From Kaleb Hart
Alger, WA — (July 9, 2016) — In front of one of the largest crowds Skagit Speedway has seen, Jared Peterson found all the speed he needed to win the Sportsman Sprint feature in thrilling fashion. With a huge crowd on hand to witness Mid-Season Championship Night presented by Les Schwab, as well as the fireworks display that followed, Peterson visited victory lane and was joined by Jason Solwold, Lawrence O’Connor and Ryan Ellis.
Steve Parker looked to have the Sportsman Sprint main event well in hand, as with nine laps remaining, the former track camp enjoyed a near full straightaway lead over Jared Peterson, who’d advanced from seventh to second place but appeared to be running out of time. With no lapped cars in between, Peterson caught the break he needed as Clayton Sibley and Victoria Cantu got together at the back of the field, causing a caution and erasing Parker’s advantage. On the subsequent restart, Peterson used every line he could find until finding enough forward bite out of turn four to scoot underneath Parker at lap 23 to take the lead and secure the eventual win. Parker would settle for second with Roger Oudman taking third. Parker won the scramble, with Peterson qualifying fastest of the nine cars who were not locked into the eight scramble positions.
Jason Solwold made things look easy in the 360 class, leading all 25 laps of the main to grab the win. Solwold advanced from fourth to second in the scramble, then used the high groove to take the initial lead and never looked back, going wire to wire for the win. Colton Heath was second with Justin Youngquist running third. Heath won the scramble and Greg Hamilton was fastest amongst the time in cars.
A good scramble also set the table for Lawrence O’Connor in the High Society Modifieds. O’Connor advanced from third to win the scramble, giving him the pole for the main event. The Port Hardy, C native took full advantage of his pole position start, leading all 25 laps of the main to grab the win. Tyler Ketchum finished a career best second with Louis Nutter Sr running third.
The crowd roared with excitement toward the tail end of the Outlaw Tuner main event, as you could throw a blanket over the four drivers dueling for the lead in the late race. With a lap 15 restart, race long leader Brandon Berg lost the lead to Cliff Ballenger for two laps before getting it back on lap 18. As the cars came to the line for lap 19, Ryan Ellis got by Berg with Freddie Vela right on his heels before spun cars at the back of the field reset the lineup for a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, both Berg and Vela gave Ellis everything they had, but the Edmonton based driver came out on top of his first Skagit Speedway appearance, with Vela and Berg filling out the podium. Brandon won the scramble.
360 Sprints
Fast Time – Greg Hamilton 11.788
Scramble – Colton Heath, Jason Solwold, Eric Fisher, Justin Youngquist, Trevor Cook, Nate Vaughn, Bud Ashe, Luke Didiuk
Main – Jason Solwold, Heath, Youngquist, Fisher, Brown, Hamilton, Cook. Ashe, Jacobson, Vaughn, Didiuk, Madonia, Reeves
Lap Leaders – Solwold 1-25
Sportsman Sprints
Fast Time – Jared Peterson 12.471
Scramble – Steve Parker, James Bundy, Joe Lyon, Derek Roberts, Kelsey Carpenter, Roger Oudman, Paul Burdick, Chris Ochs
Main – Jared Peterson, Parker, Oudman, Bundy, Carpenter, Zach McCabe, Devin Barnes, Dylan Dunham, Adam Hinds, Ochs, Victoria Cantu, Glenn Reinstra, Roberts, Clayton Sibley, Lyon, Julian Fuentes, Chance Crum
Lap Leaders – Parker 1-22 Peterson 23-25
High Society Modifieds
Scramble – Lawrence O’Connor, Mel Decker, Tyler Ketchum, Jeff Blanton, Mike Knox Jr, Carl Franssen, Branden Nutter, Rick Smith
Main – Lawrence O’Connor, Ketchum, Louis Nutter Sr, Adam Holtrop, Decker, Franssen, Knox Jr, Blanton, Kevin Smith, Butch Gilbert, Kyler Moore, R Smith, B Nutter, Tom Warner
Lap Leaders – O’Connor 1-25
Outlaw Tuners –
Scramble – Brandon Berg, Vance Hibbard, Clint Meins, Cliff Ballenger, Jon Gunderson, Kevin Reuter, Howard Vos, Terra Arnett
Main – Ryan Ellis, Freddie Vela, Berg, Reuter, Hibbard, Chris Davies, Ballenger, Jack Desrosier, Cody Bunting, Meins, Gunderson, Arnett, Curtis Ellis, Vos, TJ Campbell
Lap Leaders – Berg 1-15 Ballenger 16-17 Berg 18 R Ellis 19-21