Shane Mitchell hadn’t won, much less finished, a race in the JD Turner Construction Big 5 Super Late Models since June. Saturday night was his night. Not only did he win the 100-lap championship race in the Super Late Models, he also set fast time and won the main event in the Nascar Weekly Racing Series Sportsmen.
The top 3 in points for the Super Late Models entered the night separated by only 15 points. Points leader Kelly Mann set quick time on the night at 12 755, showing the Joe Constance and Kim Wennerberg that he would not go down quietly. An invert of 6 put Wennerberg on the pole, Mann outside row 3, and Constance inside row 5. Wennerberg’s championship dreams were dashed on the parade lap when he spun a bearing, giving way for Constance and Mann to duke it out. With Wennerberg pulling off, Shane Mitchell moved into the front row, and busted his butt to beat Bryan Goetz into corner 1 and into the lead. Goetz shuffled back quickly, while Garrett Evans and Travis Bennett settled comfortably into 2nd and 3rd. Mitchell, Evans, and Bennett shot away, while Mann was slowing rapidly. Turns out that racer’s luck bit at the wrong time for Mann, as a piece of his rear end suspension broke, putting him into the pits, his dreams dissipating faster than the laps Mitchell was putting down. The only one left was Constance, who entered the night 8 points behind Mann. All he had to do was keep the car on the track and running, which he did well, moving into 4th place before the checkered flag dropped. While everyone kept glancing back to Constance, the real race was between the top 3. Mitchell continuously fought off charges by Evans, who in turn was barely keeping off Bennett. Bennett, driving an Evans owned car, gave the most successful Raybestos Brake Northwest Series driver of all time as tough a run as he’s had. Lap after lap clicked bye, Mitchell trailed by Evans, trailed by Bennett. Evans finally took a shot upstairs, but spun out in the upper regions of corner 2, putting him back to 7th. Garrett’s spotter said after the race, "All Garrett said was, ‘Wow, that’s really slick’ ". That left Mitchell and Bennett and to race for the win with 20 laps to go. As good as he is, and as good a car as he had, Bennett couldn’t get around the fast orange #99 car. Mitchell cruised past the start finish line to pick up his 2nd Big 5 Super Late Model win of the year. Bennett, in his most impressive showing yet, took 2nd. Christian Roeder driving the Bollinger Motorsports #84 took 3rd. Mitchell also won the trophy dash.
Shane Mitchell can flat out drive a racecar. If there was any doubt before Saturday, it was erased. Mitchell piloted his Sportsmen car to a quick time of 13.978. He was faced with having to come up through the field from the 6th spot for the 50-lap sportsmen feature. Mitchell, also the points leader in the Sportsmen, wove his way up to 2nd place behind Ben Reid, before a caution on lap 26, courtesy Bob Greiner and his busted oil filter. A good 20 minutes of cleanup later, and the race was restarted. Reid parked his car on the inside groove, forcing the drivers behind him to look high. Mitchell opted to stick down low, while Brent Harris found a line he could run in the high groove. Using what traction was left upstairs, Harris got around Mitchell and Reid up high to take the lead on lap 29. Reid tucked in behind him, still pressing low, Mitchell right on his rear. Reid challenged Harris hard inside, giving him quite a run. Going into corner 3, contact occurred with Harris spinning in corner 4 as a result. The screech of brakes was heard, and when the tire smoke cleared from 4, we saw Tom Wentz had smashed into Harris’ car. In speaking with Wentz after the race, Wentz said, "I had enough time to get the ‘OH’ part of ‘OH (censored)’ out before I slammed into him. I couldn’t see anything." The wreck ended the evening of Wentz and Harris. Reid was penalized to the back of the pack. Mitchell played his cards exactly right, as all he had to do was finish 3 laps to win yet another Sportsmen main. Mitchell padded his lead in the division, but as he’s said in the past, "I’m not here for championships. I’m here to win races." Harris snagged a trophy dash win and Doug Homer driving the only truck in the class won the heat race.
