9/15/2021
Cottage Grove Speedway
Thompson wins 360 title; Modifieds win showdown with Sportmods
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. – Tyler Thompson defended his 360 Sprint title at Cottage Grove Speedway on September 11 by winning his main event during 9/11 Remembrance Night.
Other winners on the night at the ¼-mile dirt track were Ian Whisler in the Modified/Sportmods main, Graig Osborne in Street Stocks, and Levi Harless in NW Focus Midgets.
In 360 Sprints, Thompson set fast time in qualifying with a lap of 10.972 seconds. Matt Hein won the heat race, while Thompson won the trophy dash to start the 25-lap main from the pole. Thompson went wire-to-wire and won by nearly a lap over Hein. Rounding out the top five were Kyle Alberding, Brian Boswell and Nate Ellertson.
Modifieds and Sportmods had a showdown for bragging rights, and it was Modifieds coming out on top with 583 points to 471 for Sportmods. Eight drivers from each class competed. Between the two classes, the five fastest qualifying times were all turned in by Modified drivers, led by Kevin Williamson at 14.40 seconds. Modified driver Jake Mayden won the first heat race, while Sportmod driver Dustin Comer took the second heat race. Mayden won the Modifieds trophy dash, while Ray Bloom won the Sportmods trophy dash.
Mayden started from pole for the 25-lap main, which was dominated by Modified drivers. Whisler started fifth but methodically moved up, taking the lead by lap 20 and holding on to win by 2.289 seconds over Chad Groves. Modifieds swept the top five with Williamson, Mayden and Paul Rea. Bloom was the top Sportmods driver, taking sixth.
In Street Stocks, points leader Osborne set fast time with a lap of 16.465 seconds. Osborne went on to have a perfect night, sweeping the heat race, trophy dash and 20-lap main event. Despite starting sixth, it only took until lap 6 for Osborne to take the lead. He went on to claim his seventh win of the year by 4.635 seconds over title rival Taunton Swaim.
In the NW Focus Midgets, Chris Foster set fast time with a lap of 14.057 seconds. Harless swept the heat races and the trophy dash to start the 25-lap feature from the pole. Harless went wire-to-wire, winning by 8.908 seconds over Brian Holmkvist, Foster, Jesse Munn and Marty Rosler.
Friday, September 17 and Saturday, September 18 are championship weekend at CGS. Six classes are scheduled to compete during the two nights: Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Todd’s Auto Body Sprints, Royalty Core Sportmods, Street Stocks and IMCA Sport Compacts. For both nights, pit gates open at 2 p.m., front gates at 3:30, hot laps and qualifying at 5 and racing at 6. In the event that weather forces a cancellation, the races will not be rescheduled.
For more information, visit cottagegrovespeedway.com or check out the track’s Facebook page.
Submitted By: Heather Boyce