From Ben Deatherage
Cottage Grove, OR — (September 29, 2012) — The final race of the season was a wonderful one as the 2012 came to a close to the Cottage Grove Speedway with the Mark Howard Memorial on Saturday September 29th. Four classes were on hand which included the 360 Sprints, Modifieds, All-American Street Stocks, and Hornets while a Demolition Derby capped off the whole night.
Roger Crockett managed to conquer the entire 360 Sprint field and earned his third win of 2012 at CGS. Crockett, of Medford, would lap all the way up to fifth place and the only thing that slowed him down was the three cautions.
Seth Nunes of Medford would cross the line in second while finishing in third was Sutherlin’s Rob Held. Shane Forté from Junction City was fourth and the top five was completed by Eugene’s Brent Hoover in fifth. Roger Crockett nearly broke his own track record in qualifying as he set fast time of the evening at 10.395 seconds while Crockett would earn the dash victory and winners of the heats were Crockett and Held. When the dust settled Kyle Miller from Eugene was proclaimed the 2012 360 Sprint champion and Roseburg’s Orion Redmond the 2012 Limited Sprint track champ.
Troy McElroy entered the evening with a slim point lead but managed to seal the title with a thrilling victory. The Shady Cove chauffer would earn the lead as multi-car race for the position was occurring. Even though only two cautions took place it was not enough to slow McElroy down.
Earning second place was Albany’s Craig Hanson and finishing third would be Don Muth Jr. from Cottage Grove. Kyle Yeack of Crawfordsville was the fourth place finisher and Albany’s Brett James was scored in fifth. Redmond’s Mark Carrell was fast time of the night with a time of 13.356 seconds, the trophy dash winner was Jesse Bailey of Central Point, and heat race victors would end up being Bailey, James, and Troy McElroy. A twelve-lap consolation race was won by Greg McDonald of Cottage Grove earlier in the night.
For the All-American Street Stocks the coveted Wallbanger Cup was up for grabs. Daniel Ray of Springfield looked to be the car to beat until Ricky Ashley from Jasper hunted him down for the lead. Ray unfortunately would get caught up in an incident on lap twenty-one allowing Ashley to lead the rest of the way.
Coming home in a respectable second place was Russ Blum from Thurston, who finished not too far behind Ricky Ashley, and Medford’s Jordan Braatan was third. Steve Begley of Eugene was fourth and fifth went to Joe Dalton driving for Darin Crooks. Daniel Ray was fastest in time trials with a time of 15.940 seconds, Ashley would win the trophy dash, while Ray and Braatan were heat winners. Darin Crooks would be crowned the champion despite not being on hand to compete against the competition due to his large point lead.
Tom Jeannot of Cottage Grove made it two in a row Saturday by earning the Hornet feature. Jeannot led the entire distance of the main event to hold on to the win as the only thing that slowed him down was the three cautions that took place that would require him to slow down.
Finishing in the runner-up position would be Dan Jenkinson of Springfield while third was Portland’s Johnny Adams. Joe Maricle from Veneta was fourth and the balance of the top five was completed with Goshen’s Melvin Walker finished fifth. Adams was fastest in qualifying with his time of 18.250 seconds; Tom Jeannot won the trophy dash, the victors in the heat races Cottage Grove drivers James Deatherage and Matt Ferguson. When all the points were totaled Tom Jeannot was declared the 2012 Hornet champion.
Joe Maricle would win the Demolition Derby trophy dash as well as the Derby itself later in the night. With the completion of the 2012 schedule the staff and management at Cottage Grove Speedway are anxious for the beginning the 2013 campaign. To keep up to date on the latest news are releases regarding the historic ¼-mile oval log on to http://www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.
Race Results:
Mark Howard Memorial Championship Night
Saturday September 29th, 2012
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, Oregon
360 Sprints
18 Entries
Fast Time: Roger Crockett 10.396
Trophy Dash Winner: Roger Crockett
Heat Race Winners: Roger Crockett (1), Rob Held (2)
A-Feature: 1. Roger Crockett, 2. Seth Nunes, 3. Rob Held, 4. Shane Forté, 5. Brent Hoover, 6. Jesse Thistle, 7. Sammy Wright, 8. Zack Spaulding, 9. Raquel Ivie, 10. Orion Redmond, 11. Mike Carrothers, 12. Mike Romig, 13. Ryan Boswell, 14. Kady Adelman, 15. Mike Griffith, 16. Dan Philpot, 17. Colin Baker, DNS Kyle Miller
Modifieds
25 Entries
Fast Time: Mark Carrell 13.356
Trophy Dash Winner: Jesse Bailey
Heat Race Winners: Jesse Bailey (1), Brett James (2), Troy McElroy (3)
B-Feature: 1. Greg McDonald, 2. Steve Strudevant, 3. Mike Miller, 4. Austin McTaggert, 5. Shane Mills, 6. Scott Akin, 7. David Schmidt, 8. B.J. Wild, 9. Craig Cassell, 10. Steve Smith
A-Feature: 1. Troy McElroy, 2. Craig Hanson, 3. Don Muth Jr., 4. Kyle Yeack, 5. Brett James, 6. Jake Mayden, 7. Ricky Ashley, 8. Justin Evans, 9. Jesse Bailey, 10. Austin Bloom, 11. Gus Cooper, 12. Mike Miller, 13. Curtis Towns, 14. Steven Strudevant, 15. Greg McDonald, 16. Dustin Knight, 17. Austin McTaggert, 18. Matthew Drager, 19. Shane Mills, 20. Jonathan Lewis
All-American Street Stocks
15 Entries
Fast Time: Daniel Ray 15.940
Trophy Dash Winner: Ricky Ashley
Heat Race Winners: Daniel Ray (1), Jordan Braatan (2)
A-Feature: 1. Ricky Ashley, 2. Russ Blum, 3. Jordan Braatan, 4. Steve Begley, 5. Joe Dalton, 6. Matt King, 7. Don Garrett III, 8. Eric Ashley, 9. Bob Bloom, 10. Daniel Ray, 11. Scott Slater, 12. Stu Sedivy, 13. Mark Henderson, 14. Tom Lawson, 15. Tony Bounds
Hornets
12 Entries
Fast Time: Johnny Adams 18.250
Trophy Dash Winner: Tom Jeannot
Heat Race Winners: James Deatherage (1), Matt Ferguson (2)
A-Feature: 1. Tom Jeannot, 2. Dan Jenkinson, 3. Johnny Adams, 4. Joe Maricle, 5. Melvin Walker, 6. Jim Simmons, 7. Steven Moore, 8. James Deatherage, 9. Shawn Hand, 10. Matt Ferguson, 11. Eric Cooper, DNS Teresa Walker