BUMBLEBEES SWARM IN RECORD NUMBERS

Source: South Sound Speedway Public Relations
Date: 06/20/2004

Thirty-three Yelm National Auto Parts Bumblebees flocked to South Sound Speedway this Saturday night, June 19th. It was the best car count in the class since its introduction three years ago and there were many new drivers. It was also a great crowd as many fans were anxious to to get back to racing after four weeks of rain outs. There were two trophy dashes, four heat races and two main events. Point leader Andy Acton took the first trophy dash and Billy Wing took the second one. Roy Talbott led all eight half track laps of the first heat race to win with Kevin Thornton in second and Bryan Christoffer in third. After a first lap accident took Shannon Chase out, Tonya Hird led all the laps in the second heat race and was followed by Renny Marose and Glen Wharton. Jacy Lawrence took the lead on lap two to win the third heat race with Brian Wilson and Michael Ebeling in close pursuit. Norm Upson was victorious in the final heat race after Andy Acton and Craig Wright had led the three laps each. Acton finished second and Wright was third.

Aaron Johnston, Shawn Kinney and Michael Jones were the only two cars unable to make it in the main events so only 14 cars started the first Yelm National Auto Parts Bumblebee main. Chet Kinney took the lead from lap one. Derek Vetter was the first out of the race after taking out a cone on lap one. Howard Herringdine tried to hang onto second but Norm Upson took that spot over on lap six. Colby Payment was the next flagged for passing in the No Pass Zone. Rick Hollmer, Roy Talbott, Jacy Lawrence, and Jim Ragsdale were all flagged for not using their horns. As the white flag flew Norm Upson got around Chet Kinney to take the lead. Upson won with Kinney in second. Kevin Thornton finished third with Howard Herringdine and Rick Casebolt in fourth and fifth. In the less eventful but still exciting second main event Renny Marose led from the get go. Shannon Chase moved into second on lap three when he passed Kyle Ragsdale. Ragsdale quickly moved farther back bringing Ron Anctil into third. Ragsdale was later flagged for not using his horn. Bill Hansel was also flagged for that. Michael Ebeling was flagged on lap 12 after spinning Jennifer McCaslin. Renny Marose finished first with Shannon Chase and Brian Wilson in tow. Jeff Swanson finished fourth and Gary Mitchell was fifth.

Willy Thom clocked in with the fastest time for the ASA Late Model Super Stocks while Nick Behn took the dash. Bob Presley took the lead in the main event followed by Nick Behn and Angela Cope. James Van Cleve and Tim Gosch battled over fourth for the first ten laps. Lap 13 brought out the first caution when Ray Wallace and Ken Christie got together and headed straight into the turn one wall. The pair hit hard but it was only their cars that were hurt. Neither was able to finish the race. Lap 26 brought out the next caution for Phil Willis, Kirk Hall and Jerrod Sessler spinning. Amber Cope was given a black flag for the incident and penalized one lap. After the restart Sessler got a black flag for jumping the start. Angela Cope, who had been running third, spun herself on lap 55 bringing out the third caution. This moved James Van Cleve into third and Willy Thom into fourth. On lap 64 Nick Behn left the track with a flat tire, which cost him three laps and second place. Van Cleve was now second and Mike Obrist had moved into third but not for long. Obrist spun on lap 68 and collected himself without bringing out a caution but losing one lap to the leaders. The final caution came on lap 80 when Amber Cope and Jerrod Sessler spun. It was clear that no one had anything for Presley as he took his second win of the season in the ASA Late Model Super Stocks and took over the points lead. James Van Cleve took second in his first race at South Sound Speedway. Tim Gosch finished third with Willy Thom and Devin Eierman rounding out the top five. Phil Willis finished sixth followed by Angela Cope and Mike Obrist.

Jim Moen set a new track record for the ASA North Star Yachts and Commercial Drivers Services Sportsman with a 14.734 second lap. John Boyatt won the dash. Mike Saylors, who had to replace a rear end in his car after practice, took the B heat win. Paul Welch was second with Mark Jones third. Jerry Clark won the A heat race with Tom Smitham in second. After the green flew in the main event there was a seven car pile up in the first corner. Mark Jones, Paul Welch, Brandon Finch, Kelly Ensor, Mike Saylors, Tom Smitham and JD Barnum were all involved. Welch was the only one who was unable to come back out to race. When the flag flew again the pack completed one lap before another yellow was thrown for Ensor and Jeremy Richardson spinning. When green finally got back out Jerry Clark had the lead with John Boyatt in second. The third yellow of the race was flown on lap 11 when Richardson’s car began to leak oil. Racing started again but on lap 20, Boyatt made a move to get around Jerry Clark for the lead and took them both out. Then as they were getting lined back up Boyatt spun Clark for no reason and was black flagged and not allowed back on the track for the rest for the night. Al Carver now had the lead with Tom Smitham in second. Carver won his first main event of the season and cushioned his point lead. This was Tom Smitham’s first night back in a brand new car. He finished second. He hadn’t been back since the very first race of the season in which he was involved in an accident where his car literally flew over another. JD Barnum finished third in his first race at South Sound. Jerry Clark moved his way back up to finish fourth with Kelly Ensor fifth and Mark Jones sixth.

