Logan Forler A Driver On The Rise
By Ben Deatherage
Cottage Grove, Oregon- In great Pacific Northwest state of Washington where next to the farthest reaches of Puget Sound is the city of Tacoma the most southern portion of the intricate and extremely large metro cities that connect with the mighty city of Seattle. Outside of Tacoma near where the rivers Puyallup and Carbon Rivers meet and with Mount Rainier in the immediate background down state highway 162 is the small town of Orting. With just a population just over four thousand residents it is home to one of the rising stars of dirt track racing, Logan Forler.
Forler forged his racing skills in the ranks of the quarter midgets and eventually graduating to Micro Sprints. It was in the Micro years that he began to show real talent that could easily transfer into a full size Sprint Car. After successful years of racing at the Deming Speedway near Bellingham and the Canadian border in the summer and the Salem Indoor Speedway in Oregon at the State Fairgrounds they officially made the move when he turned sixteen in 2009.
That first year saw the team travel to many places right off the bat starting their season in March of that year against the ranks of the American Sprint Car Series. Later they would pay visits to several tracks on the West Coast from Marysville Raceway Park in Northern California to the Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon and Washington’s two major dirt tracks the Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma and the Skagit Speedway in Alger just outside of Burlington.
The real results began to show in Forler’s sophomore season with the team scoring their first career victory at the Cottage Grove Speedway in early April on a spectacular last corner last lap pass. The year also saw action alongside various series and sanctioning bodies including the World of Outlaws, Golden State Challenge, and both the American Sprint Car Series-National Tour and Northwest Region.
The month of August was rather successful with the young pilot earning two victories in two weeks. Anticipating to race at the Grays Harbor Raceway in early August only to find on around mid-day the races had been cancelled the team hastily traveled down Interstate 5 to the Cottage Grove Speedway. The hauler arrived just in time for the crew to unload the car and have Forler participate in qualifications and later on winning that night.
The next week at the Skagit Speedway Forler got a huge break while running second when the leader lost his muffler and had to retire to the pits. The feature saw the young driver lead the rest of the way to win his third total win of the season and his first in a 410 cubic inch engine Sprint.
Although the team ran a more or less “true outlaw” schedule the team managed to finish second in points at the Cottage Grove Speedway in the 360 Sprints and eight overall in the ASCS-Northwest Region. The team also made a successful run alongside the ASCS-National Tour in the final six races of the season. With huge car counts on hand and quality of a field very similar to a Knoxville Nationals atmosphere the #2L made five out of six features and finishing as high as twelfth.
Other highlights include Forler making all main events of the races the team made for the inaugural Western Speedweek with the Golden State Challenge Series. At the Southern Oregon Speedway in White City the team posted their highest finish of the week’s action by finishing fifth in the feature. Later that week at the Skagit Speedway the #2L started all three main events for the Northwest’s biggest 410 race.
Which brings us to the topic of 2011 and what is in store for Logan Forler? The team plans on competing full time with the ASCS-National Tour and scoring the Rookie of the Year award as well as get as much seat time as possible. The team will put in the 410 engine regularly as well as they plan on contending in the 2011 edition of the Knoxville Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, the 360 Knoxville Nationals the week before will also be on the schedule as well.
“We’re pretty excited for next year with all the new tracks we plan on visiting and getting experience,” said Forler, “We plan on making all the National Tour races we ran very well against them in the last part of the season.”
“Towards the end we couldn’t have done it without the help of Adam Kaeding [from Kaeding Performance] who helped us with a new frame he sold us and really helped us in the setup department also we learned a lot from guys with lots of experience (Tim Kaeding and etc.) and that knowledge is pretty important when it comes to race day.”
“And of course I can’t thank enough my great sponsors that keep supporting me of course my dad with Steve Forler Trucking, Line-X Bedliners, RN Smith Harvesting, and Shark Racing Engines.”
“We plan on getting the season started down at Tulare [Thunderbowl in California] with the National Tour in February,” stated an excited Logan Forler, “we were down there for Trophy Cup in October and were on our way to the feature when we got taken out in the B Main.”
The team plans on crossing a lot of American highways and byways this season and are hoping to have a successful year. For any parties interested that would like to lend a helping hand for the team is encouraged to contact team owner Steve Forler at (253) 209-0816.
Additional Information:
2011 Sponsors
Steve Forler Trucking
Line-X Bedliners
Digital FX Graphics
RN Smith Harvesting
Maxim Chassis
Shark Racing Engines
Upcoming Schedule
When: Wednesday February 9th
What: American Sprint Car Series-National Tour
Where: Tulare Thunderbowl
Tulare, California
1/3 mile dirt oval
www.tularethunderbowl.com
www.ascsracing.com
When: Friday February 11th
What: American Sprint Car Series-National Tour
Where: Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway
Hanford, California
3/8 mile dirt oval
www.kingsspeedway.net
www.ascsracing.com
2011 American Sprint Car Series-National Tour Schedule
2/9 Thunderbowl Raceway (Tulare, CA)
2/12 Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway (Hanford, CA)
2/18 USA Raceway (Tuscon, AZ) [5th Annual Copper On Dirt]
2/19 USA Raceway (Tuscon, AZ) [5th Annual Copper On Dirt]
3/25 Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) [38th Annual Spring Nationals]
3/26 Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) [38th Annual Spring Nationals]
4/15 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR)
4/16 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR)
5/6 Tri-City Speedway (Pontoon Beach, IL)
5/7 Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, AR)
6/4 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR)
6/10 Eagle Raceway (Eagle, NE) [Eagle Nationals]
6/11 Eagle Raceway (Eagle, NE) [Eagle Nationals]
6/24 LA Raceway (LaMonte, MO)
6/25 Lake Ozark Speedway (Eldon, MO)
7/8 Clay County Fairgrounds (Spencer, IA)
7/9 I-90 Speedway (Hartford, SD)
7/15 Grays Harbor Raceway (Elma, WA)
7/16 Grays Harbor Raceway (Elma, WA)
7/22 Cottage Grove Speedway (Cottage Grove, OR)
7/23 Cottage Grove Speedway (Cottage Grove, OR)
7/29 Placerville Speedway (Placerville, CA)
7/30 Placerville Speedway (Placerville, CA)
8/4 Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) [21st Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals]
8/5 Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) [21st Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals]
8/6 Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) [21st Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals]
8/27 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR)
9/23 Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO) [Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial]
9/24 Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO) [Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial]
10/21 Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) [38th Annual Winter Nationals]
10/22 Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) [38th Annual Winter Nationals]
10/27 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) [24th Annual Short Track Nationals]
10/28 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) [24th Annual Short Track Nationals]
10/29 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) [24th Annual Short Track Nationals]
11/11 Southern New Mexico Speedway (Las Cruces, NM)
11/12 Southern New Mexico Speedway (Las Cruces, NM)
11/17 USA Raceway (Tuscon, AZ) [44th Annual Western World Championships]
11/18 USA Raceway (Tuscon, AZ) [44th Annual Western World Championships]
11/19 USA Raceway (Tuscon, AZ) [44th Annual Western World Championships]
- Ben Deatherage on Feb 04, 2011
- Article Date: 2/4/2011