By Andrew Kunas
Lebanon, OR … James McFadden continued his dominance of the Fastest Five Days in Motorsports on Saturday night when he captured his third NARC 410 sprint car main event in four days at Willamette Speedway.
Starting alongside pole-sitter Robbie Price, the Australian star took the lead on the start and immediately rocketed off to large advantage, and in just four laps was in heavy traffic during a 25-lap feature that was caution free. At times, McFadden would easily slice and dice his way by slower cars while Dominic Scelzi, who had worked his way by Price for second, tried to work his way up.
At times though, traffic got difficult to navigate for McFadden, and on Lap 16, Scelzi suddenly had a chance to pounce. McFadden slid up high coming through Turns 1 and 2 passing cars and losing speed, and Scelzi briefly scooted by on the bottom. McFadden turned his car back down the hill, almost contacting Scelzi but getting a run back inside him and retaking the lead down the back stretch.
After the close call with Scelzi, McFadden found another gear it seemed like and drove away in the closing laps, taking the win aboard the American Rock & Rent-sponsored Tarlton Motorsports No. 21 Kistler-powered Maxim. Like he did Wednesday at Southern Oregon Speedway and Thursday at Douglas County Dirt Track, McFadden celebrated in front of the fans with his patented “Shoey,” a drink of beer from a shoe atop his car.
“Honestly, that was the hardest race I’ve ever raced through with lapped traffic. They had no idea where they were going, I had no idea where they were going, and that made me had no idea where I was going,” McFadden jokingly said about battling the traffic in a race that lasted only six and a half minutes. “It was like swatting flies out there in Australia for a while. It’s really hard to control a race like that. You have to push hard, but if you push too hard you can run in the back of guys and I almost did that a couple of times. Dominic showed a nose, so I had to step a gear up.”
McFadden also praised the track conditions after an extensive rework of the clay oval after heat races. “That track turned out really cool, turned out really fun. Thanks to all the fans for sticking around while they (worked) to get us a really good track.”
McFadden again praised his crew, including Tom and Tommy Tarlton. McFadden had never driven the Tarlton Motorsports car before Wednesday. Three wins and a sixth have their finishes in four races this week.
Scelzi finished second aboard the Red Rose Transportation-sponsored Scelzi Enterprises No. 41 Kistler-powered Maxim. It was Scelzi’s third podium finish of the week, and he has finished in the Top 5 in all four races so far in the Fastest Five Days in Motorsports. After losing the runner-up spot to Scelzi early in the race, Robbie Price ran third for the rest of the race and finished there aboard the Malahat Auto Recycling-sponsored Rob & Lee Leighton No. 21p Shark-powered Maxim, this coming a year after Price won his first NARC race at Willamette.
Max Mittry had one of his best finishes of the season, taking forth aboard the Shasta Realty Group-sponsored Mittry Motorsports No. 2xm Shark-powered KPC. Bud Kaeding turned in a fifth-place finish aboard the Alviso Rock-sponsored BK Motorsports No. 29 Shaver-powered Maxim.
Justin Sanders, who had podium finishes each of the first three nights in Oregon, finished sixth. Tyler Thompson, Tanner Holmes, Joel Meyers Jr and Caeden Steele rounded out the Top 10.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Scelzi, Sanders and Thompson. Price won the Beacon Wealth Strategies – Raymond James Trophy Dash to secure the pole position for the main event.
McFadden paced the 24-car field in Automotive Racing Products Qualifying with a time of 11.907 seconds around the 1/3-mile clay oval.
Hoosier Racing Tires Feature (25 laps): 1. 21 James McFadden (2), 2. 41 Dominic Scelzi (3), 3. 21p Robbie Price (1), 4. 2xm Max Mittry (4), 5. 29 Bud Kaeding (7), 6. 2x Justin Sanders (5), 7. 35km Tyler Thompson (6), 8. 18t Tanner Holmes (9), 9. Joel Meyers Jr (8), 10. 121 Caeden Steele (10), 11. 26 Billy Aton (11), 12. 21L Landon Brooks (13), 13. 7b Sean Becker (18), 14. 88n D.J. Netto (12), 15. 15 Nick Parker (20), 16. 10 Dominic Gorden (14), 17. 21s Jesse Schlotfeldt (16), 18. 12j John Clark (15), 19. 27c Camden Robustelli (21), 20. 14 Mariah Ede (23), 21. 5k Blaine Cory (19), 22. 551 Angelique Bell (24), 23. 77 Levi Klatt (17), DNS – 2k Gauge Garcia.
METTEC Titanium Lap Leaders: James McFadden 1-25
Williams Roofing Hard Charger: Sean Becker, 18th to 13th (+5)
Automotive Racing Products Fast Qualifier (24 cars): 21 James McFadden 11.907 seconds
Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 41 Dominic Scelzi, 2. 21 James McFadden, 3. 121 Caeden Steele, 4. 88n D.J. Netto, 5. 12j John Clark, 6. 77 Levin Klatt, 7. 5k Blaine Cory, 8. 2k Gauge Garcia.
Kimo’s Tropical Carwash Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 2x Justin Sanders, 2. 29 Bud Kaeding, 3. 21p Robbie Price, 4. 26 Billy Aton, 5. 10 Dominic Gorden, 6. 7b Sean Becker, 7. 15 Nick Parker, 8. 14 Mariah Ede.
WEDG High Performance Karts Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 35km Tyler Thompson, 2. 4 Joel Meyers Jr, 3. 18t Tanner Holmes, 4. 21L Landon Brooks, 5. 2xm Max Mittry, 6. 21s Jesse Schlotfeldt, 7. 27c Camden Robustelli, 8. 551 Angelique Bell.
Beacon Wealth Strategies – Raymond James Trophy Dash (6 laps): 1. 21p Robbie Price, 2. 21 James McFadden, 3. 41 Dominic Scelzi, 4. 2xm Max Mittry, 5. 2x Justin Sanders, 6. 35km Tyler Thompson. Finish determines first six starting positions of Feature.