Fans of Grays Harbor Raceway were treated to another great Saturday night of racing on the 3/8 banked clay oval, with the 360 Sprint Cars, Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, Northwest Focus Midget Series, and the Outlaw Tuners. Not only that, the fans were in for a treat as the night ended when the sky would light up with fireworks.
Outlaw Tuners:
With every feature event this year going to Aberdeen's Willie Wright, he would look to try to make it five in a row. Cody Scouller of Woodland would lead the field down to the green flag, with Wishkah driver George Lovell in second, and Wright in third. Wright would move by Lovell to take over the second position, and set his sights on Scouller. Lovell would have his hands full as Don Briggs Sr. of Wishkah would look to take over the third spot, but could not make the pass. The first yellow flag of the 20 lap feature would come out on lap 2. Elisabeth Knox of Spanaway would get sideways, and clip the 9 of Dale Vacknitz in turn four, causing Vacknitz's bumper to come loose. Scouller would lead the field down to the green flag on the restart, with Wright, Lovell, and Briggs Sr in chase. Scouller would have tough company as Wright would get side by side with him in turn one. Ryan Onasch of Aberdeen would also join in on the battle for third with Briggs Sr, and Lovell, going up the middle to try to take the position. Scouller would continue to lead Wright, as Briggs Sr would be in chase of the leaders. The second yellow of the feature would come out on lap four, this time for a multiple car incident in turn three and four, with Onasch spinning, Dale Vacknitz Jr of Ocean Shores trying to avoid the incident, getting into the wall, as well as Knox getting collected, and Timmy Phillips of Spanaway would also make contact with the wall.
Scouller leading the field down to the green once again, would get a great start, and pull away quickly from Wright and Briggs Sr. Wright would slowly start to catch Scouller on the low side of the raceway, but the yellow would come out for Wright on lap 11, as he would lose a tire and get into the wall in turn four. On the restart Briggs Sr, would try to make a move on Scouller, but at the end of the feature, Scouller would pick up his first career Outlaw Tuner feature. Don Briggs Sr would finish second, and Ryan Onasch would finish third. Cody Scouller would also pick up the heat race win, making his evening a clean sweep.
Northwest Focus Midget Series:
The Northwest Focus Midget Series would see Shelton driver Lee St. Paul and Nick Evans on the front row for the 20 lap feature. St. Paul would bring the field down, with Evans taking the lead. Last weekend's winner Tristin Thomas of Burlington would quickly move into the second position getting around St. Paul in turn two. Thomas would get to the back bumper of Evans, and make a move in turn one on lap 1 for the lead, but Evans would hold him off. Both Tristin Thomas and Evans would race side by side down the backstretch. Thomas would make the move on Evans out of turn four and take the lead. Garrett Thomas of McCleary would get around St. Paul for third, and look to chase down Evans, but the yellow would come out on lap 2 for Nik Larson of Lake Stevens, as he would slow to a stop in turn two. Tristin Thomas would lead the field to the green flag, with Garrett Thomas running the high side of the raceway looking to move into the second position. Shorline's Michael Vollbrecht would also be right there, looking to move by Evans for third, but couldn't make the pass. Tristin Thomas would pull away slightly, but just enough that one mistake could cost him, as Garrett Thomas and Evans would race for second. The battle for the fifth position would be exciting to watch between Ariel Biggs of McCleary and Shorline driver Hannah Lindquist, as they would race side by side for a handful of laps, joining in on the battle would be Doug Anderson of Puyallup, a new driver to the series who also put on an impressive run for his first time in a Focus Midget.
With racing all over the track, Garrett Thomas would start to reel in Tristin Thomas for the lead. Getting closer to the back bumper, and on lap 11, Garrett Thomas would look to the inside of Tristin Thomas, racing side by side for position. Tristin Thomas would maintain the lead, but it didn't take long for Garrett to make his move, getting to the back bumper once again. Lap 14, Garrett Thomas would make a move going into turn one, and taking the lead from Tristin Thomas. Garrett Thomas would slowly start to pull away, and would go on to pick up his second win at Grays Harbor Raceway for 2015, and his third win of the year for the Northwest Focus Midget Series. Tristin Thomas, Nick Evans, Michael Vollbrecht, and Doug Anderson would round out the top five. Heat race wins would go to Tristin Thomas, and Garrett Thomas, with Tristin Thomas getting quick time.
