By Kaleb Hart
Round 9 of the Foothills Toyota Tundra Racing Series saw beautiful skies and a big crowd grace ASA member track Skagit Speedway. The prelude to Dirt Cup featured the Budweiser 360 Sprints, Cook Road Shell Sportsman Sprints and Pull A Part Outlaw Hornets. At the end of the night, Jared Peterson, Bill Rude and Wade Swatzina were victorious in their respective divisions.
Jared Peterson snapped the four race win streak held by Mike Melwicks in the Budweiser 360 Sprint division. Peterson led all 25 laps of the feature aboard his Wespauls Inc. #9p Rocket. Last week’s winner, Evan Funk, was second in the Performance RC #8r Rocket. Melwicks recovered for third after a late race spin in the CSA Transportation #2m Maxim. Heat race wins went to Travis Jacobson and Rod Perkins. Alan Munn was fast time.
Bill Rude won his second race in a row in the Cook Road Shell Sportsman Sprints. Cory Swatzina led early, with Rude on his tail. After some early cautions, Rude found a line to his liking then worked his way to Swatzina’s rear nerf. On lap 12, Rude dove low into turn one, coming up next to Swatzina. Contact occurred as Rude shot by to take control of the lead and eventual win in his Dri-Eaz #33 XXX. Rob Schroder ended up second in the RR Autoworks #1r XXX. Devin Barnes was third in the Ken’s Redmond Auto Body #22 XXX. Heat race wins went to Schroder and Marc Schutte. Rude was fast time, setting a new track record in the process.
After brother Cory ran into trouble in the Sportsman Sprint main, Wade Swatzina was the beneficiary of some trouble in the Pull A Part Outlaw Hornets. After running right on the rear bumper of race leader Ben Gunderson for the bulk of the race, Swatzina took over the lead on the back straightaway on the final lap when Gunderson’s motor let go, giving Swatzina his first W of the year in the Carl’s Towing #11w. Tom Warner was second in his #89, third going to Matt Powers in the Tri Powers Racing #04.Heat race wins went to Gunderson and Rick Young.
The Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup kicks off Wednesday with the Haggen Food & Pharmacy Dirt Cup Party. Join us at the Burlington location of Haggen Food & Pharmacy for live music, vendors, and a chance to meet your favorite drivers! Thursday night is night number one of the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup with the West Coast’s best 410 racers vying for a shot at the $25,000 grand prize Saturday night. For ticket information log on to www.skagitspeedway.com
Budweiser 360 Sprints
Fast Time – Alan Munn
Heat 1 – Travis Jacobson, Evan Funk, Munn, Danny Kirkpatrick, Devin Madonia, Bud Ashe, Daniel Cernich, Ray Parker
Heat 2 – Rod Perkins, Jared Peterson, Kelsey Carpenter, Mike Melwicks, Jake Mann, Steve James, Josh Edson, Tyler Anderson
Main – Jared Peterson, Funk, Melwicks, Jacobson, Munn, Mann, James, Perkins, Ashe, Edson, Anderson, Madonia, Cernich, Carpenter, Kirkpatrick
Lap Leaders – Peterson 1-25
Cook Road Shell Sportsman Sprints
Fast Time – Bill Rude – New Track Record
Heat 1 – Rob Schroder, Rude, James Bundy, Justin Youngquist, Matt VanDerSys, Glen Reinstra, Curtis Clark, Eric Thibert, Victoria Cantu
Heat 2 – Marc Schutte, Dave Mead, Devin Barnes, Cory Swatzina, Cale Brooke, Dylan Dunham, Luke Didiuk, Steve Parker
Main – Bill Rude, Schroder, Barnes, Mead, Dunham, Swatzina, Reinstra, Didiuk, Brooke, Clark, Bundy, Cantu, Youngquist, Schutte, VanDerSys, Thibert
Lap Leaders – Swatzina 1-11 Rude 12-20
Pull A Part Outlaw Hornets
Heat 1 – Ben Gunderson, Jon Edwards, Ashley Lewellen, Stacy Day, Howard Vos, TJ Campbell, Tyler West
Heat 2 – Rick Young, Jerry Birdsey Jr, Wade Swatzina, Tina Thibert, Tom Warner, Brigham Mirabelli, Jason Warner, Tyler Ketchum, Freddy Vela, Matt Powers
Main – Wade Swatzina, T Warner, Powers, Young, Edwards, Day, Mirabelli, John Gunderson, Lewellen, Vela, Vos, B Gunderson, Ketchum, J Warner, Campbell, Audrey Walter, Thibert, Birdsey Jr, Tyler West
Lap Leaders – Birdsey Jr 1-3 Swatzina 4 B Gunderson 5-19 Swatzina 20