Elma, WA - Temperatures throughout the day were in the low 90's and a huge crowd was treated to some great racing action on the 3/8 banked clay oval as the Rolling Thunder Big Rigs made their annual appearance to Grays Harbor Raceway. Also on hand were the Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks and Outlaw Tuners:
Rolling Thunder Big Rigs
Tammi Rodstrom of Puyallup led the field to the green flag on the 25 lap Rolling Thunder Big Rigs feature, taking the early lead from Chehalis driver Jay Steiger. Josh Sanaski of Napavine moved into the second spot and looked to run down Rodstrom for the lead. Rick Casebolt of Yelm in the Seattle Seahawks 12th Man themed truck moved into the third spot getting around Steiger. Last year's event winner Dave Barr of Centralia was a man on a mission setting his sights on the top three trucks. Rodstrom and Sanaski battled for the lead with Casebolt right there behind them. Rodstrom and Sanaski raced side by side for a handful of laps before Sanaski took the lead on lap 6 in turn three. Barr looked to be the quickest truck on the raceway moving into second around Rodstrom, but Barr brought tough company as Renton driver Dustin Smith joined in on the action. Barr took the lead from Sanaski on lap 12 and slowly pulled away from the field.
Lap 16 saw the caution flag for debris in turn three. Barr led the field to the green flag and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. The battle for second between Sanaski and Smith was the race to watch as both trucks raced side by side for a handful of laps. Smith moved into second around Sanaski and looked to track down Barr for the lead. Smith looked to the inside groove for the lead on lap 20 as Barr ran the high side. Smith took the lead out of turn four on lap 22. Barr gave it all he had trying to make a last lap pass out of turn four, but Dustin Smith held on to pick up the win. Barr, Scott Zahn, Sanaski and Leo Morris rounded out the top five. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Casebolt and Smith.
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks
Tom Hecker of Spanaway and Shelton's Brenton Schnitzer set the front row of the 20 lap Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks feature. Schnitzer took the early lead from Hecker as Hoquiam's Jason tole moved into the second spot. The battle for fourth was a father/son battle between Austin and Shane Kerrigan of Aberdeen. Shane Kerrigan would take over the fourth spot. The battle for the lead between Schnitzer and Tole had the fans up on their feet, Tole took the lead from Schnitzer on lap 3. Lap 4 saw the caution flag for Hoquiam's Jack Parshall as he slowed to a stop on the front stretch. The restart saw Tole jump out to the lead and pull away quickly from Schnitzer and Shane Kerrigan. Shane looked to try and take over the second spot from Schnitzer down the backstretch but couldn't make the pass. Austin Kerrigan continued to race hard against his father Shane for the third spot. Lap 10 saw the caution once again this time for Doug Brewster of Spanaway slowing to a stop on the backstretch.
On the restart Tole looked strong on the low side of the raceway as Austin Kerrigan battled Schnitzer for second. Kerrigan took over the spot, looking to track down Tole for the lead. Tole slowly pulled away from Kerrigan as Schnitzer was right at his back bumper to try and take back the second position. The Battle for fourth between Shane Kerrigan and Jeff Daniel of Ocean Shores saw Daniel try to make the pass out of turn four but Kerrigan had more momentum on the high side. Jason Tole continued to pull away and went on to pick up the feature win, Austin Kerrigan, Schnitzer, Hecker and Scott Fritts of Montesano rounded out the top five. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Tyson Blood of Olympia and Parshall. Blood was also fast time.
Outlaw Tuners
The 15 lap Outlaw Tuners feature saw Don Briggs Sr of Wishkah lead the field to the green flag. Cory Sweatman of Aberdeen took the early lead from Briggs Sr out of turn three on the opening lap. Sweatman quickly pulled away from Briggs Sr but the caution flag flew on lap three as contact between Tenino driver Chad Norton and Robert Shoberg of Aberdeen saw Shoberg spin down the backstretch. Sweatman led the field to the green flag on the restart, Briggs Sr look to try and make a pass out of turn four but Sweatman looked strong on the high side of the raceway. Briggs tried again a lap later in turn one and raced side by side down the backstretch and quickly took the lead going into turn four. Sweatman looked to the inside out of four and got the lead back as Tenino's Josh Wharton joined in on the battle. All three drivers quickly pulled away from the field.
Sweatman slowly pulled away from the field as Wharton and Briggs Sr battled for second. Wharton looked to the low side of the raceway to try and make the pass multiple times throughout the feature, but Briggs had more momentum up on the high side. Wharton took the second spot away from Briggs Sr. on lap 12 and looked to track down Sweatman for the lead. At the end of the 15 lap feature, Cory Sweatman would make it three in a row and pick up the feature win. Wharton, Briggs Sr, Brittany Diggle of Montesano and Aberdeen's Tyler Sundstrom rounded out the top five. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Briggs Sr, and Sweatman.
Racing will resume next Saturday night as the 360 Sprint Cars, Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, PHRA Dwarf Cars and Outlaw Tuners will be on hand. Gates open at 5:30pm with racing beginning at 7:00pm.
Grays Harbor Raceway
August 20, 2016
Rolling Thunder Big Rigs
Heat 1:
12 Rick Casebolt
Heat 2:
17 Dustin Smith
A-Main:
- 17 Dustin Smith, 2. 10 Dave Barr, 3. 7 Scott Zahn, 4. 88 Josh Sanaski, 5. 76 Leo Morris, 6. 27 Jay Steiger, 7. 12 Rick Casebolt, 8. 9 Tammi Rodstrom, 9. 06 Tom Rayton
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks
Fast Time:
97 Tyson Blood
Heat 1:
- 97 Tyson Blood, 2. 14 Jeff Daniel, 3. 43 Shane Kerrigan, 4. 87 Brenton Schnitzer, 5. 42 Scott Fritts, 6. 19 Taylor Miller, 7. 12 Doug Brewster, 8. 01 Zeb Conrad
Heat 2:
- 9 Jack Parshall, 2. AK47 Austin Kerrigan, 3. 34 Jason Tole, 4. 5 Tom Hecker, 5. 22X Kelly Fugate, 6. 78 Josh Anthony, 7. 00 Kirk McGinnis
A-Main:
- Tole, 2. Austin Kerrigan, 3. Schnitzer, 4. Hecker, 5. Fritts, 6. Fugate, 7. Anthony, 8. McGinnis, 9. Shane Kerrigan, 10. Daniel, 11. Blood, 12. Conrad, 13. Brewster, 14. Parshall, 15. Miller
Outlaw Tuners:
Heat 1:
- 13XXX Don Briggs Sr, 2. 59 Josh Wharton, 3. 21XL Robert Shoberg, 4. 50 Brittany Diggle, 5. 33X Jason Parmelee
Heat 2:
- 11 Cory Sweatman, 2. 23 Tyler Sundstrom, 3. 3 Max Sanford, 4. 75 Chad Norton, 5. 0 Layne Smith
A-Main:
- Sweatman, 2. Wharton, 3. Briggs Sr, 4. Diggle, 5. Sundstrom, 6. Smith, 7. Sanford, 8. Parmelee, 9. Shoberg, 10. Norton
- Steve Beitler on Aug 23, 2016
- Article Date: 8/23/2016 by Aaron Reed