9/15/2014
Grays Harbor Raceway
Blood Earns First GHR Win
With the season winding down, Grays Harbor Raceway had another Saturday night of action packed racing, with the USAC Northwest HPD Midget Series, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, Shipwreck Bead's Modifieds, and the Outlaw Tuners took to the 3/8's banked clay oval.
USAC Northwest HPD Midget Series:
Chase Goetz of Snohomish was looking to pick up another win this year in the USAC Northwest HPD Midget Series, as he would start fifth in the 25 lap feature. Burlington's Tristin Thomas and McCleary driver Ariel Biggs would start on the front row of the feature. As the field took the green flag. Thomas would pull to the lead. Spanaway's Lance Sargent would jump to the second position, and look to the inside of Thomas, with Goetz right behind both of them. Thomas and Sargent would race side by side down the backstretch, and Sargent would pull to the lead in turn three. Goetz would look to the inside of Sargent out of four, and move to the lead going down the front stretch. Sargent would look to the inside of Goetz into turn two, and they both would race down the back stretch. Sargent would take the lead, but the yellow would come out for Centralia driver Annika Johanson, as she would spin to a stop in turn two on lap 1. On the restart, Goetz would maintain the lead, and lead the field down, Tristin Thomas would move into the second spot around Sargent, as Shorline's Michael Vollbrecht would move into the fourth position. Goetz would continue to lead, but the battle between Tristin Thomas and Sargent would be the race to watch, as both drivers would battle for the second position. Goetz would pull away, as Thomas and Sargent would continue to battle for position.
The second yellow flag of the feature would come out for Johanson once again, as she would spin in the same spot over in turn two. Goetz would lead the field down on the restart, and pull away quickly, as Tristin Thomas and Sargent continued to battle for the second position. Sargent would look to the inside multiple times on Thomas, and finally after a few tries would get by Thomas for second. Vollbrecht would also start to reel in Thomas, as well as Shorline's Hannah Lindquist, trying to make it a three car battle for the third position. Volbrecht and Lindquist would battle for the fourth position for a handful of laps, before Lindquist would start to pull away. Tristin Thomas would try and make another run on Sargent for the second position as Goetz would continue to pull away from the field. At the end of the feature, Chase Goetz would pick up the win, Lance Sargent, Tristin Thomas, Hannah Lindquist, and Michael Vollbrecht would round out the top five. Heat race winners were Chase Goetz, and Garrett Thomas, with Tristin Thomas getting fast time.
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks:
Like the USAC Northwest HPD Midget Series, the Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks has been dominated by one driver, and that is Aberdeen's Jack Parshall. He would start on the front row with Porter's Chip Haney on the outside of him. Parshall would take the lead on the start, with Don Briggs Jr of Wishkah moving into the second spot. Parshall would lead the first lap and pull away from the field, as Briggs Jr., and Brenton Schnitzer of Shelton would run third momentarily until he would get sideways, and slide to the infield, keeping the car going. The battle for third between Haney, and Spanaway's Tom Hecker would get exciting as Hecker would move into the third spot. Olympia's Eddie Blood would knock on the back bumper of Haney. Blood would look to the inside of Haney for third in turn three and take the position, but the caution would come out for Hecker as he would slow to a stop in turn four on lap 4. On the restart Parshall would lead the field down with Briggs Jr., Blood, Haney, and Aberdeen's Cory Sweatman rounding out the top five. Parshall would maintain the lead and pull away slightly. The battle for the second position would get exciting as Blood would look to the inside of Briggs Jr. Parshall would continue to lead until going into turn one the car would smoke and he would come to a stop on the back stretch. On the restart Briggs Jr. would lead the field to the green flag, with Blood in chase. Schnitzer would race side by side with Sweatman for the third position, as Blood would look to the inside of Briggs Jr. for the lead. They would both race side by side, for a lap, with Blood taking the lead out of turn two and down the back stretch. Briggs Jr. would be on his back bumper, as they would come up on the lap cars. Schnitzer would move into the second spot around Briggs Jr. but the caution would come out for Hecker who would slow to a stop on the front stretch on lap 11.
Blood would lead the field to the green flag on the restart, with Briggs Jr., Sweatman, and Shelton's Mike Mann who would mix it up. Back in the field would see Elma's Tyler Walker and Tacoma driver Mike Knox Sr. get together on the back stretch as Knox Sr. would slide to the apron of the racetrack, both drivers would keep going and the race would stay green. Blood would start to pull away slightly on Briggs Jr, as Sweatman and Mann would look to reel in Briggs Jr. Mann would look to the inside of Sweatman for the third position, but could not make the pass. The yellow would come out once again, this time for Haney as he would spin in turn two. On the restart, problems would come for Sweatman as he would slow, while Blood would continue to lead Briggs Jr. Blood wouldn't pull away as Briggs Jr. would be on his back bumper, looking to make his move. Briggs Jr. would get close to the back bumper as they would come on lap traffic, but the caution would come out for Mann, as he would spin in turn two on lap 18. On the restart, Blood would lead the field to the green flag, with Briggs Jr. right there in chase, Briggs Jr, would close the gap on Blood, but the caution would soon come out again for Mann, as he and Haney would get together in turn two. That caution was what Briggs Jr. needed as he would get another shot at Blood, but on the restart, Blood would continue to lead until the caution would come out again this time for Sweatman as he would slow to a stop in turn one.
At the end of the 25 lap feature, Eddie Blood would pick up his first career win at Grays Harbor Raceway. Don Briggs Jr., Kelly Fugate, Shannon Redle, and Mike Knox Sr. would round out the top five. Heat race winners were Brenton Schnitzer, and Tom Hecker, with Jack Parshall picking up quick time.
Shipwreck Bead's Modifieds:
The 25 lap, Shipwreck Bead's Modified feature would see Aberdeen's Austin Kerrigan, who is running his first year in a modified, on the pole, with Elma driver Matt Arnold on the outside of him. As the field took the green flag, Kerrigan would take the lead, with Seabeck's Craig Moore moving into the second position, as his son Kyler Moore would race side by side with McCleary's Josh Muller. Scott Miller of Shelton would also join in that mix, but the caution would soon come out for Mel Decker of Mt. Vernon as he would spin to a stop in turn one on lap 1. On the restart Kerrigan would lead them down, with the father/son duo of Craig and Kyler Moore in chase. Kerrigan would pull away slightly as Craig and Kyler Moore would battle for second. Craig Moore would run the high side, as Kyler would run the low side. Craig would maintain the second spot and pull away, as Kyler Moore would have tough company of Muller, Scott Miller, and Port Hardy, British Columbia driver Lawrence O'Connor. The yellow flag would come out, this time for a multiple car incident in turn one, involving Kelso's Carl Larson, Salem, Oregon driver Brian Gray, and James Wolford of Bremerton. On the restart Kerrigan would once again lead the field to the green flag, but just as the green flag would fly, the yellow would come out for Muller as he would get into the back stretch wall. On the restart, Kerrigan would lead them down, but the back of the field would get bottled up, and the yellow would come out. On the second restart, Kerrigan would lead them down, and pull away slightly, as Kyler and Craig Moore would battle for position, with O'Connor joining in on the battle. Craig Moore would work the low side, his son Kyler would run the high side and battle lap after lap for the second position. The yellow flag would come out again this time for Gray, as he would spin in turn four on lap 8.
These restarts were not what Kerrigan wanted, as this would give Craig and Kyler Moore a chance at him for the lead. Kerrigan would lead the field to the green flag with a great restart, pulling away slightly, as Kyler Moore would look to the outside of his dad Craig for the second position once again. The battle would continue between the Moore's as Scott Miller would look to the inside of O'Connor for the fourth position. Second through fourth would be the most exciting battle to watch between all four drivers. O'Connor would try a few times to make it three wide as he would run the middle of the speedway. Kerrigan would continue to pull away from the field, extending his lead to half a straightaway, as the battle for second would continue. The yellow flag would come out again, this time.
At the end of the 25 lap feature, Austin Kerrigan would pick up his first career Shipwreck Bead's Modified feature, with Craig Moore, Scott Miller, Lawrence O'Connor, and Kyler Moore rounding out the top five. Heat race winners were Kyler Moore, Scott Miller, and Craig Moore.
Outlaw Tuners:
The 15 lap Outlaw Tuner feature would see Dale Vacknitz on the pole, as they took the green Vacknitz of Ocean Shore's would lead them down, but it didn't take long for Aberdeen driver Willie Wright, and Ocean Shore's driver Jeff Daniel to work their way around. Tenino's Chad Norton would look to join in on the battle for the lead, but the yellow flag would come out for Brittany Diggle of Wishkah as she would lose a wheel and stop in turn two. On the restart, Wright would lead them down, but it didn't take long for Norton to make his move for the lead, with Daniel right there. Norton and Daniel would split Wright, and Norton would pull to the lead. It didn't take long for Norton to pull away, as the battle for third would get exciting between Wright and Don Briggs Sr. of Wishkah. Briggs Sr., would set his sights on Daniel for the second position, while Norton continued to pull away. It didn't take long until Norton would hit lap traffic, but he would get by the lapped car quickly, as he would continue to pull away from Daniel, and Briggs Sr.
With only one caution in the feature, Chad Norton would go on to pick up the win, with Jeff Daniel, Willie Wright, Dale Vacknitz Jr., and Don Briggs Sr. rounding out the top five. Chad Norton would also pick up the heat race.
Racing will resume Saturday September 27, 2014, with the Season Championship and Fan Appreciation Night, featuring the 360 Sprint Cars, USAC Northwest HPD Midget Series, Shipwreck Bead's Modifieds, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, and the Outlaw Tuners, as a champion will be crowned in all classes. Not only will you see all classes, but at the end of the night, a GIANT fireworks show! If that doesn't get you excited, there will also be a very special announcement made during the evening. Gates will open at 5:30 PM, with racing starting at 7:00 PM
Submitted By: Steve Beitler
