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Hibbard, Wauge, Braaten, Sine, And Corley Capture Cottage Grove Chamber Night Victories

Hibbard, Wauge, Braaten, Sine, And Corley Capture Cottage Grove Chamber Night Victories
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Dirt Monkey Productions)
Cottage Grove, Oregon- After a weekend off due to bad weather the Cottage Grove Speedway was excited to get back to racing with gorgeous conditions in the forecast on Saturday April 30th. The historic ¼-mile clay oval would host Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce Night and attract another great crowd along with a very full pit area. Five classes were scheduled for racing including the Clark Printing Extreme Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, Street Stocks, and Qaulity RV Repair Hornets.

When the Clark Printing Extreme Sprint feature got the green flag it was all Dave Hibbard from the get go. Hibbard, of Medford, was able to seize the lead on the initial start and go right to work on pulling away from the rest of the field. The only thing that would slow him down would be two red flag incidents that would bring everyone to a halt. But on the ensuing restarts Hibbard would retain the race lead each time and stayed out in front the entire distance to park his Hanson & Sons Trucking/Outlaw Powdercoating/Dave’s Carpet & Vinyl Liquidators/Tangible Real Estate #3 Zeitler in victory lane.

Allison Journey, now residing in Boston, Massachusetts, would place second in her Journey Built Homes #4J KPC while finishing in third was the Faye Stewart for United States Senate/Cedric Ross Hayden for Oregon State Representative/M.D. Yearous Logging/Jacob Daniels Attorney at Law #5D KPC of Cottage Grove’s Patrick Dills. Anderson, California teenager Chelsea Blevins crossed the wire fourth, in her BC Motorsports/Ron Peters Cabinetry #1B entry, followed by the Double R Powdercoating/BC Motorsports/Rocket Designs #10 XXX of Don Waddell, from Roseburg, in fifth.

Dave Hibbard started the night off on the right note by setting fast time of the night while Chelsea Blevins was the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash winner. In heat race competition the victors would be Blevins and the Todd’s Autobody/Clark Printing/Double R Powdercoating/Fastenal #85 Maxim of Thurston’s Ricky Ashley.

A full field of IMCA Modifieds were in the house for their third race of the year and Mark Wauge would take full advantage of his front row starting position. The Rodgers Racing Engines/Hoppes Motorsports/Payroll Specialties Inc./Willamette Valley Bank #1M PCD, of Wauge, would successfully navigate the tricky track and build a sizable leads. Unfortunately for his sake the intervals would be erased due to so many cautions occurring in the feature. Nonetheless Wauge managed to master each and every restart and would go unchallenged to lead every single lap of the main event.

Steven Sturdevant of Springfield was the runner-up, in his Springfield Point S Tire Factory/KMC Wheels/Pyramid Brewing/Fastenal #11 X-Factor, while ending the night third would be Cottage Grove’s Curtis Towns chauffeuring the Superior Fuel Cells/West End Performance/BSB Manufacturing/Slicker Graphics #24 Superior. The rest of the top five would be made up of Kreg Britton, also of Cottage Grove, finishing fourth in the Eugene Mortgage Brokers/Commonwealth Financial Network/Aspen Chiropractic/Dot’s Trophy Shop #77 X-Factor while grabbing fifth was Jasper’s Eric Ashley in his Mackin Street Customs & RV’s/Absolute Air & Auto Repair/Furniture Options/A-1 Auto Supply #84 Shaw.

Mark Wauge was fastest in time trials while the victor in the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash was the Payroll Specialties Inc./Lucas Oil Products/Hoppes Constructions #F1 PCD of Medford veteran Monte Bischoff. Heat race winners were Steven Sturdevant, Mark Wauge, and Curtis Towns.

The iMCA Sport Mod main event would be an absolute barn burner. Springfield ace Daniel Ray would get the initial lead on the first lap in his Brad’s Car Tunes/Quality RV Repair/D&L Truck Parts/MTD Motorsports #01 Harris. But Ray would get passed on the second lap by Andrew Mathers of Eugene. Mathers, in the Kiwi Fab/Ashley Family Racing #7M D&M and only in his second career Modified race, would lead the charge for the majority of the race.

The feature would come down to the final couple of laps as Central Point’s Jorddon Braaten began to reel Mathers in. The two cars would be neck and neck at the start finish line at the drop of white flag only for Braaten to edge Mathers out of the first set of turns. Braaten would secure the lead on the back straightaway to come across the line in first to win his second straight feature in the class for him and the Quench & Drench Car Wash/Miller Paint Company/Schaeffer’s Racing Oil/Advanced Door & Hardware #84 Dirt Works team.

