There were Mini-Cup cars from all over the West Coast at South Sound Speedway on Saturday night, August 9th. California, Washington, Oregon and even Utah brought its best Mini-Cup drivers to compete in the West Coast National Championships. Brooke Lefor had the lead coming into the race for the Future Stars with Dominic Portera only 2 points behind her.
Daniel Moore and BJ Brown were tied as they came into the race but their competition was very close.
Patrick Phillips qualified fastest for the Open Division of the Mini-Cups. Dave Vanderpol led the first lap of the main event but BJ Brown and Daniel Moore passed him on the second lap. After those first two laps came the first caution. David Ankeney had hit the wall on the front stretch. He was fine but done for the night. BJ Brown led the race at the restart with Daniel Moore in second. Patrick Phillips took second on lap seven and eventually took the lead on lap nine. The next caution came on lap 12 for Jeff Price who spun in turn two. He got back going and so did the racing. BJ Brown held onto second with Daniel Moore and Dave Vanderpol close behind.
But when lapped traffic came into play, Moore got around Brown for second.
By this time Phillips had a half-track lead over the rest of the pack and was quickly catching the top five cars. The final caution came when Allen Mathis got into the turn-four wall on lap 42. Dave Vanderpol made a swift move on BJ Brown for third after the restart. Patrick Phillips won the 50-lap race with Daniel Moore in second and Dave Vanderpol in third. BJ Brown in fourth was the last car on the lead lap. Dan Larson Sr. finished fifth and Jeff Price was sixth. Daniel Moore won the Open Division West Coast National Championship and was awarded a huge trophy and a ring.
Brooke Lefor, the only girl competitor in the Future Star Division started in sixth position in the main event. All she had to do was finish in front of Dominic Portera, who had earlier qualified fastest, to win the Championship. Kyle Lund led the first two laps before the caution came out for a big spin in turn four. Involved in the incident included Lund, Lefor, Martin McKeefery, and Steven Roberts. They were all put to the back of the 11-car field without losing any laps. Cody Erskine now led with Chris Oliveira and Dominic Portera in tow. By lap four, Lefor had moved all the way up into fourth. Oliveira took over the lead on lap eight but lost power on lap 14, giving the lead back to Erskine. Erskine then lost power on lap 20, bringing out the caution. Portera led with Lefor in second. Lefor did get past Portera on lap 31 when he spun. Lefor and Steven Roberts battled closely for the next 20 laps but Roberts couldnt get past her. Brooke Lefor won the race and the West Coast National Championship for the Future Star Division. Roberts finished second in the race with Martin McKeefery in third. Cody Stewart finished fourth and Portera finished fifth.
The WESCO Sprints were back again and Craig Deaver put a brand new track record in the books. A 12.81 second lap is the fastest lap clocked at South Sound Speedway. The average speed was 105.4 MPH. Deaver didnt want to stop there though. He dominated the class and swept all the races. He won the dash and A heat race with no problem. Rich Leighty won the B heat. Steve Adkins jumped out to the lead of the main event with Jim Walker in second. Joe Rinard left the track on lap three and Kyle Secord left on lap four. Deaver took second from Jim Walker on lap five and the lead from Adkins on lap seven. Rich Leighty moved into third and Jeff Jewel into fourth as Jim Walker dropped back to seventh. On lap 11 came the only caution of the race when Adkins went into the wall. He was done for the night. During the caution Jim Walker also left the track for the night after losing his brakes. The rest of the race was run swiftly and at the end of 25 laps Craig Deaver was the winner with Rich Leighty in second and Jeff Jewel in third. Bert Johnson finished fourth with Glen Walker in fifth.
The Yelm National Auto Parts Bumblebees welcomes two new drivers into the hive. Lincoln Anderson of Rochester and Norm Upson of Olympia made a very impressive showing for their first times out. Anderson led all eight laps of the first heat race for the win with Gary Mitchell and Ken Meyer in behind him. Travis Major was the winner of the second heat race and was followed by Gary Lawrence who won the dash earlier in the evening. Anderson and Upson were running first and second in the main event before Gary Lawrence passed them both in one fail swoop on lap 10. Shannon Fitting had gotten the black on lap four for passing in the No-Passing Zone. Lawrence led to the white flag but got the black for passing in the No-Passing Zone. This left Anderson to win with Travis Major in second and Brian Wilson in third. Shannon Chase was running third but on the last lap, passed a car in the No-Passing Zone for a black flag. Upson finished fourth and point leader James Wyrick in fifth. Jennifer Lamoureux was sixth and Ken Meyer was seventh.
The Sportsman races were full of action. Mike Gummus was the fastest qualifier in the class. Ken Gummus won the dash. Dale Holland won the B heat over Brandon Taylor and Al Carver won the A heat over Brian Roth. There were five cautions in the 35 lap main event. Tony Malar left the track with a mechanical problem on the first lap. Brian Roth and Phil Willis jumped to the top two spots but the first caution came only 9 laps later when Brandon Taylor spun. Taylor stayed on the track and didnt lose any laps. Ken Gummus took over the lead on lap 13. On lap 14, Mike Gummus got into Brian Roth and Roth spun. Gummus left the track while Roth continued in the race. Ken Gummus was in the lead when the race went back green with Phil Willis in second and Al Carver in third. The next caution was on lap 28 when Brian Roth went airborne into the turn one wall. Luckily he didnt hit the wall very hard but was unable to finish the race. At the restart, Al Carver made a swift move around Ken Gummus for the lead Phil Willis followed but it was found out at the caution, two laps later that Gummus had a flat tire. Gummus lost only one lap in the pits. The final caution came on lap 33 for Shane Dickerson spinning in turn four. After the 35 laps completed, Al Carver was the winner with Phil Willis, Brian Vaughn, Johnny Cook and Jerry Clark rounding out the top five.
Next weekend at South Sound Speedway will be a full one. Saturday night, August 16th, will feature the WMRA, Late Model Super Stocks, Golden Wheels and Hinkle Homes Pure Stocks. The NWSST will run a 125 lap main event. It will be Lucky Eagle Casino night and prizes will be given out all night long. Racing will begin at 6:30 with qualifying around 5:00 pm. On Sunday afternoon, August 17th, there will be a 300-lap Factory Stock Enduro. The Enduro will begin at 2:00 pm. Stay tuned to www.southsoundspeedway.com for all your South Sound Racing information.
Mini-Cup National Results
Fast Time: Patrick Phillips 16.84
Main: Patrick Phillips, Daniel Moore, Dave Vanderpol, BJ Brown, Dan Larson Sr., Jeff Price, Bill Sebenik, Gerald Hawley, Josh Stevens, Allen Mathis, Dan Larson Jr., David Ankeny
Future Star National Results
Fast Time: Dominic Portera 18.03
Main: Brooke Lefor, Steven Roberts, Martin McKeefery, Cody Stewart, Dominic Portera, Mat Cone, Doff Cooksey, Harrison Scherer, Chris Oliveira
Yelm National Auto Parts Bumblebee Results
Dash: Gary Lawrence
Heat 1: Lincoln Anderson, Gary Mitchell, Ken Meyer, Mike Ebeling, Norm Upson, Jennifer Lamoureux
Heat 2: Travis Major, Gary Lawrence, Brian Wilson, Shannon Chase, Shannon Fitting, Travis Ash, James Wyrick DQ
Main: Anderson, Major, Wilson, Upson, Wyrick, Lamoureux, Meyer, Mitchell, Ebeling, Ash, Chase DQ, Lawrence DQ, Fitting DQ
Sportsman Results
Fast Time: Mike Gummus-15.03
Dash: Ken Gummus
B Heat: Dale Holland, Brandon Taylor, Brian Vaughn, Johnny Cook, Shane Dickinson, Tony Malar
A Heat: Al Carver, Brian Roth, Ken Gummus, Phil Willis, Mike Gummus, Jerry Clark
Main: Carver, Willis, Vaughn, Cook, Clark, Dickinson, Taylor, K. Gummus, Roth, Dale Holland, M. Gummus, Malar
WESCO Sprint Results
Fast Time: Craig Deaver-12.81--Track Record
Dash: Craig Deaver
B Heat: Rich Leighty, Jim Walker, Kyle Secord, Joe Rinard, Steve Adkins
A Heat: Craig Deaver, Jeff Jewel, Bert Johnson, Glen Walker
Main: Deaver, Leighty, Jewel, Johnson, G. Walker, J. Walker, Adkins, Secord,
Rinard