It was also championship night in the Les Schwab Mini Sportsmen. Chuck Keifer had a 12-point buffer over 2 time defending champ Chris Noakes. All Keifer had to do was finish ahead of Noakes. He started outside row 1, while Noakes was inside row 5. Randy England got out to the lead and Keifer spent the first 18 laps running 2nd. Disaster struck on lap 19. Numerous cars got sideways in corner 2, eventually resulting in Doug Brown whacking the wall. The race was stopped temporarily, and during this time, it was determined that Keifer was involved in the incident. Keifer and Larry Jobe were banished to the back. Keifer, try as he might, was unable to pick up any more positions, and finished 10th. Noakes managed to get his way up into 6th. More on the points battle in a bit. Meanwhile, Jeff Bryant, the fast time on the night at 15.805, made his way up to England and took over the lead. Making it look easy, Bryant crossed the line 1st for his 1st ever main event win. England took 2nd, and Kelly Wennerberg finished a career best 3rd. With Noakes finishing 6th and Keifer 10th, the final point tally ended with a TIE. The first tiebreaker was main events won, and Noakes got the nod there with his 2 wins on the year. So congratulations Chris Noakes, 3 straight years as Mini Sportsmen Champion.
Andy Stibal and Shane Brim had a great race out front in the Jerry’s Auto Supply Limited Sportsmen main. From lap 8-24, they ran side by side, nose to nose, many times crossing the line at the exact same time. It was an awesome display for the top 2 drivers in points. Brim finally got a better couple of rune off of corner 4, and pulled it down to take over the lead permanently on lap 25. 15 laps later, Shane Brim extended his points lead a winner of the Limited Sportsmen Main.
Next Week At Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval, The Sportsmen and Limited Sportsmen have their championship races. Also on hand, The Doc Rambo’s Big 10 Wing Modifieds. Hope to see you there!
Results
JD Turner Construction Big 5 Super Late Models Fast Time- Kelly Mann 12.755
Dash- Shane Mitchell, Garrett Evans, Travis Bennett
Main- Shane Mitchell, Bennett, Christian Roeder, Joe Constance, Shane Harding, Evans, Chuck Ogle, Alan Spivey, Chuck Dills, Mike Olsen, Jack Eby, Bill Shaw, Kenny Evans, Frank Voltz, Chris Preston, Bryan Goetz, Jerry Fink, Lyon McClenahan, Brian Cole, Travis Powell, Kelly Mann, Tyler Delong, Tim Crandall, Kim Wennerberg
2001 Champion- Joe Constance
Nascar Weekly Racing Series Sportsmen Fast Time- Shane Mitchell 13.978
Dash- Brent Harris, Shane Mitchell, Josh Jones
Heat- Doug Homer, Steve Floyd, Ben Reid
Main- Shane Mitchell, Gary Shales, Jones, Reid, Tom Wentz, Harris, Bob Greiner, Floyd, Dennis Kennedy, Homer
Les Schwab Mini Sportsmen Fast Time- Jeff Bryant 15.805
Dash- Justin Douglass, Ken Haynes, Kirk Ising
Heat- Chris Noakes, Richard Brown, Doug Brown
Heat- Haynes, Larry Jobe, Randy England
Main- Jeff Bryant, England, Kelly Wennerberg, Douglass, Mike Brown, Noakes, Jobe, Haynes, Vawn Davis, Chuck Keifer, Ising, Brian Craig, Tony Daggett, D.Brown, Dale Pipkin, R.Brown
2001 Champion- Chris Noakes
Jerry’s Auto Supply Limited Sportsmen Fast Time- Shane Brim 15.336
Dash- Lacey Ledbetter, Kevin Bull, Scott Armstrong
Heat- Marty Wason, Joe Ludeman, Vern Huson
Heat- Armstrong, Bull, Shem Patterson
Main- Shane Brim, Andy Stibal, Nathan Schuyleman, Shannon Mitchell, Mike Sims, David Patty, Bull, Patterson, Huson, Brent Crowder, Ledbetter, Amanda Rowe, Dave Pierce, Wason, Ed Myers, Jeremy Osborn, Armstrong, Ludeman, Terry Osborn
