Mother nature tried to put a damper on the season championship for 2017, but the Grays Harbor Raceway track crew worked hard to get the racing action underway for the final race of the year. The 360 Sprint Cars, Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, and the Outlaw Tuners took to a very fast 3/8 banked clay oval.
360 Sprint Cars:
Chase Goetz of Snohomish and his brother Reece Goetz set the front row of the 25 lap Sprint Car feature. Chase Goetz took the early lead, but the caution flag flew. The restart saw Chase Goetz take the lead once again, with his brother Reece right on his back bumper. Enumclaw's Henry Van Dam quickly started to close in on Reece Goetz for second, allowing Chase Goetz to pull away from the field. The battle for fifth position between Renton's Jeff Dunlap and Quilcene's JJ Hickle was the race to watch as Dunlap held on to the position. Lap traffic quickly became a factor and Reece Goetz made a pass for the lead in turn three on the low side of the raceway. Midway through the race, Chase Goetz had issues as Elma driver Jason Reed and Hickle battled for third. Reed maneuvered his way through lap traffic as Hickle looked for any mistake to take over the position.
A late race caution for Van Dam stacked the field back up, giving Hickle and Reed a shot at Goetz for the win. Goetz had tough company in the last few laps as Hickle was right there, looking to make a pass on the outside. Both drivers took the white flag, and Hickle ran the outside of Goetz for the lead. Reece Goetz would hold off a hard charging Hickle to pick up the win. Reed, Jay Cole of Shelton and Brett McGhie of Everett rounded out the top five. Earlier in the evening Chase Goetz won the Scramble. Reece Goetz is the 2017 360 Sprint Car Champion.
Shipwreck Beads Modifieds:
The 25 lap Shipwreck Beads Modified feature saw Scott Miller of Shelton lead them to the green flag. Seabeck's Kyler Moore was right on Miller's back bumper as the battle for third saw Cosmopolis driver Tom Sweatman and Oakville's Brian Harding race for position. The caution flag flew for Dan Kinnaman of Elma having mechanical issues in turn four on lap 3. Miller timed his restarts just right to get a jump on Moore. The fourth position saw a great battle between Zack Simpson, Olympia's Tyson Blood and Craig Moore of Seabeck with Moore taking over fourth. Kyler Moore made a hard charging pass out of turn four on lap 11 to take over the lead from Miller.
Kyler Moore slowly pulled away from Scott Miller and Sweatman as the battle for second was one of the races to watch. Miller saw mechanical issues out of turn four causing him to move his car to the infield. The red flag flew on lap 24 as Steve Signal of Olympia went for a wild flip out of turn four. The final restart saw Kyler Moore lead them to the green with Harding running in second. Moore would go on to pick up the win over Harding, Sweatman, Blood, and Shelton's Del Schnitzer. Scott Miller won the scramble earlier in the evening.
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks:
Aberdeen's Shane Kerrigan and Scott Fritts of Montesano led the field to the green flag. Kerrigan took the early lead from Fritts. Spanaway driver Tom Hecker ran in the third position until Fritts saw issues coming off turn two allowing many cars to get by. Kerrigan quickly pulled away from the field having a straightaway lead on Hecker, Jeff Daniel of Ocean Shores and Elma's Ryen Haney. Daniel and Haney battled for third as Haney took over the position and looked to take second from Hecker, splitting a lap car in the process but Hecker held onto the position. Jack Parshall of Hoquiam made his way into the top three after making the choice of starting in the back along with Jason Tole of Hoquiam, both worked their way through the field finding themselves in the top five. Parshall and Hecker worked their way through the lap traffic until the caution flag flew for Taylor Miller of Westport, slowing to a stop in turn two on lap 11.
Kerrigan continued to lead, with Hecker, Parshall and Haney waiting to capitalize on any mistake. Parshall looked to the low side getting by Hecker and moving into second. Haney made his way by Hecker for third. A late restart saw Kerrigan doing what he can to keep the lead as Parshall was right there. Kerrigan took the white flag with Parshall right on his back bumper. Parshall looked to the outside going into turn four and raced side by side with Kerrigan to the checkered flag and taking the win away from Kerrigan. Haney, Hecker and Fritts rounded out the top five. Shane Kerrigan picked up the scramble earlier in the evening. Parshall also picked up his fourth championship in a row for the Cut Rate Auto Part Street Stocks.
Outlaw Tuners:
Tyler Sundstrom of Aberdeen led the field to the green flag for the 15 lap Outlaw Tuners feature. Belfair's Max Sanford and Josh Wharton of Tenino both split Sundstrom going into turn one with Wharton taking the early lead. Contact between Devon Harper of Olympia and Shelton's Dale Speas saw a great save by Speas from almost going upside down. Wharton continued to lead as Sundstrom and Sanford were close by waiting for a mistake. The red flag flew on lap 5, for a fire under the hood of Jason McCaslin of Centralia. McCaslin did walk away from the incident uninjured.
Wharton led the field on the restart with Sundstrom looking to make a pass for the lead. Wharton held on until lap traffic became a factor and Sundstrom took the lead out of turn two midway through the feature. Sundstrom continued to pull away and picking up the win over Sanford, Wharton, Don Briggs Sr of Wishkah, and Mike Brallier of Belfair. Sundstrom also won the scramble earlier in the evening, along with picking up the Outlaw Tuner championship.
That will wrap up the 2017 season. The Grays Harbor Raceway staff would like to thank all of the drivers, owners, and crews for joining us this year, along with all the fans. We hope you enjoyed a great year of racing. Congratulations to all the champions for the 2017 season!
- Social Media on Oct 02, 2017
- Article Date: 10/2/2017 by Aaron Reed