Ron Bennett
For The New Era
Outlaw, Super Sport & Sportsman
Dirt Late Models
Lebanon, Oregon July 10th.
11th starting Dave Kingsberry was headed for what appeared to be, a first-ever Outlaw Main event victory, before a lap 37 restart allowed hard charging Rob Mayea and Bob Boyd to close on his rear bumper before a green-white-checker restart allowed the 2nd and 3rd place runners one last shot at victory. Mayea grabbed the lead with a drag-race start as they cleared the backstretch restart cone to begin the final laps but Boyd couldn?t get past the high-flying Kingsberry for the 2nd spot. For Kingsberry, the disappointment of losing the possible first-time victory got worse as his car was 20 pounds light in the post-race weigh-in and he was disqualified by officials. As a result, Bob Boyd took the runner-up money and 31-year Outlaw veteran, Bruce Hipple, moved from 4th to 3rd on the payoff sheet. Randy Boyd and Virgil Bradbury completed the top-five in the 40 lap event.
The restart was triggered by veteran Jeff Wright?s car jumping the cushion in turn one-two and crashing hard into the outer wall to bring out the yellow and the green-white-checkered restart.
A lap 6 red-flag started off a chain of events that ended the hopes for some of the normal front runners in Willamette Speedway feature races. Sixth-starting Gary Smith had quickly gone backwards during the opening laps as he dropped to 16th at the end of lap 5. As he rolled slowly past the start/finish line, starter Bill Arnold signaled the driver to go to the pits. Smith rolled slowly past the pit opening and came to a stop, blocking the lower groove at the entry to turn one. By that time the fast moving pack was crossing the start/finish line with a partially blocked turn one looming ahead. 10 cars missed the stalled machine but Randy Boyd, Trevor Glaser and Scott Byrum slid into or past Smith?s disabled car. Randy Boyd narrowly avoided serious damage but Glaser was done for the evening. Fast timer Byrum pitted with damage but managed to return to run the remainder of the event to collect season points.
The 25 lap Super Sport division A-Main event saw 2nd starting Tony Seeley lead 22 of the 25 laps before a green-white-checkered restart saw 2003 Super Sport Rookie award winner Todd Shandy winning the event after starting 12th in the 14 car event. Shandy had advanced to 2nd by the 10th lap and had shadowed Seeley for 12 laps before taking advantage of a slight bobble by the popular Salem driver to pass as the yellow flew on lap 22 for a stalled Mike Schofield. Ron Burchard, Ron Berry and Dan Kingsberry completed the top five finish positions.
The 16 car Sportsman feature turned into another round in the season-long battle between the top two point leaders for the 2004 Sportsman Championship crown at Willamette Speedway. The night long struggle began in qualifying with Cronk and Sapp posting the fastest two times. In the Fast Four Trophy Dash, Cronk passed Sapp on the white flag lap to take the trophy. Sapp came back to place 2nd in the fast heat while Cronk finished 7th. In the feature the pair shared the back row in the 15th and 16th start positions.
Cronk lead the race up through the pack to take the lead on lap 14 of the 25 lapper while Sapp needed another five laps to grab the 2nd spot on lap 19. The two bright yellow machines only lapped one car in the entire 25 laps, that being a car that had spun.
The 44 car Sportsman division entry list showed 12 rookie drivers in the field. This 2004 rookie field and the veterans in all divisions had an outstanding night of racing with few spinouts or yellow flags.
As a result , the 90 car, three-division, 22 event program was completed by 10 PM.
The racing action continues at Willamette Speedway on Wednesday night (July 14) when the Northern Sprint Car Speedweek rolls in to the banked third mile clay oval for night #3 of the 5-night Oregon/Washington tour. Last year?s turnout for the Wed. night NST event drew a Sprint Car record-setting full-house crowd.
The best in Northwest Dirt Late Model racing action continues on Saturday night July 17th.
Willamette Speedway ? Summary ? July 10, 2004.
Sportsman division: Fast time ? 16.826 ? David Cronk-Portland.
Fast Four Trophy Dash ? David Cronk.
1st Heat race: 1-Floyd Thorp-Albany, 2-Mike Campbell-Lebanon, 3-David Bennett-Lebanon.
2nd Heat race: 1-Jeff Marson-Molalla, 2-Sue Futral-Sweet Home, 3-Laurie Stevenson-Mill City.
3rd Heat race: 1-Bill Gibbs-Canby, 2-Dale Holland-Portland, 3-Darryl Blanchard-Depoe Bay.
4th Heat race: 1-Brad Hopkins-Albany, 2-Keith Marson-Molalla, 3-Kye Frick-Sweet Home.
