Yes, the track was hot and slippery for most of the evening, but drivers are starting to remember what it takes to keep going faster during the heat of the summer at the Super Oval! Chelan's Randy Dietrich in the Hornet class set our 4th track record during qualifing in 5 weeks with a 17.814! East Wenatchee's Lightening Mike Roberts was quickest in the Sprint Cars with an 11.477, when the Sprints were here on June14th, Mike ran an 11.504 when it was much cooler. Wenatchee's Shane Mitchell told me before the races that he was fast on not-so-good tires and planned on breaking his fast time of 12.625, he came close with a 12.656! There were no big wrecks Saturday night, but a lot of fender bending and black marks on doors!
Robby Sutton got the racing action going with a trophy dash win for the Hornets, followed by Monroe's 3rd in points John Tharp sprinting to his 2nd consecutive trophy dash win, and Ephrata's Christian Roeder, who's 2nd in points for the Super Late Models adding to his collection.
Hardly a race completed a single lap without fenders bending and the caution flag flying. The wild and crazy Hornets were no exception in Heat 1, it finally ended with 2nd time racer Gustavo Martinez from East Wenatchee showing a natural ability to drive on a 1/4 mile oval by winning his 2nd heat race in as many nights! Robert Sutton followed in 2nd with Wenatchee's Mike Woods in 3rd, East Wenatchee's points leader Jeff Linterman came in 4th, with Chelan's 3rd in points Randy Dietrich in 6th, Concunelly's 18 year old Crystal Burley in 6th, and Wenatchee's Don Meza, 2nd in points, bending too many fenders for his car to continue, he would take over Mike Woods' car for the main.
Heat 2 for the Hornets featured what must be the worlds fastest 1973 Toyota Corina driven by Badger Mountains Brad McFarlane continue to run up front and won the 8 lapper, with Wenatchee's 17 year old Nick Vanassche place 2nd, Monitor's Dennis Prey finished 3rd, Cashmere's Ron Voss in 4th, Wenatchee's Bobby Jarolimek drove her 1982 Nissan to a 5th place finish with Ernie Richardson, Lori Mills and Lee Jarolimek completing the field, all three being from Wenatchee.
Heat 3 was another yellow paint-trader with the win going to Jarrett Sanford, his 2nd heat win this season, newcomer Wes Sharp came in 2nd and Josh Ingram in 3rd, all 3 being from Wenatchee. Dave Grayson pulled over the hill from Seattle to finish 4th, Wenatchee's Russ Pipken came in 5th, Cashmere's Jerimiah Voss came in 6th with Wenatchee's Motley Johnny Huson in 7th.
The Sprint Cars always put on a great show, and crowd pleaser Sherri Howard, 4th in points, gave them something to cheer about by coming from Spokane to whip the guys in the heat race, Mike Roberts, 2nd in points worked his way through the field to finish 2nd, with Goldbar's Eddy Isackson holding on for 3rd. John tharp, 3rd in points drove hard as he always does to a 4th place, with Lynnwoods 5th in points Todd Coleman charging to a 5th, RJ Fronsman, from Ephrata and 1st in points, managed a 6th place finish with Cashmere's Brian Andruss in 7th.
The Super Late Models took a few minutes to test and tune as the sun went down and the drivers were looking forward to the slippery track coming back to their setups for the Main Events. The Hornets 25 lapper got things started and the caution flag got another workout as drivers pushed still harder to get through the full field invert they asked for!. Second timer Gustavo Martinez suprised the rest of the field for the second time Saturday Night with a Main Event win to back up his 2 heat wins in only 2 nights of racing! Josh Ingram finished in 2nd, with Robert Sutton in 3rd, Dave Grayson in 4th, Lucas Merrill in 5th driving a BMW 320i, Jarrett Sanford in 6th, Don Meza borrowed Mike Woods #55 to post a 7th place finish, with points leader Jeff Linterman finding the main a little bumpy in 8th, with Ron Boss and Bobby Jarolimek finishing out the top 10.
Sprint Cars main event was a short one for Sherri Howard. Hard driving was keeping her out front, then, with a little help from John Tharp she bumped the turn 4 wall enough to sideline the #15 car until next time. Lightening Mike Roberts started at the back and slowly worked his way forward during the 35 lap race to take the exciting win with RJ Fronsman in 2nd, Brian Andruss in 3rd, John Tharp in 4th, Eddy Isackson in 5th, and Todd Coleman in 6th.
The first of the 100 lap Main Events for the Super Late Models this season was won by Garrett Evans with Shane Mitchell on his rear bumper, and Shane winning the 2nd with Garrett racing elsewhere. Both commented that they were looking forward to Saturday nights race where they started side by side mid pack, due to the 6 car invert. The drama didn't last long however with Mitchell being the victim in early-race-hard-charging, Shane tore up the front of the orange #99 car and left it up to Garrett to catch pole sitter Olympia's Ray Wallace. Garrett is now 6th in points, Mitchell is 1st. His 21 years racing came in handy as Wallace held off Evans and didn't make a single mistake, picking up his first win in a while. Bill Lawrence again made the drive from Kelona B.C. and had to work hard for his 3rd place finish.. Orando's Ben Reid gave Lawrence a run but ended with a 4th place. East Wenatchee's Ross Jones, 3rd in points, stayed out of trouble and finished in 5th, with Wenatchee's Chad Holaday, Josh Jones (4th in points), and Jeff Barkshire coming in 6,7,8. Ephrata's Christian Roeder, 2nd in points had a rough main. He was a part of the incident that took Mitchell out of the race, slightly bending up the left rear of the black #84, then somehow tore the right front fender completely off the car later and finished in 9th. Chelan's Marty Wason returned to late model competition for the first time this year and steered away from trouble to take 10th. East Wenatchee's Steve Floyd came in 11th, with Mitchell in 12th and Orando's Andy Stibal having car problems and not finishing.
This Saturday Night August 2nd is a great one for the adults because the kids under 17 years old get in for a nickle! We have gotten word that the local food banks are in need, so if an adult brings in at least 3 items of non-perishable food, you will recieve $4 off the gate price! The kids can also get rides around the Oval and through the pits in the WVSO Cool Kids Fan Club Bus! Racing on the track will be the Jerry's Auto Supply Grand Nationals with twin main events, the Pepsi Mini Super Stocks, the Les Schwab Mini Sportsmen, and the Wild and Crazy Hornets are back! Gates open at 5, qualifing at 6 racing at 7!
