9/8/2014
Cottage Grove Speedway
Joe Maricle, Gene Ashley, Braedon Hand, And Chase Goetz Score South Lane School District Back To School Night Victories
Joe Maricle, Gene Ashley, Braedon Hand, And Chase Goetz Score South Lane School District Back To School Night Victories
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Madman Photography)
In addition to the Northwest Wingless Tour being in action on Saturday September 6th at Cottage Grove Speedway for the Wingless Nationals presented by Herz Precision Parts four other classes were on tap for South Lane School District Night at the races. Those divisions included the IMCA Modifieds, Northwest Extreme Modifieds, USAC HPD Washington Midgets, and Hornets. The IMCA Modifieds would be a recent addition to the lineup and were in competition for a non-point race.
In the IMCA Modified main event Craig Hanson of Albany was the early pace setter. Hanson, chauffeuring his Virgil Hanson Automotive Machine/BSB Manufacturing/James Gang Pizza/KGAL-KSHOW Radio/CT Warner #33C Shaw, would end up in a fierce battle with Jasper’s Eric Ashley. Ashley and Hanson would be side by side for a good while with Ashley being scored as the lead on lap three in his Furniture Options #84 entry.
Not long after a restart the Todd’s Auto Body/D&D Automotive/1400 KNND AM/Vintage Inn Family Restaurant #5 Shaw by S.D.M.F. of Braedon Hand from Cottage Grove got to the front on lap six. Hand would be the car to beat for much of the race. Hand would have a scary moment as Medford native Monte Bischoff made the pass for the top spot on lap fourteen putting his Payroll Specialties Inc./Hoppes Construction/Machanix Wear Gloves/Lucas Oil Products #F1 Impressive to the front.
However Bischoff tenure as the leader would be brief and Braedon Hand would reclaim the position on the following lap. Mastering a late race restart Hand would remain out front for the rest of the distance to secure his fifth win of the season in 2014 against IMCA Modified competition.
Monte Bischoff was second followed by the Dog House Racing/Payroll Specialties Inc./Hoppes Construction/Schram Brothers Excavating #1M Impressive of Mark Wauge hailing from the city of Jacksonville. Fourth place belonged to Craig Hanson and Albany’s Matthew Drager would score a fifth place finish in his Drager Performance/GRT Race Cars/Hooligan Designs/Case I.H. Ag West International Professional #21A GRT by Drager Performance machine.
Three lead changes would occur in the first three laps of the Northwest Extreme Modified feature. Scott Akin of Crow would be the early trailblazer on lap one in his Akin Racing #54 Monster while the Furniture Option #85 entry of Gene Ashley, from Jasper, would lead on lap two. Cottage Grove’s Doug Cox, in the Austin and Ryan McTaggart owned West End Performance/Eastside Rollforming Specialties/Dennymite Race Cars/Specialized Fab Manufacturing #72+ Shaw, would pass Ashley on lap three.
Cox, in a car for the first time in eight years, set a rapid pace for much of the race but with just a few laps remaining Gene Ashley was in a position to challenge Cox for the top spot. Ashley would make the pass on lap seventeen and went on to win his second straight feature victory in the class and becoming the first driver to win more than once in the Northwest Extreme Modifieds.
Doug Cox was second while the Eagle Racing Graphics/Dan Martin Excavating/DRM Motorsports/St. Jude Children’s Hospital #38 machine of Jimmy Owen from Cottage Grove ended his night in third. Scott Akin was fourth and the finishing order was completed by Kyle McDonald of Halsey finishing in fifth in the McDonald Racing #20M entry.
In a hands down dominating performance all evening long in the USAC HPD Washington Midgets Chase Goetz would be the winner of the main event. Goetz, out of Snohomish, Washington and piloting the Great Western Transport/Speedmart Inc./Elma Lanes/Goetz Brothers Racing #91 Beast, would lead the entire distance and win his eight race with the series in the current campaign.