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks:
The 20 lap feature for the Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks would be an exciting one for the fans at Grays Harbor Raceway. Olympia's Eddie Blood, and Jack Parshall of Hoquiam would lead the field down to the green flag. The ones to beat this year so far is the father and son team of Austin and Shane Kerrigan, and it didn't take long for them to get to the front. Shane Kerrigan would race side by side with Blood for the lead out of turn two. Blood would hold them off, as Parshall would look to take over the second spot. The first yellow of the 20 lap feature would come out on lap 2, as Elma's Tyler Walker would spin in turn four, and Ocosta driver Mike Clingen would make contact with the front stretch wall, with the rear of his car. Blood would lead the field down to the green flag, with Shane Kerrigan on his back bumper, Kerrigan would take the lead coming out of turn two, with a lot of momentum on the bottom of the raceway. Austin Kerrigan would move into the third spot, getting by Parshall, and looking to get by Blood for second. Austin Kerrigan would get by Blood, on the low side of the raceway, and get to the back bumper of Shane Kerrigan down the backstretch on lap three. The yellow flag would come out on lap 6, once again for Walker, as he would spin in turn two.
Shane Kerrigan would lead Austin Kerrigan, Blood, Parshall, and Shelton's Brenton Schnitzer to the green flag on the restart. Kerrigan would get a good restart, but it didn't take long for his son Austin to be right there. The battle for the fourth position between Schnitzer and Parshall, would be exciting to watch, with Schnitzer taking over the position. Parshall would have his hands full as Jason Tole of Hoquiam, and Mike Knox Jr of Tacoma would be right there to try and take over the fifth position. Lap 9 would see a caution, this time for Ross Watkins of South Prairie, he would slow in turn two. Shane Kerrigan once again would get a great restart, with Austin Kerrigan, Blood, and Schnitzer behind him, Schnitzer would battle for third with Blood, as Austin Kerrigan would try to make a move on Shane Kerrigan, but could not make the pass. Lap 13 would see Aberdeen's Cory Sweatman have mechanical issues and slow in turn one. Shane Kerrigan's car would look really good on the restarts, but he had no room for mistakes, as his son Austin Kerrigan would be right there at his back bumper. Throughout the field there would be three wide racing, including a three wide battle between Tole, Schnitzer and Blood, until Schnitzer and Blood would make contact with Blood spinning on the backstretch, collecting Don Briggs Jr of Wishkah, and Ocean Shore's driver Jeff Daniel on lap 14.
At the end of the feature, Shane Kerrigan would pick up his second win of the season. Jason Tole, Austin Kerrigan, Brenton Schnitzer, and Jack Parshall would round out the top five. Blood, Parshall, and Shane Kerrigan would also pick up heat race wins, with Blood picking up fast time.
Shipwreck Beads Modifieds:
One of the most exciting classes at Grays Harbor Raceway are the Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, and they once again did not disappoint on another great feature event. Kris Asche of Shelton would set the field, with Campbell River, British Columbia driver Jason Beaulieu on the outside. Asche and Beaulieu would race side by side down into turn one, with Beaulieu taking the lead out of turn two. Tom Sweatman of Cosmopolis who has one feature win this season, would also join in on the battle, but the yellow flag would come out for Olympia's Steve Signal, as he would stop in turn four. With a complete restart, Asche and Beaulieu would lead the field down again, with Asche taking the lead, Beaulieu would work the high side of the raceway and take the lead, but once again, the yellow would come out for a multiple car incident in turn four, involving Graham Cook of Port Hardy, British Columbia, Don Martin of Yakima, Carl Larson of Kelso, Olympia driver Alan Muenchow, and more. Third time would be a charm on getting the feature under way, with Beaulieu once again getting the lead. Asche would run in second, with Sweatman on his back bumper. Shelton's Scott Miller would move into the fourth position, and James Wolfard of Bremerton would run in fifth. Beaulieu would pull away slightly, but it didn't take long for Sweatman to get to his back bumper, and look for the lead on lap 3 in turn two. Beaulieu would get the lead back slightly and race side by side with Sweatman. Beaulieu would run the low side of the raceway, with Sweatman up on the top groove, Sweatman would take over the lead on lap 5, and start to pull away from Beaulieu. Just as Sweatman would have a good lead on Beaulieu, the caution would come out on lap 6, for Bill Rowe of Raymond, as he would spin in the middle of turns one and two.
