Elma, WA - Grays Harbor Raceway saw great racing action on the 3/8 banked clay oval for PEPSI Night at the Races. 360 Sprint Cars, Northwest Focus Midget Series, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, and the Outlaw Tuners.
360 Sprint Cars
Trevor Cook of Sedro Woolley set the pole of the 25 lap feature and took the early lead. Valleyview Alberta driver Steve Reeves look to the outside of Cook in turn two, but couldn't make the pass. Colton Heath of Marysville moved into the third position, with Snohomish driver Chase Goetz in fourth and Monroe's Jake Helsel sitting fifth. Cook running the bottom of the raceway led the opening lap with Reeves looking to catch any mistake. Reeves would get by Cook out of turn three on lap 2 with Helsel taking over second from Cook on the same lap. The first caution of the feature came out for Cook as he spun to a stop in turn 2 on lap 5. Reeves had tough company with Helsel and Heath right on his back bumper. Reeves slowly pulled away from Helsel as Heath look to the low side of Helsel for second. Contact between Quilcene's JJ Hickle and Reece Goetz of Snohomish brought out the caution as Goetz spun to a stop in turn four on lap 10. Heath looked to the inside of Reeves on the restart, but the yellow flag flew for Elma's Jason Reed, spinning in turn one.
Heath look to the inside groove of the raceway to get the lead from Reeves on the start, but couldn't complete the pass. Heath tried again a few laps later in turn four and took the lead on lap 12. It didn't take long for Heath to stretch his lead on Reeves and the rest of the field, as Hickle and Enumclaw driver Henry Van Dam battled for fourth. Van Dam quickly set his sights on Helsel for third and picking up the position on lap 14. Lap 20 saw the caution flag fly for Hickle after making contact with the turn two wall bringing out a late race caution. Van Dam look to make a slide job move on the restart in turn two, but couldn't make the pass. Heath continued to lead, having the momentum on the low side of the raceway and would go on to pick up the 360 Sprint Car feature win. Van Dam, Jay Cole, Chase Goetz, and Reece Goetz rounded out the top five. Earlier in the evening Van Dam and Travis Jacobson won the heat races with fast time going to Helsel.
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks
Jeff Daniel of Ocean Shores and Aberdeen driver Austin Kerrigan set the front row of the 20 lap feature for the Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks. Daniel and Kerrigan raced side by side into turn one with Daniel taking the early lead momentarily as Kerrigan raced him side by side down the backstretch. Kerrigan took the lead in turn three. Daniel had tough company as Hoquiam's Jack Parshall looked to move into the second position. Parshall moved into the second spot quickly and set his sights on Kerrigan for the lead. Olympia driver Tyson Blood and Hoquiam's Jason Tole battled for the fourth and fifth spot as Tom Hecker of Spanaway joined in on the battle. The first caution of the feature saw Hecker slow to a stop in turn three on lap 6. Kerrigan led Parshall, Blood, Daniel and Tole to the green on the restart. Kerrigan running the middle of the raceway looked to pull away slightly as Parshall and Blood battled for the second position. Parshall maintained the position and got to the back bumper of Kerrigan. Caution flag waved once again for Spanaway driver Doug Brewster, as he spun to a stop on the front stretch on lap 7.
The restart allowed Parshall and Blood to make their move for the lead on Kerrigan. Blood raced side by side with Parshall as Kerrigan led the field down on the restart. Parshall continued to run second, as he had the momentum on the bottom of the raceway. A pair of cautions bunched the field up, allowing Parshall and Blood a handful of chances to get by Kerrigan for the lead. A long green flag run saw Kerrigan, Parshall and Blood battle for the lead. Parshall looked to the outside a handful of times at Kerrigan for the lead, but couldn't make the pass. A late race caution saw Parshall make his move for the lead out of turn four, racing three wide with Kerrigan and Blood down the front stretch. Parshall took the lead out of turn two on lap 17 and went on to pick up the win. Austin Kerrigan, Blood, Tole, and Daniel rounded out the top five. Earlier in the evening Parshall, Blood and Austin Kerrigan won their heat races with Parshall picking up fast time.
