From NARC
Jesse Schlotfeldt scored the biggest win of his career when he earned his first career NARC 410 sprint car main event victory, taking the checkered flag in Friday’s Fastest Five Days in Motorsports checkered flag at Cottage Grove Speedway.
It did not come easy for Schlotfeldt, who had to fight his way through traffic throughout the 30-lap event. Starting alongside pole sitter Tanner Holmes, Schlotfeldt got the better start on the green flag and immediately took the lead. He put distance between himself and Holmes in the opening laps but soon found himself in traffic that was at times heavy and also holding him up.
As the laps ticked away, Holmes on numerous instances closed in as Schlotfeldt struggled at times to pass slower cars but couldn’t make anything happen at first. As they completed the 24th lap at the line, Holmes had a run off of Turn 4 and Schlotfeldt slapped the wall as they approached Turn 1. Holmes threw it down low and moved up to briefly take the top spot, but Schlotfeldt had gathered himself back up and immediately turned his car back down off of Turn 2 as Holmes drifted up, retaking the lead down the back stretch. Holmes then slapped the front stretch wall himself on the next lap, and Schlotfeldt remained up front.
Thanks to a late caution, Schlotfeldt had a clear track in front of him for a few more laps, and only had one slow car trying clear on the next to last lap on his way to his first NARC win aboard the Grinder’s Automotive & Marine-sponsored JRS Motorsports No. 21s Shark-powered Triple X.
“It feels good to finally click off the first win in the NARC series, and first win at (Cottage Grove) too. I’ve had a lot of bad luck here, wrecking some cars here. I’m glad I couldn’t (finally) put it up front for my boys,” said Schlotfeldt, who was happy to get the NARC victory but also to shake off his Cottage Grove jinx. He praised his crew for his car’s performance as well. “The car was on rails. I smoked the wall a couple of times, and I was just holding on for dear life there at the end. I can’t thank my guys enough.”
After hitting the wall himself, Holmes lost two positions immediately after but benefited from the timely caution flag for a stopped car that reverted the field to 25 laps completed, putting Holmes back in front of Dominic Gorden and Justin Sanders who both had passed him. Despite concern for his right rear tire after the wall contact, Holmes continued to run second and finished there aboard the Legacy Builder Supply-sponsored Holmes Racing No. 18t Rider-powered Triple X.
Sanders made a late pass around Gorden to finish third, giving him podium finishes in all three races this week aboard the Yuba Sutter Aviation-sponsored Mittry Motorsports No. 2x Fisher-powered KPC. Those three podium finishes follow his win last Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway and continued his hot streak and rise back towards the top of the NARC point standings. Friends with Schlotfeldt, Sanders was one of the first to congratulate him on his first win.
Gorden finished fourth aboard the Gary Silva Ranches sponsored Fortitude Driver Development No. 10 Rider-powered Maxim. Dominic Scelzi, who had podium finishes the first two nights this week, finished fifth in the Red Rose Transportation-sponsored Scelzi Enterprises No. 41 Kistler-powered Maxim.
Australian star James McFadden, won the first two races of the Fastest Five Days in Motorsports, Wednesday at Southern Oregon Speedway and Thursday at Douglas County Dirt Track, couldn’t make it a hat trick Friday, but still earned the Williams Roofing Hard Charger Award with his run from 13th to finish sixth. Landon Brooks, Sean Becker, D.J. Netto and Caeden Steele rounded out the Top 10.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Scelzi, Gorden and Robbie Price. Holmes then won the Beacon Wealth Strategies – Raymond James Trophy Dash to secure the pole position for the main event.
Holmes paced the 23-car field in Automotive Racing Products Qualifying with a time of 10.550 seconds around the ¼-mile, high-banked clay oval.
Hoosier Racing Tires Feature (30 laps): 1. 21s Jesse Schlotfeldt (2), 2. 18t Tanner Holmes (1), 3. 2x Justin Sanders (8), 4. 10 Dominic Gorden (4), 5. 41 Dominic Scelzi (3), 6. 21 James McFadden (13), 7. 21L Landon Brooks (7), 8. 7b Sean Becker (9), 9. 88n D.J. Netto (10), 10. 121 Caeden Steele (17), 11. 29 Bud Kaeding (12), 12. 15 Nick Parker (15), 13. 21p Robbie Price (6), 14. 2k Gauge Garcia (21), 15. 12j John Clark (19), 16. 14 Mariah Ede (16), 17. 77 Levi Klatt (23), 18. 5k Blaine Cory (5), 19. 35km Tyler Thompson (11), 20. 26 Billy Aton (14), 21. 27c Camden Robustelli (22), 22. 551 Angelique Bell (18), 23. 2xm Max Mittry (20).
METTEC Titanium Lap Leaders: Jesse Schlotfeldt 1-30
Williams Roofing Hard Charger: 21 James McFadden, 13th to 6th (+7)
Automotive Racing Products Fast Qualifier (23 cars): 18t Tanner Holmes, 10.550 seconds
Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 41 Dominic Scelzi, 2. 21L Landon Brooks, 3. 88n D.J. Netto, 4. 18t Tanner Holmes, 5. 26 Billy Aton, 6. 121 Caeden Steele, 7. 2k Gauge Garcia, DNS – 27c Camden Robustelli.
Kimo’s Tropical Carwash Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 10 Dominic Gorden, 2. 2x Justin Sanders, 3. 35km Tyler Thompson, 4. 21 James McFadden, 5. 14 Mariah Ede, 6. 5k Blaine Cory, 7. 12j John Clark, 8. 77 Levi Klatt.
WEDG High Performance Karts Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 21p Robbie Price, 2. 7b Sean Becker, 3. 21s Jesse Schlotfeldt, 4. 29 Bud Kaeding, 5. 15 Nick Parker, 6. 551 Angelique Bell, 7. 2xm Max Mittry.
Beacon Wealth Strategies – Raymond James Trophy Dash (6 laps): 1. 18t Tanner Holmes, 2. 21s Jesse Schlotfeldt, 3. 41 Dominic Scelzi, 4. 10 Dominic Gorden, 5. 5k Blaine Cory, 6. 21p Robbie Price.