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Willamette Speedway Opens Up Kart Season With Great Racing

Willamette Speedway Opens Up Kart Season With Great Racing
By Ben Deatherage
Friday May 1st would not just open up the fifth month of the year but also the 2015 campaign of the Willamette Speedway Kart program. A total of seven different classes would compete and some great racing would be displayed in front of everyone that watched. The racing was pretty much incident free except for a handful of cautions in a couple of the main events.

Piper Hanson of Creswell would take care of business in the Pee Wee division. The youngster in the SKS Racing/Hanson Contract Cutting #77H QRC would lead every lap of the feature and capture the victory. Salem's Colin Mendez would finish second in his Fricken Tools/Chaos Customs/Queen Nails #45C QRC.

In the Subaru Intermediates Jayden Trupp of Coos Bay would show the way. Trupp lead every single lap of the main event but not by very much as his sister, Lydia, would stay close to him for much of the race. It was a great way to start the 2015 season for Jayden Trupp and the Nexdor Tobacco & More #72 QRC team. Lydia Trupp, in her Nexdor Tobacco & More #06 QRC and also from Coos Bay, was second while Forest Grove's Braydn Brookshire was third in the Collen Winebarger Racing/Dusty's Machine #ZERO QRC.

A great race would take place in the 5HP Open main event. Lebanon native Carter Patterson was the car to beat early in his King Office Equipment/Water 2 Go/James Gang Pizza #47 QRC. Patterson would stay out in front but was under a ton of pressure from McKenna, Washington pilot Lane Taylor. Taylor and Patterson would get together late resulting in a caution. On the ensuing restart Taylor, in the PGH Excavating/McDonald's #4L QRC, would make the pass for the lead and eventually the win. Patterson was second followed by Jerry Fonfara of Keizer in the Fonfara Racing #88 QRC.

The 125cc feature would go nonstop with Kyle Roles blazing the trail. Roles, from Lebanon, was impressive as the night went along and kept his Knothole Market/James Gang Pizza/Big Sky Landscaping #02 SGC in front the entire time despite a couple of challenges. Enumclaw, Washington's Colby Thornhill was second in the PGH Excavating/Oregon Outlaws Speed Shop #19 RFC while behind him in third would be Dustin Asher of Clackmas, driving the Big Sky Landscaping/Checkered Flag Paving & Excavating/Shark Shifter #6A QRC. Crossing the stripe in fourth was Custin Jones in the Jones Family Racing #48C QRC rounding up the finishing order.

The 250cc main would be a great one too and also was nonstop. Conner Hanson of Creswell took the initial race lead and would possess it the entire time even though he received quite a bit of pressure from the competition. It was a great run for the SKS Racing/Hanson Contract Cutting #55H QRC team. The runner-up was Portland's Duke Johnson, in his Oregon Outlaws Speed Shop/Luck O' Johnny/Old Black Daddy Foster Care #151 RFC, while behind him in third would be the Crocker's Cars/McGriff Motorsports/Lucas Oil Products #04 RFC of Brody Sim from Albany. The rest of the top five would consist of Albany native Trinity Pendley, in her Linn-Benton Insurance/James Gang Pizza/R.L. Performance Lighting #47 QRC, in fourth and Talyn Roberts of Gresham, in her Big Sky Landscaping/Scofield's Karts & Parts/Powers Transport #T3 QRC.

Last but not least was the Open Kage. Unlike most of the races this main event did not go caution free. Four incidents would take place but still some great racing was to be had. Briley Pompe of Philomath would get in front on the opening lap and he immediately built a lead. Eric Scofield of Albany and Vancouver, Washington's Kyle Cormican did their best to stay with the Superior Fuel Cells/X-Factor Race Cars #27 QRC, of Pompe, but the leader was pretty quick.

As the lap count continued to be worked Pompe's car got better and better. Pompe would lead the rest of the way to win his first race of the season. Eric Scofield, in the Scofield's Karts & Parts/Human Bean Coffee/Lassen RV #37 QRC Area 51, was second while Oakland's Scott Fox crossed the line third in his Potsie's Pilot Service/Taco Bell/Oregon Outlaws Speed Shop #3 RFC. Lebanon's Cory Yeack was fourth, driving his Cascade Outdoor Power Equipment/Powers Transport/Unlimited Business Service #15 QRC, while the Schram Brothers Excavating/RSR Racercraft/James Gang Pizza #41 QRC of Kyle Cormican was fifth.

Lebanon's Rick Jones was the lone Speedway Kart entry for the evening and was credited with a clean sweep of the action in his Jones Family Racing #14 machine. Other drivers credited with clean sweeps were Jayden Trupp, Lane Taylor, and Briley Pompe.

The next Kart race for Willamette Speedway is scheduled for Friday May 15th. Willamette Speedway is in action on the 1/3-mile for Saturday May 2nd which is Fight Hunger Night. Classes in action include the Super Dirt Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Sportsman, and Street Stocks. For more information log on to www.trophymotorsports.com.

Race Summary:
Kart Race #1
Friday May 1st, 2015
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, Oregon

Pee Wee
A Feature: 1. 77H-Piper Hanson; 2. 45C-Colin Mendez

5HP Open
A Feature: 1. 4L-Lane Taylor; 2. 47-Carter Patterson; 3. 88-Jerry Fonfara; DNS 32-Seth Riggs

5HP Intermediate
A Feature: 1. 72-Jayden Trupp; 2. 06-Lydia Trupp; 3. ZERO-Braydn Brookshire

Speedway
A Feature: 1. 14-Rick Jones

125cc
A Feature: 1. 02-Kyle Roles; 2. 19-Colby Thornhill; 3. 6A-Dustin Asher; 4. 48C-Custin Jones

250cc
A Feature: 1. 55H-Conner Hanson; 2. 151-Duke Johnson; 3. 04-Brody Sim; 4. 47-Trinity Pendley; 5. T3-Talyn Roberts; 6. 17-McLain Beaudoin

Open Kage
A Feature: 1. 27-Briley Pompe; 2. 37-Eric Scofield; 3. 3-Scott Fox; 4. 15-Cory Yeack; 5. 41-Kyle Cormican; 6. 17-Jeffery Rivers; 7. 13*-Casey Starr; 8. 2-Justin Jones; 9. 29W-Brenden Waterman; DNS 0-Kevin Towne; DNS 75-Steve Blum

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