Dan Woodward clocked in fastest in the ASA Top Notch Trailers Street Stocks. Josh Bradley won the trophy dash over Greg Kinney, Jay Hopkins and Ron Ehli. Dennis Anderson led the first lap of the B heat before Mike Brooks took over. A caution was thrown when Josh Marcy spun on lap six. The white came out to Brooks but when the checkered flew it was David Lamb who crossed first and BJ Brown who was second. Brooks finished third. Jay Hopkins led the first four laps of the A heat race before Ron Ehli had it for one lap and Dustin Wilkinson for the last three laps. Bobby Micielli was second with Dan Woodward in third. Greg Kinney led the first three laps of the main event before Jay Hopkins blew his motor after running in second. Josh Marcy left on lap two with a fuel leak. Chad Hinkle took the lead on lap four with Dan Woodward in second. Woodward took the lead on lap eight and Hinkle moved back to third with Micielli taking second. Laps 11 brought out a caution when BJ Brown spun in turn four. Mike Brooks brought out the next caution on lap 21 for an oil leak. The next 15 laps ran smooth with Dan Woodward taking the win and Bobby Micielli finishing second and Dustin Wilkinson third. Chad Hinkle finished fourth with Ron Ehli fifth. Greg Kinney finished sixth with Josh Bradley in seventh and David Lamb in eighth.

Dash 1: Andy Acton Dash 2: Billy Wing

Heat 1: Roy Talbott, Kevin Thorton, Bryan Christoffer, Ron Anctil, Michael Jones, Colby Payment, Kyle Ragsdale DNF, Aaron Johnston DNF

Heat 2: Tonya Hird, Renny Marose, Glen Wharton, Jeff Swanson, Rick Kinney, Howard Herringdine, Derek Vetter DNF, Shannon Chase DNF

Heat 3: Jacy Lawrence, Zach Meridieth, Mike Ebeling, Bill Hansel, Rick Hollmer, Chet Kinney, Rick Casebolt, Jennifer McCaslin

Heat 4: Norm Upson, Andy Acton, Craig Wright, Billy Wing, Jim Ragsdale, Ken Meyer, Gary Mitchell, Brian Wilson

Main 1: Upson, C. Kinney, Thorton, Herringdine, Casebolt, Christoffer DNF, R. Kinney, Acton DNF, J. Ragsdale DQ, Lawrence DQ, Talbott DQ, Hollmer DQ, Payment DQ, Vetter DQ

Main 2: Marose, Chase, Wilson, Swanson, Mitchell, Wharton, Hird, Meridieth, Meyer, McCaslin, Wing, Wright DNF, Anctil DNF, Ebeling DQ, K. Ragsdale DQ, Hansel DQ

Fast Time: Willy Thom 14.291

Dash: Nick Behn

Main: Bob Presley, James Van Cleve, Tim Gosch, Willy Thom, Devin Eierman, Phil Willis, Angela Cope, Mike Obrist, Amber Cope, Paul Blake, Jerrod Sessler, Nick Behn, Curtis Zelmer, Kirk Hall, Ken Christie, Ray Wallace

Fast Time: Jim Moen 14.734 Track Record

Dash: John Boyatt

Heat B: Mike Saylors, Pappy Welch, Mark Jones, JD Barnum, Kelly Ensor, Jeremy Richardson

Heat A: Jerry Clark, Tom Smitham, Al Carver, Jim Moen, John Boyatt, Brandon Finch

Main: Carver, Smitham, Barnum, Clark, Ensor, Jones, Boyatt, Finch, Moen, Richardson, Saylors, Welch

Fast Time: Dan Woodward 15.730

Dash: Josh Bradley

B Heat: Dave Lamb, BJ Brown, Mike Brooks, Dennis Anderson, Josh Bradley, Josh Marcy

A Heat : Dustin Wilkinson, Bobby Micielli, Dan Woodward, Ron Ehli, Chad Hinkle, Jay Hopkins, Greg Kinney

Main: Woodward, Micielli, Wilkinson, Hinkle, Ehli, Kinney, Bradley, Lamb, Marcy, Brown, Anderson, Brooks, Hopkins

See Also .:

• South Sound Speedway Track Page

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