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Knecht’s Auto Parts Fan Appreciation Night A Success At Willamette Speedway

Knecht’s Auto Parts Fan Appreciation Night A Success At Willamette Speedway
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Doc's Photos)
The Willamette Speedway had a busy weekend of racing with it all being capped off with Fan Appreciation Night presented by Knecht’s Auto Parts on Saturday June 8th. On Friday the 7th the Kage Karts were on hand for their third race of the season (results below). While on Saturday a full card of action was on hand with all six staple classes in competition. Those divisions included the DIRTcar Super Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Super Sports, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and Mini Trucks.

Trevor Glaser has been the man to beat at Willamette Speedway when it comes to DIRTcar Super Late Model action. The Tangent native in the early part of the race appeared to be on his way to yet another trip to victory lane until a restart after a caution would make things interesting. Russ Sell of Brownsville would move from the bottom to the middle groove of the race track in his 99.9 KRKT Cricket County/Left Coast Motorsports #50 Swartz to hunt down and pass Glaser for the lead.

But as lapped traffic came into the picture Glaser would get back around Sell to retake the lead. With Sell behind him Glaser would have another car try and overtake him for the win. This new contender was Joey Tanner of Portland in the Woodshed Bar & Grill/Xtreme Motorsports #111 X-Factor. Tanner turned it on the last few laps and started to put pressure on Glaser. Glaser though was able to keep Tanner behind him and win his fourth race of 2013 and the third straight visit to the winner’s circle for Bayer Crop Science/Farmland Tractor Supply/Ground and Water #2 Trak-Star entry.

In the IMCA Modifieds the streak of different feature winners would continue. Albany’s Craig Cassell would earn the win after starting on the outside front row in his Ester Lee Motel/Mid-Valley Farms #25 Rocket. Cassell would earn the lead around lap seven and would not let it go and would become the fifth different winner in as many races at Willamette Speedway in the division.

“This win shows that the race I won last year wasn’t a fluke,” said Cassell, “it also shows that all the hard work that we did in the offseason paid off. I got to thank all sponsors including Mark Baete from Ester Lee and all my family for supporting me.”

In the Super Sports a new face visited victory lane for 2013. Veteran chauffeur Steve Moore from Scio, who was battling a bad case of bronchitis, looked as if he was going to finish in second place. That was until he made an inside pass on the Pickett Custom Cabinets/Jeffrey Masonry #98 Swartz of Albany’s Bob Jeffrey. After the move Moore would go on to lead the rest of the way and put his crate-engine powered Xtreme Motorsports/Schram Brothers Excavating/Woodshed Bar & Grill #21 MasterSbilt into victory lane.

“This is my first win since the Mick Gray Memorial back in 2011,” commented Moore, “and this is the first time that I’ve ever beat Bob Jeffrey. It’s nice to get this win it has been awhile.”

Another new name joined the 2013 win list for the Sportsman classification. Phil Housworth of Lebanon got the job done. Seizing the lead early the driver of the Bullygang.com/Wirth Wireless #33 Jet kept all contenders behind him. That doesn’t mean he went unchallenged as Albany’s Brian Smith made a late charge in the Hackney Racing #1 Pierce. Housworth and Smith battled hard but Housworth stayed up front and became the fourth different winner in five races in the division.

In the Street Stocks young Bricen James of Albany would visit victory lane for the second time this season. David Cronk of Portland was the early leader in the Metro Services/Gassner Trucking #29 Camaro but James would close the gap and reel him in. Young James would try the top and the two would race side by side for several laps until a caution came out. James and Cronk raced back to the yellow and James would edge Cronk out at the start-finish line. James would lead the rest of the distance and pick up the win in his James Gang Pizza/Lebanon Auto Body/Rainbow Rentals #13 Monte Carlo.

“I really had to work hard for this one,” said James, “David and I had a good clean race going on there until the yellow came out. I’m glad to get another win.”

Last but not least the Mini Trucks were on hand and once again the trophy and prize money headed back to Crook County with the Carson Oil/Guy’s Automotive and Lube/Prineville Sign and Banner #24 Toyota. Prineville pilot Don Croy earned his third win overall in the class, second consecutive, starting up front and finishing up front all night long.

“I guess you could say I got the luck of the draw all night,” stated Croy, “the truck was good all night. I got to thank all the sponsors that I have on board that lets me do this.”

The Willamette Speedway will be back in action next Saturday June 15th. Classes in action will include the DIRTcar Super Late Models, Super Sports, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and Mini Trucks. Sunday the 16th will be the annual Father’s Day Tuff Truck/Trash Car event while on Tuesday the 18th the Wild Wild West Modified Shootout series will be in town presented by the fine folks at Les Schwab Tires. That race will have the top IMCA Modified teams on the Pacific Coast take on the local competition at Willamette be sure and mark your calendars. For more information be sure and visit www.trophymotorsports.com.

Race Summary:
Kart Race #3
Friday June 7th, 2013
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, Oregon

Pee Wee
4 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Ian Whisler, 2. Blake Boshart, 3. Bradley Stumph, 4. Carter Patterson

5HP Intermediate
7 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Conner Hanson, 2. Austin Sause, 3. Eston Whisler, 4. Trinity Pendley, 5. Kason Miller, 6. Alex Roe, 7. Skyler Winebarger

5HP Open
4 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Caleb Henderson, 2. McLain Beaudoin, 3. Austin Sause, 4. Caleb Day

125cc
7 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Duke Johnson, 2. Custin Jones, 3. Kyle Roles, 4. Talyn Roberts, 5. Casey Starr, 6. Dalton Piefer, 7. Mike Day Jr.

250cc
8 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Eric Scofield,2. Kyle Cormican,3. Austin Jones, 4. Casey Doolittle,5. Justen Case, 6. Jared Lund, 7. Cody Stumph, DNS Megan Day

Speedway Karts
6 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Stephen Chase, 2. Eric Stansberry, 3. Dustin Stephenson, 4. Jerry Patterson, 5. Wayne Felch, 6. Shane Smith

Open Kage
11 Entries
A-Feature: 1. Jake Ferguson, 2. Bricen James, 3. Patrick Dills, 4. Rick Pallin, 5. Jimmy Whisler, 6. Briley Pompe, 7. Justin Haft, 8. Brendan Waterman, 9. Cooper Desbiens, 10. Randy Phelps, DQ Robert Venner

Micro Sprints
1 Entry
A-Feature: 1. Jeff Broadwell

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