McCleary, Washington’s Garrett Thomas was second in the Brownfield Family/Precision Pipe Fabricators/Bayview Redi-Mix/Blood’s Old School Auto Works #14 Beast would end up the runner-up and in third was Lance Sargent from Spanaway, Washington driving the Angel Racing #2A XXX for car owners Renee Angel and Shane Biles. Crossing the line in fourth would be the Alternative Blasters/Powercoating Inc./Fluery’s Body Shop/Les Schwab Tires #3H Beast of Hannah Lindquist from Shoreline, Washington and Michael Vollbrecht, also out of Shoreline, Washington, would finish fifth in his James Brown Racing #4 XXX.
Last but not least the Hornets would put on an entertaining race. Joe Maricle of Veneta was quick out of the gate in his Maricle Stainless #11M Toyota Celica GT. Maricle would lose the lead to the Dan’s Automotive #4 Nissan 200SX of Dan Jenkinson from Marcola on lap four. Jenkinson though would pull off under caution on lap twelve. This misfortune would give the lead back to Maricle. Maricle would remain the leader and collected his second win of 2014.
Westfir’s Josh Corley was second in the Bigg Dogg Recycling/All Around Landscaping #NE1 Mistubishi Mirage while the Eastside Rollforming Specialties/R&D Specialties #32 Nissan 200SX of Eric Cooper from Cottage Grove was third. Junction City native Marcel Forté would be fourth in his Junction City Muffler Shop/Guaranty Chevrolet/Forté Motorsports/Twisted Bit Arena #23F Nissan Centra and in fifth was Cottage Grove’s Chris Pierce piloting his Froggy’s Towing/Bigg Dogg Recycling/Meineke Car Care Center/AP Media #28 Chevy Cavalier.
The Cottage Grove Speedway will be back in action on Saturday September 13th. The evening will mark the final race of the season for the Huddle Automotive Repair 360 Sprints, Late Models, Northwest Extreme Modifieds, and Street Stocks. Remember the IMCA Modifieds, BC Motorsports Northwest Extreme Sprints, and Hornets will have their final race of the season on Saturday the 20th.
In other 2015 Cottage Grove Speedway is bringing back the reserve seats promotion for regular season events. For further details contact CGS General Manager Heather Boyce at (541)-729-8666 or the track hotline at (360)-699-RACE. For the latest information regarding the historic ¼-mile clay oval log on to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.
Race Summary:
South Lane School District Back To School Night
Saturday September 6th, 2014
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, Oregon
MCA Modifieds
A Feature: 1. 5-Braedon Hand; 2. F1-Monte Bischoff; 3. 1M-Mark Wauge; 4. 33C-Craig Hanson; 5. 21A-Matthew Drager; 6. 84-Eric Ashley; 7. 72+-Ryan McTaggart; 8. 10-Gus Cooper; 9. 44P-Sam Potter; 10. 5M-Jake Mayden; 11. ZER0-Anthony Hopper; 12. 21C-Curt Coggins; 13. 44-Greg McDonald; 14. 16-Austin McTaggart; 15. 77-Kreg Britton; 16. 20M-Jordan McDonald; 17. 45-Jason Kocks; 18. 85-Kelly Williamson; 19. 50-Justin Ryker; 20. 1-Bruce Ray
Northwest Extreme Modifieds
A Feature: 1. 85-Gene Ashley; 2. 72+-Doug Cox; 3. 38-Jimmy Owen; 4. 54-Scott Akin; 5. 20M-Kyle McDonald
Hornets
A Feature: 1. 11-Joe Maricle; 2. NE1-Josh Corley; 3. 32-Eric Cooper; 4. 23F-Marcel Forte; 5. 28-Chris Pierce; 6. 30-K.C. Scott; 7. 48-Mike Swaim; 8. 51-Jason Nelson; 9. 29-Scott Britton; 10. 11-Brian Bach; 11. 4-Dan Jenkinson; 12. 14-Casey Johnson; 13. 17-Taunton Swaim; 14. 41-Jim Simmons; DNS 14-Dale Jenkinson
USAC HPD Washington Midgets
A Feature: 1. 91-Chase Goetz; 2. 14-Garrett Thomas; 3. 2A-Lance Sargent; 4. 3H-Hannah Lindquist; 5. 4-Michael Vollbrecht; 6. 23-Michael Millard; 7. 9T-Tristin Thomas; 8. 16-Nik Larson
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage