CANNON SETS RECORDS AT MADRAS SPEEDWAY

Source: KD Colton
Date: 07/02/2003

Dustin Wilkinson in the 77 car and the 36 of Bob Dietrich (driving for Jody Tanner) started on the front row for the first of four 8-lap Heat races. At the green flag, Wilkinson and Dietrich stayed side by side thru the first turns, then the 22 of Brad Nusom was able to get beside the 36 and gain the 2nd position. The 33 of Brian Overturf followed Nusom up to 3rd. Coming out of turn 4 on lap 2, Overturf pulled up beside Nusom and claimed the 2nd spot at the line. Coming out of the 4th corner on the next lap, Overturf did the same thing to claim the lead over Wilkinson. The 84 of Ken Carver suddenly fell off the pace and brought out a yellow flag. Back to racing, the 24 of Curt Nusom was making a bid on Wilkinson for 2nd and claimed the spot after a couple practice shots. He set his sights on the leader. He could catch Overturf in turns 3/4, but couldn’t make the pass. The checkered flag flew for Overturf, followed by C.Nusom, Wilkinson, B.Nusom and Dietrich.

Grant Baker in the 27 and George Guiberson in the 45 paced the start of the B Heat race. Baker mashed his gas when the green came out and Sean Aubrey moved up beside Guiberson to challenge for 2nd but Guiberson held his ground. After turning back Aubrey, he went for an inside pass for the lead. Took a couple laps of side by side racing but Guiberson took over the lead about mid-way thru the race. Baker never gave up the fight but now had a bumper full of Aubrey. Baker slid up the banking in turn 4 and Aubrey dove underneath to take over the second spot. He’d have to work to hold it thou, as Baker was right back at his side going into the next corner. The cars got into each other and went sideways but the drivers kept control. Aubrey won the battle and crossed the line behind Guiberson, followed by the hard charging Baker, CJ Thom and Keith Clevenger.

When the green flag started the C Heat race, pole sitter Kevin Martell’s 73 car didn’t go. He had decided to take care of his race car and break in new parts slowly so he let the field go around him. John Nusom, in the 32, inherited the lead. Willy Thom, 99, came up to his door in turns 1/2, had the advantage going into 3/4 and gained the lead coming onto the front stretch. By lap 3, Thom had opened up a 5 carlength lead on the field and Martell was back up to race speed. Back in the pack, Schlatt, 71, attempted an outside pass on Nusom but slid up the track and had to fall back in line. Schlatt and Nusom battled thru the next lap door to door with Mike Crase, 8, on their tails, waiting for one little mistake. On lap 8, Thom was nearly 1/2 track ahead of the field. Schlatt, in 2nd now, had taken a comfortable lead over Nusom who was holding off a determined Crase. But time ran out and Thom took the last flag, leading Schlatt, Nusom, Crase and Martell across the line.

Mike Aubrey lost an engine in practice so he borrowed brother Sean’s 15 car to start the D Heat race from the pole, with Susan Nelson in the 42 beside him. Aubrey and Nelson ran neck and neck thru the first corners followed by Dave Cannon in the 92. Cannon tucked up behind Aubrey and followed that line past Nelson for 2nd spot out of the last corner. Cannon then started testing Aubrey for the lead and grabbed the lead with an inside pass off of the last corner. Aubrey tried stealing back the lead on the outside but slipped up the track and had to fall back in line. Meanwhile, Dan Harris, 43, had worked his way around Nelson and found Aubrey’s bumper. Who knows what would have happened if Harris hadn’t blown a tire and left the track on the last lap. Cannon claimed his first trophy of the night, followed single file by Aubrey, Nelson, Cardwell and Harris.

The winners of each heat were awarded a place in the Trophy Dash. Cannon and Overturf sat on the front row, W.Thom and Guiberson filled the second row. Thom got a great start and was already on Cannon’s bumper before they passed the green flag. Thom tried everything but couldn’t find a way around Cannon. For the second time, Cannon took the checkered flag with Thom still on his bumper, followed by Overturf and Guiberson.

Sadly, the 50 lap Main event was started again with a Memorial ‘Missing Man’ lap. This time for Grant Baker’s mother, Shelley Baker, who passed away last week, as unexpectedly as her husband just a few short months ago. The couple will be sorely missed.

