Fast Friday and Logger’s Cup Race Recap
August 11th was another FREE Fast Friday at the Speedway and the fans got way more than their money’s worth for this one! Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds and Late Models filled the pits for a quick 2 class night of action
John Campos set quick time in the Mohawk Metal Modifieds with a 14.388 and Casey Vitale was the Late Model quick timer with a 12.926!
James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Race wins went to Collen Winebarger, Aaron Sheelar, and Grey Ferrando in the Modified class and Joey Tanner, Bryan Norton, and Steve Moore picked up the Late Model heat race wins.
Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash trophies were taken home by Grey Ferrando and Trent Elliott.
The Mohawk Metal Modified B Main was up next and had a lot of fast cars, anyone not finishing in the top 5 in James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races would have to run the B Main and only the top 5 would make the A. John Campos made an impressive run from the back to easily win the B Main followed by Gus Cooper, Brian Thompson, Jake Mayden, and Zach Fettinger who would all go to the show.
A 6-car invert put the Heat Winners starting 4th thru 6th and Mike Peters and Thomas Hunziker shared the front row, Hunziker got the start and led until lap 6 when Joey Tanner got by him and never looked back leading all the way to the checkered flag. Collen Winebarger made an impressive run from last to 2nd and was challenging Tanner for the lead when his car died in turn 4 and sent him to the pits early. Following Tanner to the checkers was Casey Vitale, Trent Elliott, Thomas Hunziker, and Kye Frick.
20 of the fastest Modifieds in the Northwest entered the track for the final race of the night led by Greg McDonald & Aaron Sheelar. Sheelar led the field by lap 1 and looked as tho he was on his way to another win but Jesse Williamson had other plans and on lap 19 took over the lead and added another win to his impressive resume. Sheelar ended up 2nd, Eric Ashley 3rd, Bricen James 4th and Collen Winebarger rounded out the top 5.
The dust from an exciting night of racing had barely settled and drivers were back for night number 2. Joining the Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds, and Late Models were the Todd’s Auto Body Sprints and the PHRA Dwarf Cars for the 2017 edition of the Logger’s Cup! 30 Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds, 25 Late Models, 18 Todd’s Auto Body Sprints, and 21 PHRA Dwarf Cars made the trip to Cottage Grove Speedway for a very full night of racing!
Quick times of the night went to Late Model driver Joey Tanner with a 13.650, Mohawk Metal IMCA Modified driver Jimmy Whisler with a 14.873, Todd’s Auto Body Sprint driver Ricky Ashley with a 11.991, and the quick time in the PHRA Dwarf class went to John Chrisman with a 15.746.
James Heating and Air Conditioning Heat races saw the first bits of side by side racing action of the night and there were some great battles. Dwarf car wins went to Jake Van Ortwick, Leo Ward, and Ryan Martinez. Jake Mayden, Jesse Williamson, John Campos, and Aaron Sheeler each won a Mohawk Metal IMCA Modified heat. Todd’s Auto Body Sprint wins went to Nate Morelock and Tyler Thompson. Logger Cup Late Model Heats were for valuable main event line up points and the top spots went to Trent Elliott, Collen Winebarger, and Mark Thompson.
There would be only 1 Dot’s Trophy Shop dash ran and the finish would determine the Late Model lineup. Trevor Glaser and Joey Tanner drew the front row and paced the field to the green flag where Glaser got our front and led Tanner all 6 laps to the finish. Glaser and Tanner were followed by Collen Winebarger, Jimmy Whisler, Steve Moore, and Trent Elliott. That finish would be the starting lineup for the nights 40 lap main event.
There was only 1 more chance for Mohawk Metal Modified and Late Model drivers to make it into the show and that was thru the B Mains. Nick Bessette, Mark Carrell, Jimmy Schram, and Greg McDonald would all transfer into the Modified A and Blaine Taylor, David Schmidt, Troy Norton, and Ryan Ronning would get those last 4 precious Late Model main starting spots.
Todd’s Auto Body Sprints were the first to run an A Main for the night with an 18-car field being the biggest so far in 2017. A 6-car invert put James Heating and Air Conditioning Heat winners in the 3rd row while Raquel Ivie and Ricky Ashley started up front. Ivie got the early lead and held it over Ashley for a number of laps before the young gun from row 3 made his way to the front and took over the number 1 spot when the field got into traffic. Kinzer Cox overtook Ashley for position number 2 and set his sights on Thompson. Despite a valiant effort from Cox Thompson went on to win the Main Event just inches ahead of Cox, Ricky Ashley finished 3rd, Dave Hibbard 4th, and Nate Morelock rounded out the top 5.
Next up was the Mohawk Metal IMCA Modified Main Event and with a 12-car point invert it was a great show! Aaron Sheelar and Gus Cooper shared the front row and Sheelar was off and running, Brian Thompson quickly grabbed 2nd place and Jimmy Whisler moved to 3rd. Jesse Williamson and Collen Winebarger quickly made it to the front from a 12th and 13th place start. Williamson took over the lead with Winebarger hot on his tail as the leaders moved quickly thru the lapped cars. A final attempt to get to Williamson sent Winebarger spinning as the cars took the checkers it would be Williamson winning again over Jake Mayden, John Campos, Aaron Sheelar, and Craig Hanson.
Henry Corbin III and Jake Van Ortwick had front row honors for the Dwarf car main, Van Ortwick took the lead on lap 1 and the battle was on between Van Ortick, Leo Ward, and Ryan Martinez who swapped the lead around for a few laps. The red flag came out on lap 8 when George Fisher went for a nasty ride into the pits. When racing resumed the 3 drivers continued to swap the lead until Van Ortick took it and kept it for the remainder of the race winning over Ward, Corbin III, Brian Smith, and Rich Holbert.
The final race of the night was the famed Logger’s Cup and 20 Late Models lined the front stretch wall all ready to win that $2000.00 payday! Joey Tanner got the early lead while Trevor Glaser and Collen Winebarger followed closely behind. The front runners worked thru slower cars all while keeping their eye on the #111 of Tanner and hoping to get the chance to pass him. That chance would never come as Tanner led all 40 laps of the Logger’s Cup to become the 3rd different winner since the race came back to Cottage Grove in 2015. Tanner was followed by Winebarger, Glaser, Trent Elliott, and Thomas Hunziker.
Cottage Grove Speedway will be dark August 19th for the WOE Fair and will return with Go-Karts on Friday, August 25th, and Historical Night Saturday, August 26th.
For full results please go to https://speedhive.mylaps.com/events/1441748
- Heather Boyce on Aug 16, 2017
- Article Date: 8/16/2017