The 360 Wingless Sprints, a new class to South Sound Speedway, have been waiting since mid-April to get their inaugural race in.
They got their chance on Saturday night. John Stark broke the track record with a mind-blowing 13.592-second lap on the 3/8ths oval. This calculates to nearly 100 MPH. Craig Deaver won the first heat race for the Sprints with Brian Geiszler in second and Jason Thomas in third. JR Ray won the second heat race followed by Randy Dubois and Mike Basher. John Stark was the winner in the third heat race with Glenn Walker in second and Robert Beck in third. Brian Geiszler took the lead in the main event before a caution came out. The lap three caution was for Mike Basher who spun. John Stark took over the lead on lap six moving Geiszler to second. Another caution flew on lap seven when a pile up on the backstretch caused four cars to leave the track. Geiszler, Rodger Bell, Wes Helgeson and Mike Basher all left the track. Geiszler was the only one to come back and he did not lose a lap. The next caution came on lap eleven when Jerry Erbele spun. The final caution came out for Craig Deaver spinning. After 25 laps John Stark was the winner with Robert Beck in second and JR Ray in third. Randy Dubois was fourth and Glenn Walker was fifth.
There were twenty-three Hinkle Homes Pure Stocks flooding the pits Saturday night. David Tresenriter qualified fastest with a 16.864 second lap. Eric Lee won the C heat race with Lloyd Bonar and Brad Burnett in tow. Dennis Faulkner had mechanical trouble after the first lap and was done for the night. Josh Wharton led the B heat race until he went high on lap four and smacked the wall. He kept going but lost three positions. Scott Johnson took the lead and won with Ron Mason in second and Mitchell Woods in third. Steve Woods won the A heat race with Mike Carlson and Bobby Moore close behind. All but Faulkner started the main event and the pack made it three laps before a caution was thrown. The accident involved Steve Woods, Scott Johnson, Steve Gerdts, Mike Carlson, Zach Franklin, and Amanda Easley. Woods and Johnson were racing side by side when Gerdts attempted to go to the inside of them causing a chain reaction. Woods, Johnson, Gerdts and Franklin were unable to continue. Ron Mason had led before the caution with Mitchell Woods in second. Brandon Walker took over second when the race was restarted. David Tresenriter quickly moved up and by lap eight had taken the lead from Mason bringing with him Brandon Walker and Marshall Hallett right behind him. Another caution was thrown on lap 14 when Brad Burnett slammed into the turn one wall. The rest of the main event ran green with David Tresenriter winning his second main event of the season. Brandon Walker was second and Marshall Hallett was third. Bobby Moore finished fourth and Mitchell Woods was fifth in his best finish all season. Ron Mason, Eric Lee, Mitchell Clark, Lloyd Bonar and Josh Wharton rounded out the top ten.
The Vintage Modifieds finally got a race in at South Sound Speedway. Bob Wheeler was the fastest qualifier for the group although the rest were not far behind as this club is very closely matched in competitiveness. Robert Rux won the B heat race with John Mustered in second and Josh Wyne in third. Ike Hoskinson won the A heat with Mike Clother and Wheeler in tow. Rux took the lead in the main event after just one lap. Ray Hobbs battled with Rux for the lead and took it on lap nine at the line but Rux was back up front the next lap. Hobbs fell back to fourth and by lap 14, Wheeler had moved into the lead. At the end of lap 14, John Mustered and Mike Clother spun bringing out a caution. Mustered was finished for the night and Clother stayed on but left later in the race. Bob Wheeler Jr. won with Jim Jones in second. Ray Hobbs finished in third with Eric McClain in fourth and Ike Hoskinson in fifth.
Tony Bartlotti was the fast qualifier for the Cut Rate Auto Parts Economy 4-Cylinders. Marc Nelson led all eight laps of the B heat to win with Jack Allen in second and Tom Keehan in third. Tim Garske did the same in the A heat race followed by Kyle Hartman and Kevin Koepke. Before the main event got a full lap in Tim Garske and Dwayne Hardin got stuck together. The tow truck had to come out to pull them apart. Garske and Hardin both stayed on the track but got Garske was given a mechanical flag two laps later because of a flat tire. Tom Keehan and Floyd Hayne were battling for the lead until Hayne left the track on lap six. Keehan then lost the lead to Duane Lacy who brought Kevin Koepke and Jack Allen with him. Doug Shaffer moved into third on lap ten. Lap 16 brought out the final caution when Dwayne Hardin got into Maleah Smitham causing her to spin. Lacy took the win and took over the points lead. Kevin Koepke was second and Doug Shaffer was third. Jack Allen finished fourth with Tony Bartlotti fifth.
