MARGESON SCORES SEVENTH WMRA WIN AT WENATCHEE

Source: Andrew Kunas
Date: 08/20/2007

Carrying a strong 162-point lead over Brea Lopez going into the event, Margeson solidified it further with his seventh win in nine races this year. Only two events remain for the WMRA this season.

Margeson, out of Tacoma, started the 35-lap event inside the fifth row aboard the Harold Beal No. 50 Ed Pink Ford-powered Beast and slowly worked his way to the front, taking the lead from Ken Ferris on lap 16 and leading the final 20 laps. Margeson was never threatened and had little traffic to deal with.

“The car was hooked up. Everyone was hugging the inside so I tried the outside, and it worked,” Margeson said following the race. “I really want to thank Harold Beal and Mac Towing for their help.”

Skeeter Flake of Woodinville, Wash. started on the pole as the result of a ten-car inversion and led the first two laps aboard the Dick Voss No. 45 Nissan-powered entry before yielding the position to Ferris on a lap three restart. Ferris, driving his own No. 28 Ford-powered Beast, led the race until Margeson caught him.

Margeson had passed Ethan “Snake” Livernash on the high side exiting turn two of the ¼-mile, high-banked asphalt oval during a lap seven restart. Margeson followed Ferris for nine laps before passing him in the same manner on the same part of the race track.

“I didn’t know just how close he was, but I knew on the restart he was second up on the scoreboard,” said Ferris, whose runner-up finish tied the best.

“It was a good car. We were fast, and I felt we were consistent. I just don’t know how to go faster than the 50 car,” Ferris quipped.

Margeson only had one close call, making minor contact with the slower car of Eric Hector in turn one on lap 28.

“I was coming up to lap him and I thought I was inside enough that he’d see me,” Margeson said. “We bumped a little bit, but we were fine. It was light so I wasn’t worried.”

Livernash, last year’s WMRA Rookie of the Year out of Spanaway, Wash. tied his best finish of the season with a third place run aboard father Scott’s No. 55 Esslinger-powered Beast. After being passed by Margeson, Livernash ran in the third position for 29 laps despite the best efforts of Lopez, who made repeated attempts to pass Livernash on the inside.

“I knew (Brea) was behind me. She was all over me, but she ran a good race. A couple of times I thought she had me,” said Livernash, who also won the B Dash and B Heats. I was starting to get loose at the end, but the car was good. (Margeson and Ferris) had better cars than I did and just pulled away. It was a good night. I came back with all four wheels and I finished on the podium in all three races.”

Lopez finished fourth in the Dan Press No. 25 Esslinger-powered Beast, a week after finishing second at South Sound Speedway. Brad Curtis of Edmonds, Wash. finished fifth aboard the Joan Curtis No. 12 Mopar-powered Beast.

Dallas Melby of Ravensdale, Wash. had earlier pulled into the pit area during a caution to change a rear tire that was going down. He came back out and tagged the tail end of the field for the restart. Melby, who won the season opening event at South Sound in April, worked his way back to the fifth position behind Lopez.

Livernash, Lopez, Melby and Curtis were running single file, tightly on lap 33. Melby made contact with Lopez and lost the fifth position to Curtis as a result. Melby then pulled off the track, having suffered a damaged right front wheel after contact with the back of Lopez’s car. Melby was credited with eighth place.

Tony Seidelman finished sixth and Hector seventh. Portland’s Chris Petersen and Flake rounded out the top ten. Kenny Burns, also out of Portland, crashed out of the event on lap three when he struck the front stretch wall and nearly rolled his machine over on the pavement.

Melby set fast time in qualifying with a time of 12.361 seconds around the track. Margeson was second quick with a time of 12.720 seconds.

Livernash was followed in the B-Dash by Ferris, Hector and Lopez. Seidelman bested Melby, Petersen and Margeson in the A-Dash, which featured the four fastest qualifiers. Eight lap heat races were won by Livernash and Margeson.

The WMRA next event is at Ephrata Raceway Park in eastern Washington on Saturday, September 1. The WMRA’s June 9 event at Ephrata was rained out. The series closes its season September 15 at South Sound.

- - -

Washington Midget Racing Association Wenatchee Valley Super Oval East Wenatchee, WA August 18, 2007

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Qualifying: (Car number, driver, hometown, owner, chassis/motor, time) 1. 9 Dallas Melby; Ravensdale, WA – Chris Melby, Blue Dot / Stanton Mopar: 12.361 seconds 2. 50 Evan Margeson; Tacoma, WA – Harold Beal, Beast / Ed Pink Ford: 12.720 3. 98 Chris Petersen; Portland, OR – Tom & Judy Maples, Beast / Ford: 12.723 4. 44 Tony Seidelman; Spanaway, WA – Randy Manners, Hawk / Sage Chevy: 12.733 5. 12 Brad Curtis; Edmonds, WA – Joan Curtis, Beast / Mopar: 12.736 6. 25 Brea Lopez; Vader, WA – Dan Press, Beast / Esslinger: 12.756 7. 28 Ken Ferris; DuPont, WA – same, Beast / Ed Pink Ford: 12.832 8. 55 Ethan “Snake” Livernash; Spanaway, WA – Scott Livernash, Beast / Esslinger: 12.885 9. 92 Eric Hector; Ephrata, WA – Allan Dixon, Edmonds / Gaerte: 13.153 10. 45 Skeeter Flake; Woodinville, WA – Dick Voss, Moss / Nissan: 13.188 11. 21 Kenny Burns; Portland, OR – Jerry Burns, Kenyon / Fontana: 13.258

B-Dash (4 laps): 1. 55 Snake Livernash, 2. 28 Ken Ferris, 3. 92 Eric Hector, 4. 25 Brea Lopez.

A-Dash (4 laps): 1. 44 Tony Seidelman, 2. 9 Dallas Melby, 3. 98 Chris Petersen, 4. 50 Evan Margeson.

B Heat (8 laps): 1. 55 Snake Livernash, 2. 28 Ken Ferris, 3. 25 Brea Lopez, 4. 21 Kenny Burns, 5. 92 Eric Hector, 6. 45 Skeeter Flake.

A Heat (8 laps): 1. 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 9 Dallas Melby, 3. 44 Tony Seidelman, 4. 98 Chris Petersen, DNS – 12 Brad Curtis.

Feature (35 laps): 1. 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 28 Ken Ferris, 3. 55 Snake Livernash, 4. 25 Brea Lopez, 5. 12 Brad Curtis, 6. 44 Tony Seidelman, 7. 92 Eric Hector, 8. 9 Dallas Melby, 9. 98 Chris Petersen, 10. 45 Skeeter Flake, 11. 21 Kenny Burns.

Lap leaders: Skeeter Flake 1-2, Ken Ferris 3-15, Evan Margeson 16-35

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend