From Kaleb Hart
Alger, WA — (August 17, 2013) — After struggling through a few bad weeks where random mechanical gremlins and incidents not of his own doing knocked him out of races, Kelsey Carpenter and Lady Luck reconciled on Saturday night at Skagit Speedway. The hot August race night ended with Carpenter parked in victory lane in the 360 division, joined by Brock Lemley in the 410 class, Chase Goetz in the USAC Midgets and Jon Gunderson in the Outlaw Tuners.
At the outset of the A Main, Carpenter led Colton Heath on a two man breakaway as the streaked toward the back of the field. With lapped cars looming, it was Heath who made the right decision first, darting to the inside of Zeth Custer in turn two and taking the lead at the stripe on lap six. Following a yellow flag and a restart, it was now Heath setting the pace with Carpenter following a half straightaway back. Tragedy struck the LAW Motorsports #33 of Heath on lap 22 as he slowed and pulled off the track, handing the lead back to Carpenter who was all too happy to pick up the win. “I have to thank Bill Bruders who is my partner in this whole thing. He’s stood behind me the whole time, even when the bad stuff has happened, and we wouldn’t be here without him” said the jubilant victor. Randy Price ran second and Kenny Rutz recovered from a lap one spin to finish third. Heath set quick time. Heat wins went to Derek Roberts and Liam Ryan.
An extremely odd night in the 410 Sprint Car division ended with Brock Lemley taking the victory in the 25 lap main event. Lemley led all 25 laps as the field suffered attrition, with both Steve Parker and Jonathan Jorgenson losing engines that ignited into fiery blazes. Thankfully, both drivers walked away from the incident. Travis Jacobson set quick time and finished second with Josh Dewitt credited for third. Jorgenson won the heat race.
Chase Goetz is the new Skagit Speedway USAC Midget champion by virtue of yet another win on Saturday night. Goetz rolled from the third row up into the lead on lap 20, after battling voraciously with Madison Hess and Tristin Thomas for positions three through five over most of the race. Goetz made it to third around lap eighteen then picked up second and first in short order from race leader Garrett Thomas and second place Robbie Price as both saw their cars falter to mechanical woes. From there, Goetz cruised to the win and sewed up the season title, followed by Tristin Thomas making his debut in the Carla and Gaylon Stewart #3s and Hess. Todd Hartman and Price won the heat races.
Jon Gunderson was a man on a mission in the Outlaw Tuner class, leading every lap of the main event despite a heavy challenge from second place finisher Travis Meins. A zero invert for the tuners put Gunderson and Meins, the heat winners, on the front row and the two were stuck together like peanut butter and jelly over the course of the main. Eric Vailette ran up to third.
410 Sprints
Fast Time – Travis Jacobson 11.470
Heat – Jonathan Jorgenson, Brock Lemley, Josh Dewitt, Travis Jacobson, Steve Parker
Main – Brock Lemley, Travis Jacobson, Josh Dewitt, Jonathan Jorgenson, Steve Parker
Lap Leaders – Lemley 1-25
360 Sprints
Fast Time – Colton Heat 11.862
Heat 1 – Derek Roberts, Colton Heath, Randy Price, Matt Jensen, Steve James, Zeth Custer
Heat 2 – Liam Ryan, Justin Youngquist, Kenny Rutz, Kelsey Carpenter, Michael Bollinger, Cale Brooke
Main – Kelsey Carpenter, Randy Price, Kenny Rutz, Steve James, Derek Roberts, Cale Brooke, Zeth Custer, Colton Heath, Michael Bollinger, Matt Jensen, Liam Ryan, Justin Youngquist
Lap Leaders – Carpenter 1-5 Heath 6-22 Carpenter 23-25
USAC Midgets
Heat 1 – Todd Hartman, Garrett Thomas, Chase Goetz, Tristin Thomas, Ariel Biggs, Isaac Abenroth
Heat 2 – Robbie Price, Madison Hess, Al Goldie, Michael Millard, Hannah Lindquist, Dougie James
Main – Chase Goetz, Tristin Thomas, Madison Hess, Michael Millard, Al Goldie, Hannah Lindquist, Todd Hartman, Ariel Biggs, Isaac Abenroth, Robbie Price, Garrett Thomas, Dougie James
Lap Leaders – G Thomas 1-19 Goetz 20-25
Outlaw Tuners
Heat 1 – Jon Gunderson, Matt Powers, Rick Young, Becky Boudreau, Clint Meins
Heat 2 – Travis Meins, Brett Miles, Eric Vailette, Tina Thibert, Jon Edwards, Mark E Toth II
Main – Jon Gunderson, Travis Meins, Eric Vailette, Brett Miles, Matt Powers, Rick Young, Becky Boudreau, Clint Meins, Tina Thibert, Jon Edwards, Mark E Toth II
Lap Leaders – Gunderson 1-17