Saturday July 5th At SSP Produces Some Great Racing
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Alyssa Jones)
In addition to the Northwest Extreme Late Model Series being on tap at Sunset Speedway Park on Saturday July 5th five support classes would compete also. The classes included the IMCA Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, Dwarf Cars, and 4-Bee’s at the "Banks Bullring".
The IMCA Modified main event was a thriller. Steve Suckow of Hillsboro would pace the field for much of the race in his Prime-X Contracting/Perfection Automotive,/James Gang Pizza/Sweere Trucking #37 T.R.E. Suckow would try to keep all challengers at bay but Doug Lockwood would obtain the lead by lap twenty-eight with just a few to go. Lockwood, of Aloha, would lead the rest of the distance to win his third main event of the season for his Aloha Station Tavern/Perfection Automotive/Ross Electric/Curtis Trailers #66 Shaw team.
Crossing the line in second would be the Tom's Performance/Dancin' Bare/Eric's Frame Shop #6X Dirt Works of Don Jenner out of Vancouver, Washington followed by Steve Suckow in third. Vancouver, Washington’s Jerry Schram would place fourth in the Schram Brothers Excavating/Century III Stables #16 Hughes while fifth went to the Rauch Racing #X3 Victory of Chris Quinn, also from Vancouver, Washington, for car owner Erika Rauch.
Freya Smith of McMinnville would take care of business in the Street Stocks again on Saturday night. Nearly twenty-four hours after winning her first career Street Stock victory she would end up leading the entire distance of the twenty-five lap feature to go back-to-back wins for her and the Sweere's Auto Body/Sweere's Trucking/Tire Factory of McMinnville #37 Camaro team.
The Shattercrystal.com Game Codes/McCutcheon Fence/AFT Race Engines/Van Raden Industries #32 Camaro of Robert Summerhalder from Portland was the runner-up while going home third would be John Ireland out of Banks in his Ireland & Ireland at Law/Privateer Racing/Applebee Aviation #88 Monte Carlo. The rest of the top five would consist of Hillsboro native Earl Claypool Jr. in the Beaverton Machine Shop/Customs by RC/JNR Construction #3 Camaro in fourth and fifth the JNR Construction/Molecular Motion Inc./Dockweiler Stainless Steel Tube Systems #14 Camaro of West Linn driver Brian Roden.
In the Pure Stocks Trevor LaBarge of Forest Grove would take over the lead on lap ten in the main event. He would lead the rest of the distance to win his third race of the season in the division for him and his Pure Addiction Diesel Performance/S&R Motorz/Courtesy Auto Body #7 Camaro.
Yamhill’s Terry Houck ended the night in second piloting his Luttrell's Trucking/Trask Mountain Outpost/Sweere’s Trucking/Happy Hut #58 Camaro while Kendal Lee of Forest Grove would cross the line in third in his Kendall Lee Racing #66 Camaro. Bert Pegg from Vancouver, Washington was fourth in the Pegg Boys Racing/Kenton Station/Pfeifer's Mobile Concrete/Local Glaziers #17 Firebird while behind him in fifth would be Brush Prairie, Washington’s Ken Schave in his Creekside Mortgage #05 Nova.
Despite the main event being cautioned plagued the Dwarf Cars would put on one heck of a show. Guy Tow Jr. from Castle Rock, Washington would obtain the lead on lap eleven and stay in front the rest of the way to win his first race at Sunset this year in his Two Guys Racing/Fusion Grahpix/Hicks Family Racing #37 Ebeling.
The Auto Truck Wholesale/Van Raden Industries/St. John’s Tire Factory #9 M&M of Portland’s Ryan Martinez was second followed by the PSP Powdercoating/Finish Line Technology/Shake and Bake Racing #8 M&M of Chris McCleary from St. Helens in third. Gaston native Corey Esteban was fourth in the Esteban Racing #36 and the MAPS Auto Center of Scappoose/FinishLine Technologies #2 Hot Rod of James Brinster from St. Helens was fifth.
2014 has been a remarkable year for Portland’s John Gartner in the 4-Bee’s. Gartner would put his Gartner Racing/Ram Light Truck/ACE Car Detailing/Foot Print Designs #48 Mitsubishi Eclipse to the front on lap sixteen and stayed there for the rest of the way to win his fourth main event of the year in the class.
Travis Koch of Vancouver, Washington would end the night in second in his North's Plumbing/Dusty's Automotive/Mac Tools #21 Dodge Neon while Jake Henry of North Plains in his Henry Racing/Joe’s Autobody and Paint/Social Lies Pub and Grill #77 Toyota Celica was third. Troutdale’s Crystal Flath, in her McCord Trucking/Outback Steakhouse/Sayre Racing & Customs #1 Dodge Neon, was fourth followed by the Van Raden Industries/Sweere’s Auto Body/Rabourn Performance/Keevan Motorsports #5.0 machine of Mike Keely from Hillsboro in fifth.
Saturday July 12th Sunset Speedway Park will host the annual Jim’s Thriftway Open Street Stock National 100 featuring the top Street Stock talent in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the Street Stocks there will also be Pure Stocks, Dwarf Cars, and both classes of Micro Sprints.
Pit Gates will open at 2:00 PM, Front Gates open at 3:30, and racing starts at 6:00. Tickets are Adults $12.00, Seniors/Military/Juniors (13-17) $10.00, Youths (Ages 12-6) $5.00, and Children under the age of 5 are FREE and a Family Pass will be offered for two Adults and up to four Youths for just $35.00. For more information log on to www.sunsetspeedwaypark.com.
Race Summary:
Saturday July 5th, 2014
Sunset Speedway Park
Banks, Oregon
IMCA Modifieds
A Feature: 1. 66-Doug Lockwood; 2. 6X-Don Jenner; 3. 37-Steve Suckow; 4. 16-Jerry Schram; 5. X3-Chris Quinn; 6. 6M-Matt Jenner; 7. 09-Robert Duncan; 8. 8-Rob Ireland; 9. 99-Jeremy Martin; 10. 38-Randy O'Connor; 11. 63-Mike Sweere; 12. 5R-Robert Jenner; 13. 00-Kent Dollarhyde
Street Stocks
A Feature: 1. 37-Freya Smith; 2. 32-Robert Summerhalder; 3. 88-John Ireland; 4. 3-Earl Claypool; 5. 14-Brian Roden; 6. 5-Marc Farrar; 7. 19-Tony Catalano; 8. 00-Terry Mason; 9. 02-Rod Lowe; 10. 5M-Keith Moody; 11. 43-Mike Lockwood; 12. 7-Doug Pitsch
Pure Stocks
A Feature: 1. 7-Trevor LaBarge; 2. 58-Terry Houck; 3. 66-Kendall Lee; 4. 17-Bert Pegg; 5. 05-Ken Schave; 6. 22-Jimmy Biggs; 7. 53-Scott Hoodenpyl; 8. 33-Jim Peterson; 9. 79-James Baker
Dwarfs
A Feature: 1. 37-Guy Tow Jr.; 2. 9-Ryan Martinez; 3. 8-Chris McCleary; 4. 36-Corey Esteban; 5. 2-James Brinster; 6. 777-Dennis Liebig; 7. 46-Guy Tow Sr.; 8. Brandon Ross; 9. 48-Neal Hopwood; 10. 13-Jim Richmond; 11. Max White; 12. Chris Wright; 13. 60-Steve McCleary; 14. 33-Bill Lamm; 15. 78-Kevin Hicks; 16. 77-Brad Hicks
4-Bee's
A Feature: 1. 48-John Gartner; 2. 21-Travis Koch; 3. 77-Jacob Henry; 4. 1-Crystal Flath; 5. 5.0-Mike Keely; 6. 7-Gary Jones; 7. 22-Nick Henry; 8. 97-Joe Loy; 9. 11-Tammy Watts; 10. 56-Jack Marontate; 11. 99-Ronald Sweere; 12. 82-Bo Jones