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Interesting night Carol...
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Crockett scores fifth NSCS victory
Andrew Kunas, NSCS Publicist
LEBANON, Ore. – Medford’s Roger Crockett extended his points lead when he led all 25 laps to score the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series main event victory at Willamette Speedway.
Crockett, who has won both NSCS events at Willamette this year, took the lead on the third attempt to start the feature and was never threatened until the end. Oklahoma’s Shane Stewart closed in on Crockett in slower traffic, but ran out of time.
It was the series high fifth victory of the season for Crockett in the Henderson Motorsports No. 7N Bailey Bros.-powered Eagle. It also snapped a two-race win streak for Stewart, who won the first two Northwest Speed Week races in the Mike Doyle No. 1 Shaver-powered Maxim.
It was a turnaround for Crockett, whose 85-point lead over Tacoma, Wash.’s Mitch Olson entering Speed Week was cut to 43 over the prior two nights after finishes of 17th and eighth while Olson earned back-to-back top-fives. Olson suffered mechanical problems and dropped out of the feature at Willamette, finishing 17th.
“This turned it around for us,” Crockett said. “We were fast all week, but circumstances weren’t in our favor and some of it was beyond our control.”
Campbell, Calif.’s Brent Kaeding earned his third podium finish in as many nights when he finished third aboard his own No. 69 Shaver-powered Maxim. Reigning Golden State Challenge series champion Jonathon Allard of Chico, Calif. earned his third straight top-ten finish when he took fourth in the Morrie Williams No. 0 Kistler-powered Maxim. Brock Lemley of Bellingham, Wash. earned his third straight top-five by finishing fifth in the Kentch Bros. No. 40 Triple X.
The top side of the track had dried out during the B-Main race, which resulted in a track difficult to pass on, according to Crockett.
“The track was harder to pass on than it was in the B-Main,” Crockett said. “It was an improvement on what we’ve had. The track was almost perfect really. The top was just too dry.”
Grays Harbor Raceway champion Jay Cole of Shelton, Wash. finished sixth in his No. 0J Gaerte-powerd Maxim, and Cottage Grove’s Dale Smith, who was runner-up at his hometown track to Stewart on Tuesday, finished seventh in his own No. 75 Shaver-powered Maxim. Quilcene, Wash.’s J.J. Hickle was eighth in the Vern Rengen No. 7 Maxim, and Marc Mackay of Cameron Park, Calif. was ninth in the Bill Mackay No. 86 Borello-powered Rocket. Former Northern Sprint Tour champion Billy Nutter of Central Point, Ore. rounded out the top ten in his own No. 3N Zeitler.
Top Rookie of the Year contender Robbie Vaughn, who entered the night fourth in points, finished 12th while fifth place points man Travis Rutz finished 22nd after crashing with two other cars on the initial start. Hawaii’s Dean Freitas made his first A-Main of the week, but finished 18th.
Travis Jacobson of Lake Stevens, Wash. won the 15-lap B-Main, taking California’s Jimmy Trulli, Olson, and Everett, Wash.’s Jayme Barnes with him to the A-Main. Jacobson and Trulli earned their qualifying times back in the line-up behind the dash cars while Olson and Barnes tagged the back of the field. Olson had originally started the B-Main in 13th. Dallas Zuniga of Creswell, Ore. won the eight-lap C-Main, taking Josh DeWitt with him to the B-Main.
The six-lap dash race, featuring the six fastest qualifiers who transferred out of their heat races, was won by Crockett of Kaeding, Stewart, Hickle, Allard and Lemley. Ten-lap heat races were won by Lemley, Jeff Thompson, Nutter and Rutz.
Lemley paced the 46-car field in qualifying with a time of 12.984 seconds around the 3/10-mile, high-banked, clay oval.
The Northwest Sprint Challenge Series will return to Willamette Speedway on Friday, September 7. Northwest Speed Week concludes this Friday and Saturday with the 18th Annual Bob’s Burgers & Brew Skagit 360 Nationals at Skagit Speedway. More information on the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series and its drivers can be found online at www.racenscs.com.
