8/28/2017
Cottage Grove Speedway
Historical Night Race Recap
Historical Night Race Recap
August 26th was a very special night at Cottage Grove Speedway as the 2017 members were being inducted into the “Wall of Fame” There were drivers here from years past to watch the current battles on the track and the pits overflowed with over 90 cars ready to take home the special Historical Night Trophies! It was truly a great night to be at Cottage Grove Speedway.
IMCA Sportmods were the first class up to race and the competition was fierce! James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races were won by Kevin Keller, Mike Medel, and Shawn Hand. A point average invert put Keller and Ryan Pruitt in the front row for the main event. Keller led lap 1 before Mike Medel made it from 6th to take over the lead. Medel led a handful of laps as the cars behind him moved their way to the front. Jorddon Braaten worked from 12th to take over the lead on lap 7 and Art Hiatt moved from 8th to 3rd. A huge pile-up on lap 16 sent many cars into the pits and many more to the back. Green flag racing resumed and Jorddon Braaten picked up another win in the Sportmod division followed by Art Hiatt, Buddy McHargue, Mike Medel, and Travis Pruitt.
Todd’s Auto Body Sprints took the track over next, Raquel Ivie set quick time with a blistering 11.827. Tyler Thompson and Shane Forte picked up a couple of James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races and with a 0 invert they would share the front row of the main event. Thompson got the lead over Forte and led until Kinzer Cox took the lead and ran away until lap 9 when he spun in the top of turn 4 and would restart at the back of the 14 cars left on the track. Thompson inherited the lead back with Colin Baker right on his tail. They quickly got into lap traffic and Baker stayed right on Thompson’s bumper. Thompson would pick up another win closely followed by Baker, Cooper Desbiens, Shane Forte, and Raquel Ivie.
Quality RV Hornets were up next. Rich Dickinson set the fastest qualifying lap with a 17.947. James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races were won by Joe Maricle and Josh Corley putting them on the front row for the main event. Maricle got the early lead but Eric Ashley quickly took it over. Corley had fallen back to 3rd but made the pass on Maricle for 2nd and then set to work on Ashley. The 2 raced hard for over half of the race. Corley made his final move coming to the checkers and edged out Ashley by just a fraction of second. Brad Moffett finished 3rd, KC Scott 4th, and Graig Osborne rounded out the top 5.
The Late Model class had strong showing of cars for Historical Night as well and there were some quick guys ready to win! Fast time went to Kye Frick with a 13.671. There would be 3 James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races for the class and Darren Coffell, Josh Sim, and David Schmidt all picked up the wins, putting them starting 1st thru 3rd for the main event. 19 cars went 25 laps with only 2 early cautions and Darren Coffell led the entire way to pick up another Cottage Grove Speedway victory. Blaine Taylor finished 2nd followed by Thomas Hunziker, Rob Campos, and Josh Sim.
Mohawk Metal IMCA Modifieds would be the last class to race for the night and was the largest class on hand with 22 cars entered. John Campos, Craig Hanson, and Tyler Smith won the James Heating & Air Conditioning Heat Races. The main event would be inverted by point averages and found Tyler Smith and Aaron Sheelar sharing the front row. The 2 battled hard as the drivers from the back worked their way up. Grey Ferrando would take the lead over from his 8th place starting spot and Bricen James grabbed 2nd from his 9th starting position. James took over the lead and looked to be the nights winner as he took the white flag he got a little out of shape in turn 1 and fell back to 3rd. Ferrando got the lead back and won the race followed by Jake Mayden who charged from 22nd all the way to 2nd in a very impressive run. James finished 3rd. Tyler Smith 4th, and Curtis Towns rounded out the top 5.
Cottage Grove Speedway will be back in action Saturday and Sunday, September 2nd and 3rd for the Mike Lyons Memorial Kage Kart King of the West. General Admission is FREE both days, Saturday racing starts around 6 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.
For full results please go to https://speedhive.mylaps.com/events/1450070.
Submitted By: Heather Boyce