NWWT readies for return to Cottage Grove

nwwt NorthWest Wingless Tour
nwwt NorthWest Wingless Tour

From Andrew Kunas

VANCOUVER, Wash. – After an absence of one season, the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour will return to where it all began. In the upcoming 2011 season the Pacific Northwest’s premier wingless sprint car tour will make four trips to Oregon’s Cottage Grove Speedway, which hosted the inaugural NWWT event in 2009.

After one of the country’s fastest 1/4-mile clay ovals hosted a number of NWWT events in 2009, the NWWT and Cottage Grove Speedway management could not come to an agreement for the 2010 season. However, after hard work behind the scenes, the NWWT was pleased to announce their return to the facility located about 20 minutes drive south of Eugene, with a contract for four 2011 season dates signed.

Just like it did during its inaugural campaign, the NWWT will open its season at Cottage Grove with a Saturday night show on April 30th. The series will return to “The Grove” on Saturday, July 30th. The IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour will close out its third season of competition on Friday and Saturday, September 23rd and 24th, when for the first time it will officially be a part of the track’s Northwest Non-Wing Nationals, which last year was won by inaugural NWWT champion Kyle Miller.

Five NWWT events were completed at Cottage Grove Speedway in 2009, with one more rained out. Kyler Barraza won the inaugural IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour main event on April 25th, 2009 at Cottage Grove and repeated on May 23rd. On June 6th, Roger Crockett ran wingless for only the second time in his very successful racing career and came away with the victory. Dale Smith, a many-time winged sprint car champion at Cottage Grove, scored a victory that was very popular with his hometown crowd on July 18th. Miller, en route to the 2009 NWWT championship, picked up the win on August 15th. On September 12th, cars were beginning to stage for the main event when a sudden rainstorm struck and made the track unsafe for racing, canceling the remainder of that event.

As the NWWT season opener at Cottage Grove Speedway on April 30th nears, the NWWT teams are preparing for the upcoming season. A general membership meeting is scheduled for March 5th at 1 p.m. at Competition Motorsports, located at 2242 N. Williams Ave. in Portland, Ore. More information on the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour can be found online at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com.