Another Knecht’s Auto Parts Historical Night in the books and another job well done by the brothers Curt and Denny Deatherage in hosting a night where fans, drivers, and teams alike were able to reflect the fifty-five year history of the Cottage Grove Speedway. As always every year the annual induction of a new class into the Hall of Fame with this year’s inductee’s being: Bill Boyce (Family Legacy), Shawna Wilskey, Fred Brownfield, Fred and Kathy Lowther, Dennis Wilson, Dick and Don Moody, and the Turn 1 Animals. The classes in action were five full fields of divisions the 360 Sprints, Modifieds, Limited Sprints, Late Models, and All-American Street Stock. Also to note Friday hosted the first leg of the Shut Up And Drive Triple Crown for the Kage Karts (Winners Listed Below) a miniseries between three tracks in three nights of racing.
The Limited Sprints were the first class of the night and in the feature saw Dave Claflin of Cottage Grove led the first six laps until Zack Spaulding was able to take the lead. Spaulding was able to check out with the lead and led the rest of the distance for the victory. Spaulding’s win would make him the only driver so far this season to win more than once in the Limited Sprints.
Mike Carrothers of Cottage Grove finished in second followed by Jesse Thistle of Creswell. The rest of the top five was composed of Orion Redmond of Roseburg and Dan Philpot of Glide. Thistle earned fast time of the night at 11.837 seconds while heat races were won by Heath Shelton of Drain and Kyle Miller of Eugene.
The Late Model feature had Mike Miller of Springfield lead the early stages of the race until Mark Carrell of Redmond seized the lead. Carrell would lead until lap sixteen when a caution came out due to a spun car Carrell stopped and unfortunately having to go to the back. That gave the lead to Casey Vitale of Albany leading the rest of the distance despite a total of six cautions to win his second victory of the season becoming the only driver in 2011 to win more than once.
Russ Sell of Brownsville finished in second place and Mike Miller finished third. Mark Carrell rallied from fifteenth to fourth while Trent Elliott of La Pine wound up in the fifth place position. Carrell was fast time of the night 13.182 seconds while heat races were won by Carrell, Jake Mayden of Cheshire, and Sell.
All-American Street Stocks returned to action and it was a wonderful display of driving between Justin Evans of Lebanon and Dustin Comer of Springfield. Both drivers were looking for their first wins of the season to become the fourth different winner of the year. It would be Comer picking up his first career and a huge win after having some rough luck earlier in the year.
Justin Evans would finish in the second place position and Andrew Langan of Jasper in third. Russ Blum of Thurston and T.J. Langan of Japer were the remainder of the top five finishers for the features. Fast time of the night was Andrew Langan at 16.220 seconds while T.J. Langan won the heat race.
The Modifieds were on hand for their last race until next week’s Modified Nationals for some very important shake down laps. Shady Cove’s Troy McElroy was setting a wicked pace in the early laps of the feature but would lose the lead to Jesse Williamson of Coburg on lap fourteen. Williamson would hold on to the race lead despite seven cautions for his third win of the season tying Dustin Dittman for most this year and goes into next week’s events as the defending champion of the Modified Nationals.
Troy McElroy would hold on to finish in the second place position with Jason Kocks of Eugene finishing in third coming off of third place finish at the Modified Nationals in Elma, WA. Craig Hanson of Albany and Gus Cooper of Creswell rounded up the top five finishing positions. Jesse Williamson picked up fast time of the night and also earned the heat race win and with the inclusion of the main event victory made it a clean sweep of events. Other heat race winners were Gus Cooper and Cottage Grove’s Curtis Towns.
The final class of the night was the 360 Sprints for the only local/non-sanctioned event of the season so far. With no Roger Crockett and Seth Bergman in the house it allowed a chance for a new winner in 2011. Taking the lead on the first lap and leading every lap Dale Smith of Cottage Grove would hold on the lead despite two cautions for his first winged 360 victory in a couple years.
Colin Baker of Cottage Grove ran a respectable second place while Garen Linder of Medford struggled early in the night but was able to rally to a third place finish. Zack Spaulding running his Limited Sprint engine was able to finish in fourth place and Brent Hoover of Eugene finished in fifth. Nate Morelock of Eugene was fast time of the night at 11.655 while heat race winners were Spaulding and Baker.
Well race fans that does it for this week’s recap it will be a busy weekend with three straight nights of racing on hand Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Friday and Saturday will be the annual Cottage Grove Speedway Modified Nationals presented by Brook’s Cut Rate Auto Parts. Support classes on Friday will be Late Models and Hornets while Saturday it will be the Pro 4 West Series and Hornets. Then on Sunday the Interstate Sprint Car Series will make its fifth visit to the Cottage Grove Speedway and will be the final night of the inaugural Ore-Cal Challenge which runs three tracks in three nights in two different states. For more information logon to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.
Friday August 5th, 2011 Winners
Pee Wee-Tanner Holmes, Medford
5HP- Tyler Thompson, Harrisburg
125cc- Eric Scofield, Albany
250cc- Camden Robustelli, Medford
250F- Mackenzie Thompson, Harrisburg
Open- Patrick Dills, Cottage Grove
Micro- Ron Starr, Sherwood
