Ben Deatherage
Willamette Speedway Writer
Kyle Yeack of Crawfordsville notched his 13th win of the season at the Willamette Speedway Satruday night and Russ Sell managed to capture the Late Model Race of Champions as the madness of the Labor Day weekend officially started with the first night of the Bill Workman Memorial.
The win was the third for the Brownsville ace, this one in a 30–lap event that consisted of main event winners and champions throughout. Sell was able to make the appropriate moves to pass his son Cody, of Shedd, and hold on for the win.
Cody Sell finished second after holding back Trevor Glaser of Tangent, followed by Portland’s Brian Cronk and Jerry Schram of Vancouver, Wash., who completed the top five.
A unique format was utilized with group qualifying being implemented and the field being divided amongst four groups. Fastest in qualifying overall Schram. Winners in heat race action were Randy Boyd of Albany, Sell, Trevor Glaser, and Bend’s Rob Mayea. A dash was run with cars that had the slowest times in qualifying and that race was won by Bob Trout of Banks.
Brian Smith made a last lap pass on Justin Dittman to win his third Sportsman race of the season. Prior to that the Albany driver played it conservative and stayed quiet most of the way. Tom Conway of Albany appeared to have the field covered till Dittman, from Tangent, made the move shortly after a restart for the lead.
Dittman finished a respectable second and Conway captured third. The balance of the top five was made up with Brian Goetz of Lyons in fourth and hometown driver Danny Altom from Lebanon in fifth.
Brian Smith had the fast time of the night at a time of 16.655 among the 34 qualifiers and won the trophy dash. Earning heat race victories were Mike Bennett of Estacada, Jeff Rash from Lebanon, Oregon City’s Randy Passmore, Tom Conway, and Brian Winkler of Newberg. Two consolation events were run, which were B and C features, both won by Mike Bennett.
In the Classic Sportsman division, Yeack pretty much had his way with the field. The young driver walked away from the field and earned his 13th win of 2012. Eight of those wins have come out of the Classics and he has managed to win on five occasions against the USRA Modifieds.
Sean Cronk of Portland finished in the runner-up position and crossing the line in third was Bricen James from Albany. The fourth place finisher was D.W. Northy of Walton while completing the top five finishers was Doug Scott from Sandy.
Fast time of the night was Bricen James at a time of 18.324 seconds, winning the Crocker Cars Classic Sportsman Trophy Dash was J.J. Irvine from Lebanon, and heat race winners were Lebanon’s Michael Byram and David Cronk of Portland.
Scott Lehman brought his Mini Truck back into victory lane and earned his fourth win of the season. Lehman’s main event victory would cap off a night of dominance as he earned yet another clean sweep.
Second place in the main event went to Banks driver Jeremy Stinnett and finishing in third was Mark Vonsild of Scio. The finishing order was completed with teenagers Pete Haag of Alvadore in fourth and Jefferson’s Jennifer Robbins in fifth.
The Willamette Speedway continues with action on Sunday night with the finale for the Bill Workman Memorial. Late Models will be in action alongside the American Sprint Car Series-Northwest Region and Interstate Sprint Car Series taking on one another. The weekend will be completed with the World of Outlaws and Northwest Wingless Tour paying a visit.
For more information log on to http://www.trophymotorsports.com.
Race Results
Bill Workman Memorial
Saturday, Sept. 1
Willamette Speedway
Late Models
46 Entries
Fast Time: Jimmy Schram 15.689
Slow Trophy Dash Winner: Bob Trout
Heat Race Winners: Randy Boyd (1), Russ Sell (2), Trevor Glaser (3), Rob Mayea (4)
Race of Champions: 1. Russ Sell, 2. Cody Sell, 3. Trevor Glaser, 4. Brian Cronk, 5. Jerry Schram, 6. Steve Moore, 7. Jimmy Schram, 8. Greg Walters, 9. Casey Vitale, 10. Joey Tanner, 11. Brady Sell, 12. Paul Culp, 13. Billy Workman Jr., 14. Rick Wyatt, 15. John Duty, 16. Tony Seeley, 17. Bryan Norton, 18. Tony Brakeall
Classic Sportsman
18 Entries
Fast Time: Bricen James 18.324
Trophy Dash Winner: J.J. Irvine
Heat Race Winners: Michael Byram (1), David Cronk (2)
A-Feature: 1. Kyle Yeack, 2. Sean Cronk, 3. Bricen James, 4. D.W. Northy, 5. Doug Scott, 6. Archie Teeples, 7. Steve Jorgenson, 8. Cory Yeack, 9. J.J. Irvine, 10. Christina Foster, 11. Roy Doran, 12. Michael Byram, 13. Larry Rametes, 14. Jody Tanner.