By Lonnie Wheatley
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (September 17, 2011) – Henry Van Dam made the most of the ASCS Northwest’s final Oregon event of the season by racing from six rows deep to capture his second win of the season in Saturday night’s 30-lap feature at Cottage Grove Speedway.
After starting 11th, Van Dam took the lead away from Jayme Barnes in the final handful of circuits en route to his third career ASCS Northwest win aboard the Shark-powered Van Dam farms No. 33v.
With Van Dam gridding the feature field mid-pack, current series points leader Roger Crockett outgunned pole starter Seth Nunes for the lead at the drop of the green and paced the initial ten circuits before spinning and bringing out a caution, forced tailback in the process.
Nunes assumed the point briefly before Jayme Barnes took command, with Van Dam rallying in the final rounds for the win. Sixteen-year-old Nunes battled past Barnes in the final pair of laps to snare runner-up honors with Barnes settling for the show position.
Chadd Noland was fourth, with Rob Held rounding out the top five. Dale Smith, Garen Linder, 20th-starter Chad Groves, Mason Moore and Crockett completed the top ten.
Held, Jason Cocking and Trey Starks topped heat race action.
ASCS Northwest Results from Cottage Grove Speedway:
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 68-Rob Held, 2. 41-Dale Smith, 3. 5h-Mason Moore, 4. 5n-Seth Nunes, 5. 33-Nate Morelock, 6. 33L-Colton Heath, 7. 51-Dallas Melby, 8. 25c-Chad Groves.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 8rc-Jason Cocking, 2. 11-Roger Crockett, 3. 7n-Jayme Barnes, 4. 2L-Logan Forler, 5. 10j-Jake Waddell, 6. 99-Randy VanAagten, 7. 45-Brent McGrath.
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 55-Trey Starks, 2. 17w-Cole Wood, 3. 22-Garen Linder, 4. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 5. 13-Chadd Noland, 6. 88-Brent Hoover, 7. 12p-Randy Pierce.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 2. 5n-Seth Nunes, 3. 7n-Jayme Barnes, 4. 13-Chadd Noland, 5. 68-Rob Held, 6. 41-Dale Smith, 7. 22-Garen Linder, 8. 25c-Chad Groves, 9. 5h-Mason Moore, 10. 11-Roger Crockett, 11. 8rc-Jason Cocking, 12. 2L-Logan Forler, 13. 33-Nate Morelock, 14. 51-Dallas Melby, 15. 33L-Colton Heath, 16. 10j-Jake Waddell, 17. 12p-Randy Pierce, 18. 88-Brent Hoover, 19. 17w-Cole Wood, 20. 55-Trey Starks. DNS: 99-Randy VanAagten, 45-Brent McGrath.
ASCS Northwest Points (Top Ten): 1. Roger Crockett 1,929, 2. Henry Van Dam 1,838, 3. Trey Starks 1,598, 4. Mason Moore 1,300, 5. Garen Linder 1,286, 6. Jason Cocking 1,274, 7. Chadd Noland 1,268, 8. Seth Bergman 1,258, 9. Logan Forler 1,103, 10. Mitch Olson 1,075.