5th Heat race: 1-Gregg Shandy-Salem, 2-David Perez-Lebanon, 3-Brent Porter-Portland.
6th Heat race: 1-Bill Tewalt-Lebanon, 2-Jim Sapp-Albany, 3-Steve Moore-Scio.
C-Main event: 1-Laurie Stevenson, 2-Jeff Marson, 3-Taylor Dittman-Turner, 4-Steve Piefer-Lebanon, 5-Kevin Campbell-Dallas, 6-Christian Keeney-Sweet Home, 7-Jared Steward-Sweet Home, 8-Sue Futral, 9-Anne Campbell-Dallas, 10-Anthony Gerardot-Portland, 11-Brad Tonkin-Lebanon, 12-David Bennett, 13-Floyd Thorp.
B-Main event: 1-Bill Gibbs, 2-Darryl Blanchard, 3-Gary Archer-Brownsville, 4-Rob Burchard-Salem, 5-Dale Holland, 6-Keith Marson, 7-Bob Trusty-Scio, 8-Brad Landers-Lebanon, 9-Fred Lang-Dallas, 10-Billy Slover-Salem, 11-Kye Frick, 12-Justin Dittman-Turner, 13-Brad Hopkins, 14-Zac Hales-Scio.
A-Main event: 1-David Cronk, 2-Jim Sapp, 3-Gregg Shandy, 4-Steve Moore, 5-Erik Jarnport, 6-Jason Sommer-Lebanon, 7-Dan Kingsberry-Lebanon, 8-Glenn Blanton-Dallas, 9-Mike Wolfe-Scotts Mills, 10-Anthony Hopper-Lebanon, 11-Brent Porter, 12-Chris Mott-Salem, 13-Todd Cummings-Sweet Home, 14-Bill Tewalt, 15-Isreal Melson-Albany, 16-David Perez.
Super Sport Division: Fast time ? 16.798 ? Bob Boyd-Albany.
Fast Four Trophy Dash: Dean Archer-Halsey.
1st Heat race: 1-Jim Moore-Eugene, 2-Bob Kingsberry-Lebanon, 3-James Slover-Salem.
2nd Heat race: 1-Tony Seeley-Salem, 2-Michael Day-Salem, 3-Robert Steele-Castle Rock, WA.
3rd Heat race: 1-Rob Hoefs-Newport, 2-Dean Archer, 3-Todd Shandy-Albany.
B-Main event: 1-Bob Kingsberry, 2-James Slover, 3-Dan Jones-Sweet Home, 4-Bill Story-Jefferson, 5-Jason McKerrall-Dayton, 6-Shawn Benton-Mill City, 7-Peggy Pitts-Lebanon, 8-Jim Moore-Eugene.
A-Main Event: 1-Todd Shandy, 2-Tony Seeley, 3-Ron Burchard-Philomath, 4-Ron Berry-Dallas, 5-Dean Archer, 6-Randy Boyd, 7-Randy Barley, 8-Tom Pitts-Lebanon, 9-Rob Hoefs, 10-Michael Day, 11-Bill Payne-Albany, 12-Robert Steele, 13-Mike Scofield-Eugene, 14-Glen Hackney-Lebanon.
Outlaw division ? Fast time ? 15.901 ? Scott Byrum-Lebanon.
Fast Four Trophy Dash ? Bob Boyd -Albany.
1st Heat race: 1-Randy Sapp-Albany, 2-Andy Breshears-Lebanon, 3-Todd Maher-Salem.
2nd Heat race: 1-Steve Moore-Scio, 2-Jeff Wright-Newport, 3-Bruce Hipple-Salem.
3rd Heat race: 1-Randy Boyd-Lebanon, 2-Trevor Glaser-Tangent, 3-Dave Kingsberry-Lebanon.
B-Main event: 1-Randy Sapp, 2-Andy Breshears, 3-Todd Maher, 4-Don Piefer-Lebanon, 5-Donnie Martin-Eugene, 6-Jim Holdredge-Sheridan, 7-JJ Irvine-Lebanon.
A-Main event: 1-Rob Mayea-Bend, 2-Bob Boyd, 3-Bruce Hipple, 4-Randy Boyd, 5-Virgil Bradbury-Aumsville, 6-Steve Moore-Scio, 7-Wayne Sturdevant-Springfield, 8-Tom Halter-Bend, 9-Kevin Keeney-Sweet Home, 10-Frank Hazen-Bend, 11-Jeff Wright, 12-Scott Byrum, 13-Gary Smith-Lebanon, 14-Trevor Glaser, 15-Justin Evans-Salem, 16-Dave Kingsberry-Lebanon (DQ ? Light at scales).