7/31/2021
Cottage Grove Speedway
Jesse Williamson Wins Preliminary Night Of The Mark Howard Memorial Modified Nationals; Comer And Toll Also Winners At Cottage Grove
Jesse Williamson Wins Preliminary Night Of The Mark Howard Memorial Modified Nationals; Comer And Toll Also Winners At Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove, Oregon- Friday, July 30th, was night one of the 2021 Mark Howard Memorial Modified Nationals at Cottage Grove Speedway. It was the first time the race has returned since 2019, as it was absent on the 2020 calendar. IMCA Modifieds, Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods, and Hardtops were all on the bill.
Mark Carrell took control of the first-place position at the drop of the first green flag in the IMCA Modified main event. The Redmond veteran paced the field for much of the race, with only two cautions slowing him down. However, as the race developed in the latter half, Jesse Williamson gave chase to Carrell.
Williamson, from Coburg, would obtain the top place position by the seventeenth circuit and stayed there the rest of the race. Jesse Williamson scored his fourth overall win for 2021 in the Shaw Race Cars Western Region. Still, it is the third occasion he has bested the field in Cottage Grove Speedway and KMJ Performance Oregon State action. on the year His last win came last Saturday, on July 24th, at Grays Harbor Raceway, in Elma, Washington, for the Northwest Modified Nationals finale.
Collen Winebarger, from Corbett, was second, with third going to Mark Carrell. Stayton’s Grey Ferrando and John Campos of Keizer were fourth and fifth in the finishing order. A consolation feature was run earlier in the program, with Cottage Grove native Curtis Towns scoring the win.
At the very end of the night, sixteen drivers competed in the Race of Champions. Albany’s Bricen James was the one to hit the finish line in first place. In the Rich and Nikki Biehn-owned machine, Klamath Falls driver Nick Trenchard placed second, and Jesse Williamson was third. Matthew Drager of Albany, took fourth and Curtis Towns rounded out the top five in fifth.
In the Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Jim Smith was the early trailblazer of the race. From Roseburg and racing for car owner Donnie Fain, Smith held the top spot until lap three. After that, Springfield chauffeur Shawn Hand was the one to pass Smith.
Hand was the point man until lap six when Lebanon’s Dalton Bloom would overtake him. During the entire race, a total of six stoppages occurred, which for the most part, kept the field bunch up tightly.
On the final green-flag run, Bloom was tracked down by Dustin Comer. Comer of Springfield successfully obtained first place on lap seventeen and stayed there when the checkered flag waved. Dustin has four wins in 2021, all coming at Cottage Grove Speedway and in KMJ Performance Oregon State competition.
Aaron Bloom, of Winston, was the runner-up while Corbett’s Skyler Winebarger scored third. Dalton Bloom ended the race fourth, and Anthony Pope, from Roseburg and in the Doug Coffman owned car, placed fifth.
Zach Toll, from Klamath Falls, was the one to conquer the field in Hardtop action. Kyran Green and Jim Smith were second and third in the finishing order. The balance of the top five was completed by Chuck Jacobs and Steve Smith in fourth and fifth.
Cottage Grove Speedway returns to racing on Saturday, July 31st, for the second and final round of the 2021 Mark Howard Memorial Modified Nationals. IMCA Modifieds, Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods, and Hardtops will be back. They will be joined by the Todd’s Auto Body Sprint Cars and Senior Sprints. For more information, log on to the track website or Facebook page.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage