SAN BERNARDINO, California — The Gundersons of Maple Valley, Wash., made the Lucas Oil/Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8 West Coast Championships a family affair Saturday night.
Nick Gunderson won the 200-lap, $25,000 affair at Orange Show Speedway and his father, Brian Gunderson, teamed with Bill Wade to finish second, one lap behind the winner and 17 laps ahead of third-place Jerry Toporek, of Venice, Calif.
Those finishes were worth a total of $11,600 to the Gunderson-Wade combine. Nick got $7,500 for the victory, Brian shared the $3,500 runner-up prize with Wade and both got $300 in tow money to partially reimburse them for making the 1,200-mile trip. Toporek took home $2,500 for third.
The race, which was placed on the schedule only about eight weeks ago, brought Best in the West Racing’s inaugural season at the ASA-sanctioned quarter-mile to a close, and about 4,500 spectators were on hand to see it.
Unfortunately, the late addition of the race, the depressed economy, indirect interference by a nearby track and what West Coast organizer Rod Proctor said at the drivers’ meeting was “too much faith” in other racing organizations combined to keep the entry list from reaching the hoped-for level of 20 cars or more. Then a myriad of mechanical problems befell many of those who were in attendance.
Corey Turner, of Indianapolis, the only Midwest driver to make the trip, won the pole and led by more than 5 seconds before his motor broke on lap 41 of the opening segment. Engine maladies also struck Proctor, of Riverside, who took the lead when Turner broke, and Greg Scott, of Monroe, Wash., while Harry Kuenigger, of San Bernardino, was hampered by driveshaft problems.
There were 13 starters in the opening segment, which Nick Gunderson finished a lap ahead of his father, but only seven made an appearance for the second 100 laps, in which Toporek moved from fifth to third ahead of Proctor and Jay Henson, of Oak Hills, Calif.
| Lucas Oil/Pick A Part Outlaw Figure 8 West Coast Championships |
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| Order of finish (200 laps) – 1. Nick Gunderson, Maple Valley, Wash.; 2. Brian Gunderson, Maple Valley, Wash.-Bill Wade, Stanwood, Wash.; 3. Jerry Toporek, Venice, Calif.; 4. Rod Proctor, Riverside, Calif.; 5. Jay Henson, Oak Hills, Calif.; 6. Billy Ziemann, Bloomington, Calif.; 7. Don Eslick, Marysville, Wash.; 8. Tony Curtis, Hawthorne, Calif.; 9. Greg Scott, Monroe, Wash.; 10. Corey Turner, Indianaopilis, Ind.; 11. Don Mathias, Rialto, Calif.; 12. Harry Kuenniger, San Bernardino, Calif.; 13. Willy Voesten, Lytle Creek, Calif. Qualifying – 1. Turner, 17.81 seconds (track record); 2. N. Gunderson, 18.14; 3. Scott, 18.19; 4. Proctor, 18.21; 5. Wade, 18.27; 6. Henson, 18.41; 7. Ziemann, 18.53; 8. Eslick, 18.81; 9. Toporek, 19.09; 10. Kuenniger, 19.39; 11. Voesten, 19.59; 12. Curtis, 19.63. |
