Ron Bennett
For The New Era
Outlaw, Super Sport & Sportsman
Dirt Late Models
Lebanon, Oregon July 31
If there was any doubt about Rob Mayea?s being ranked as one of the top Dirt Late Model drivers in the Western States, Saturday night showed that his 2004 winning streak and string of top-4 finishes is not the result of racing against less-competitive drivers.
In fact, 14 of the 18 starters in the 40 lap feature had at least one feature win on their resumes. The four non-winners are consistent top-5 finishers who are capable of winning at any time they start a race. Mayea?s win followed his worst finish of the 2004 season in the previous week?s feature, when a mid-race fuel pump failure led to a 15th place finish.
The drop of starter Bill Arnold?s green saw the 2003 champion Tory Swayngim take the lead over Gary Smith in turn one. Swayngim whose 2004 season has been a nightmare of breakdowns and accidents, led the opening 12 laps while the faster qualifiers worked their way to the front. Mayea, who started 15th was up to 4th by lap 5, 3rd on lap 7, 2nd on lap 9 and in to the lead on lap 13. 14th starting Trevor Glaser appeared to be the only car capable of matching Mayea?s speed as Glaser slid in to 3rd on lap 11 while the 2nd running Mayea was challenging Swayngim for the lead. With Mayea leading Swayngim on lap 15, the leaders began to lap slower cars. Glaser passed Swayngim for 2nd in traffic on lap 22 and began to eat in to Mayea?s lead. A broken rear-suspension side-lined Glaser on lap 28 and Mayea was unchallenged during the closing 12 laps of the event. Fast timer Bob Boyd had made one of his patented late race charges in the closing laps and was on the bumper of his 4th place brother, Randy, when the engine blew at the beginning of lap 35. Randy Boyd then put on a dazzling display of cushion-riding, wall-banging passing as he moved from 4th to 2nd in the closing laps to finish ahead of Swayngim, Byrum and Rick Hazen who had started in 13th. B-Main transfers John Campos and Mike Miller came from 17th (Miller)and 18th (Campos) with Campos in 6th, Miller in 7th, Jimmy Schram in 8th, Skeet Phillips 9th and Steve Moore in 10th. Ninth finishing Skeet Phillips was the last car on the lead lap.
Rookie driver Darryl Blanchard added to his growing list of fans as he led every lap of the 20 lap Sportsman B-Main. The talented rookie has made few driver errors in his first year of racing and shows an outstanding knowledge of where his car is, whether passing or being passed. Lebanon veteran, David Perez finished 2nd over the team-cars of Keith Marson and Bill Gibbs with the veteran Bob Trusty rounding out the top-5.
The Sportsman A-Main saw Portland?s David Cronk rack up another win over Bill Tewalt, Jeff Marson, Jim ?Mighty Mouse? Sapp and Jason Sommer. Cronk?s victory moved the Cronk Family race team another step closer to winning 3 Sportsman titles in-a-row at Willamette Speedway. David Cronk won the 2002 title, brother Lance won the crown in 2003 and David Cronk?s Saturday night win added to his 160 point lead over challenger Jim Sapp.
The 25 lap Super Sport feature went to Philomath driver Ron Burchard over Bob Boyd, Ron Berry, Todd Shandy and Glen Hackney. Burchard shared the third row with Ron Berry at the start of the race and Berry quickly passed front-row starter Michael Day of Salem to lead lap 2 while Burchard moved in to 2nd on lap 4. Berry held off Burchard until lap 22 when Burchard moved past in traffic and Berry was then passed by points leader Bob Boyd on lap 24. A green-white-checkered finish following a lap 24 restart didn?t change the outcome of the event as Burchard, Boyd, Berry, Todd Shandy and Glen Hackney took the top-five finish positions in the action-filled event.
All three divisions return to Willamette next Saturday night in the Main Auto Body sponsored 2004 Clay Cup races. Time Trials at 4 p.m., racing at 6.30 p.m.
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Race summary 7/31 ? Willamette Speedway
Outlaw division ? 32 entries.
Fast Time: 15.289 – Bob Boyd-Albany.
Fast Four Trophy dash: 1-Bob Boyd, 2-Rick Hazen-Bend, 3-Rob Mayea-Bend, 4-Trevor Glaser-Tangent.
1st Heat race: 1-Jim Whisler-Otis, 2-Dan Jones-Sweet Home, 3-Todd Maher-Salem.
2nd Heat race: 1-Mike Miller-Springfield, 2-John Campos-Redmond, 3-Justin Evans-Salem.
3rd Heat race: 1-Tory Swayngim-Lebanon, 2-Gary Smith-Lebanon, 3-Josh Eyerly-Albany.
4th Heat race: 1-Scott Byrum-Lebanon, 2-Trevor Glaser, 3-Bob Boyd.
B-Main event: 1-Mike Miller, 2-John Campos, 3-Justin Evans, 4-Casey Vitale-Lebanon, 5-Wayne Sturdevant-Springfield, 6-Todd Maher, 7-Billy Workman Jr.-Aurora, 8-Mike Betker-Jefferson, 9-Anthony Bentley-Sweet Home, 10-Don Piefer-Lebanon, 11-JJ Irvine-Lebanon, 12-Glen Hackney-Lebanon, 13-Jim Whisler, 14-Dan Jones, 15-Gary Winston-Albany, 16-Jeff Diller-Albany.
A-Main event: 1-Rob Mayea, 2-Randy Boyd, 3-Tory Swayngim, 4-Scott Byrum, 5-Rick Hazen, 6-John Campos (B-Transfer), 7-Mike Miller (B-Transfer) 8-Jimmy Schram-Vancouver, WA., 9-Skeet Phillips-Eugene, 10-Steve Moore-Scio, 11-Bill Workman, 12-Lynn McDonald-Sweet Home, 13-Kevin Keeney-Sweet Home, 14-Josh Eyerly, 15-Bob Boyd, 16-Trevor Glaser, 17-Gary Smith, 18-Dan Kingsberry-Lebanon.
Super Sport division: 16 entries.
Fast Time: 16.610 ? Glen Hackney-Lebanon.
Fast Four Trophy Dash: 1-Dean Archer-Brownsville, 2-Bob Boyd-Albany, 3-Glen Hackney, 4-Dennis Archer-Halsey.
1st Heat race: 1-Ron Burchard-Philomath, 2-Ron Berry-Salem, 3-Tony Seeley-Salem.
2nd Heat race: 1-Dennis Archer, 2-Glen Hackney, 3-Todd Shandy-Albany.
A-Main event: 1-Ron Burchard, 2-Bob Boyd, 3-Ron Berry, 4-Todd Shandy, 5-Glen Hackney, 6-Randy Barley-Albany, 7-Dean Archer, 8-Dennis Archer, 9-Rob Hoefs-Newport, 10-Joey Tanner-Portland, 11-Tony Seeley, 12-Michael Day-Salem, 13-Leisa Payne-Albany, 14-Brad Tanner-Portland, 15-Bob Day-Lebanon, 16-George Fuller-Salem (DNS).
Sportsman division: 50 entries.
Fast Time: 16.964 ? David Cronk-Portland.
Fast Four Trophy Dash: 1-Bill Tewalt-Lebanon, 2-David Cronk, 3-Jim Sapp-Albany, 4- Stacey Kreger-Albany.
1st Heat race: 1-Brad Lehto-Lebanon, 2-Myshkin Ferguson-Dexter, 3-Jim Kimball-Marion.
2nd Heat race: 1-Jared Steward-Sweet Home, 2-John Williams-Albany, 3-Anne Campbell-Dallas.
3rd Heat race: 1-Joey Tanner-Portland, 2-Taylor Dittman-Turner, 3-Joe Bosso Jr.-Portland.
4th Heat race: 1-Darryl Blanchard-Depoe Bay, 2-Laurie Stevenson-Mill City, 3-Keith Banta-Canby.
5th Heat race: 1-Keith Marson-Molalla, 2-Bill Gibbs-Canby, 3-Jody Tanner-Portland.
6th Heat race: 1-Jeff Marson-Molalla, 2-Todd Cummings-Sweet Home, 3-Brad Hopkins-Albany.
7th Heat race: 1-Gregg Shandy-Albany, 2-Jim Sapp, 3-David Cronk.
D-Main event: 1-Brad Lehto, 2-Brad Tonkin-Lebanon, 3-Jim Kimball, 4-Mike Campbell-Lebanon, 5-Myshkin Ferguson, 6-Tim McCune-Eugene, 7-Rachel Miller-Lebanon.
C- Main event: 1-Joey Tanner-Portland, 2-Rob Burchard, 3-Kevin Keeney-Sweet Home, 4-Taylor Dittman, 5-Steve Piefer-Lebanon, 6-Sue Futral-Sweet Home, 7-Anne Campbell, 8-Eric Wilton-Portland, 9-Joe Bosso Jr., 10-Paul Moses Jr.-Stayton, 11-Jared Steward, 12-Dave Foote-Coos Bay, 13-Kevin Campbell -Dallas.
B-Main event: 1-Darryl Blanchard, 2-David Perez-Lebanon, 3-Keith Marson, 4-Bill Gibbs, 5-Bob Trusty-Scio, 6-Jody Tanner, 7-Zac Hales-Scio, 8-Laurie Stevenson, 9-Lance Cronk-Portland, 10-Adam Passmore-Lebanon, 11-Chris Mott-Salem, 12-Chris Bishop-Lebanon, 13-Keith Banta, 14-John Cooper-Halsey.
A-Main event: 1-David Cronk, 2-Bill Tewalt, 3-Jeff Marson, 4-Jim Sapp, 5-Jason Sommer-Lebanon, 6-Stacey Kreger, 7-Mike Wolfe-Scotts Mills, 8-Gary Archer-Brownsville, 9-Brad Landers-Lebanon, 10-Gregg Shandy, 11-Anthony Hopper-Lebanon,
12-Dan Kingsberry-Lebanon, 13-Todd Cummings, 14-Brad Hopkins.