HISTORIC NIGHT AT EPHRATA RACEWAY PARK

Historically one the best attended and better races of the year at Ephrata Raceway Park is the Rebel Jackson Memorial race with the ASA / NSRA Sprint Cars. With the season’s biggest crowd on hand a huge field of Sprint Cars put on a dazzling display of speed around the high banked asphalt quarter mile oval. Great racing in all four divisions on the night had the crowd on their feet as much as in their seats.

Since it’s inception the Rebel Jackson Memorial race has been included in the highlight races of the season for ASA / NSRA and now you can add 15 year old high school student Sierra Jackson as the youngest winner in series history and the first female. The 50-lap feature started off with a bang as five-time series champion Rick Brown spun on the second turn of the first lap bringing out the first of two cautions and a complete restart. Mike Basher took the lead and was running away from the field when he encountered trouble on the 22nd lap. In heavy traffic Basher and Duane Zeinstra made contact with Greg Middendorf, Jackson and series point leader Matt Hein all zeroing in on the leader. The contact sent both Basher and Zeinstra spinning in front of the oncoming cars and bringing out the second caution.

With both cars unable to continue, Middendorf began the single file restart on lap 23 in the first spot. It took him less than 10 laps to find traffic when the fun began again. Once again with the leader in heavy traffic the other four cars in the top five started to hunt him down. Jackson was perfect in traffic making a horsepower move to get around Middendorf and take off with the lead on the 45th circuit. For the final six laps Middendorf lost ground and fell back to fifth, with Hein, Andy Alberding and Kenny Hamilton getting by for second, third and fourth place. Hein couldn’t catch Jackson as she won her first ASA /NSRA main event, the Rebel Jackson Memorial Race at Ephrata Raceway Park.

The Pepsi Cola Street Stocks have been dominated, victory wise by Bart Hector for most of the season. There was a patch around midseason where the driver of the #68 car got beaten a few times, but on this night he was dominating picking up the clean sweep of the evening events. Hector set fast time of 15.325 seconds and won the A Trophy Dash and the A Heat Race to go along with his main event win. The newlywed Daniel Hector won the B Trophy Dash and B Heat Race for another all-Hector winning evening in the Street Stock division.

For the Kim Janke State Farm Youth Hornets Jesse Hector used a very fast race car to set fast time and win the main event. Hector and Dallas White had a touch and go moment on the tenth lap of their 15-lap main when the two made contact, saved the cars in perfect synchronized moves and continued on as if nothing had happened. In other Youth Hornet results, Dylan Adamson and Stephnie Patty won the Trophy Dashes with Steven Beck and White picking up Heat Race wins.

At the end of the evening the crowd was treated to a BIG CAR Boat Race. With the “Wildman” Ray Hahne towing a beautiful magenta fiberglass boat on a trailer behind his International Travel All, the target was that you could only pass the boat if you hit it, and you would win an extra trophy and end the race if you could dislodge the boat from the trailer. Race winner Chris McCart was the first to hit the boat and dislodge the trailer from the Hahne’s trusty steed. But is was Billy Smith who shattered the boat, when he knocked it off the trailer and sent it sailing through the air into the path of Hahne who obliterated it with a might blow from the Travel All. Once again, the BIG CARS put BIG FUN into the Ephrata Raceway Park attendees.

ERP takes the weekend of August 16th off to support and enjoy the Grant County Fair but returns to action with the Northwest Outlaw Street Stocks on august 23rd.