Sweatman would lead Beaulieu, Asche, and Scott Miller to the green flag with a great restart, and start to pull away from the field. Beaulieu would have his hands full as Asche would look to make a charge on him for the second position. Asche working the cushion of the 3/8 clay oval would get close to Beaulieu's back bumper, but couldn't make the pass. One of the exciting battles to watch on the raceway, would be between Wolfard, who was involved in an earlier incident, and Cle Elum driver Aaron Weston, as they would battle for the sixth position, racing side by side for a handful of laps. Sweatman would make his lead on the field to almost a straightaway, looking very dominant on the high side of the raceway, while Beaulieu and Asche would once again put on a battle for the second position. Beaulieu would look to try and make a run on Sweatman on the last restart of the feature, but could not get close enough to make that move. Tom Sweatman would go on to pick up his second feature of the 2015 season. Jason Beaulieu, Kris Asche, Graham Cook, and Scott Miller would round out the top five. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Kris Asche, Jason Beaulieu, and Shane Kerrigan.
360 Sprint Cars:
With the 360 Sprint Cars back in action this weekend, Henry Van Dam of Enumclaw and Shelton's Jay Cole would lead the field down for the 25 lap feature. Cole would take the early lead from Van Dam, and put on one exciting start to the feature, trading slide jobs between both drivers. Just as the race was getting very exciting the red flag would come out for Mike Adkins of Bellevue, as he would get upside down in turn three. He would walk away from the accident. Cole would lead the field down on the restart, with Van Dam right on his back bumper. Van Dam would look to make a move out of turn two, racing side by side with Cole, and pulling a slide job in turn three. Cole would turn it back down and make a pass down into turn one. Van Dam would once again pull the same slide job in turn three, and getting momentum off the cushion and take the lead on lap 7. The yellow would come out on lap 8, for Snohomish driver Chase Goetz who would get into the turn four wall. Van Dam would lead Cole, Evan Margeson of Tacoma, and Quilcene's JJ Hickle to the green flag. Margeson would look to make a move on Cole for second, but couldn't pull the slide job off, as he would run the low side of the raceway. Van Dam would look dominant on the high side and start to pull away from the field. The battle to watch would be between Margeson, and Hickle for the third position, as Hickle would make the pass out of turn two.
Van Dam would continue to pull away from the field, until a late race caution would come out for Vancouver's Mike Romig, as he would come to a stop in turn four, on lap 17. Van Dam would lead Cole, and Hickle to the green on the restart, with Cole trying to make a pass attempt, but couldn't do it, as Van Dam once again would run the high side, right rear on the cushion. Henry Van Dam would go on to take the checkered flag, with Jay Cole, JJ Hickle, Evan Margeson and Everett driver Tyler Anderson rounding out the top five. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were JJ Hickle and Tyler Anderson, with Henry Van Dam picking up fast time.
After the races the fans were treated to a very exciting fireworks display to close out a great night of racing at Grays Harbor Raceway. Racing will continue next Saturday night with the Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, and the first visit of the year from the Pacific Hard Top Racing Association Dwarf Cars. Gates open at 5:30 PM, and racing starts at 7PM.
- Steve Beitler on May 24, 2015
- Article Date: 5/24/2015 by Aaron Reed