By Ben Deatherage
Cottage Grove, Oregon- One of the biggest events in the entire Western United States is about to commence in just about a week. The Western Sprint Tour is getting ready for the six races in seven night stint known as Speedweek Northwest. The whole journey will begin on Sunday June 28th at Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Yreka, California.
From there Speedweek will venture to Southern Oregon Speedway on Monday June 29th and Coos Bay Speedway on Tuesday the 30th. Taking Wednesday off for a travel day the whole deal will start to close out with the Thursday July 2nd date at Willamette Speedway before a doubleheader at Cottage Grove Speedway on Independence Day weekend. The finale on Saturday July 4th will be $5,000.00 to win which is sure to bring some heavy hitters to the historic 1/4-mile clay oval.
Already several of the top drivers in California are planning to make the whole Speedweek including defending champ Kyle Hirst. In addition to Californians it sounds like there will be a handful of drivers from the Southern Hemisphere nations representing Australia and New Zealand. It is definitely something you do not want to miss out on.
The Western Sprint Tour has already had three races with Roger Crockett winning twice and Trey Starks picking up the victory in the first ever series race back on April 24th. In the first three races there has been some amazing racing by these very talented pilots.
In the seventeen years Speedweek Northwest there have been ten different champions. Steve Kent and Roger Crockett are tied with four apiece while Brent Kaeding has two. Seven drivers have won the entire kit and caboodle just once which is a very impressive list of winners. That list includes Brad Furr, Jesse Hockett, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Larson, Shane Stewart, Mitch Olson, and in 2014 Kyle Hirst.
The Western Sprint Tour is the Pacific Northwest region’s most premier touring 360 Sprint car series. Visiting some of the nation’s best facilities it is a series that offers some of the best racing you can find anywhere around. For the latest news and information log on to sprints.nwextremeseries.com. Also check out the WST Facebook page and be sure to “Like” it.
Additional Information:
2015 Western Sprint Tour Schedule
April 24th Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR Trey Starks
April 25th Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR Rained Out
May 23rd Southern Oregon Speedway White City, OR Roger Crockett
May 24th Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR Roger Crockett
June 28th Siskiyou Motor Speedway Yreka, CA (Speedweek Northwest)
June 29th Southern Oregon Speedway White City, OR (Speedweek Northwest)
June 30th Coos Bay Speedway Coos Bay, OR (Speedweek Northwest)
July 1st Travel Day
July 2nd Willamette Speedway Lebanon, OR (Speedweek Northwest)
July 3rd Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR (Speedweek Northwest)
July 4th Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR (Speedweek Northwest)
August 14th Siskiyou Motor Speedway Yreka, CA
August 15th Southern Oregon Speedway White City, OR
September 25th State Fair Raceway Yakima, WA
September 26th State Fair Raceway Yakima, WA
Past Speedweek Northwest Champions:
2013- Roger Crockett
2012- Mitch Olson
2011- Kyle Larson
2010- Roger Crockett
2009- Jesse Hockett
2008- Roger Crockett
2007- Shane Stewart
2006- Steve Kent
2005- Brent Kaeding
2004- Brent Kaeding
2003- Roger Crockett
2002- Steve Kent
2001- Steve Kent
2000- Steve Kent
1999- Brad Furr
1998- Bud Kaeding