Saturday night, May 31st, was littered with accidents as the Late Model Super Stocks, Sportsman, FSCRA, Mini-Cups and Future Stars battled for wins.
In the Late Model Super Stock dash, five cars were out to run. Curtis Zelmer, Jimmy Clair, Tim Gosch, Wade Bland and Dan Rhodes were on the grid. They took the green and Rhodes was going for the front on the inside line. As they came to the line, Bland and Clair got together. Then, Clair’s car veered down and Rhodes had nowhere to go. He drove up over the front tire of Clair’s car and onto his side. Rhodes skidded for a few feet until he caught on something and began flipping. A total of four flips occurred before Rhodes’s car landed in the turn one infield. The crowd was hushed as they waited to hear about his condition. Finally word came that Rhodes was uninjured. Afterwards that 18-year-old Rookie Late Model driver said that his safety gear had done its job and he didn’t move at all in his seat. Rhodes also commented that he had opened his eyes as he was flipping and all he saw was dirt and quickly closed them again. When asked where his car was Rhodes jokingly said, “The car is in the shop, the body is in the pits.” Most all of Rhodes’s fiberglass came off the car and was picked up by the safety crew. Rhodes did not make the main event as well as Wade Bland. Jim Clair suffered damage to the front if his racecar but was uninjured also.
After all the excitement in the first lap of the dash, the two remaining cars decided they didn’t want to finish it and the dash was called off. Later in the evening Rhodes gave the dash trophy to a young fan in the stands. Eric Tibbitts had the fastest qualifying time in the Late Models with a 14.267. Bob Presley and Chad Hinkle were on the front row of the main event. Hinkle and Presley were running neck and neck for the first three laps with Hinkle nosing into the first position all three laps. On lap four, it was Presley who had nosed to the front for the lead. Presley ran in front with Hinkle in second followed by Angela Cope, Amber Cope, Eric Tibbitts and Nick Behn. Tim Gosch was running seventh with Ken Carver in eighth and Curtis Zelmer in ninth. These positions were held though green laps until lap 33 when Carver passed Gosch for seventh. On lap 36, Eric Tibbitts pulled off the track with a mechanical problem, later identified as a blown motor, moving everyone up one spot on the racetrack.
Presley, Hinkle, Cope, Behn, Cope, Carver, Gosch, Walcker, Zelmer and Clair were how they were running with 60 laps to go. On lap 43, Clair went off the track with small problem but was back eight laps later. Zelmer passed Walker on lap 45 for eighth place. On lap 47, Carver and Gosch both passed Amber Cope for fifth and sixth. The green laps stopped on lap 74 when Kevin Carver was attempting a pass on Angela Cope on the outside. Cope came up on Carver taking him to the wall. Carver skidded along the wall from the flag stand all the way around to turn two where his car caught on fire. Carver was quickly out of the car and the fire was quickly put out with no injuries. Unfortunately for Carver, his great run was cut short and he could not finish the race. The green flag was shown again on lap 76 but a whole lap wasn’t gotten in when Chad Hinkle got into the back of Bob Presley. Presley spun and was the cause of the yellow so he had to go to the back. Hinkle was also sent to the back with a one-lap penalty. This left Angela Cope as the leader with Tim Gosch, Nick Behn, Amber Cope, Curtis Zelmer, Bob Presley, and Jeff Walcker on the lead lap respectively. Behn got passed Gosch on lap 97 and the pack raced green to the end. Angela Cope was the winner with Behn in second and Gosch in third. Amber Cope finished in fourth followed by Curtis Zelmer, Bob Presley, Jeff Walcker, Chad Hinkle, and Jimmy Clair.
The Sportsman made their debut at South Sound with overwhelming success. This class began as a group of St. Helens drivers and has expanded into a South Sound Speedway class that is welcoming any new drivers. Ken Gummus clocked in the fastest setting the track record at 15.37. Scott Winebarger won the dash and the heat race. Gummus was second in the heat followed by Greg Greer, Brian Roth and Shane Dickerson. Brandon Taylor and Dale Holland started on the front of the main event but as they came to the line for the first lap, Taylor and Winebarger, who started on the second row, got together and both cars were into the wall. Winebarger was uninjured but unable to finish the race. Taylor stayed out but had major cosmetic damage. Brian Roth led the first three laps before Jerry Clark took over. Roth was in second until lap eight when Gummus passed him. Clark was running very well and had lapped half of the pack. Roth was running third with Holland in fourth and Brian Vaughn in fifth. Greg Greer was in sixth. Clark battled Gummus to stay up front but on lap 25, Gummus got the front spot from Clark. Gummus won the main event with Clark, Roth, Holland and Vaughn in the top five. Greg Greer finished sixth followed by Bob Cram, Brandon Taylor, Jeff Timmons and Shane Dickerson.
Kirk Hall set a new FSCRA track record with a 14.97. Jim McKay drove to victory in the dash over Hall. Terry Rennick won the A heat race with Jerry Koepping in second and Hall in third. Scott Tiplady won the B heat followed by Keith VanDyne and Gregg Radford. Radford led the first five laps of the main event with Koepping in second. Koepping took over the lead on lap six. On lap nine was the first yellow when Radford spun by himself. The lap before, Jason Shipman left the track and lap nine, Craig Derksen left. Koepping still led with Tiplady in second and McKay in third. Terry Rennick was running fifth at the time of the yellow and by lap 13, he had moved into second. On lap 15, he took the lead from Koepping. The remaining laps were run under green. Rennick won with Koepping, McKay, Tiplady and Dan Hale in the top five.
