7/16/2017
Cottage Grove Speedway
July 14th & 15thRace Recap:
WST Speedweek had been rolling thru California and Oregon all week before the big haulers made their way into the pits Friday night to finish off Speedweek with 2 more shows at the famed ¼ mile in Cottage Grove. 3 different drivers had won in the 4 previous days and everyone else was hungry for a win! Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds were also scheduled for 2 days of racing, while the Quality RV Hornets and Late Models split the card for 1 night each.
The big 2-day show kicked off Friday night with qualifying and Burnie Bryant, Aaron Sheelar, and Jason Solwold all set the quickest times of the night in their classes.
James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races saw the first side by side action of the night. Quality RV Hornets had a 4-car invert for heat races putting the fastest cars in row 2 and Rich Dickinson and Jason Swaim both found their way from the inside of that fast row 2 to the front. Mohawk Metal Modified heat races were picked up by Bricen James, Craig Hanson, and Aaron Sheelar putting them and 9 other drivers into the top 12 for the main event. 6 was the invert number for sprint cars in their James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races and it meant the fast guys had to start deep. Michael Keen, Austen Wheatley, and Jared Ridge all picked up wins in the 3 caution free heat races.
Dot’s Trophy Shop Dashes put the fastest 4 drivers from the Quality RV Hornets and Mohawk Metal Modifieds and the top 6 in sprint car points into the 3 short dash races. Jason Swaim and Collen Winebarger got the trophies in the Quality RV Hornet and Mohawk Metal Modified dashes. The sprint cars were not only competing for a trophy but also main event starting spots. When the checkered flew on lap 5 it was Jason Solwold, Austen Wheatley, Steven Tiner, Cam Smith, Mitchell Faccinto, and Michael Keen, that would be how the first 3 rows would line up for the main event.
KC Scott and Brad Moffett paced the Quality RV Hornets onto the track for a 20-lap main event and Moffett got the lead on lap 1, Joe Maricle made his way from 3rd to the lead on lap 8 and picked up another win followed by Moffett, Jason Swaim, Scott, and Joel Hazen.
Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds main event saw Aaron Sheelar and Brian Thompson on the front row. Sheelar got the lead on lap 1 and after a few early race cautions the race got moving and Sheelar held onto his lead all night but not without a fight from Grey Ferrando, Bricen James, and Craig Hanson. Sheelar ultimately got the win, his first in quite some time and boy was it well earned! Following him to the line was Ferrando, James, Hanson, and Curtis Towns.
22 sprint cars rolled around the track for the final main event of the night. Jason Solwold, Austen Wheatley, Steven Tiner, and Cam Smith led the field in a 4-wide salute to the fans, the cars doubled back up and the green flag flew. Solwold got the lead and was followed by Wheatley until an early race caution took Wheatley out of the race for the night, putting Mitchell Faccinto and Steven Tiner on Solwolds tail. The laps ticked by and the cars battled hard to get by Solwold, Tiner hit the wall and it looked like he may be done losing positions to Justyn Cox and Roger Crockett. Tiner wasn’t ready to be out yet tho and he was able to pick some of those cars back off. Faccinto continued to battle Solwold for the top spot in what looked to be a great race for the checkered, with only a few laps to go the rear end did the same and Faccinto pulled into the infield ending his night early. Solwold picked up his first win of 2017 speedweek over Roger Crockett, Tiner, Cox, and Cam Smith.
The races were done for night one and the crews got right to work getting things set for one final night of action.
Saturday nights top qualifiers were Jake Mayden in the Mohawk Metal Modifieds, Kye Frick in the Late Models, and for the 2nd night in a row Jason Solwold set the fastest lap of the night for the 360 sprint cars.
James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Race wins were picked up by Kye Frick and Curtis Towns for the Late Models, Grey Ferrando and Craig Hanson in the Modhawk Metal Mods, and Jason Solwold, Seth Nunes, and Austen Wheatley would be the final 2017 speedweek heat winners!
Dot’s Trophy Shop trophies would go home with Late Model driver Chuck Christian, and Modified Driver Grey Ferrando. Sprint drivers lined the front stretch for one more dash draw Roger Crockett got the lucky number 1 starting him on the pole of the dash, he went on to win putting him inside front row of the main with Jared Ridge to his outside, they would be followed by Jason Solwold, Justyn Cox. Henry Van Dam, and Mitchell Faccinto.
The dice rolled and a 10 came up for the Late Models putting Rob Williams and Brody Montgomery to the front row. Chuck Christian led most of the race early on as Curtis Towns and Blaine Taylor made their way to the front from their back of the pack starting spots. Towns took the lead from Christian on lap 13 and continued on to get the win after a hard-fought battle from Blaine Taylor who would end up 2nd, Josh Sim worked his way from 7th to 3rd and after a lap 13 caution Frick made his way from the tail all the way back to 4th. Chuck Christian rounded out the top 5. Next up was the final main event for the WST Speedweek and it was one heck of a finale! 24 cars started the main event led by Roger Crockett and Jared Ridge. Jason Solwold quickly got by both cars and was off and running quickly making his way into lap traffic with Ridge and Crockett hot on his heels. Solwold and Crockett weaved in and out of lap traffic exchanging the lead back and forth lap after lap. The one and only caution came out on lap 18, the field regrouped and went back to green flag racing. In an epic battle for the final nights win Roger Crockett came out on top over Solwold, Faccinto, Van Dam, and Cox making Justyn Cox the 2017 Spedweek Champion. The Mohawk Metal Modified main event was the last show of the night. Lined up by point average and James Heating and Air Conditioning heat race finishes, Tobey Ferrando and Aaron Sheelar found themselves sharing front row honors. Sheelar led the first 2 laps of racing hoping to duplicate Friday’s finish but Grey Ferrando had another plan taking the lead on lap 3 and going on to win his first main event at Cottage Grove Speedway followed closely by Craig Hanson, Curtis Towns, Jake Mayden, and Steven Sturdevant.
Join us for 2 more days of racing July 21st and 22nd for the Mark Howard Memorial Modified Nationals presented by Farmland Market. Mohawk Metal Modifieds and Sportmods will be racing both Friday and Saturday and the Quality RV Hornets and Super Sports join the action on Saturday!
For more information go to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com or call 541-942-7561!!
Submitted By: Heather Boyce
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