Steven Roberts clocked in fast for the MMRA Open division and took the heat race. Cody Stewart finished second while Willy Thom was third. BJ Brown and Dave Torrey started on the front row of the main event and Brown took the lead on the first lap. After that lap, coming out of turn two, Cody Stewart and Dan Larson Sr. got together. Stewart spun and collected Willy Thom causing both to slam hard into the wall and a uke tire, causing the uke tire to leave the ground. Stewart’s car then burst into flames. Stewart escaped the car without being burned but was complaining of back pain and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He was released later that night. Thom also was taken to the hospital by ambulance for stitches in his chin and for soreness and was released a few hours later. After a short delay the race got back to green and BJ Brown led with Steven Roberts closing in. Roberts took the lead on lap eight and Dan Larson Sr. took second from Brown. A caution was thrown on lap nine for Brooke Lefor’s car stalling. She was done for the night after she had had problems earlier after hitting the wall in qualifying. After 15 laps it was Steven Roberts who was victorious and Dan Larson Sr. took second, his highest finish of the season. BJ Brown was third with Dave Vanderpol and Buddy Benefield in tow.
Austin Thom powered his car to the fastest lap and won the heat race for the MMRA Future Stars. Dallas Melby was second in the heat race and Steven Daskam was third. Thom led the first seven laps of the main event before Daskam took over with Melby in second. Thom then spun on lap nine and was sent to the back of the pack. Daskam and Melby battled hard for the final five laps but it was Melby who came across first followed closely by Daskam. Matt Benefield was third with Aaron Stanley and Austin Thom finishing in the top five. Harrison Scherer, Kayla Roberts and Leslee Pierson finished out the class.
This weekend at South Sound Speedway will be a double header. Saturday night will feature the ASA North Star Yachts and Commercial Drivers Services Sportsman, the ASA Top Notch Trailers Street Stocks, the Hinkle Homes Pure Stocks and the Yelm National Auto Parts Bumblebees. Sunday night will have the Washington Association of Demolition Drivers (WADD) and the Figure-8. Both shows begin at 6:30 pm with qualifying at 5:00. There will be an awesome Fireworks display after each show.
Fast Time: John Stark 13.592
Heat 1: John Stark, Glen Walker, Robert Beck, Brian McLees, Jerry Erbele, Rick Brown Heat 2 : JR Ray, Randy Dubois, Mike Basher, Rich Leighty, Casey Walker, Wes Helgeson Heat 3 : Craig Deaver, Brian Geiszler, Jason Thomas, Axel Walker, Jim Walker, Roger Bell
Main: Stark, Beck, Ray, Dubois, G. Walker, Geiszler, Leighty, Brown, Deaver, McLees, Thomas, Erbele, C. Walker, J. Walker, Helgeson, Bell, Basher
Fast Time: David Tresenriter 16.864
C Heat: Eric Lee, Lloyd Bonar, Brad Burnett, Mitchell Clark, Devon Hundley, Mark Rorvik, Ken Flournoy, Dennis Faulkner B Heat: Scott Johnson, Ron Mason, Mitchell Woods, Craig Pfander, Zach Franklin, Josh Wharton, Jim Moen A Heat : Steve Woods, Mike Carlson, Bobby Moore, Amanda Easley, Brandon Walker, David Tresenriter, Steve Gerdts, Marshall Hallett
Main: Tresenriter, Walker, Hallett, Moore, M. Woods, Mason, Lee, Clark, Bonar, Wharton, Pfander, Easley, Moen, Rorvik, Flournoy, Burnett, Hundley, Carlson, Johnson, S. Woods, Gerdts, Franklin
Fast Time: Tony Bartlotti 17.155 B Heat: Marc Nelson, Jack Allen, Tom Keehan, Floyd Hayne, Dwayne Hardin, Maleah Smitham A Heat : Tim Garske, Kyle Hartman, Kevin Koepke, Duane Lacy, Tony Bartlotti, Doug Shaffer
Main: Lacy, Koepke, Shaffer, Allen, Bartlotti, Keehan, Nelson, Smitham, Hardin, M. Hayne, Hartman, Garske, F. Hayne
Fast Time: Bob Wheeler Jr. 15.602 B Heat: Robert Rux, John Mustered, Josh Wyne, Ray Hobbs, Steve Hall, Leonard Smith, Bob Stubbs A Heat : Ike Hoskinson, Mike Clother, Bob Wheeler Jr., Jim Jones, Jamie Millett, Eric McClain, Dave Trapp
Main: Wheeler, Jones, Hobbs, McClain, Hoskinson, Rux, Wyne, Trapp, Clother, Mustered, Hall, Millett, Stubbs
Fast Time: Steven Roberts 17.029 Heat: Steven Roberts, Cody Stewart, Willy Thom, Dan Larson Sr., Dave Torrey, Dan Larson Jr., Dave Vanderpol, BJ Brown, Josh Stevens, Buddy Benefield, Brooke Lefor
Main: Roberts, Larson Sr., Brown, Torrey, Vanderpol, Benefield, Stevens, Larson Jr., Lefor, Stewart, Thom
Fast Time: Austin Thom 18.170 Heat: Austin Thom, Dallas Melby, Steven Daskam, Matt Benefield, Aaron Stanley, Kayla Roberts, Harrison Scherer, Leslee Pierson
Main: Melby, Daskam, Benefield, Stanley, Thom, Scherer, Roberts, Pierson
