Jesse Williamson Seeks Third Wild West Modified Shootout Title
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Dirt Monkey Productions)
One of the top contenders to challenge for the 2015 Wild West Modified Shootout is Eugene's Jesse Williamson. The current campaign has treated him well with four feature wins in only a handful of starts. Two main events have been won in the Modifieds at Cottage Grove Speedway while he also has won at the historic 1/4-mile clay oval in a Late Model. But his biggest win was back in May at Madras Speedway for the Bill Mills Memorial. He is third in the Northwest Modified Cup points.
“It has been a good year so far,” said Williamson, “we've been fast every time but in a couple of races we've broke when contending for the win.”
Williamson is the 2012 and 2013 Wild West Modified Shootout champion and is the only driver to repeat a speedweek crown. Add to his résumé a four-time winner of the Cottage Grove Modified Nationals, a former Shipwreck Beads Northwest Modified Nationals winner at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Washington, and is a former winner of the Lon Skinner Memorial winner at Southern Oregon Speedway. He is the all-time winningest driver in the history of the Wild West Modified Shootout, with six, but unfortunately he did not manage to win a single feature in the 2014 edition. He is very confident in his Furniture Options/Double R Powdercoating/JDM Racing Solutions/NexGen Race Cars #W5 NexGen that can make it back to victory lane.
“We've been working really hard on the car,” he would continue, “I feel like we are the most prepared we have ever been for a speedweek.”
The 2015 Wild West Modified Shootout kicks off at Southern Oregon Speedway on Saturday June 13th. The tour will wrap things up at Willamette Speedway on the 19th and 20th to close the speedweek out for the second straight year. Teams from Oregon, Washington, California, North Dakota, Montana, and British Columbia Canada are expected to make the journey.
All races will be broadcasted through Speed Shift TV and you can either purchase each race for $19.95 or buy the whole week for $99.95. Orders can be made onhttp://www.speedshifttv.com. Be sure and don't miss out on these great races featuring the best Modified drivers in the Pacific Northwest region.
2015 Wild West Modified Shootout Schedule:
Saturday June 13th Southern Oregon Speedway White City, OR
Sunday June 14th Siskiyou Motor Speedway Yreka, CA
Monday June 15th Coos Bay Speedway Coos Bay, OR
Tuesday June 16th Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR
Wednesday June 17th Sunset Speedway Park Banks, OR
Thursday June 18th Travel Day
Friday June 19th Willamette Speedway Lebanon, OR
Saturday June 20th Willamette Speedway Lebanon, OR
Former Wild West Modified Shootout Champions:
2014- Alex Stanford
2013- Jesse Williamson
2012- Jesse Williamson
2011- Brian Poppa
Wild West Modified Shootout All-Time Win List (2011-14):
Jesse Williamson- 6
Alex Stanford- 5
Brian Poppa- 4
Ken Schrader- 2
Mark Carrell- 1
Braedon Hand
Scott Lenz
Travis Peery
Nick Trenchard
Mark Wauge