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Willamette on NSCS schedule four times
Andrew Kunas, NSCS Publicist
LEBANON, Ore. – Bob and Clair Arnold's Willamette Speedway is better known for its weekly stock car action, which includes a huge field of late models. However, a few times a year fans flock to Willamette to see winged 360 sprint cars take over.
After 11 years as a frequent stop for the former Northern Sprint Tour, Willamette Speedway will be host to the new Northwest Sprint Challenge Series on four occasions in 2007. No other Oregon track has as many NSCS events scheduled as Willamette Speedway.
The banked, 3/10-mile clay oval, located roughly 30 miles southeast of the Oregon capital of Salem, will first welcome the NSCS on Friday, May 25. The event will be the first of three the NSCS has scheduled in the traditional Memorial Weekend swing through the Beaver State. Last year, the entire weekend was wiped out by rainfall.
Winning on Memorial Friday at Willamette Speedway two years ago was Cottage Grove's Dale Smith, one of the most successful sprint car drivers ever in Oregon. The 2004 event was rained out as well. In 2003's Memorial Friday event, eventual four-time NST champion Roger Crockett held off a late race charge from future World of Outlaws competitor Jason Solwold to pick up the victory in what was the opener for the NST that season.
The last three seasons, Willamette had a Friday race scheduled before a Saturday show in Elma, Washington. The last two years, that Friday show served as the NST's season opener on the last weekend of April. This year, that weekend will be the last one in June. On the 29th, the NSCS will make its second visit to Willamette Speedway.
Winning last year's season opener was then defending NST champion Billy Nutter. In 2005's opener at Willamette, Montana-to-Idaho transplant Joe Ramaker scored his first career NST victory after surviving a wild race. In June 2004, in another Friday before Elma race, Nutter again found victory as part of a hot start that saw him win a number of races around Washington and Oregon early that season.
As has been case since the inception of the event Willamette Speedway will be part of Northwest Speed Week, again serving as the final Oregon stop. The NSCS will make its third visit to Willamette on Wednesday, July 25. Nationally touring star Jason Sides of Tennessee picked up his first NST victory in last year's event. The 2005 race saw Roger Crockett put an early end to Brent Kaeding's bid at a Speed Week sweep. Kaeding won the 2004 race and Washington's Jayme Barnes stopped a lengthy California Speed Week winning streak with a win of his own in 2003.
The NSCS will make its final trip to Oregon in September, making its fourth and final visit of the year to Willamette on Friday, September 7. That event will award double-points towards the first Northwest Sprint Challenge Series championship.
Willamette Speedway is also one of only two tracks on the NSCS circuit where the pit area is still located inside the track. The pit area is easily viewable from the grandstands, offering fans to watch the races teams up close in the early evening before it gets dark. Cars are pushed off by the front stretch and enter the track just as the stretch reaches turn one. The work area is also located by the front stretch, allowing fans to also watch race teams scramble to repair race cars and get them back out on the track.
More information on the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series can be found online at www.racenscs.com and information on Willamette Speedway can see seen at its own website at www.trophymotorsports.com.
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2007 NSCS events at Willamette Speedway – Lebanon, OR
May 25 (Memorial Friday)
June 29
July 25 (Speed Week – Wednesday)
September 7 (Double points)
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NSCS: The Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
www.racenscs.com
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