Lonnie Wheatley
COOS BAY, Ore. (July 12, 2011) – Roger Crockett became the winningest driver in ASCS Northwest Speedweek history by racing to victory lane in Tuesday night’s 25-lap main event at Coos Bay Speedway.
Crockett fought off a mid-race bid en route to his 14th career Speedweek triumph in the second leg of the 14th Annual Bully Dog ASCS Northwest Speedweek presented by Contingency Connection aboard the Omlid & Swinney No. 11 KPC. Crockett beat Larson to the stripe, with Monday night winner Henry Van Dam taking the show position.
“We just hoped to get through these first two nights with some momentum and we did that, now hopefully we can just carry that on throughout the week and keep the National guys behind us when they get here,” Crockett explained in victory lane.
Van Dam and Crockett led the feature field to the green flag and diced for the point on the opening lap with Crockett holding the edge at the stripe upon the completion of the first lap. Moments later, the caution flew for Logan Forler, who slid to a stop in turn one with race-ending front end damage.
Crockett set the pace in front of Van Dam and third-starter Larson, weathering another pair of cautions in the early circuits before Larson began putting the top side of the track to use, taking second away from Van Dam by the ninth round.
With Crockett working the low side, Larson closed in to challenge at the race’s midway point with traffic in play. Crockett moved to the upper portion of the track as Larson made his bid and made some slick moves through traffic to preserve his lead.
Behind the lead duo, Van Dam and sixth-starter Tommy Tarlton battled for third position for a number of laps before Tarlton came to a stop in turn one to bring out the race’s final caution with just three laps remaining.
With a lapped car separating the lead duo on the final restart providing just the buffer Crockett needed, the 2009 ASCS Northwest champion beat Larson to the stripe by three car-lengths for his 19th career win under the ASCS Northwest banner.
Larson settled for runner-up honors for the second time in as many nights, with Van Dam in third. Crockett and Van Dam escaped the night tied for the ASCS Northwest Speedweek points lead, with Larson just one point back in third.
Seth Bergman posted a strong fourth-place run, with Chadd Noland rounding out the top five. Mason Moore was sixth, with Steven Tiner, Jamie Veal, 17th-starter Trey Starks and Kyle Miller completing the top ten. The 15-year-old Starks picked up the Travis Rutz Hard Charger award for the night.
Tarlton, Bergman and Noland topped heat race action, with Montana’s David Hoiness winning the “B” Main.
ASCS Northwest Speedweek Results from Coos Bay Speedway:
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 2. 94-Steven Tiner, 3. 77-Kyle Larson, 4. 98-Joe Ramaker, 5. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 6. 8rc-Jason Cocking, 7. 31-Colton Akerstrom, 8. 9a-Luke Didiuk.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, 2. 5h-Mason Moore, 3. 2L-Logan Forler, 4. 98m-Mitch Olson, 5. 10-Kyle Miller, 6. 26f-Shane Forte, 7. 17-Cam Smith, 8. 88-Brent Hoover.
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 13-Chadd Noland, 2. 11-Roger Crockett, 3. 35au-Jamie Veal, 4. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 5. 27dd-David Hoiness, 6. 55-Trey Starks, 7. 96x-Mack Brown, 8. 21w-Vern Wheeler.
“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 27dd-David Hoiness, 2. 55-Trey Starks, 3. 26f-Shane Forte, 4. 17-Cam Smith, 5. 88-Brent Hoover, 6. 9a-Luke Didiuk, 7. 31-Colton Akerstrom, 8. 96x-Mack Brown. DNS: 21w-Vern Wheeler.
Last Chance Winner: 96x-Mack Brown.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett, 2. 77-Kyle Larson, 3. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 13-Chadd Noland, 6. 5h-Mason Moore, 7. 94-Steven Tiner, 8. 35au-Jamie Veal, 9. 55-Trey Starks, 10. 10-Kyle Miller, 11. 98m-Mitch Olson, 12. 98-Joe Ramaker, 13. 26f-Shane Forte, 14. 27dd-David Hoiness, 15. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 16. 96x-Mack Brown, 17. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 18. 8rc-Jason Cocking, 19. 17-Cam Smith, 20. 2L-Logan Forler.
ASCS Northwest Points (Top Ten): 1. Roger Crockett 839, 2. Henry Van Dam 785, 3. Seth Bergman 774, 4. Trey Starks 687, 5. Mitch Olson 648, 6. (tie) Jason Cocking and Garen Linder 567, 8. Jason Solwold 558, 9. Chadd Noland 484, 10. (tie) Rick Fauver and Mason Moore 431.
Bully Dog ASCS Northwest Speedweek presented by Contingency Connection Points (Top Ten): 1. (tie) Henry Van Dam and Roger Crockett 285, 3. Kyle Larson 284, 4. Chadd Noland 238, 5. Trey Starks 235, 6. (tie) Seth Bergman and Jamie Veal 232, 8. Mack Brown 228, 9. Tommy Tarlton 225, 10. Steven Tiner 215.