6/29/2021
Cottage Grove Speedway
Aaron Bloom Wins Ralph Bloom Memorial; Campos, Swaim, And King Also Get Shriner's Cup Wins At Cottage Grove
Aaron Bloom Wins Ralph Bloom Memorial; Campos, Swaim, And King Also Get Shriner's Cup Wins At Cottage Grove
By Stephanie Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of JRP Racing Photos)
Cottage Grove, Oregon- The weather was exceptionally hot on Saturday, June 26th at Cottage Grove Speedway. But despite the heat, the track was one of the only facilities to get racing completed in the state of Oregon.
Four classes were on the bill, including one division apart of the Speedway Motor IMCA Weekly Racing program. They included the Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Late Models, Street Stocks, and Dwarf Cars. The historical ¼-mile clay oval hosted the Shriner’s Cup as well as the inaugural Ralph Bloom Memorial.
The Ralph Bloom Memorial would be a contest of thirty-three laps for $2500 to win for the Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods. Front row starting Jorddon Braaten took the reigns on the drop of the opening green flag. Despite six stoppages Braaten, from Central Point, kept all challengers in check to finish first at the line.
Unfortunately, he did not pass the track’s postrace tech inspection and was docked two positions. The rearrangement of the finishing order ended up giving the win to Aaron Bloom from Winston. Bloom now has four wins in KMJ Performance Oregon State action and at Cottage Grove, including two in a row.
Skyler Winebarger, of Corbett, was the runner-up, with third going to Jorddon Braaten. The rest of the top five would consist of Springfield’s Dustin Comer and Dalton Bloom, from Lebanon, in fourth and fifth.
For the Late Model main event, Mike Peters led the majority of the distance. From Cottage Grove and racing for his brother Ed, Peters took control of the point when things got underway. Peters constructed a considerable lead and seemed to be on his way to victory lane, but a late caution would change the complexion of the feature.
On lap twenty, Rob Campos from Scio made a sweeping pass to become the new leader. Campos remained there the balance of the distance to win his first race of 2021. Amazingly, there have six different winners in as many races at CGS this year in the class.
Mike Peters was a respectable second, followed by Albany’s Randy Barley in third. Chuck Christian, of Eugene, was fourth with fifth going to Rob Williams, from Cottage Grove.
Dexter native Taunton Swaim took care of business in the Street Stock ranks. It was a hard-fought win as he had Graig Osborne, of Creswell, nipping at his heels.
Three yellows slowed the field down and put pressure on Swaim during the restarts. Taunton managed to beat out Osborne at the finish line by a mere 0.073 seconds.
Swaim now has two victories at “The Grove” in Street Stock action. Graig Osborne was second, with third place being credited to Troy Chamberlain of Junction City.
Keizer teenager Anthony Prather put in a fourth-place effort while Cottage Grove’s Eric Freeman ended his night in fifth.
In the Dwarf Car main event, there would be several lead changes. Devin LaHorgue, of Grants Pass, took control on the opening start, only to be passed by Albany’s Tanner Curr on lap two. Anthony Pope, from Roseburg, took control of the top spot on the fourth circuit but was involved in an incident later in the race on lap five. Eagle Point racer Brock Peters inherited the lead only for Curr to regain control of it on the eighth trip past the flag stand.
Tanner remained there until lap eleven when Josh King got around him. King, of Central Point, suffered a flat tire on lap three and had rebounded to a front running position. However, Curr wasn’t done fighting yet as he reclaimed the coveted spot on the following lap.
Josh King was the first Dwarf Car to the finish line to secure the victory. King kept his composure and made a late big to the front, successfully overtaking Tanner Curr on lap twenty-four. Chris Kress of Roseburg got second, with Tanner Curr ending the weekend third. Boring’s Dave Brune and Danny Altom, from Lebanon, were the fourth and fifth places.
Cottage Grove Speedway returns to racing this Independence Day weekend tripleheader for the 2021 edition of the Freedom Cup. Racing will unfold from Friday, July 2nd to Sunday, the 4th, with Fireworks following the final night of competitions. The Todd’s Auto Body Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, and Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods will all in action. For more information, check out the track website and Facebook pages.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage