6/1/2013
Willamette Speedway
Night One Of Strawberry Cup A Good One
Night One Of Strawberry Cup A Good One
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Northwest Racing Productions)
Strawberry Cup weekend got opened up in a major way Friday May 31st. An unforgettable feature occurred in the American Sprint Car Series-Northwest Region season opener. Also the DIRTcar Super Late Models were on hand for qualifying, heat races, and their trophy dash. Main events for the Late Models will be ran on Saturday night.
Defending series champion Roger Crockett of Medford was looking to start off his quest for the fourth ASCS-Northwest Region title of his career by capturing the win at Willamette from the pole. Crockett would get an excellent start, in his SKS Racing/Al Parker Racing Engines/Champion Racing Oil #11 KPC mount, on the initial start and was fast out of the gate. The front runners set such a rapid pace that lapped traffic was thrown into the mix by lap three.
As Crockett blazed the trail in lapped traffic he would receive some damage to his front nose wing knocking it askew. The cosmetic damage didn’t slow him down too much but before too long he was having to worry about a strong challenge by Kyle Hirst. Hirst, of Loomis, California, was in the cockpit for the weekend for the acclaimed Finley Farms/CLT Logging #77 A.R.T. entry and was coming in a hurry.
Hirst would make a daring move on lap twenty to earn the lead but would momentarily lose it to Crockett. A caution would come out bunch the field up and reverting to the last completed lap Hirst was scored as the leader.
As the laps continued to wind down Hirst and Crockett nearly collided in turns three and four but managed to keep themselves going in the right direction. Hirst would hold on to the lead at the finish line to win the 2013 opener for the ASCS-Northwest Region and his first win with the series since 2010.
“I hope the fans enjoyed that when me and Roger slid each other back and forth,” commented a smiling Hirst in victory lane, “we got to lapped traffic and it was really racy. I got to thank Jason and Scott Finley for putting me in this thing this weekend and all the guys helping on the car. I haven’t been here since they remodeled and it’s an awesome joint I wish it was closer to home so I could run it more often.”
Finishing in second would be Crockett while Trey Starks of Puyallup, Washington placed his Starks Timber Processing/Blue Dot Fabrication/MASCO Petroleum #55 Schnee in a solid third. Completing the top five finishers was the Great Western Transport/Elma Lanes/ Speedmart Inc. #9R Eagle of Reece Goetz of Snohomish, Washington in fourth and the Myer Electric/Kitsap Powdercoating #3 XXX of Quilcene, Washington native J.J. Hickle was fifth.
Earlier in the evening heat race winners were Roger Crockett, Kyle Hirst, Roseburg’s Jake Waddell in the Double R Powdercoating/Rocket Designs #10J XXX, and the LRB Manufacturing/Canales Racing #83SA A.R.T. driven by Zach Zimmerly of Ridgefield, Washington in the Rod Tiner Jr. owned machine. A twelve lap consolation race was ran and was won by Tony Thomas from Mill City in the Mark Herz owned Herz Precision Parts/Wolverine Chassis/Applied Suspensions #28TT Eagle.
In DIRTcar Super Late Model action Tony Brakeall of Sodaville was fastest in qualifying at a time of 15.536 seconds in his Sureflow Concrete Pumping Services/Swing Construction #13 Swartz. Heat race winners were the Bayer Crop Science/Farmland Tractor Supply/Ground and Water #2 Trak-Star of Tangent’s Trevor Glaser, Portland’s Joey Tanner in The Woodshed Bar and Grill/Xtreme Motorsports #111 X-Factor, Russ Sell of Brownsville in the 99.9 KRKT Cricket Country/Left Coast Motorsports #50 Swartz, and the Elite Cabinets Plus/Don Frank Flooring #24W Rocket of Aumsville driver Rick Wyatt. Joey Tanner would be victorious in the evening’s trophy dash.
The finale for the Strawberry Cup will take place on Saturday June 1st. Classes in action include the DIRTcar Super Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Super Sports, Street Stocks, and Mini Trucks. Pit gates will open at 1:00 PM, front gates 3:30 PM, and racing should be getting started around 6:00 PM. Admission prices are Adults $14.00, Seniors/Military/Juniors (13-17) $12.00, Youths (12 and Under) $6.00, Family Pass (Two Adults and Up To Four Youths) $35.00, and Pit Passes are $25.00. For more information log on to www.trophymotorsports.com or calling the brand new hotline at (360)-699-RACE.
Race Summary
Friday May 31st, 2013
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, Oregon
ASCS-Northwest Region 360 Sprints
25 Entries
Heat Race Winners: Roger Crockett (1), Jake Waddell (2), Zach Zimmerly (3), Kyle Hirst (4)
B-Feature: 1. Tony Thomas, 2. Colton Akerstrom, 3. Cale Brooke, 4. Mike Romig, 5. Jesse Thistle, 6. Brenton Nugent, 7. Allison Journey, 8. Jeffrey Rivers, DNS Jared Ridge
A-Feature: 1. Kyle Hirst, 2. Roger Crockett, 3. Trey Starks, 4. Reece Goetz, 5. J.J. Hickle, 6. Justyn Cox, 7. Henry Van Dam, 8. Randy Pierce, 9. Zach Zimmerly, 10. Kenny Allen, 11. Jake Waddell, 12. Zack Spaulding, 13. Mike Romig, 14. Colton Akerstrom, 15. Cale Brooke, 16. Brent Hoover, 17. Tony Thomas, 18. Shane Forté, 19. Kyle Miller, 20. Cam Smith
DIRTcar Super Late Models
22 Entries
Fast Time: Tony Brakeall, 15.536
Heat Race Winners: Trevor Glaser (1), Joey Tanner (2), Russ Sell (3), Rick Wyatt (4)
Trophy Dash Winner: Joey Tanner
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