Dustin Wilkinson and Mike Aubrey led the way for the start of the Main. Aubrey jumped to the lead out of turn 2 and as all the cars headed into turns 3/4, there was a whole bunch of bumpin’ and bangin’ going on. Everyone was scrambling for position but no one got turned around. Aubrey had opened up a huge lead in just a few laps, but Cannon’s confidence cup runneth over and he was already up to second and making a charge. Back in the field there was plenty of battles for position. Nusom, W.Thom and Overturf were battling for 3-5; Guiberson and Schlatt were going at it for the sixth spot. Behind them it was a gaggle of race cars hunting for a better place. Thom had gotten around Nusom, so Nusom boosted him along but wasn’t able to find a path around. They had a mirror full of Overturf waiting for the right opportunity. These three drivers traded positions all night long. Grant Baker joined the fray for awhile and worked his way up the fourth. The first yellow came out for Clevenger when his car went dead on the front stretch. After the green came back out, Thom dropped the hammer and tried an outside pass on Baker but neither car could stick in the corner. Both slid up the track, giving Overturf the bottom line but he couldn’t take advantage. Baker blew a tire on the next circuit and rode down the backstretch wall, bringing out another caution flag. Meanwhile, Randy Cardwell, 97, ended up in the turn 4 infield and left the track on a hook. Back to racing, Overturf, in 5th, started his run on Thom again and Schlatt, in 7th, was still working to get around Guiberson. Up in front, Aubrey, Cannon and Nusom were racing for the money. Cannon made a move on Aubrey out of turn 2 and snagged the lead. Just about then, Guiberson did a turn into the infield for another yellow. Since Cannon didn’t have the lead on the last completed lap, he was put back in second for the restart. At the restart, everyone picked up where they had left off and started beating and banging on each other again. Crase had quietly been working his way up thru the field and now looked to get around John Nusom in the 32. Crase finally got beside Nusom and they went three wide with Schlatt for 6th place. Nusom looped his car but didn’t collect anyone and didn’t bring out the yellow. Aubrey and Cannon had opened up their lead to about 4 carlengths, still fighting for the lead. C.Nusom, Overturf and Thom were still sorting out 3rd place. C.Nusom finally pulled away and caught the leaders as they were working thru lap traffic. It was just about this time that the 22 of Brad Nusom spun around, collected Nelson, who slammed into an infield tire, J.Nusom checked up and went sideways, Guiberson came along and T-boned the 32, then CJ Thom, Dietrich, and Harris smacked into the whole bunch. Fortunately, the bodies were all OK, but the machines didn’t fair as well. After a lengthy caution period, the leaders started swapping positions again. Cannon had finally claimed the lead from Aubrey; Nusom and Thom behind them. Aubrey’s car starting getting loose, allowing Thom to catch him and get underneath on the backstretch, Nusom came up on the outside going into turns 3/4. Three wide into the corners and Nusom came out in 2nd place, Thom right on his donkey. From there on out, Aubrey started getting shuffled further back in the field. Now Cannon had to defend his lead against the hard-charging C.Nusom. Nusom kept peeking inside but couldn’t hold the line. Nusom also had to worry about Overturf on his bumper. Thom and Schlatt were racing for the 4th spot. Nusom made a bold move on Cannon in turn 4 - Nusom went under lap traffic while Cannon took the high side – Cannon came out still in the lead to take the white flag. Lap traffic was still a problem for the leaders as they came out of turn 4. Cannon and Nusom split around the 97 car of Cardwell. Two of the cars got together and starting getting out of shape, Cannon just a hair’s breath ahead of Nusom. Then, Cannon, Nusom and Cardwell got all twisted up, taking the checkered flag in a heap. But Cannon’s door crossed the line first, giving him an unprecedented THIRD trophy in one night - and a spectacular finish to the race! Ten feet past the finish line was a junk pile! The final carnage took out six cars, including the leader and the 2nd place car of Nusom, plus CJ Thom, Nelson, J.Nusom and Cardwell. The official finish was Cannon, C.Nusom, Overturf, W.Thom, Schlatt, Crase, J.Nusom, Wilkinson, B.Nusom, Guiberson, Aubrey, Nelson, Harris, CJ Thom, Cardwell, Dietrich, Baker, Martell and Clevenger.

Congratulations to a very excited Dave Cannon! After coming out second in 7 different Trophy dashes – he said it was awesome to win three races in one night. Dave credits his crew for the wins – he said the car was perfect all night. His will be a hard act to follow! Dave also thanks his sponsors: Precision Installations, A to Z Carpet Installations, Bud’s Auto Wrecking, Portland Clutch & Brake, A-Plus Cab and Courier, East Side Paving and D & M Motors.

Once again, the Race Central Hard Charger Award went to Mike Crase for starting in 14th and moving up to a 6th place finish. Thank you to all of our sponsors - Evelyn’s Digital Solutions, Christiansen Oil, Red Line Racing Lubricants, Mac's Radiator, Race Central, and Fast Signs, Oswego Roof, Randy’s Ring & Pinion, The Wax Shoppe, B & M Engine Service, Racing Wheels Newspaper and Jody's Bar and Grill.

The NWSST’s next race is a special 2-day event at Spanaway Speedway in Spanaway, WA, July 4 & 5th. For complete race results, standings, schedule, news and more info, visit us on the web at http://www.nwstreetstocktour.com - because its all racin' and its all good!

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