Southern Oregon Speedway Hosts Wild West IMCA Modified Speedweek Race Saturday Night
There is lots of excitement surrounding Southern Oregon Speedway this season. More people are coming to check out the action, and more drivers are competing this season than in recent years. Saturday night will certainly see a big field of IMCA Modifieds for the second round of the IMCA Wild West Speedweek Tour. IMCA Sport Modifieds, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars and JOAT Labs Hornets will also be part of the program.
Eight years ago, the Speedweek Series was started as an effort to bring some of the best IMCA Modified drivers together for an exciting week of racing. Past Southern Oregon Speedway champion Brian Poppa dominated that first series in winning the title. Since then, the dominant driver has been Jesse Williamson, who won his fourth series championship in a great battle with Californian Ethan Johnson last year. Two other Californians, Alex Stanford and Kellen Chadwick, each have one Speedweek title to their credit.
Southern Oregon Speedway competitors know they have to bring their A Game with drivers such as Williamson, Collen Winebarger, John Campos and Grey Fernando coming to town. It’s not just a Speedweek Series point race, it’s also a track championship race. There’s a good battle happening at Southern Oregon Speedway so far this season.
The consistent Albert Gill finds himself leading the charge ahead of Roger Haudenshild Tribute winner Nick Trenchard and last week’s winner Zach Fettinger. Only a few points separate these three drivers. With the competition level rising immensely this week, just making the Main Event will be a challenge. Winning the $1,000 to win race would certainly be a career highlight for many of the local racers. Other local competitors looking to notch the win include Mark Wauge, Jantzen Knips and CJ Putnam.
David Marble is off to a strong start in the IMCA Sport Modified division. With all three Top 5 finishes, Marble leads Willie McFall in the championship chase. Marble finished second last week in a wild last lap scramble. He used slower traffic to move up further at the finish line. Braxton Possinger was the class of the field as he became the third different feature winner. Current Oregon State and Pacific Sport Mod Challenge leader Justin McCreadie will be hoping to get his first local win, and other drivers to watch for include two time reigning champion Mike Medel, Tony Bartell, Tony Duste and Brandon Wilson.
The Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association has been more competitive than ever so far this season. There are four different winners in five races, and two time reigning champion Brock Peters had to work extra hard to finally get his first win of the season last time out. He faces some stiff competition this week from two-time winner Camden Robustelli, Ryan Smith, Chad Cardoza, Randy Slater, Cody Peters, Kalvin Morton and two-time champion Josh King.
The JOAT Labs Hornets have been very competitive this year, and young Brandon Wonsyld holds a slim one point lead over reigning champion Jason Stoutenburgh after three races. These two, along with Ashtin Hedges, are feature winners so far in the growing field of competitors. Other drivers are lining up to get their first wins of the season, including 2016 champion Tim Hedges, wife Jenna Hedges, Derrel Nelson Jr, Zach Nelson, Dylan Irving and Bree Tritchler.
Saturday’s lineup will offer plenty of thrills and spills for the fans to enjoy, but if that’s not enough, there is a full program of Outlaw Kart racing on the little Southern Oregon Speedway track on Friday night. Jeremy Brown, Trevor Grimes, Taylor Fuller and Malachi Johnson lead their respective championship point races, and several young drivers have bolstered the roster this season. It’s a nice little program with a $10 ticket price that allows the fans an opportunity to roam the pits before grabbing a bleacher seat to watch the show.
Saturday’s Speedweek event kicks off with the first race at 7 p.m. Gates will open at 5 p.m. General Admission is $15 with Seniors, Veterans and Juniors (6 to 12) $10. Children 5 and under are free. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
