COTTAGE GROVE, Oregon — The 2010 season seen a huge breakthrough success with the Late Models at the Cottage Grove Speedway as more and higher profiled teams from Oregon made regular appearances where in years past there would only be a handful of races where several top caliber teams of the region would show up. Ever since the genesis of the class from the old Sportsman ranks in 2007 more and more cars have called Cottage Grove Speedway their preferred track. In 2010 World Racing Group entity DirtCar hopped on board to sanction both the Late Model and Modified classes bringing a increased purse and a regional point fund to be dispersed among the top drivers of the region after the year was completed. 2011 will see fourteen races of the ever growing popular Late Models.
In the racing department fourteen races were completed while there were eight different winners. The average car count for the season was around eighteen cars every night a sign of health for the group as the lowest car count was on opening night on April 10th with nine cars and the highest was twenty four on the 27th of August. The championship was decided well into the last couple of races as Mark Carrell of Redmond would earn the most points for the year and have the luxury of a one hundred seventeen point lead after the final race.
Most wins of the year was a tie between Mark Carrell and Springfield’s Mike Miller. Carrell won the majority of his races towards the beginning of the year while Miller visited victory lane for the most part in the second half of the season. Most fast times of the season went to Carrell with four, while fast time of the year was Trevor Glaser of Tangent on June 11th at 12.815 seconds. Most heat race wins went to Carrell with seven and most trophy dash victories to John Duty of Happy Valley with two.
Points-wise Mark Carrell did his damage at the beginning of the season by winning three of the first five races and being consistent the entire year. Out of fourteen races he would finish in the Top Five eleven times along with his four wins. Also to his credit Carrell won seven heat races, four fast times, and one trophy dash victory. It would be the first career track championship for the Central Oregon chauffer at the Cottage Grove Speedway 2011 will see Carrell running the DirtCar I-5 Late Model Series along with some races with the Western All Stars in California on some occasions.
“I was so happy winning the championship last season and having success at Cottage Grove,” said champion Mark Carrell, “I really liked running at Cottage Grove it has a very good environment and this year we will try to run there as much as we can with both the Late Model and the Modified.”
Second in the points standings would be Mike Miller who had a brilliant second half to his season. Despite missing the first race of the year he would win the coveted Mark Howard Memorial (July 10th) and Historical Night (August 7th) features along with two others for a total of four tying for the most in the season. Miller would add nine Top Fives, three Heat Race wins, and a Trophy Dash victory to his credit for his successful season.
“I had a real enjoyable year running Cottage Grove regularly for the first time we had a lot of fun the environment is just so friendly and fun and that’s what I like to see and 2011 should be even better with all the things that DirtCar is doing,” said runner Mike Miller.
Craig Hanson of Albany had a bit of some rough luck for 2010 but wound up in the top five in the final points. Despite no victories Hansen was successful on two occasions in heat race action and trophy dash win. Four top five finishes were credited to the Cottage Grove Speedway’s most victorious Late Model driver as they look to prepare for 2011 in hope of earning more to that prestigious title.
“2011 should be pretty busy for us our team plans on running the whole I-5 Late Model Series but we do plan running Cottage Grove as much as possible with both our Late Model and the Modified,” mentioned Hanson about his plans for 2011.
Justin Simpson of Bend finished fourth in the point standings for 2010 despite missing one race in the middle of the year. No wins went to “Livestrong” but he was able to get a statistic to his credit in all other columns: one fast time, one heat race win, one trophy dash victory, and four top five’s. 2011 may see Simpson on a very limited basis at Cottage Grove as he has became a driving instructor and track operations manager for the Richard Petty Driving Experience in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Last year I felt I was a part of the best Late Model racing in the entire Pacific Northwest Cottage Grove truly has the total package with a great facility, people, fans, and racing surface,” Simpson said, “I’m not quite sure what my plans are with me being on the east coast I plan on running some races with the Carolina Clash and Southern All Star Late Model Series but I would like to run Cottage Grove at least once this year.”
Rounding up the top five point finishers was Paul Culp of Springfield. He had some rough luck throughout the season but was able to have some success by winning one trophy dash, earning a fast time, and finishing in the top five on four occasions. 2011 should be a better year for Culp as he is anxious to take to the track.
“I really enjoyed running with all the talent that Cottage Grove had last season unfortunately we had a bit of bad luck,” said Culp, “the good class of cars made it very competitive and tough to win and I’m really looking forward to 2011.”
The rest of the top ten in points for the 2010 Late Models were the following drivers; 6. Kevin Ropchan, Veneta 7. Chuck Christian, Eugene 8. Kreg Britton, Cottage Grove 9. Trent Elliott, La Pine 10. Rick Wyatt, Salem. Other awards being presented were Rookie of the Year to Blaine Taylor of Creswell who was also Modified Rookie of the Year as he race half of the year in Modifieds and the second half in Late Models.
The Cottage Grove Speedway is a ¼ mile high banked clay oval located in Western Oregon. The track hosts several sanctioning bodies and series throughout the season including the World of Outlaws, American Sprint Car Series, I-5 DirtCar Late Model Series, and the Interstate Sprint Car Series to name a few. Be sure and keep in touch by logging on http://www.cottagegrovespeedway.com or the popular social networking sites of Facebook and Twitter.
Are you a business looking to expand your reach to customers abroad? The Cottage Grove Speedway host tens of thousands of fans and potential consumers every season and through advertising you can reach them directly. For a free quote you can call Ben Deatherage at (541) 598-6643 or Brian Crockett at (541) 510-0757 today, it’s cheaper than you think.
2011 Schedule
April 2nd
April 16th*
May 7th
June 4th
June 18th
July 3rd
July 4th
July 9th
July 30th
August 6th
August 12th
August 27th
September 5th#
September 10th*
*- Denotes Family Night
#- Denotes Support Class For The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series