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Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, OR
July 25, 2007
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
46 cars
Fast qualifier: 40 Brock Lemley, 12.984 seconds.
Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 40 Brock Lemley, 2. 0J Jay Cole, 3. 9h Dean Freitas, 4. 7 J.J. Hickle, 5. 57c Chris Schmelzle, 6. 99p Tyler Pinceman, 7. 33t Jimmy Trulli, 8. 9j J.J. Dishneau, 9. 10j Jeremy McCune, 10. 15 Dan Dunlap, 11. 7r Randy DuBois, 12. 7o Travis Jacobson.
Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. 7t Jeff Thompson, 2. 86 Marc Mackay, 3. 75 Dale Smith, 4. KR14 Tyler Spath, 5. 0 Jonathon Allard, 6. 24 Jayme Barnes, 7. 5sp Jason York, 8. 73 Danielle Huson, 9. 7ak Steve Martin, 10. 98m Mitch Olson, 11. 7d Josh DeWitt.
Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 3N Billy Nutter, 2. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 3. 69 Brent Kaeding, 4. 11d Jeff Delte, 5. 7N Roger Crockett, 6. 4z Dallas Zuniga, 7. 68 Rod Held, 8. 12p Randy Pierce, 9. 2z Todd Zeitler, 10. 36 Michelle Dodge, 11. 22 Geoff Beck.
Heat 4 (10 laps): 1. 8 Travis Rutz, 2. 7k Danny Kirkpatrick, 3. 1 Shane Stewart, 4. 08 Steve Vague, 5. 23a Seth Bergman, 6. 91 Derek Ingalls, 7. 22L Garen Linder, 8. 8e Evan Funk, 9. 26f Shane Forte’, 10. 51 Jon Farrell, 11. 56 Nathan Large.
C-Main (8 laps): 1. 4z Dallas Zuniga, 2. 7d Josh DeWitt, 3. 8e Evan Funk, 4. 7ak Steve Martin, 5. 15 Dan Dunlap, 6. 7r Randy DuBois, 7. 56 Nathan Large, 8. 36 Michelle Dodge. Top two finishers transfer to B-Main.
Dash (6 laps): 1. 7N Roger Crockett, 2. 69 Brent Kaeding, 3. 1 Shane Stewart, 4. 7 J.J. Hickle, 5. 0 Jonathon Allard, 6. 40 Brock Lemley. Finish determines first six starting positions of A-Main.
B-Main (15 laps): 1. 7o Travis Jacobson, 2. 33t Jimmy Trulli, 3. 98m Mitch Olson, 4. 24 Jayme Barnes, 5. 22L Garen Linder, 6. 2z Todd Zeitler, 7. 91 Derek Ingalls, 8. 12p Randy Pierce, 9. 7d Josh DeWitt, 10. 9j J.J. Dishneau, 11. 99p Tyler Pinceman, 12. 73 Danielle Huson, 13. 57c Chris Schmelzle, 14. 10j Jeremy McCune, 15. 68 Rod Held, 16. 26f Shane Forte’, 17. 5sp Jason York, 18. 23a Seth Bergman, 19. 51 Jon Farrell, 20. 4z Dallas Zuniga. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
A-Main (25 laps, time): 1. 7N Roger Crockett, 2. 1 Shane Stewart, 3. 69 Brent Kaeding, 4. 0 Jonathon Allard, 5. 40 Brock Lemley, 6. 0J Jay Cole, 7. 75 Dale Smith, 8. 7 J.J. Hickle, 9. 86 Marc Mackay, 10. 3N Billy Nutter, 11. 7o Travis Jacobson, 12. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 13. 33t Jimmy Trulli, 14. 11d Jeff Delte, 15. 7k Danny Kirkpatrick, 16. 08 Steve Vague, 17. 98m Mitch Olson, 18. 9h Dean Freitas, 19. 7t Jeff Thompson, 20. KR14 Tyler Spath, 21. 24 Jayme Barnes, 22. 8 Travis Rutz.
Lap leaders: 1-30 Roger Crockett
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NSCS: The Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
www.racenscs.com
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