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Willamette Speedway Beats Weather To Complete 2014 Season Opener

Willamette Speedway Beats Weather To Complete 2014 Season Opener
By Ben Deatherage
Well the rain didn’t prevent Willamette Speedway from opening up the 2014 season on Saturday April 19th. Despite several afternoon rain showers the clouds would part and allow for the entire racing program to be completed. Despite the rain soaking the Kart track and preventing the Easter Egg Hunt the Easter Bunny did make a special appearance to spend some time with the kids before his big day. Classes in action included the X-Factor Race Cars Super Late Models, Wirth Wireless IMCA Modifieds, Sportsman, and Street Stocks.

In the X-Factor Race Cars Super Late Model feature it was John Duty with the car in the first stages of the race. The Happy Valley resident, piloting his Don Frank Flooring/Mid Ohio Graphics/Metro Services/Darren and Mardell Williams #5 Rocket, would take the initial lead and would blaze the trail early.

Duty would lead the field until around lap ten when Portland’s Joey Tanner would overtake him for the lead. Tanner, in the Jody’s Nothin’ But Fun Bar & Grill/X-Factor Race Cars/Schram Brothers Excavating #111 X-Factor, would cruise around the historic 1/3-mile clay oval lapping all the way up to fourth place. Tanner would earn the win and pick up his second straight season opener victory at Willamette Speedway.

John Duty was second followed by Portland’s Brian Cronk in the Metro Services/Dog Lover’s Gold Dog Food/Big Sky Landscaping #29 Rocket in third. The balance of the top five would consist of Bend’s Rob Mayea in the J&S Farms/Cornett Racing Engines #37 Victory Circle in fourth and fifth place would go to the Don Frank Flooring/Big Sky Landscaping/Mid Ohio Graphics/Metro Services #15 Rocket of Justin Duty from Happy Valley. Rob Mayea would be the winner of the evening’s Don Frank Flooring Trophy Dash.

In Wirth Wireless IMCA Modified action Matt Mitchell was ultra-quick. The Vancouver, Washington native had a perfect night headed into the feature and was eligible for a clean sweep. It wouldn’t take long for Mitchell to take possession of the lead as he was dominant in his A-Line Concrete Cutting/Shepard Performance/Van Raden Industries #15M Rayburn but soon would be threatened by another driver.

That other driver was Crawfordsville’s Kyle Yeack. Yeack, in the Fastenal/Radiator Supply House/Cascade Outdoor Power & Equipment #47 Pro, would start to challenge for the top spot with just ten laps to go. Mitchell and Yeack would battle side-by-side for several laps before Yeack would secure the position with just five laps remaining. Yeack, the three-time Willamette champion, would go on to win the feature in the first Wirth Wireless IMCA Modified main event of the season.

Matt Mitchell would score the runner-up finish followed by Kyle Yeack’s father Tom, also from Crawfordsville, in his Cascade Outdoor Power & Equipment/Mountain View Woodworking Inc. #49 Pro entry. Ending the night in fourth was Collen Winebarger from Corbett in the Discount Race Car Parts/Gordy Lee Photography/Frisbie Motorsports #SW Shaw by Jeff Taylor and the Lovell & Hall Real Estate Partners/Lovell Truck Sales #40 Dirt Works by SDMF of Canby’s Jeff Lovell was fifth. Earlier in the night Matt Mitchell would pick up the Wirth Wireless Trophy Dash victory.

In the Sportsman feature Steve Moore was en route to a clean sweep with the last piece of the puzzle being the main event. Moore, from Scio and driving the Wirth Wireless/Hackney Racing #3 Swartz entry for car owner Glen Hackney, would secure the lead and looked like he would pick up the win but with about ten laps to go Moore would lose the power steering in his car and force him to retire. That would give the lead to the Les Schwab Tire Center/Prehn's Performance Engineering #97 Rayburn of Salem’s Ron Berry and he would walk away with the lead in the last remaining laps to pick up the win.

