The sun was shining bright, and temperatures were in the high 70's for Mother's Day Weekend and the racing was red hot on the 3/8 banked clay oval as the 360 Sprint Cars, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, Outlaw Tuners and the Vintage Modifieds thrilled a great crowd.
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks
Hoquiam driver Jason Tole took the early lead from the second row, after getting by Cory Sweatman of Aberdeen and Ocean Shore's driver Jeff Daniel. Caution quickly flew on lap 1 for Westport driver Taylor Miller slowing to a stop giving Sweatman a shot to get the lead back from Tole. Montesano's Scott Fritts ran in the second spot, looking to get the lead but saw issues after spinning off of turn four, losing multiple positions. Tole continued to lead as fellow Hoquiam driver Jack Parshall moved into the second spot. The battle for the fifth position between Elma's Ryen Haney and Matt White of Aberdeen was one of the races to watch until a mid race caution saw Daniel spin, and collect White bringing out the caution. Tole had tough company on the restart as Parshall was right on his back bumper, Parshall looked to the inside lane multiple times but couldn't make the pass. Parshall had one last chance on lap 18 as he looked to the inside in turn one, and taking the lead in turn two. Parshall made the right move at the right time as he took the checkered flag over Tole, Tom Hecker of Spanaway, Sweatman and Haney. Heat race winners were Austin Kerrigan of Aberdeen and Tole, with Parshall picking up quick time.
Vintage Modifieds
The first and only appearance of 2018 saw the Vintage Modifieds take to the dirt. A series that normally runs on asphalt saw 10 cars take the green flag in the 25 lap feature. Tacoma's Mike Clother took the early lead but the caution flag flew for David Trapp of Tacoma slowing to a stop in turn two. On the restart it was Mt. Vernon driver Kyton Jones taking the early lead but that didn't last long as Arlington's Jim Jones took the top spot and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. The battle for second saw Puyallup driver Ken Kalschmidt and Wenatchee's Vern Huson battle for position racing side by side for a few laps. A handful of restarts allowed Kalschmidt to make a run at Jim Jones for the lead as both drivers pulled away from Huson and Tacoma's John Mustered who battle for third. A late race caution saw Jim Jones pull into the pit area with mechanical issues giving up the lead to Kalschmidt. Just a handful of laps left saw Kalschmidt take the checkered flag over Kyten Jones, Clother, Devin Eierman of Auburn and Robert Rux. Heat race winners were Huson and Kalschmidt with Jim Jones picking up quick time.
360 Sprint Cars
Mill Creek driver Cam Smith and Devon Borden of Raymond set the front row of the 25 lap feature. Borden took the early lead but the red flag quickly flew for Colton Heath of Marysville after a wild ride down the backstretch. Heath walked away uninjured. On the restart Smith took the lead. Borden looked on the low side and took the lead back in turn two but Smith did not give up racing side by side down the backstretch and taking over the top spot. Quilcene's JJ Hickle sat in the third spot waiting for any mistake by the top two drivers as Smith quickly pulled away from Borden. Lap 8 saw Hickle and Borden battle for second as Hickle took over the runner up position in turn one. Lap traffic started to become a factor for Smith as he looked to get around them and pull away from Hickle. Lap 23 saw disaster strike for Smith as he made contact with the lap car of Lance Sargent of Spanaway, both spinning and bringing out the caution. Hickle took over the lead and went on to pick up the feature event over Chase Goetz of Snohomish, Shelton's Jay Cole, Borden and Tyler Anderson of Everett. Heat race winners were Heath and Cole and quick time went to Chase Goetz.
