Bergman wins NWWT Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge

Bergman wins NWWT Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge
Andrew Kunas, NWWT Publicist

ELMA, Wash. - Over the course of one main event in Grays Harbor Raceway's first ever non-wing sprint car event, Seth Bergman became a fan of traditional sprint car racing. Running without the wings for the just the second time in his career, Bergman went down in the history books as the winner of the inaugural Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge for the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour.

In the closing laps of the 30-lap feature, Bergman dueled with Shawn Rice as they raced around slower cars. It was Bergman, out of Snohomish, Wash. who came out ahead Tacoma's Rice in a race that pleased the crowd of Grays Harbor Raceway fans, many of whom had never seen sprint cars race without the wings before.

Bergman, along with the rest of the drivers in the field, were unsure earlier in the day if they'd even get to race. The historic first wingless sprint car show for Grays Harbor Raceway was also the biggest and perhaps most important race of the year for the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour, which is in its inaugural season. There was much excitement for the event with about 40 cars expected, but weather wrecked havoc with rainfall occuring on Friday night and Saturday morning. A poor weather forecast for Saturday afternoon and evening kept many teams at home, fearing a rainout. Despite the less than stellar weather over the prior 36 hours, track officials and the NWWT persisted and managed to get in the highly anticipated event.

One of the 24 drivers who did show up despite the threat of race cancelling weather, Bergman became the one most glad he did bring his car out, earning $1,100 aboard the Steve Bergman No. 23 Shark-powered Eagle.

"It was awesome," said Bergman, who made clear during his victory lane interview on the front stretch that he had a lot of fun. "It was a blast. That was the most fun I've had in a race car in a long while. It's a lot different from the winged car, (but) it's the same concept; try to win the race. I just didn't know what to expect."

Bergman became the fifth different driver, and the first from Washington, to win a NWWT sprint car main event this season.

Rice finished second in the RAM Racing No. 76 Shark-powered Rocket, but very easily could have ended up with a victory in the event he said he was looking forward to more than any other this season. Rice made a crowd-wowing pass on both Bergman and then leader Dan Dunlap in Turns 1 and 2 to jump from third place to the lead on Lap 12. Rice was firmly established as the leader out in the open on a track where he is a former main event winner with the wings on, but traffic in the closing laps cost him.

Lap 25 saw Rice get held up by a slower car as Bergman closed in. The two drivers made accidental contact with each other and the slower car as they rounded Turn 4 and escaped, but Bergman wound up being in front of Rice after that exchange. Bergman had his turn with another slow car with less than two laps to go, allowing Rice to challenge Bergman. Just after taking the white flag, however, Bergman cleared that slower car and would win by just under nine tenths of a second.

"It was a blast," said Rice, who also established the brand new track record for wingless 360 sprint cars earlier in the evening. "I'm just a little bit disappointed I let traffic get the best of me. For running a non-wing deal for just the second time, I say we did pretty good tonight."

Marysville, Wash.'s Jeff Bell, the track's reigning Ford Focus midget car champion who secured a sprint car ride for the Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge, started on the pole as the result of a six-car invert. Bell led the first six laps before tangling with a slower car, ending his bid at a victory. That handed the lead to Renton, Wash.'s Dan Dunlap, another local racer who removed his wings for the event. He would lead until Rice made his big move on Lap 12. While in third place with 15 laps down, Dunlap was forced to exit the track with problems in his rear brake assembly during a caution.

The Lap 16 caution in which Dunlap exited the track was caused when John Tharp, who was running fourth, was trying to make a pass for position in Turn 4, only to spin out and end his otherwise strong bid at a strong finish. IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour points leader Kyle Miller, who was running fifth behind him, just missed making contact with Tharp, but sixth-running Nick Tomlinson was not so lucky as he clipped Tharp and caused race ending damage to his own car.

Miller, the Eugene, Ore. driver who had a nine point lead going into the Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge, benefited from missing Tharp as he went on to finish third and extend his lead in the Scott Miller No. 10 Springer-powered XXX, backing up his victory in the last NWWT event on August 15th in Oregon. Something he shared with the two drivers who finished in front of him was the fact that he'd turned competitive laps at Grays Harbor Raceway before, unlike the following six drivers on the track who were all racing at the Elma, Wash. track for the first time.

The 11th starting Gary Davis, making his first appearance at Grays Harbor Raceway, moved into second place in the NWWT point standings after moving up to finish fourth in the Bob Farwell No. 30 Chevy-powered XXX. Vancouver, Wash.'s Mike Romig, another one of about a dozen drivers who were racing at Grays Harbor Raceway for the first time, started 13th and quietly had a very good race, turning in a season best fifth place finish in his own No. 22 Rayburn-powered Eagle.

Despite running with a small limited sprint motor, lead Rookie contender Sammy Wright, also out of Vancouver, finished in sixth place in the Sam Wright No. 1w Chevy-powered Zeitler. Olympia, Wash.'s Doug McLees, a competitor with the Washington Econo Sprint Car Organization, finished an impressive seventh in his NWWT debut aboard the No. 3d Walker-powered John Boy. Kyle Mehner of Clackamas, Ore. was the final car on the lead lap with a fine eighth place finish in the Don Mehner No. 7k Gaerte-powered DRS. Mark Nichols in his own No. 64 T-Mac powered Rocket and Glenn Walker in the No. 62w Chevy-powered Eagle rounded out the Top 10, respectively.

Rice earned $150 from Competition Motorsports for setting fast time in qualifying and establishing the record in the new class category with a time of 14.279 seconds around the 3/8-mile, high-banked clay oval. Heat races went to Romig, Dunlap and Tharp, who won the last heat race which featured the fastest drivers in qualifying. Dunlap started his heat race in the seventh and final position, but wowed his hometrack crowd by marching his way to the front to take the lead and win the race.

The trophy dash race, which was to feature the four fastest drivers in qualifying, was never finished as on the opening lap Jay Cole made contact with Bergman and went for a wild series of flips, exiting the track through the upper portion of the track's crash wall between Turns 3 and 4. The rest of the dash was scrapped as a near 30-minute makeshift repair job on the crash wall was necessary.

In addition to the $800 winner's share from track payout, Bergman received another $300 in bonus money from the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour thanks to associate sponsors Herz Precision Parts and Dri-Eaz Products. The $1,100 payday for Bergman was the largest for a NWWT main event race winner this season, topping the $1,050 earned by Roger Crockett in June.

Despite the weather that resulted in many teams opting to stay home, the inaugural Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge, the NWWT's only race in the Evergreen State in its inaugural season, is being considered a success. Though the original expected car count was not achieved because of the circumstances, the 24 car field was the largest of the season for the NWWT. Rice said he's already lobbying for additional wingless sprint car events at Grays Harbor Raceway next season.

The next event for the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour is scheduled for next Saturday, September 12th at Cottage Grove Speedway, where a full program of qualifying, heat races and main events are scheduled. More information on the IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour can be found online at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com.

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IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour
1st annual Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge

Quick Qualifier award: Shawn Rice ($150 from Competition Motorsports)

Associate sponsors:
Herz Precision Parts
Dri-Eaz Products

$300 to winner Seth Bergman

Gift certificates from Elma Lanes awarded to Seth Bergman and Glenn Walker.

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IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour
Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge
Grays Harbor Raceway - Elma, WA
September 5, 2009

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

24 cars

Competition Motorsports Quick Qualifier: 76 Shawn Rice, 14.279 seconds (establishes first record for wingless 360 sprint cars at Grays Harbor Raceway).

Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 22 Mike Romig, 2. 62w Glenn Walker, 3. 28 Mark Herz, 4. 3d Doug McLees, 5. 7 Dylan Olsen, 6. 7k Kyle Mehner, 7. 11 Rich Leighty, 8. 2k Sterling Kane.

Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. 15 Dan Dunlap, 2. 30 Gary Davis, 3. 81 Doug Kammerzell, 4. 14 Theo McCarty, 5. 64 Mark Nichols, 6. 24 Roy Crouch, 7. 1w Sammy Wright.

Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 69t John Tharp, 2. 0J Jay Cole, 3. 9 Jeff Bell, 4. 23 Seth Bergman, 5. 76 Shawn Rice, 6. 10 Kyle Miller, 7. 16 Nick Tomlinson.

Competition Motorsports trophy dash (4 laps) was scrapped after Jay Cole's crash on opening lap required crashwall repair work to be done.

Grays Harbor Non-Wing Challenge (30 laps): 1. 23 Seth Bergman, 2. 76 Shawn Rice, 3. 10 Kyle Miller, 4. 30 Gary Davis, 5. 22 Mike Romig, 6. 1w Sammy Wright, 7. 3d Doug McLees, 8. 7k Kyle Mehner, 9. 64 Mark Nichols, 10. 62w Glenn Walker, 11. 9 Jeff Bell, 12. 15 Dan Dunlap, 13. 69t John Tharp, 14. 16 Nick Tomlinson, 15. 24 Roy Crouch, 16. 7 Dylan Olsen, 17. 14 Theo McCarty, 18. 28 Mark Herz, 19. 11 Rich Leighty, 20. 81 Doug Kammerzell, DNS - 0J Jay Cole, 2k Sterling Kane, 62 Axel Walker, 69 Joe Bosso Jr.

Lap leaders: Jeff Bell 1-6, Dan Dunlap 7-11, Shawn Rice 12-24, Seth Bergman 25-30.

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IXL Metal Conditioner NorthWest Wingless Tour
http://www.nwwinglesstour.com