Newberg’s Brian Winkler was a respectable second place, in his Fritz Cutting & Coring/Flatt Muffler & Custom Exhaust/Dorfler Farms #88 Rayburn, while finishing behind in third was the Pompe Racing #0P Lawson of Briley Pompe from Philomath. Ending the evening in fourth was Jefferson driver Mike Betker, driving the Aldrich Trucking/Art Plus Signs & Designs/Rods-N-Razors Barber Shop #J5A Rayburn for car owner Cory Aldrich, while Anthony Bentley of Scio crossed the line in fifth in his Wirth Wireless/Crocker’s Cars #33 Jet entry,

In the Street Stocks it was nearly a perfect night for Lebanon chauffer Justin Evans. Evans, in the Al Flora owned Albie’s Medical Transport/Allied Medical Transport/Monty’s Racing Repair/X-Factor Race Cars #99 Cougar, took over the lead early and dominated the main event. Evans who won the trophy dash and heat race nearly swept the evening’s events except he was not fastest in time trials. It would be Evans’ second straight win of the season as he won the season opener down in Cottage Grove the week before.

Ron Shinkle of Dallas was second in his #42 Cutlass followed by the Liberty Welding/Old Iron Classics/City Sprint Deliveries/Buz’s Equipment Trailers #01 Camaro of Craig Loomis from Vancouver, Washington. Behind them were Albany’s Bricen James in the James Gang Pizza, Lebanon Auto Body, Sign Express, Rainbow Rentals #13 Regal mount in fourth and Kevin Roberts from Gresham in his Big Sky Landscaping #88 Camaro. Loomis was quick time at 17.162 seconds which was a new track record at Willamette Speedway.

Racing will return to Willamette Speedway next Saturday night on April 26th. Classes in action will include the X-Factor Race Cars Super Late Models, Wirth Wireless IMCA Modifieds, Crocker’s Cars Super Sports, Sportsman, and 4-Cylinders. The Pit Gates will open at 1:00 PM, the Pit Meeting will take place at 2:30, Front Gates open at 3:30, and racing starts at 6:00. Tickets for this event are Adults $12.00, Seniors/Military/Juniors (13-18) $10.00, Youths (Ages 12-6) $5.00, and Children under the age of 5 are FREE and a family pass will be offered for two Adults and up to four Youths for just $35.00. For more information log on to http://www.trophymotorsports.com.

Race Summary:
Saturday April 19th, 2014
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, Oregon

X-Factor Race Cars Super Late Models
A Feature: 1. 111-Joey Tanner; 2. 5-John Duty; 3. 29-Brian Cronk; 4. 37-Rob Mayea; 5. 15-Justin Duty; 6. 21-Steve Moore; 7. 40-Brian Smith; 8. 46-Darren Coffell; 9. 38-Thomas Hunziker; 10. 32-Curt Fry; 11. 16-Chris Mott; 12. 13-Tony Brakeall; 13. 83-Randy Boyd; 14. SW-Collen Winebarger; 15. 44-Brian Thompson; 16. 74-Dan Dieble; DNS 2-Trevor Glaser; DNS 82-Larry Sharp

Wirth Wireless IMCA Modifieds
A Feature: 1. 47-Kyle Yeack; 2. 15M-Matt Mitchell; 3. 49-Tom Yeack; 4. SW-Collen Winebarger; 5. 40-Jeff Lovell; 6. #66; 7. 5N-Craig Cassell

Sportsman
A Feature: 1. 97-Ron Berry; 2. 88-Brian Winkler; 3. 0P-Briley Pompe; 4. J5A-Mike Betker; 5. 33-Anthony Bentley; 6. 13B-Randy Barley; 7. 49-James Whitehouse; 8. 3-Steve Moore; 9. 0-Clyde Rood

Street Stocks
A Feature: 1. 99-Justin Evans; 2. 42-Ron Shinkle; 3. 01-Craig Loomis; 4. 13-Bricen James; 5. 88-Kevin Roberts; 6. 83-Doug Scott; 7. 53-Erik Jarnport; 8. 14-Brian Roden; 9. 34-Mark Gaylord; 10. 17Z-Ethan Landers; 11. K4-J.J. Irvine; 12. 00-Terry Mason

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