Tom Phillips dominated the Mini-Cups. He qualified fastest, won the heat and won the main event. Dave Vanderpol won the dash. Todd Olson led the heat race for five laps before Phillips took over. Olson was second with James Sullivan in third. There were no cautions for the Mini-Cup main event. Sullivan led the first lap then Olson took over. He led until lap five when Phillips took over. Olson ran in second with Sullivan in third. Mike Allen, who started at the back, moved up to fourth position by lap six. Allen took third from Sullivan on lap 14. Allen dropped back in lapped traffic on lap 17 and Daniel Moore shot up into the second spot. When it was all over, Philips was the winner with Moore, Sullivan, Dave Vanderpol and Olson in the top five. Allen finished sixth with BJ Brown in seventh and Dan Larson in eighth.
JJ Hickle and Cody Stewart tied for fast time in the Future Stars. Steven Roberts was the victorious party in the dash. Hickle and Stewart also battled hard together in the heat race. Hickle was the winner at the line with Stewart close behind him. Cody Erskine led the first lap of the main event before the yellow came out. Hickle had spun and gotten a flat tire. He came back as the green flew but did not lose a lap. Steven Roberts led the second lap. Erskine dropped back to fourth. Brooke Lefor and Cody Stewart were second and third. Lefor tried for many laps to get past Roberts and she did on lap 12. With three laps to go Cody Stewart also got around Roberts and set his sights on Lefor. The pair battled head to head for the final laps but at the line it was Lefor by half a car with Stewart in second. Roberts finished third with Hickle in fourth and Erskine in fifth.
A full weekend of racing is set for next June 7th and 8th at South Sound Speedway. On Saturday night, the WMRA will be making their first stop. The Mini-Cups and Future Stars will be back along with the NW Legends and Bandoleros and the Top Notch Trailers Street Stocks. Racing will begin at 6:30 pm with qualifying at 5:00 pm Saturday night. Sunday will be a 300-lap Factory Stock Enduro starting at 2:00 pm. Check out www.southsoundspeedway.com for all your racing needs.
- Fast Time
- Eric Tibbitts 14.267
- Mai
- Angela Cope, Nick Behn, Tim Gosch, Amber Cope, Curtis Zelmer, Bob Presley, Jeff Walcker, Chad Hinkle, Jimmy Clair, Kevin Carver, Eric Tibbitts
- Fast Time
- Kirk Hall 14.97 Track Record
- Dash
- Jim McKay
- B Heat
- Scott Tiplady, Keith VanDyne, Gregg Radford, Bob Quarterman, Ron Stocker, Jason Shipman
- A Heat
- Terry Rennick, Jerry Koepping, Kirk Hall, Jim McKay, Dan Hale, Earl Williamson, Craig Derksen
- Main
- Rennick, Koepping, McKay, Tiplady, Hale, VanDyne, Williamson, Quarterman, Stocker, Radford, Derksen, Shipman
- Fast Time
- Ken Gummus 15.37 Track Record
- Dash
- Scott Winebarger
- Heat
- Scott Winebarger, Ken Gummus, Greg Greer, Brian Roth, Shane Dickerson, Dale Holland, Jerry Clark, Brandon Taylor, Brian Vaughn, Jeff Timmons, Bob Cram
- Main
- Gummus, Clark, Roth, Holland, Vaughn, Greer, Cram, Taylor, Timmons, Dickerson, Winebarger
- Fast Time
- Tom Phillips 16.79
- Dash
- Dave Vanderpol
- Heat
- Tom Phillips, Todd Olson, James Sullivan, BJ Brown, Mike Allen, Dave Vanderpol, Dan Larson, Josh Stevens, Bill Sebenik, Gerald Hawley, Daniel Moore, Terrell Dykstra
- Main
- Phillips, Moore, Sullivan, Vanderpol, Olson, Allen, Brown, Larsen, Dykstra, Stevens, Sebenik, Hawley
- Fast Time
- JJ Hickle 18.06
- Dash
- Steven Roberts
- Heat
- JJ Hickle, Cody Stewart, Steven Roberts, Brooke Lefor, Cody Erskine, Kyle Elliott, Kyle Lund, Matt Cone
- Main
- Lefor, Stewart, Roberts, Hickle, Erskine, Lund, Cone, Elliott
1. Nick Behn 200 2. Eric Tibbitts 190 3. Tim Gosch 176 4. Chad Hinkle 172 5. Curtis Zelmer 152 6. Kevin Carver 134 7. Dan Rhodes 130 8. Angela Cope 130 9. Jimmy Clair 116 10. Amber Cope 116
1. Ken Gummus 85 2. Jerry Clark 72 3. Brian Roth 73 4. Scott Winebarger 63 5. Dale Holland 62 6. Greg Greer 57 7. Brian Vaughn 56 8. Brandon Taylor 52 9. Bob Cram 50 10. Jeff Timmons 40 11. Shane Dickerson 40