Andrew Mathers was a respectable second place followed by the 1400 KNND AM/Vintage Inn Family Restaurant/D&D Automotive/Oregon Taxi #13 Shaw, of Cottage Grove’s Shawn Hand, in third. Gene Ashley, from Jasper, was fourth in his Ashley Family Racing/A-1 Auto Supply #85 entry while Daniel Ray ended his evening in fifth.

Andrew Mathers was the fastest qualifier and the Quality RV Repair/Springfield Point S Tire Factory/Fastenal/Matco Tools #51N Harris, of Springfield’s Jayson Nelson, was the winner in the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash. Heat race victors included Jorrdon Braaten and Mathers.

A good crop of Street Stocks would assemble for the night with several new faces making their 2016 debuts. Matt King, now living in Springfield, would get to the front early in his Warp Graphix/Augustine Racing/King Family Racing #7K Oldsmobile Cutlass. King would get passed on lap two by Chris Sine and Sine would be incredibly fast, practically going unchallenged the rest of the way. A handful of cautions would bunch the field up but each time there was a restart Chris Sine would reestablish a commanding lead. Sine would get his second straight victory in the Murphy Plywood/Pure Romance by April/Pro Auto Racing #24 Camaro despite being one of the last cars to show up due to reassembling an engine.

Jasper’s Andrew Langan was second, in his D&L Truck Parts/A-1 Radiator/Api Paint Inc. #74 Chevelle, while behind him, in third, was the D&L Truck Parts/Robert Howell Logging/Dean Schultz Heating & Air/Cottage Grove Customs #85 machine of Evan Britton from Cottage Grove. The balance of the top five would consist of Coos Bay’s Daniel Land in fourth, driving his Augustine Racing/AMS Oil with Kerry Rouske/Shake N Burger/Les Schwab Tire Center #2D entry, with fifth going to Matt King.

Fast time of the night would belong to Evan Britton and getting the job done in the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash was Coquille’s Steve Dubisar in his Lil’ Stinker Portable Toilets/West Coast Pressure Washing/Kyota & Luscombe Construction/Dave Chappelle Enterprises #10 Monte Carlo. Chris Sine would win the one and only heat race during the evening.

Last but not least the Quality RV Repair Hornets would put on a good show. Phoenix youngster Justin McCreadie put together an incredible performance in only his second time ever in a race car. The Big Time Paint/Jahnke Heating & Air Conditioning #15J Chevy Cavalier, of McCreadie, was the car to beat for a good number of laps. McCreadie would lead until lap seven but even then he would hang with the new leader, that leader was Westfir’s Josh Corley.

Corley would weave in and out traffic only for McCreadie and a couple others to stick right with him. A few stoppages would keep everyone close to Corley but the J&M Racing #7C Nissan 200SX was just a little bit better on the restarts. Corley would end the evening in the winner’s circle for the second straight occasion.

The George M Sutton RV/Castle Storage #80 entry of Harrisburg’s James McClure was second followed by Justin McCreadie in third. James Simmons, of Eugene, would place his It Works by Kayla Simmons/A+ Towing/This Little Light Of Mine Photography #16 machine in fourth followed by Cottage Grove’s Mike Simmons in fifth, driving the Kimwood Corporation/Industrial Finishes/It Works by Kayla Simmons/Quality RV Repair #1N Honda Prelude.

The Quantum Mechanics/Big B Tires #30 entry, of Springfield native K.C. Scott, was fast time of the night and Josh Corley was victorious in the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash. The Fin’s Drive In #23 Toyota Echo of Marcola’s Anthony Wahto, Josh Corley, and Eugene’s Ray Nikzat, in his Rick L Racing machine, were the three heat race winners.

Cottage Grove Speedway returns to racing on Friday May 6th for the first Kage Kart race of the year after the original April 22nd event was rained out. General Admission is FREE and Pit Passes are $10.00 and Car and Driver fees will be $35.00. The Pit Gate will open up around 3:00 PM and the Pit Meeting is at 6:00 PM with Hot Laps and Racing to follow.

The ¼-mile will be back in action on Saturday May 6th with the Clark Printing Extreme Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, Late Models, and the Quality RV Repair Hornets on the card.

Tickets are Adults $13.00, Juniors/Seniors/Military $10.00, Youth (6-12) - $5.00, Family Pass $30.00, and Children 5 or under are FREE. Pit Passes will be offered for $30.00 each. Pit Gates open at 2:00 PM, Front Gates 4:00, and Racing is scheduled to start around 6:30. For more information log on to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com and check out the track’s Facebook page and click “Like”.

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