ELKO, Nevada -- Two new drivers joined victory circle Saturday night for the first time this season while one other added to his impressive total as another kept his title hopes alive by winning feature races at Summit Raceway. Filling in for regular driver Tasha Dayton, Spring Creek’s Tracy Greenwood took off at starter Wade Taylor’s green flag to turn in a wire-to-wire effort in the Gen-X feature race. Greenwood, who raced infrequently three years ago, flashed her old form in the fifteen-lap contest and took control of the event from the start. Following a third place heat race finish, the young lady won the trophy dash. In the feature, an incident between point leader Marnie Thorp and her closest pursuer Terri Kellum in the early stages of the race set the tone of the race. Kellum, from Elko, returned to the race, but was one lap down. Thorp, “The Queen of Speed”, was never in contention after that, despite finishing third. Finishing second to Greenwood was Jay McLeod, another designated driver, who filled in for wife Valerie. The Twin Falls driver was strong in the feature and was impressive. Thorp, the defending champion in the division, added more points to her 2004 title quest and now has a ten-point advantage over her sister-in-law Kellum. By ECAR rules, the points earned by Greenwood revert to the car driver of record, in this case Dayton. Dayton is now two points behind Kellum and twelve markers off the pace of Thorp, with only four races left in the Summit Raceway season. However, a dual point races between Summit Raceway and Battle Mountain Raceway on the weekend of September 17-18 during the annual Silver Cup at Battle Mountain, means that Summit drivers, except I.M.C.A. Modifieds, will receive points at both tracks. That means that these drivers have six more races to sort out a champion.
Veteran I.M.C.A. Modified star Nick Ayers, one of the Battle Mountain Boys, took the lead on the twenty- first lap from Randy Artz and held off defending champion Ward Amberson from Spring Creek to record his first win of the season at Summit. Artz took the lead on the first lap from his second row outside start and led Mitch Green for the first five laps before Amberson charged past Green for the runner-up position. Artz finished in the third spot, Craig Maestretti was fourth, and Green, who won the heat race, was fifth. Artz won the trophy dash.
In the ECAR Pro Stock feature, Battle Mountain ace Dave Wearin had it his way for the first sixteen go-a-rounds, but he didn’t order a side of Brian Thorp. On that lap, Wearin entered turn one with Thorp in close pursuit. Back marker Dale Updike, a graduate of the Quad division from Battle Mountain, was ahead of them in the turn. Wearin went into a lazy quarter spin to avoid Updike when Thorp tapped the leader sending into the infield, but not before Thorp became the new leader---but not for long. The officials sent Thorp back to the tail of the field, as Stacy Beeler became the official leader. Armed with the lead, Beeler poured on the coal during the final four laps as Wearin and Thorp were unable to catch the Battle Mountain veteran driver. It was Beeler’s second win here this season and put him forty points behind Thorp for the title. Wearin won the heat race and Beeler took the dash. For the third time this year, Thorp went home empty handed.
Bobby Steensen won the first five races of the season between here and Battle Mountain and won nothing since---until tonight. Steensen wrestled the lead from older brother Chris on the seventh lap and went on to victory in the ECAR Mini Mod feature race, ending a two-month winless streak. Second was Wells star Steve Pruitt, who captured the heat race, third went to defending champion Chris Steensen, and fourth was trophy dash winner Sam Coffelt. By winning, Bobby stretched his point lead to five over both Coffelt and Chris. For 2004 Battle Mountain Raceway champion Pruitt, thirty-nine points off the pace set by B. Steensen is too much for him to make-up.
The next races here will be the Friday-Saturday show on September 3-4 followed by the annual Gold Rush on September 24-25, the curtain closer.
Heat: Mitch Green, Heinz Woelki, Ward Amberson, Randy Artz, Craig Maestretti
Dash: Randy Artz, Ward Amberson, Mitch Green, Heinz Woelki DNS
Feature Nick Ayers, Ward Amberson, Randy Artz, Craig Maestretti, Mitch Green Dan Basanez, Heinz Woelki, Joe Rigsby, Steve Farnum DNS
Heat: Dave Wearin, Terry Lister, Stacy Beeler, Brian Thorp, Dale Updike
Dash: Stacy Beeler, Dave Wearin, Brian Thorp, Terry Lister
Feature Stacy Beeler, Dave Wearin, Brian Thorp, Terry Lister, Dale Updike
Heat: Steve Pruitt, Sam Coffelt, Dennis Pruitt, Bobby Steensen, Chris Steensen
Dash: Sam Coffelt, Bobby Steensen, Steve Pruitt, Chris Steensen
Feature Bobby Steensen, Steve Pruitt, Chris Steensen, Sam Coffelt
Heat: Terri Kellum, Valerie McLeod, Tracy Greenwood, Jack Hammond, Ashleigh Thorp
Dash: Tracy Greenwood, Terri Kellum, Jack Hammond, Jay McLeod
Feature Tracy Greenwood, Jay McLeod, Marnie Thorp, Jack Hammond, Terri Kellum
