parshall. The second restart would see Blood once again take the lead, with Knox, and Austin Kerrigan of Aberdeen running in the top three. Knox would be on the back bumper of Blood, trying to chase him down, but the yellow would come out on lap 5 for a slowing Nick Brammer of Spanaway. On the restart, Blood would once again take the lead, Kerrigan would move into the second position, but just as the green flag flew, the yellow would come out for Kelly Fugate of Spanaway who would slow to a stop in turn three.
As the field would come down to a single file restart, Blood would get a good start on Knox. Kerrigan would move into the second position around Knox out of turn two, with Parshall and Hoquiam's Brian Izzi in chase. Parshall would get around Knox for third and set his sights on Kerrigan. Blood would pull away slightly on the field, as Kerrigan and Parshall would battle for position. Knox, who was running up front would slow in turn three and four, but would pull his car to the infield. Blood would pull away from Kerrigan and Parshall, as both of them would continue to battle for second. Parshall would get around Kerrigan a few laps later and go after Blood who would hit lap traffic, Blood and Parshall would split a lap car going out of turn two. Parshall right on the back bumper of Blood, as both drivers would manuver through lap traffic. Parshall would look to the inside of Blood out of turn four, both drivers would race side by side down the front stretch and into turn one. Parshall would take the lead out of turn two and never look back.
At the end of the 25 lap feature, Jack Parshall would pick up his sixth win of the season, Eddie Blood, Austin Kerrigan, Brian Izzi and Brenton Schnitzer would round out the top five. Winning the heat races were Brenton Schnitzer and Shane Kerrigan, with Jack Parshall picking up quick time.
In the 360 Sprint Car division Enumclaw's Henry Van Dam and Mike Romig of Vancouver would start on the front row of the 25 lap feature. The field would take the green, with Van Dam getting the early lead. Shelton's Jay Cole would move into the second position, but the red flag would fly for a double flip in turn four. Elma's Jason Reed, and Evan Margeson of Tacoma would both go for a wild ride. Everett driver Tyler Anderson would also spin to avoid the incident. Both drivers did walk away. On the restart Van Dam would get the lead again, with Cole, and Marysville driver Colton Heath moving around Cole for second. Heath would look to chase down Van Dam. Heath would look to the inside of Van Dam going into turn two a lap later, with Van Dam on the high side, and Heath on the bottom. Van Dam would get the advantage down the back stretch. Heath would look to try and take the lead out of turn four, but Van Dam had the momentum on the top side of the 3/8's banked clay oval.
Van Dam would continue to lead, with Heath, Cole, Romig, and Anderson running the top five. Anderson would battle with Romig for the fourth position for a few laps, eventually getting by Romig and setting his sights on Cole. Van Dam would continue to lead as he would hit lap traffic, with Heath right behind him, looking for an advantage through the lap traffic. The only caution of the feature would come out on lap 8 for Romig who would spin in the middle of turn three and four. On the restart, Heath would look to the inside of Van Dam for the lead going into turn one, but Van Dam once again had the momentum on the high side. Meanwhile, Anderson would get by Cole for third on that restart, Cole and Anderson would race side by side for about a lap, but Anderson would pull away.
Van Dam would start to pull away from Heath once again, and go on to win the 25 lap feature. Colton Heath, Tyler Anderson, Jay Cole, and Poulsbo driver Garrett Johnson would round out the top five. Van Dam and Romig would both pick up the heat races, with Evan Margeson setting quick time.
After a wild ride earlier this year, Willie Wright of Aberdeen was looking for redemption in the Outlaw Tuners division. Wright would start on the pole of the 15 lap feature with Tenino's Chad Norton on the outside. As the field took the green flag, Wright would take the lead, but the yellow would quickly come out as Ocean Shores driver Jeff Daniel, and Wishkah's Brittany Diggle would make contact in turn one, setting up a complete restart for the field. On the restart, Wright would take the lead, with Norton, Aberdeen's Ryan O'Nasch, and Don Briggs Sr. of Wishkah right there. Wright would pull away slightly as Norton, O'Nasch, and Briggs Sr, would battle for the second, third, and fourth position.
O'Nasch and Briggs Sr would battle for the third spot, racing side by side, going into turn three both drivers would make a move on Norton for second. With a lot of bumping going on, Briggs Sr would make a dive bomb move on O'Nasch and Norton for the second spot, O'Nasch would take advantage of this and move under Briggs Sr. for second. Briggs Sr would battle back at O'Nasch in turn four, racing side by side down the front stretch and into turn one. Briggs Sr. would pull away slightly with O'Nasch right there with him. Wright would continue to pull away from the field, making his lead comfortable as O'Nasch and Briggs Sr would battle for second. O'Nasch would pull away from Briggs Sr. as Norton would be right on the back bumper ready to take over that third position. Briggs Sr. would soon have problems with his car, allowing Norton to take over the third position down the backstretch. Wright would hit lap traffic, with O'Nasch closing in, looking to to take the lead. Wright would patiently work around the first lap car he would come up on, but O'Nasch would be right there. O'Nasch would look to make a move on Wright for the lead, but contact in turn four between both drivers would cause issues for O'Nasch and he would bring out the caution in turn one.
On a green, white, checkered restart, Wright would take the lead, with Norton right on his back bumper in chase. Wright would pull away enough, and go on to win the 15 lap feature. Chad Norton, Dale Vacknitz of Ocean Shores, Jeff Daniel, and Ocean Shore's driver Dale Vacknitz Jr. would round out the top five. Willie Wright would also pick up the heat race win.
Racing will return next Saturday night at Grays Harbor Raceway as it will be Budweiser Night at the Fair race during the Grays Harbor County Fair. With fair admission, the races are free for the fans.
The races will start two hours earlier then normal, with the gates opening at 3:30pm with racing starting at 5:00pm. For more information go to www.graysharborraceway.com
- Steve Beitler on Aug 04, 2014
- Article Date: 8/4/2014 by Speedway Staff