9/1/2020
Cottage Grove Speedway
Campos And H. Bloom Earn Third Wins Of Season; Alberding, Kennerly, Crum, And Holmes Also Score Victories At CGS
Campos And H. Bloom Earn Third Wins Of Season; Alberding, Kennerly, Crum, And Holmes Also Score Victories At CGS
By Stephanie Deatherage
Cottage Grove, Oregon- Cottage Grove Speedway raced for the sixth occasion on Saturday, August 29th with over ninety entries from the states of Oregon, Washington, and California making the trip. Some new classes were seen for the first time this year while three others were on tap for their sixth race of the year. The IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, and IMCA Sport Compacts were once more in attendance while the Limited Sprints were back from a week off. Both the Wingless Sprints and the Northwest Focus Midgets were in the house for the first time in 2020.
In the Limited Sprint main event, Justin Lemon was the early race leader. The Cottage Grove teenager maintained the position until he was overtaken on lap four by Scott Fox. Fox, of Newberg, held on to the top spot until he was passed on the ninth circuit. Jared Hood was the individual to pass Fox for the first place position. Hood, from Grants Pass, was very fast but unfortunately got tangled up with a lapped car on lap seventeen.
Jacksonville’s Tanner Holmes inherited the lead with just eight laps to go. Holmes, fresh off a multi-week trip east of the Rocky Mountains, dominated the balance of the distance to win his first race of the year at Cottage Grove and his second overall Sprint Car win of 2020.
Winston youngster Kyle Alberding was the runner-up followed by Scott Fox, in third. Kinzer Cox, from Cottage Grove, started dead last and ended the night fourth while fifth place went to Brian Boswell, of Roseburg.
The Northwest Focus Midgets had their second race of the week in two different states. The night was reserved for their annual Heroes Race in which all the participants raced in honor of their specific hero. This year’s edition was presented by Triple XXX Race Co.
Marysville, Washington pilot J.D. Dryden set the tone early by blazing the trail for the field on the first lap. Jared Peterson, of Stanwood, Washington, would get around Dryden to take over the honors the second time they passed the start/finish line. Peterson, driving the In-Laws Racing entry owned by Jolene and Mark Steen, was very swift and attempted to separate from the rest of the field.
As Peterson began to check out, he was quickly accompanied by a potential challenger in Chance Crum. Crum, from Snohomish, Washington, and racing the Carla and Gaylon Stewart entry normally driven by Colton Heath, stayed close with Peterson for most of the race but could not quite figure out how to get around him. Crum’s opportunity finally came on the twenty-eighth lap.
Once Chance Crum successfully got to the front he did not look back. Chance would earn his third Northwest Focus Midget race of 2020 and his tenth overall victory this year. Crum also won in the 1200 division at Deming Speedway the night before in his native Washington. Jared Peterson was a respectable second with third place being Guy Tow Jr., of Kelso, Washington. J.D. Dryden settled for fourth while Wilsonville’s Elijah Gibbs got fifth.
The Wingless Sprint main would be a wild one. Salem’s Tim Alberding held the first place marker down for the vast majority of the race. On a late restart, on lap twenty-seven, he was passed by Kinzer Cox and fell back to third. Cox went over the top of the third and fourth turns giving the lead to Roseburg’s Matt Hein. Hein, in the Brett Smith owned mount, went off the top of turns three and four giving the lead back to Tim Alberding. Alberding remained the leader in the final few laps to win his second Wingless Sprint victory of the current campaign.
McMinnville’s Lance Hallmark slipped into second in the final laps while Matt Hein crossed the wire third. The rest of the top five would consist of the father and son combination of Rob Lindsey, from Sherwood, and Wilsonville’s Chad in fourth and fifth.
The IMCA Modified feature was a thriller too with several lead changes and close action all the way to the end. Eugene’s Paul Rea got to the front first on the opening lap but would get passed by Curtis Towns on lap two. Towns, of Cottage Grove, held on the lead until lap four when Springfield veteran Aaron Sheelar made it past him.
Sheelar and Towns stayed side-by-side for several laps and exchanged the lead on three occasions. Towns re-secured first place on lap eight and remained there for some time. Curtis would feel some heat in the last ten laps as John Campos put an enormous amount of pressure on him.