Northwest Focus Midget Series
Todd Hartmann of Bothell led the field to the green flag on the 25 lap Northwest Focus Midget Series feature. Hartmann took the early lead over Doug Davidson of Monroe. Davidson look to the outside of Hartmann out of turn two, but couldn't make the pass for the lead. Shoreline's Hannah Lindquist joined in on the battle, along with Chance Crum of Lake Stevens. Just as the action started to heat up, the red flag flew for Shelton's Lee St. Paul and Michael Vollbrecht of Shoreline, both getting upside down in turn four. Hartmann once again took the lead on the restart, with Davidson, Lindquist and Tacoma's Jonathan Jorgenson getting in on the action. Hartmann looked quick on the low side of the raceway but had no room for mistake with Davidson right on his back bumper. Marysville driver Nick Evans worked his way into the top five racing with Lindquist and Crum for the fourth and fith position. Jorgenson looked to the inside of Davidson for second on lap 3 and took the position in turn three. Lap 5 saw Jorgenson run the low side of the raceway in turn four and take the lead from Hartmann and slowly pull away from the rest of the field.
Third through sixth position saw a great battle between Davidson, Evans, Lindquist, Crum and Tristin Thomas of Burlington, with Evans moving into third around Davidson on lap 7. Jorgenson continued to stretch the lead over Hartmann looking comfortable out front. Hartmann saw Evans look to the inside line and make the pass out of turn four. Evans quickly pulled away, looking to track down Jorgenson for the lead. The battle for third was one of the many battles to watch as Tristin Thomas and Hartmann, battled for a handful of laps. Thomas would get by Hartmann for third and looked to catch Jorgenson and Evans through lap traffic. Evans caught Jorgenson on the long green flag run through the lap traffic and took the lead on lap 15 in turn three. Tristin Thomas moved into the second spot a few laps later around Jorgenson, looking to track down Evans for the lead.
A late race caution on lap 20 for Ray Stebbins of Seattle spinning in turn four saw a 5 lap battle between Evans and Tristin Thomas. Evans led the field to the green flag with Thomas on his back bumper. Thomas took the lead from Evans on lap 21 with a pass in turn one, making slight contact with Evans. Evans looked to the low side down the backstretch, racing side by side with Thomas, but couldn't make the pass. As the white flag waved, Evans looked to make one last attempt at Thomas for the win. Evans was there, waiting for the chance to make a move and did out of turn four coming to the checkered flag, picking up the win by 0.029 over Tristin Thomas. Jorgenson, Garrett Thomas, and Eric Turner rounded out the top five. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Tristin Thomas, Garrett Thomas and Turner, with Tristin Thomas picking up fast time.
Outlaw Tuners
Tenino's Josh Wharton and Aberdeen driver Cory Sweatman set the front row of the 15 lap Outlaw Tuner feature. Sweatman took the early lead from Wharton and slowly pulled away. Wishkah driver Don Briggs Sr moved into the third spot as Brittany Diggle of Montesano sat in fourth. The first caution of the feature event would fly for Tenino's Chad Norton. Norton lost a wheel going into turn one and stopped in turn two on lap 3. Sweatman was quick on the restarts and pulled away from Wharton. Diggle and Briggs Sr battled for third, but the caution waved this time for Tyler Sundstrom of Aberdeen, spinning in turn two on lap 4. Sweatman looked to be the driver to beat during the Outlaw Tuners feature quickly jumping out front and pulling away from the field. A lap 7 incident between Timmi Foster of Tumwater and Kaleya Onasch of Wishkah allowed a late race restart giving Diggle and Briggs Sr a shot at the lead. Diggle looked to try and make the pass but didn't have the momentum. Sweatman would go on to win the Outlaw Tuner feature with Briggs Sr, Wharton, Diggle and Onasch rounding out the top five. Winning heat races earlier in the evening were Wharton and Sweatman
Racing will resume next Saturday for Budweiser Night at the Fair during the Grays Harbor County Fair. The Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks will have the Iron Man Street Stock Challenge. Also in action will be the Shipwreck Beads Modifieds and Outlaw Tuners. Entry to the fair will get you free admission into the races. Racing will begin earlier then normal as the first green flag is set to fly at 5PM.
Grays Harbor Raceway
August 6, 2016
360 Sprint Cars:
Fast Time:
44 Jake Helsel
Heat 1:
- 33V Henry Van Dam, 2. 33 Colton Heath, 3. 5R Steve Reeves, 4. 44 Jake Helsel, 5. 9R Reece Goetz, 6. 33s Lance Sargent
Heat 2:
- 5T Travis Jacobson, 2. 91 Chase Goetz, 3. 3 JJ Hickle, 4. 22X Trevor Cook, 5. 97R Jason Reed, 6. 9A Luke Didiuk, 7. 1 Todd Hartmann, 8. 0J Jay Cole
A-Main:
- Heath, 2. Van Dam, 3. Cole, 4. Chase Goetz, 5. Reece Goetz, 6. Jacobson, 7. Helsel, 8. Reeves, 9. Didiuk, 10. Sargent, 11. Nick Evans, 12. Hickle, 13. Reed, 14. Cook
Northwest Focus Midgets Series:
Fast Time:
9T Tristin Thomas
Heat 1:
- 9T Tristin Thomas, 2. 83 Chance Crum, 3. 3H Hannah Lindquist, 4. 21 Todd Hartmann, 5. 2A Renee Angel, 6. 99 Joe Benedetti, 7. 4 Michael Vollbrecht
Heat 2:
- 14 Garrett Thomas, 2. 24 Nick Evans, 3. 19 Thomas Walker, 4. 23 Michael Millard, 5. 17 Chris Bullock, 6. 13A Aly Pyles
Heat 3:
- 29T Eric Turner, 2. 2J Jonathan Jorgenson, 3. 14D Doug Davidson, 4. 34s Lee St. Paul, 5. 30 Ray Stebbins, 6. 5 Chad Sinner
A-Main:
- Evans, 2. Tristin Thomas, 3. Jorgenson, 4. Garrett Thomas, 5. Turner, 6. Crum, 7. Lindquist, 8. Walker, 9. Millard, 10. St. Paul, 11. Davidson, 12. Bullock, 13. Angel, 14. Benedetti, 15. Pyles, 16. Stebbins, 17. Hartmann, 18. Vollbrecht
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks:
Fast Time:
9 Jack Parshall
Heat 1:
- 9 Jack Parshall, 2. 14 Jeff Daniel, 3. 43 Shane Kerrigan, 4. 01 Craig Loomis, 5. 42 Scott Fritts, 6. 78 Josh Anthony, 7. 420 Dave Forte
Heat 2:
- 97 Tyson Blood, 2. 5 Tom Hecker, 3. 87 Brenton Schnitzer, 4. 99B Brandon Babcock, 5. 22X Kelly Fugate, 6. 61 Dave Larson
Heat 3:
- AK47 Austin Kerrigan, 2. 34 Jason Tole, 3. 60 Kelly Foster, 4. 19 Taylor Miller, 5. 42R Daryl Brumfield, 6. 12 Doug Brewster
A-Main:
- Parshall, 2. Austin Kerrigan, 3. Blood, 4. Tole, 5. Daniel, 6. Fritts, 7. Shane Kerrigan, 8. Loomis, 9. Fugate, 10. Foster, 11. Babcock, 12. Larson, 13. Frote, 14. Miller, 15. Schnitzer, 16. Brumfield, 17. Anthony, 18. Hecker, 19. Brewster
Outlaw Tuners:
Heat 1:
59 Josh Wharton
Heat 2:
11 Cory Sweatman
A-Main:
- 11 Cory Sweatman, 2. 13XXX Don Briggs Sr., 3. 59 Josh Wharton, 4. 50 Brittany Diggle, 5. 22 Kaleya Onasch, 6. 23 Tyler Sundstrom, 7. 3 Max Sanford, 8. 96 George Lovell, 9. 63 Timmi Foster, 10. 21XL Robert Shoberg, 11. 75 Chad Norton
- Steve Beitler on Aug 08, 2016
- Article Date: 8/8/2016 by Aaron Reed