By Andrew Kunas
Elma, WA … It was not easy for James McFadden, but he somehow found victory lane again as he made a spectacular last lap pass around Trey Starks to snag the NARC Timber Cup victory at Grays Harbor Raceway in Sunday’s Fastest Five Days in Motorsports 25-lap finale, giving him an astounding four wins in five nights.
McFadden, from the pole position, took the lead on the initial start over fellow front row starter Jesse Schlotfeldt and led the first nine laps uncontested before the fifth starting Starks, a former Timber Cup winner, first challenged him for the lead. Lap 10 saw Starks throw a slider in Turns 3 and 4 and get in front of McFadden, only for McFadden to turn it back down a get a run off the hill to get back by to maintain the lead. Starks challenged again on the following lap but could not get by McFadden.
Following a fuel stop with 11 laps completed, Starks saw an opening and pounced on the restart, making another move on the east end of the race track, throwing it in and squeezing between McFadden and the infield entering Turn 3, and this time made the move stick to lead Lap 12. Starks then pulled away for a time and led the next several laps as McFadden briefly had to fend off last year’s Timber Cup winner Dominic Scelzi.
While McFadden held off Scelzi, Starks then started to struggle getting a slower car in traffic, and in the final lap lost momentum exiting Turn 2. McFadden meanwhile got a big run around the top of the racetrack and got one last shot at Starks. With his own momentum, McFadden threw a big slide job going into Turn 3 and made it stick, getting in front of Starks. Starks tried to turn it back down the hill and get a run off of Turn 4 but couldn’t get enough speed to get McFadden back at the checkered flag.
“Trey obviously is one of the best around here. He proved that when High Limit came here last year. And this was our first time (as a team) on a real, real slick track, so to be close to him was read good. My guys really didn’t know where to tell me to go on that red (during the fuel stop),” McFadden said. “I was hoping those lappers would kinda slow the pace down enough, and that’s what happened.”
The thrilling victory capped off an incredible week for McFadden aboard the American Rock & Rent-sponsored Tarlton Motorsports No. 21 Kistler-powered Maxim. McFadden won the first two Fastest Five Days races at Southern Oregon Speedway and Douglas County Dirt Track, took a sixth-place finish at Cottage Grove Speedway on Friday, and then picked up Saturday’s feature at Willamette Speedway before Sunday’s thriller at Grays Harbor. The four wins resulted in McFadden being crowned the champion of the Fastest Five Days in Motorsports.
“It’s been a real fun week. I can’t thank Tom and Tommy Tarlton and their whole family enough,” McFadden continued. “It’s been so much fun.”
While disappointed with losing the win at the end, Starks still finished second aboard the Starks Racing No. 55 Fisher-powered J&J in his first appearance with NARC this season. Scelzi finished third aboard the Red Rose Transportation-sponsored Gary Scelzi Motorsports No. 41 Kistler-powered Maxim, getting his fourth podium finish of the week. Coming from 10th, Scelzi earned the Williams Roofing Hard Charger nod, moving up seven positions.
Tyler Thompson made a late pass to finish fourth aboard the HAM Construction-sponsored Main Motorsports No. 35km Kistler-powered Maxim, turning in one of his best finishes of the season. Jesse Schlotfeldt, two nights after scoring his first NARC win, finished fifth aboard the Grinder’s Automotive & Marine-sponsored JRS Motorsports No. 21s Shark-powered Triple X. D.J. Netto, Tanner Holmes, Sean Becker, Justin Sanders, and Caeden Steele rounded out the Top 10.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by McFadden, Schlotfeldt and Sanders. McFadden won the Beacon Wealth Strategies – Raymond James Trophy Dash to secure the pole position for the feature.
Trey Starks paced the 22-car field in Automotive Racing Products Qualifying with a time of 12.877 seconds around the 3/8-mile, high-banked clay oval.
Hoosier Racing Tires Feature (25 laps): 1. 21 James McFadden (1), 2. 55 Trey Starks (5), 3. 41 Dominic Scelzi (10), 4. 35km Tyler Thompson (8), 5. 21s Jesse Schlotfeldt (2), 6. 88n D.J. Netto (7), 7. 18t Tanner Holmes (9), 8. 7b Sean Becker (11), 9. 2x Justin Sanders (3), 10. 121 Caeden Steele (4), 11. 29 Bud Kaeding (12), 12. 26 Billy Aton (16), 13. 10 Dominic Gorden (14), 14. 2k Gauge Garcia (13), 15. 5k Blaine Cory (21), 16. 2xm Max Mittry (15), 17. 7o Colin Mackey (17), 18. 14 Mariah Ede (20), 19. 77 Levi Klatt (19), 20. 95 Dan Reynold (22), 21. 21L Landon Brooks (6), 22. 15 Nick Parker (18).
METTEC Titanium Lap Leaders: James McFadden 1-11 & 25, Trey Starks 12-24
Williams Roofing Hard Charger: 41 Dominic Scelzi, 10th to 3rd (+7)
Automotive Racing Products Fast Qualifier (20 cars): 55 Trey Starks, 12.877 seconds
Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 21 James McFadden, 2. 88n D.J. Netto, 3. 55 Trey Starks, 4. 29 Bud Kaeding, 5. 10 Dominic Gorden, 6. 26 Billy Aton, 7. 14 Mariah Ede, 8. 95 Dan Reynold.
Kimo’s Tropical Carwash Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 21s Jesse Schlotfeldt, 2. 18t Tanner Holmes, 3. 41 Dominic Scelzi, 4. 21L Landon Brooks, 5. 2xm Max Mittry, 6. 7o Colin Mackey, 7. 77 Levi Klatt.
WEDG High Performance Karts Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 2x Justin Sanders, 2. 35km Tyler Thompson, 3. 121 Caeden Steele, 4. 7b Sean Becker, 5. 2k Gauge Garcia, 6. 15 Nick Parker, 7. 5k Blaine Cory.
Beacon Wealth Strategies – Raymond James Trophy Dash (6 laps): 1. 21 James McFadden, 2. 21s Jesse Schlotfeldt, 3. 2x Justin Sanders, 4. 121 Caeden Steele, 5. 55 Trey Starks, 6. 21L Landon Brooks.