CHAMPIONS CROWNED AT PORTLAND SPEEDWAY

Source: Derrick Shannon
Date: 07/10/2000

Portland, OR July 10. As the curtain fell on the asphalt era at Portland Speedway local racers were crowned as champions at the historic Portland oval. Kenny Gummus won the Exide Limited Sportsman title, with Scott Puncochar picked up the Accel Street Stock crown, Dan Cherington winning in the Figure 8 division, Jeff Brookshire taking the Bomber championship, and Jody Tanner winning an emotional final asphalt NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Model Championship.

Jody Tanner of Portland Oregon trailed point leader Brandon Riehl by 9 points for the WRS title going into the final event so he needed to finish ahead of Riehl and for Riehl to have a bit of bad luck. Luck is what Tanner got. On the first lap of the 50 lap main event several cars tangled in turn 1, and Riehl was one of them. Also involved were former champion Darren Shaw, J R Perrott. The wreck left Riehl's Ford crippled and he was forced to get into the #54 of Uncle Mike Obrist and start at the rear on the restart.

Shaw also started at the rear but sailed through the field to take the main event win. Riehl could only manage a 9th place finish, while Tanner drove a cautious race to come home in second. Tanner won the title by 6 points. "This is the greatest day in my racing career" Tanner stated in an emotional Victory Circle. Brandon Riehl finished in second in the points, with Tony Schmidt in third, Eric Sayre in fourth, and veteran Dan Obrist making a late season charge to finish in fifth.

Kenny Gummus ran hard all season and was rewarded with his first track championship in the Exide Limited Sportsman division. It was the first NASCAR Championship of the 2000 season. Gummus held a wide margin of 38 points going into the final event, he only needed a consistent run and he would be champ. Scott Winebarger won the final event with a great come from behind victory after destroying his car two weeks earlier. Gummus finished 6th to claim the title. Brad Stanwood took second at seasons end, with Dale Holland finishing in third, Scott Winebarger coming back to finish fourth, and early season contender Robert Eubanks rounding out the top five.

The Accel Street Stock title was up for grabs a Brad Tanner just needed to finish ahead of his rivals and it was his. One of those racing deals happened on lap 17 of the 40 lap feature and eliminated Tanner from his title shot. That bad luck put the title in Scott Puncochar's hands as he cruised to win the title in the right and left turning class. Brad Tanner finished second in the point standings with Early point leader Ray Elwess falling to third after to weeks of bad luck. Don Jenner wound up the season in fourth, and Curt Nusom capping off a great season to finish fifth.

Dan Cherington controlled the Figure Eight class all season picking up 4 wins and several trophy dash victories. Cherington bested his brother Joe for the Figure 8 title by 9 points, with Brent Beall finishing third after a season that saw 2 victories. Chuck Jordan rallied to finish fourth, and Tim Patrick coming home in fifth.

Jeff "MR. Bomber" Brookshire handled the Bomber class this season with several main and trophy dash victories. This was his second Bomber title in the past couple of years. Danny O'Neil Jr finished the season in second, with Ric Fors in third, Danny O'Neil Sr in fourth, and Christopher Micheal in fifth. Special mention to Danny O'Neil Sr for his rookie of the year win and to Stan Asonovic for winning the destruction Derby during the Annual Crash Bang Extravaganza on July 3.

The final asphalt race at Portland Speedway saw the NASCAR Winston West Series roll into town for the NAPA Auto Parts 200 on July 4. It was youngster Jeff Jefferson setting fast time winning the last pavement race in dominating fashion. Jefferson won the race but the day belonged to Hershel McGriff as he ran the final pavement race after winning the first in 1946.

At the conclusion of the event McGriff tore up the first piece of asphalt and stayed to sign autographs for over 2 hours. Following Jefferson to the line were Steve Portenga, Brendan Gaughan, defending race winner Bill Sedgewick, and defending series champion Sean Woodside.

Portland Speedway will be closed until Aug 3 for the renovation to clay. The Grand Re-opening is scheduled for Friday August 4 when the Hy-Per-Lube Northern Sprint Tour comes to town to christen the new clay surface. Log onto to www.portlandspeedway.com for all the latest news and information.

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