Outlaw Tuners
Will Wright of Aberdeen, substituting for Tyler Sundstrom led the field to the green flag in the Outlaw Tuner feature. The start was quickly called back bringing out the caution. After a pair of rocky restarts, Wright jumped out front over Max Sanford of Belfair. Devon Harper of Olympia sat in the third spot looking to the high side to try and get by Sanford for second. Contact between Sanford and Harper brought out the caution on lap 2 as Harper made contact with the front stretch wall ending his evening. Wright continued to lead as Wishkah's Don Briggs Sr was right on his back bumper. The top three ran bumper to bumper as Jeremy Jones of Wishkah joined in on the battle. Briggs took over the lead from Wright but a lap later the caution flag flew for debris. Briggs Sr went to the pit area with a flat tire giving the lead back to Wright. A late race restart allowed Jones and Tenino driver Chad Norton a shot at the lead but Wright quickly pulled away. At the end of the feature Wright took the checkered flag over Jones, Norton, Addison Smith of Olympia and Zach Dalrymple of Olympia. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Jones and Briggs Sr.
Racing will resume next Saturday night as the 360 Sprint Cars, Shipwreck Beads Modifeids, Outlaw Tuners and Northwest Focus Midgets Series will be back in action on the 3/8 banked clay oval. Gates will open at 5:30PM with racing at 7PM.
Grays Harbor Racewa
May 12, 2018
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks:
Fast Time:
9 Jack Parshall
Heat 1:
- AK47 Austin Kerrigan, 2. 9 Jack Parshall, 3. 14 Jeff Daniel, 4. 42 Scott Fritts, 5. 67 Ryen Haney, 6. 97 Rodger Perry, 7. 00 Kirk McGinnis, 8. 55G Samantha Stevens, 9. 3D Timmy Phillips
Heat 2:
- 34 Jason Tole, 2. 5 Tom Hecker, 3. 1s Cory Sweatman, 4. 55 Wayne Lemmon, 5. 23B Matt White, 6. 19 Taylor Miller, 7. 75 Jared Stevens
A-Main:
- Parshall, 2. Tole, 3. Hecker, 4. Sweatman, 5. Haney, 6. White, 7. Perry, 8. Samantha Stevens, 9. Fritts, 10. Anthony, 11. McGinnis, 12. Kerrigan, 13. Daniel, 14. Lemmon, 15. Miller
Vintage Modifieds:
Fast Time:
03 Jim Jones
Heat 1:
- 77 Vern Huson, 2. 26 John Mustered, 3. 88 Robert Rux, 4. 51 Dave Trapp, 5. 1 Chris Cook
Heat 2:
- 27 Ken Kalschmidt, 2. 30 Kyten Jones, 3. 03 Jim Jones, 4. 6 Devin Eirman, 5. 7 Mike Clother
A-Main:
- Kalschmidt, 2. Kyten Jones, 3. Clother, 4. Eierman, 5. Rux, 6. Trapp, 7. Jim Jones, 8. Huson, 9. Cook, 10. Mustered
360 Sprint Cars:
Fast Time:
91 Chase Goetz
Heat 1:
- 33 Colton Heath, 2. 91 Chase Goetz, 3. 8B Devon Borden, 4. 33s Lance Sargent, 5. 24 Tyler Anderson, 6. 8X John Stuart
Heat 2:
- 0J Jay Cole, 2. 17 Cam Smith, 3. 3 JJ Hickle, 4. 15 Jeff Dunlap
A-Main:
- Hickle, 2. Goetz, 3. Cole, 4. Borden, 5. Anderson, 6. Stuart, 7. Smith, 8. Sargent, 9. Dunlap, 10. Heath
Outlaw Tuners:
Heat 1:
77 Jeremy Jones
Heat 2:
13XXX Don Briggs Sr.
A-Main (top 9):
- 23 Will Wright, 2. 77 Jeremy Jones, 3. 75 Chad Norton, 4. 1 Addison Smith, 5. 0 Zach Darlymple, 6. 96 Mark Champine, 7. 555 Trevor Dugent, 8. 2s Maynard Barnum Jr, 9. 13XXX Don Briggs Sr
- Social Media on May 14, 2018
- Article Date: 5/14/2018 by Aaron Reed