Gold Bar, Washington racer Eddie Isackson had the WESCO limited sprint car championship virtually locked up going into Saturday’s finale at Port Angeles Speedway, holding a 75 point lead over Arlington’s Brandon Skeeters. At Port Angeles, Isackson finished sixth in the 40-lap feature race to seal the deal.
For Isackson it is his second championship he has been associated with in as many years. Last year, Isackson was the champion car owner in the NSRA with Rick Brown driving his car. Brown also won the drivers championship in 2004 when driving primarily for Isackson, but Isackson just missed the car owners title to Jim Helm.
Randy Anderson won his second straight Port Angeles Speedway WESCO race, this coming from the middle of the 15-car field. Anderson was fourth by lap three, and then moved around Isackson for third on lap four. On lap six, Anderson passed Skeeters, who led earlier, and immediately went after new race leader Randy Weiding.
It was the very next lap when Anderson got Weiding on the back stretch to take the lead on lap seven. From there, Anderson checked out and never looked back.
Jason Thomas steadily moved his way up to second place over the first half of the race, first passing Isackson for fourth on lap nine. Two laps later Thomas passed Skeeters for third on the back stretch. He then inherited second place when Weiding spun his car out in turn two with 17 laps completed.
Weiding’s spin brought out the feature event’s only caution for an on track accident. It also cleared the track of traffic momentarily for Anderson, who would eventually lap everyone but the top four cars.
Jeremy Sabin challenged Thomas for the second position over the remaining 23 laps, but Thomas held his ground and finished second. Bert Johnson II, the son of former WESCO champion Bert Johnson, finished fourth. The elder Johnson is now in his first year as one of the people in charge at Port Angeles Speedway.
Even though Isackson had the championship wrapped up, he and Skeeters had a final race dual during the second half of the race. At the checkers, it was Skeeters who earned a small victory by beating Isackson for fifth. Weiding, Glenn Walker, Rich Leighty, and Ray Lince rounded out the top ten.
Anderson set fast time in qualifying with a lap of 14.080 seconds around the large ¼-mile, semi-banked asphalt oval. Isackson earned the approval of the fans in attendance when he won the B-Dash and kicked up some tire smoke along the way. Long time racing veteran Rich Leighty picked up the win in the A-Dash.
Sabin won the C-Heat, followed by Skeeters’ win the B-Heat and Thomas’ triumph in the A-Heat. All heat races were ten laps in length. In other racing action, Jim Lovelace won the 30-lap stock car main event with Logan Mundy and Dan Graham following. Lovelace also won the heat race and Don Wood the trophy dash.
The vintage modifieds were also on hand, with Mike Laurer winning the 35-lap main event. Josh Wyne and Ike Hopkins won the two ten-lap heat races. Wyne also won the B-Dash and Kevin Wrinkle the A-Dash.
Washington Econo Sprint Car Organization (WESCO) Port Angeles Speedway – Port Angeles, WA September 2, 2006
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
15 cars
Fast qualifier: 77 Randy Anderson, 14.080 seconds
B-Dash (4 laps): 1. 36 Eddie Isackson, 2. 2 Ray Lince, 3. 11w Randy Weiding, 4. 10 Brandon Skeeters.
A-Dash (4 laps): 1. 11 Rich Leighty, 2. 1 Bert Johnson II, 3. 62 Glenn Walker, 4. 12 Jason Thomas.
C-Heat (10 laps): 1. 5x Jeremy Sabin, 2. 77 Randy Anderson, 3. 3n Doug McLees, 4. 01 Russell Root, 5. 57 Jim Walker.
B-Heat (10 laps): 1. 10 Brandon Skeeters, 2. 11 Rich Leighty, 3. 1 Bert Johnson II, 4. 11w Randy Weiding, DNS – 1w Jeff Weiding.
A-Heat (10 laps): 1. 12 Jason Thomas, 2. 2 Ray Lince, 3. 62 Glenn Walker, 4. 36 Eddie Isackson, 5. XX Rally Root.
Feature (40 laps): 1. 77 Randy Anderson, 2. 12 Jason Thomas, 3. 5x Jeremey Sabin, 4. 1 Bert Johnson II, 5. 10 Brandon Skeeters, 6. 36 Eddie Isackson, 7. 11w Randy Weiding, 8. 62 Glenn Walker, 9. 11 Rich Leighty, 10. 2 Ray Lince, 11. 3n Doug McLees, 12. 01 Russell Root, 13. 57 Jim Walker, 14. XX Rally Root, 15. 1w Jeff Weiding.
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Port Angeles Speedway classes
Stock Cars: Dash winner (4 laps): 38 Don Wood Heat winner (10 laps): 83 Jim Lovelace Feature top three (30 laps): 1. 83 Jim Lovelace, 2. 65 Logan Mundy, 3. 71 Dan Graham.
Vintage Modifieds
B-Dash winner (4 laps): 94 Josh Wyne
A-Dash winner (4 laps): 38 Kevin Wrinkle B-Heat winner (10 laps): 94 Johh Wyne A-Heat winner (10 laps): 32 Ike Hopkins Feature top three (35 laps): 1. 4 Mike Laurer, 2. 94 Josh Wyne, 3. 11 Jim Jones.