Campos, of Keizer, finally managed to beat Towns to the line on lap twenty-one only to lose the position to Towns the next time around. As both drivers came to the start-finish line John Campos would edge out Curtis Towns by 0.035 seconds. It is Campos’ second straight main event win and his third overall of the 2020 season. Curtis Towns was a close second while Jake Mayden, from Springfield, was third. Aaron Sheelar ended his night fourth over fifth finishing Albert Gill, of Medford.
Austin Petray was quick out of the box in the IMCA Sport Mod race. The Medford driver stayed out in front until lap seven when Hunter Bloom navigated his way past him shortly after a restart. Bloom, of Eugene, went on to pace the field the rest of the distance and scored his third win of 2020 at CGS.
Roseburg racers Jordan Henry and Doug Coffman were second and third. David Schmidt, also of Roseburg, was fourth while fifth went to Dustin Comer, from Springfield, after starting dead last.
Lastly, in the IMCA Sport Compacts, it was Jeremy DeGroot cracking the whip in the early goings. DeGroot, of Cottage Grove, remained in first place until lap six. Michael Kennerly, from the Douglas County town of Union Gap, was the one to show the way. Kennerly would feel an enormous amount of pressure late in the race but managed to beat out second place by a mere 0.050 seconds. It is his first win at Cottage Grove this year.
The driver to finish in second was Ricky Ashley, of Thurston and driving for car owner Randy Kuhl, while credited with third would be Jeremy DeGroot. Kerry Cooper, of Cottage Grove, wound up fourth while Eugene’s Brad Moffett was fifth.
Cottage Grove Speedway will be in action for two nights this coming Labor Day Weekend. Saturday, September 5th, and Sunday, the 6th, will have Limited Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, Late Models, IMCA Sport Mods, Street Stocks, and IMCA Sport Compacts on the bill.
Race Results
Saturday, August 29th, 2020
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, Oregon
Limited Sprints
A Feature: 1. Tanner Holmes; 2. Kyle Alberding; 3. Scott Fox; 4. Kinzer Cox; 5. Brian Boswell; 6. Steven Snawder; 7. Justin Lemon; 8. Jared Hood; 9. Anissa Curtice; 10. Enrique Jamie; 11. Tim Minter; 12. Jake Wheeler; 13. Kyle Adams; 14. Tyler Thompson; 15. Trent Estes
Northwest Focus Midgets
A Feature: 1. Chance Crum; 2. Jared Peterson; 3. Guy Tow Jr.; 4. J.D. Dryden; 5. Elijah Gibbs; 6. Jesse Munn; 7. Jake Austin; 8. Stuart Milner; 9. Brian Holmkvist; 10. Levi Harless; 11. Ray Stebbins; 12. Dave Mead
Wingless Sprints
A Feature: 1. Tim Alberding; 2. Lance Hallmark; 3. Matt Hein; 4. Rob Lindsey; 5. Chad Lindsey; 6. Justin Lemon; 7. Brad Rhodes; 8. Gene Cannon; 9. Don Trent; 10. Cooper Desbiens; 11. Tim Kennedy; 12. Steve Veltman; 13. Kinzer Cox; 14. Steven Snawder; 15. Jake Wheeler
IMCA Modifieds
A Feature: 1. John Campos; 2. Curtis Towns; 3. Jake Mayden; 4. Aaron Sheelar; 5. Albert Gill; 6. Steven Sturdevant; 7. Derick Young; 8. Wayne Sturdevant; 9. Eric Ashley; 10. Paul Rea
IMCA Sport Mods
A Feature: 1. Hunter Bloom; 2. Jordan Henry; 3. Doug Coffman; 4. David Schmidt; 5. Dustin Comer; 6. Justin Ryker; 7. K.C. Scott; 8. Merissa Hanson; 9. Isaac Sanders; 10. Jim Smith; 11. Austin Petray; 12. Shawn Hand; 13. Travis Pruitt; 14. Steve Hopkins; 15. Daniel Ray; 16. John Player; 17. Dalton Bloom; 18. Jeff Clough; 19. Matt Sanders; 20. Ray Bloom
IMCA Sport Compacts
A Feature: 1. Michael Kennerly; 2. Ricky Ashley; 3. Jeremy DeGroot; 4. Kerry Cooper; 5. Brad Moffett; 6. Mark Milligan; 7. Willie Sutton; 8. Jason Loucks; 9. Bradley Martin; 10. Tim Maltagbarger; 11. Ron Davis; 12. Cole Trissell; 13. Kimbery Cannon; 14. Scarlett Drake; 15. Barry Cannon
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage