6/17/2024
Southern Oregon Speedway
Morris, Mills, And Peery Earn Sunday Victories At Southern Oregon
Morris, Mills, And Peery Earn Sunday Victories At Southern Oregon
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Shadows Of Light Photography)
White City, Oregon-The second night of the 2024 IMCA Wild West Speedweek brought the tour to Southern Oregon Speedway for a Father's Day frenzy on Sunday, June 16th. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars, and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern Sport Mods were all on hand.
The race was a thrilling battle from the start, with Otis teenager Ian Whisler and Medford veteran Mark Wauge engaging in a fierce competition. The slugfest for third between Reno, Nevada's Kate Robertson and Tim Balding from Prunedale, California, added to the excitement of the event.
Things slowed down on the fifth circuit that bunched the field all up. When the race got back underway, Troy Morris III performed some blitzing maneuvers via the top part of the race track to propel his car inside the Top 5. The Bakersfield, California youngster made it around Balding on lap seven for fourth and dispatched Robertson on the ninth circuit for third.
Wauge eventually would be under fire from Morris before a lap ten caution saved him from being overtaken and frustratingly erased Whisler's massive gap over second place. Morris kept his faith on the high side on the twelve times around the 3/8-mile clay oval to pick up the runner-up spot. Morris challenged Whisler, who was carrying so much speed that he ran him down and swarmed all over the leader's back end. Morris swung his car into a diamonding maneuver in the first set of turns on lap seventeen to exploit the space left open on the bottom from Whisler. He would become the new trailblazer when he hit the wire.
As the new leader took off from the rest of the field, Whisler and Wauge renewed their fight with each other, except this time it was for second, with Wauge getting the position with seven to go. Things got a little wild when Robertson tried to make a podium run as she made it around Whisler on the back straightway on lap thirty.
Morris went on to dominate the balance of the distance with an incredible margin of victory of over ten whole seconds. This win is not just his second career IMCA Wild West Speedweek win but also his seventh triumph in the Shaw Race Cars Western Region.
Wauge was an impressive second in his first outing of the entire season, followed by Lady Eagle pilot Robertson, who was third. Whisler ended his night fourth while Coburg, Oregon's Kevin Williamson brought the Paul and Maria Culp-fielded entry home in fifth.
For the Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars, Anderson, Texas traveler Kevin Mills took control of first place on the opening start to assert dominance. It took only six circuits before lapped traffic came into the mix and allowed Chester Kniss to start to reel Mills in. Kniss, from Oakley, California, took full advantage of Mills getting bottled up in traffic on lap eleven.
Kniss tried to make a pass around the halfway mark, but the leader kept him in check. However, the battle would be put on hold due to caution on lap fourteen. Shortly after the restart, Kniss could capitalize on Mills bobbling going into turn one and captured the lead coming out of turn two. The pass would be negated due to another caution, giving the top spot back to Mills.
An additional caution came out with nine to go, but it would set up the race's final restart. When things went back to green, Mills remained strong, but the race for second was entertaining. Kniss would battle it out with Travis Dutra of Martinez, California. Dutra would win the battle with Kniss and try to run down Mills, but the leader was in a good rhythm.
Mill went on to hold on to the victory to win his first career IMCA Wild West Speedweek victory, as well as in the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region, and his second of the season. Dutra settled for second followed by Kniss in third. The race for fourth came down to the last few laps when Reno, Nevada's Craig Nieman beat out B.J. Wild of Redmond, Oregon.
The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods had a dynamite of a main event. Jesse Williamson, from Coburg, Oregon, got to the front when things got underway. A heavyweight bout for second was contested between California's Ethan Killingsworth, from Yreka, and Oakley's Buddy Kniss. Kniss secured the position and began to reel in the leader, Williamson.
Ryan Peery, also from Yreka, started deep and, within five laps, made it around Killingsworth to grab third away from him. As Kniss and Williamson raced each other hard for first, it allowed Peery to come into the picture to make it a three-car race for the top spot.
Peery would make quick work of Kniss with sixteen circuits left in the race but could not immediately overtake Williamson to go one more position further. While Williamson and Peery battled, Brookings racer Matt Sanders pressured Kniss for third, with Kniss eventually keeping him back.
On lap fifteen, Peery deserted the bottom of the track and put his mount in full send mode to swing around the outside of Williamson on the fourth and beat him to the wire to be the new pace setter just as lapped traffic was becoming a factor. Kniss went in for the kill to try and slip by Williamson. Still, Williamson was preoccupied with retrieving the race lead on the high side.
Williamson and Peery would go after it like two chess masters, but Peery had an answer for every challenge Williamson presented. Both drivers had no room for error, and Peery, who started thirteenth, held on to win at the line by half a car length to score his second career IMCA Wild West Speedweek victory and his third overall of 2024.
Williamson was a respectable second, with Kniss following him in third. Sanders wound up fourth, while Matthew Hagio, representing Prunedale, California, posted a fifth-place result.
The IMCA Wild West Speedweek heads to Coos Bay Speedway on Monday, June 17th.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
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