From Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (May 23, 2011) – A full slate of racing action is on tap for Sprint Car fans in Oregon and Washington as the ASCS Northwest Region is set for three nights of competition over this Memorial Day holiday weekend.
It starts on Friday night with the first ASCS Northwest stop of the year at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, OR, before moving on to Elma, Washington’s Grays Harbor Raceway for two full nights of action on Saturday and Sunday.
While Friday’s card is the first of three scheduled Lebanon stops for 2011, the weekend also marks the first ASCS Northwest outing at Elma after the scheduled May 6 season opener fell victim to rain.
After that initial weekend that also included a Skagit event was washed out, the ASCS Northwest successfully kicked off the 2011 season with a two-night stand at Oregon’s Cottage Grove Speedway on May 13-14 with 2009 series champion Roger Crockett reaching victory lane on both nights.
Running his win total to 18 under the ASCS Northwest banner with the weekend sweep, Crockett also topped last year’s lone Northwest stop at Willamette Speedway. Jason Solwold, the 2010 ASCS Northwest champion, and 2008 series champ Jayme Barnes split Grays Harbor wins in non-National competition.
With his Cottage Grove sweep, Crockett is out to the early lead in the Northwest title chase with a 30-point advantage over Lucas Oil National contender Seth Bergman with Solwold another dozen points back in third. Henry Van Dam is fourth, with Chadd Noland escaping the opening weekend fifth in points.
The balance of the current top ten includes Mason Moore, Chad Groves, Josh DeWitt, Nate Morelock and Colin Baker.
Friday’s action at Willamette Speedway fires off at 6:00 p.m., with both Saturday and Sunday at Grays Harbor Raceway going green at 6:30 p.m.
The high-banked, 1/3-mile Willamette Speedway clay oval is located in Lebanon, OR, off I-5 to SR 34, then 5.4 miles east on SR 34, then 2.2 miles SE on Denny School Road (which turns into Airport Drive). For more information, contact the track at 541-258-8503 or 541-258-6888.
The high-banked, 3/8-mile Grays Harbor Raceway clay oval is located in Elma, WA, 21 miles west of US 101 on SR 8 to the junction of US 12, then 0.2 miles north, then 0.6 miles east on Elma-McCleary Road. For more information, contact the track at 360-482-4374.
The 2011 ASCS Northwest slate of events includes 21 nights of action at seven tracks throughout Washington and Oregon.
The 2011 season marks the 20th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.