By Andrew Kunas
ELMA, Wash. – Shawn Rice added to his resume on Saturday night when he won a sprint car without wings for the first time as he took the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour feature in the Big E Weekend’s second annual non-wing event.
For the Tacoma, Wash. driver, he said it was his most comfortable outing yet in a wingless car for a driver who is used to racing with wings on. Rice inherited the lead on Lap 4 and led the rest of the 30-lap event with one consistent lap after another to win aboard the RAM Racing No. 76 Shark-powered KPC.
Early leader Tony Thomas had problems occur in his car as he came to a stop in Turn 4 after leading the first three laps. Rice was running second at the time and became the new leader. Running second to Rice the entire race and finishing in the runner-up spot was Snohomish, Wash.’s Josh DeWitt, running just his second wingless race in the DIRT Inc. No. 5D Maxim. DeWitt ran hard, poking the nose of his machine to the inside of Rice on occasion, but was never able to make a significant challenge to Rice. DeWitt was the only other driver besides Rice to turn Sub-16-second laps around the big 3/8-mile oval.
For Rice, this erased bad memories of last year’s Big E Non-Wing Challenge event at Grays Harbor Raceway, when Rice was leading in the closing laps only to lose it in slower traffic in the end. This time with more experience without the wings, Rice skillfully worked his way around slower cars to win the race and become the NWWT’s sixth different winner in as many races this year. Rice’s other finish in NWWT competition was a sixth place run on July 15th at Grays Harbor Raceway.
The pleasant surprise of the night was Grays Harbor Raceway regular Steve Vague of Kirkland, Wash. running without the wings for the first time himself. Vague not only won his heat race but raced his way to a third place finish in his own No. 08 Shark-powered Rocket. Auburn, Wash.’s Jonathan Jorgenson, also a novice without the wings, scored an impressive fourth place finish in his family’s No. 8x Shark-powered Schnee.
Doug Kammerzell of Arlington, Wash. took fifth place in the Eddie Isackson No. 36 entry. Hillsboro, Ore.’s Theo McCarty, the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour points leader entering the night, finished sixth in the Ron Brown No. 14 Chevy-powered JohnBoy, extending his points lead over second place Mike Romig. Romig, from Vancouver, Wash. finished tenth. Finishing seventh through ninth were Chris Quinn, Dan Dunlap and Mike Gable.
Heat races went to Kammerzell, Jorgenson and Vague. DeWitt was victorious in the four-car trophy dash event that featured the fastest qualifiers in time trials. Dunlap, from Renton, Wash. set fast time in qualifying with a time of 15.420 seconds around the 3/8-mile, high-banked clay oval.
Pat Canfield of Ridgefield, Wash. flipped his car upside down during qualifying, but was able to repair his machine and race in his heat race and the main event.
The next event for the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour is back at Grays Harbor Raceway on Saturday, September 18th. The NWWT will close its second season of action on Saturday, October 9th at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. More information on the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour can be found online at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com.
– – –
IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour
2nd Annual Big E Non-Wing Challenge
Grays Harbor Raceway
Elma, WA
September 4, 2010
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
22 cars
Fast qualifier: 15 Dan Dunlap, 15.420 seconds
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 36 Doug Kammerzell, 2. 7 Dylan Olsen, 3. 42 Doug Peter, 4. 15 Dan Dunlap, 5. 7k Kyle Mehner, 6. 8 Tony Offutt, 7. 29 Pat Canfield, 8. 54x John Butler.
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 8x Jonathan Jorgenson, 2. 5D Josh DeWitt, 3. 81 Tony Thomas, 4. 26 Sammy Wright, 5. 14 Theo McCarty, 6. 3d Doug McLees, 7. 28 Mark Herz.
Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 08 Steve Vague, 2. 76 Shawn Rice, 3. 54 Mike Gable, 4. 23 Chris Quinn, 5. 11x Corey Esteban, 6. 22 Mike Romig, DNS – 10 Brandon Skeeters.
Dash (4 laps): 1. 5D Josh DeWitt, 2. 15 Dan Dunlap, 3. 76 Shawn Rice, 4. 7k Kyle Mehner.
Feature (30 laps): 1. 76 Shawn Rice, 2. 5D Josh DeWitt, 3. 08 Steve Vague, 4. 8x Jonathan Jorgenson, 5. 36 Doug Kammerzell, 6. 14 Theo McCarty, 7. 23 Chris Quinn, 8. 15 Dan Dunlap, 9. 54 Mike Gable, 10. 22 Mike Romig, 11. 11x Corey Esteban, 12. 29 Pat Canfield, 13. 42 Doug Peter, 14. 28 Mark Herz, 15. 8 Tony Offutt, 16. 7 Dylan Olsen, 17. 7k Kyle Mehner, 18. 81 Tony Thomas, 19. 3d Doug McLees, 20. 26 Sammy Wright, 21. 10 Brandon Skeeters, DNS – 54x John Butler.
Lap leaders: Tony Thomas 1-3, Shawn Rice 4-30
IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour
http://www.nwwinglesstour.com