SSP Sport Mod Championship Won By Pamela Graham
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of John Tarr)
Pamela Graham was the car to beat in the IMCA Sport Mods at Sunset Speedway Park in 2015. The Vancouver, Washington driver would put together a stellar season in her Perfection Automotive/21st Century Towing/Checkered Flag Asphalt, Paving & Seal Coating/Freeman Tile/Meyer’s Auto Body/Snap-On Tools #12x FR1. She would win on five occasions at the “Banks Bullring” throughout the course of the campaign. It would be her first career track championship.
“The goal each week was to finish, and have fun,” said Graham. “I hadn't had such a good season since 1998 at St. Helens. I felt like I was getting too old and was actually about to give up on it, but I love competing so I figured I would stick with it.”
Pamela would record victories on May 9th, June 20th, June 27th, July 11th, and September 19th. In nine starts she would post nine top-5s and nine top-10s. Her worst finish at Banks was a fourth place result on September 12th.
“This year, it was fantastic,” she would continue, “to have my husband Mike as crew chief, my daughter Taylor filming me so I could learn from my mistakes, and my son Loren also coming out. Rick, Tony & Justin also helped us out. It was very cool to have the whole family back the program.”
Graham would also venture to other tracks including Cottage Grove Speedway and River City Speedway in St. Helens. In fact, at St. Helens, she would pick up a win against the A-Mods on July 19th.
“I was happy to gain the experience from traveling to different tracks this season. We had a rainout at Banks after I discovered IMCA tallies state points, so we made the first of a few trips down to Cottage Grove. Winning that race in St. Helens and notching a couple 2nd place finishes at the Grove were highlights this year.” She finished third in the IMCA state points battle.
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