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Stanford Stuns Field At Willamette; Brown Earns First Career "W"

Stanford Stuns Field At Willamette
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Doc's Photos)
The Willamette Speedway hosted the third race of the 2013 Wild Wild West Modified Shootout on a cool and windy Tuesday June 18th the evening was sponsored by Les Schwab Tires. The 1/3-mile clay oval also hosted the Sportsman division on the card as the support class. The previous two nights had been won by Coburg’s Jesse Williamson who was seeking his third straight win of the week.

Original pole sitter Jeremy Shank of Salem put his Left Coast Motorsport/South Pacific Auto Sales and Service Center #30 Swartz to the lead to pace the field early. Shank was searching for his first win of the week after putting together two strong runs in a row in the first two races. But by the third lap defending track champion Kyle Yeack of Crawfordsville was challenging for the lead.

Yeack, who started fourth, worked the outside line while Shank ran low. Eventually Yeack would secure the race lead and blaze the trail for the rest of the pack in his Mountain View Woodworking Inc./Cascade Outdoor Power Equipment #47 Pro. A caution on lap thirteen would bunch up the field and wipe out the lead that Yeack had worked so hard to establish.

The restart would have Yeack stay out in front as Jeremy Shank had his hands full with Alex Stanford. Stanford, of Chowchilla, California, hadn’t been in action all week with the tour completed the twelve hour plus tow from the San Joaquin Valley just hours before the race started.

As the laps continued to click away Kyle Yeack kept his faith in the middle of the race track while challengers tried to reel him in. It looked like it was all over for the rest of the field until a very late caution would take place to bunch up the ranks one last time setting up a green-white-checkered scenario.

On the ensuing restart Alex Stanford made the pass around Kyle Yeack for the lead when the green flag was presented to the field. Stanford would go on to lead the rest of the distance and snap the winning streak that Jesse Williamson had established. It marked the second career Wild Wild West Modified Shootout victory for the Stanford Chopping/Golden Memorial Insurance #98 Precision.

“I know he (Kyle Yeack) sure didn’t want to see that yellow come out,” commented Stanford in victory lane, “I know I didn’t have anything for him if it weren’t for that. It worked out in my favor and it was a great night.”

Jeremy Shank would make a late race pass on Kyle Yeack to finish second while Yeack ended his evening in third. Mark Wauge of Jacksonville in the Skinner Auto Plex/Meineke Car Care Center #1M Loose Gruff was fourth followed by the Furniture Options/Housing Options #W5 Hughes of Jesse Williamson.

Two sets of heat races were ran earlier in the night among four groups. Winners of the first set of heats were the Ken’s Glass Company/Rodgers Racing Engines #11K Rayburn of Kyle Casson from Yreka, California, Nick Trenchard from Klamath Falls in the Airgas/FMD Graphics #54N Loose Gruff driving for Rich and Nicky Biehn, Jeremy Shank, and Jesse Williamson. The winners of the second of heats were Alex Stanford, the All-In Property Investments/Hillsboro Vac & Sew #67 Jet of Corbett’s Collen Winebarger in the Dave Walters owned entry, Albany driver Dustin Dittman in his Susan River Reality/Mid-Valley Farms #7 Shaw, and Jesse Williamson.

The Payroll Specialties Inc./Hoppes Construction #F1 Impressive of Monte Bischoff and Albany’s Brett James in the James Gang Pizza/Lebanon Auto Body #26 GRT were the two consolation feature winners. Craig Cassell of Albany would capture the last chance qualifier in his Esterleemotel.com/Mid-Valley Farms #25 Rocket by Ruhlman.

The Sportsman feature was action packed as Brian Brown of Portland earned his first career feature victory at Willamette. Brown would take the lead on lap three shortly after the restart after a caution in his #10 Rayburn. From there on out he would hold on to the lead and stay out in front for the rest of the distance despite a couple more cautions occurring. Brown now is the sixth different winner in seven Sportsman features.

“This feels real good,” a very excited Brian Brown would say in victory lane, “I wasn’t going to come back after last year if it wasn’t for Randy Boyd, Brian Smith, and Danny Altom motivating me. The people I race with are clean racers and it’s nice to compete against guys you can trust.”

Brian Goetz of Lyons was the runner-up in the #38 Rayburn while finishing in third was Portland’s Brian Cronk, driving his father David’s Metro Services/Gassner Trucking #29 Camaro. Completing the top five was John Campos from Keizer in the Hackney Racing #3 machine in fourth and the Jody’s Nothin’ But Fun Bar & Grill #36 Camaro of Jody Tanner out of Portland in fifth.

Fast time of the evening went to the Hackney Racing #1 Pierce of Brian Smith of Albany with a time of 16.480 seconds. Albany driver Todd Miller, in his Linn Benton Insurance/James Gang Pizza #00, and Brian Smith were heat race winners earlier in the night while Smith would win the trophy dash.

The Willamette Speedway returns to action this Friday June 21st with the fourth race for the Kart program and Saturday the 22nd on the 1/3-mile. Saturday evening will be the Hot Rod Bettie’s Fast Fifty with $1,500.00 on the line for the DIRTcar Super Late Model feature winner. Also in action will be the Super Sports, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and Mini Trucks and all four classes will be competing for an enhanced purse as well courtesy of Hot Rod Bettie’s Tattoo. For more information log on to www.trophymotorsport.com.

Race Summary:
Wild Wild West Modified Shootout Round #3 presented by Les Schwab Tires
Tuesday June 18th, 2013
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, Oregon

IMCA Modifieds
28 Entries
Heat Race Winners [First Round]: Kyle Casson (A), Nick Trenchard (B), Jeremy Shank (C), Jesse Williamson (D)
Heat Race Winners [Second Round]: Alex Stanford (A), Collen Winebarger (B), Dustin Dittman (C), Jesse Williamson (D)
1st B-Feature: 1. Monte Bischoff, 2. Matt Mitchell, 3. Bubba Foster, 4. Mark Carrell, 5. David Schmidt, 6. Jesse Bailey, 7. Craig Hanson, 8. Curtis Towns
2nd B-Feature: 1. Brett James, 2. Brody Pompe, 3. Collen Winebarger, 4. Craig Cassell, 5. Zack Simpson, 6. Steven Sturdevant, 7. Morgan Criswell, 8. Brian Poppa
Last Chance Qualifier: 1. Craig Cassell, 2. Collen Winebarger, 3. Bubba Foster, 4. Mark Carrell, 5. Brian Poppa, 6. Jesse Bailey, 7. Zack Simpson, 8. Curtis Towns, 9. Steven Sturdevant, 10. David Schmidt, 11. Craig Hanson, 12. Morgan Criswell
A-Feature: 1. Alex Stanford, 2. Jeremy Shank, 3. Kyle Yeack, 4. Mark Wauge, 5. Jesse Williamson, 6. Jeffrey Rivers, 7. Dustin Dittman, 8. Kyle Casson, 9. Bubba Foster, 10. Joe German, 11. Craig Cassell, 12. Collen Winebarger, 13. Brett James, 14. Matt Mitchell, 15. Nick Trenchard, 16. Brody Pompe, 17. Tom Yeack, 18. Monte Bischoff, 19. Jerry Schram, 20. Mark Carrell

Sportsman
15 Entries
Fast Time: Brian Smith, 16.480
Heat Race Winners: Todd Miller (1), Brian Smith (2)
Trophy Dash Winner: Brian Smith
A-Feature: 1. Brian Brown, 2. Brian Goetz, 3. Clyde Rood, 4. Brian Cronk, 5. Brian Winkler, 6. John Campos, 7. Jody Tanner, 8. Todd Miller, 9. Briley Pompe, 10. Eric Lindquist, 11. Cory Hazen, 12. Megan Noblitt, 13. Brian Smith, 14. Phil Housworth, 15. Glen Hackney

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