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Willamette Speedway Hosts Successful 2014 Kart Season Opener

Willamette Speedway Hosts Successful 2014 Kart Season Opener
By Ben Deatherage
Willamette Speedway hosted a great night of racing on Friday May 2nd to open the 2014 Season. Seven classes were in action which included the 5HP Intermediate/Open, Kid Karts, Pee Wee, 125cc, Adult Karts, 250cc, and the Open Kage.

It was a perfect night for Lebanon’s Carter Patterson as he was able to simply dominate the 5HP Open/Intermediate ranks to open the outdoor season up. Taking the lead on the initial start Patterson would lead the entire distance and put his James Gang Pizza/Clayton’s Cornwell Tools/King Office Equipment #47 QRC to victory lane by the margin of three-quarters of a lap.

Finishing in second place was Austin Sause from Cottage Grove in his People’s Auto Body #7 QRC entry and third went to the Hanson Contract Cutting/BC Motorsports/DT Motorsports #55H QRC of Creswell native Connor Hanson. Completing the top five would be Skyler Winebarger of Corbett in his Discount Race Car Parts/Big Sky Landscaping #1W QRC entry in fourth and Albany’s Blake Boshart in fifth driving his B&R Auto Wrecking/Ace of Spades Performance Engines #44 QRC machine. Earlier in the night Carter Patterson would win both heat races in addition to his main event triumph to make the evening a clean sweep.

Getting some valuable experience on the track Jayden Kimball of Keizer would win in the Kid Kart division of the Speedway Karts. Kimball was the lone entry but nonetheless had a blast in the Bob’s OK Tire Store/G&S Machine Inc. #17 entry.

Despite not picking up a victory in heat race action Coos Bay native Jayden Trupp was fast in the Pee Wee feature. Getting a good start on the initial green flag Trupp would lead the entire distance of the incident free feature. It was a great way for the one they call “The Cowboy” to make the most of the long trip as he put his Nexdor Tobacco and More #72 QRC machine in the winner’s circle.

Makayla Patterson of Lebanon was a respectable second in her James Gang Pizza/Clayton’s Cornwell Tools/King Office Equipment #47 QRC entry followed by the #88 QRC of Nickolas Lundquist of Cottage Grove in third. Lundquist won heat one while Patterson was the winner in heat two.

Taking full advantage of his pole starting position Lebanon driver Kyle Roles would lead the entire distance in the 125cc main event. Despite four cautions occurring and bunching up the field Roles was able to master the restarts and start 2014 off with a triumph for him and The Knothole Market/Big Sky Landscaping/Bunce Equipment #02 QRC team.

In second place would be Albany’s Trinity Pendley and the Linn Benton Insurance/A.A. Towing/James Gang Pizza #47 QRC while third place would go to Jadan Walbridge of Portland piloting the Intermountain Innovations #18 RFC mount. The balance of the top five would consist of Connor Hanson and his Hanson Contract Cutting/BC Motorsports/DT Motorsports #55H QRC in fourth and behind him in fifth Talyn Roberts of Gresham in her Big Sky Landscaping #T3 QRC machine. In heat race action Pendley would win the first one while heat two would go to Roles.

In the Adult Kart class Melissa Aicher from Keizer was able to seize the lead on the start and hold off Darren Brown for the win. It was a great race between the two Speedway Karts as Brown put the pressure on but Aicher cross the line first in her Bob’s OK Tire Store/G&S Machine Inc. #4 Trackmagic entry. Darren Brown of McMinnville was a respectable second in his Brown’s Lil’ Go-Kart Shop, World of Karting #7 Trackmagic machine. Aicher would win the first heat while heat two would go to Brown.

In the 250cc main event it looked like Vancouver, Washington’s Kyle Cormican was the car to beat but unfortunately he would get caught up in an incident on lap ten putting him to the back of the field. That would give the lead to Albany driver Eric Scofield also known as the “Scofield Kid”. Young Eric would stay out in front despite several restarts, and a couple of challenges, to win the first feature of the year piloting his Scofield’s Karts and Parts/Lassen RV/Human Bean Coffee #37 QRC Area-51 mount.

Salem’s Jared Lund was a close second driving the Dan’s Motorsports/James Gang Pizza/Scofield’s Karts and Parts #99 QRC and in third was Kyle Cormican in his Schram Brothers Excavating/Xtreme Motorsports/RSR Racercraft #113 RFC. Crossing the stripe in fourth would be Duke Johnson of Portland in the Luck O’ Johnny/Ole Black Daddy Foster Care/ Oregon Outlaws #151 RFC and fifth place was the Big Sky Landscaping #T3 QRC of Talyn Roberts. Cormican was the winner of heat one and heat two was Jared Lund.

Last but not least the Open Kage would put on a show. Bricen James of Albany was the early race leader but he would get sideways in the first set of turns on lap three handing over the lead to the “Iron Man” Kyle Fitch of Eugene. James would work his way from the back of the field to take over the top spot with a little over ten to go and put his James Gang Pizza/Rainbow Rentals/Lebanon Auto Body #13 SKE back in the winner’s circle.

Brenden Waterman of Bend grabbed second on the last lap in the High Desert Hydraulics/Xtreme Motorsports/Schram Brothers Excavating #29W RFC followed by Kyle Fitch in the Pacific Recycling/Johnny Fix-It/Tomlin’s Auto Service #35 QRC in third. Casey Starr from Sherwood was fourth in her R.S. Race Products/Big Sky Landscaping/Herz Precision Parts #13* RFC while fifth would go to Tillamook’s Anthony Imel driving his All Star Signs #4A QRC. Fitch was able to sweep the heats in Group B while splitting heat race victories in Group A were Waterman and James.

On Saturday May 3rd Willamette Speedway will host action on the 1/3-mile with the X-Factor Race Cars Super Late Models, Wirth Wireless IMCA Modifieds, Crocker’s Cars Super Sports, Albany & Eastern Railroad Sportsman, and Street Stocks all on the card. Pit Gates will open at 1:00 PM, the Pit Meeting will take place at 2:30, Front Gates open at 3:30, and Racing starts at 6:00. Tickets for this event are Adults $12.00, Seniors/Military/Juniors (13-18) $10.00, Youths (Ages 12-6) $5.00, and Children under the age of 5 are FREE and a family pass will be offered for two Adults and up to four Youths for just $35.00. The next Kart race is scheduled for Friday May 16th. For more information log on to www.trophymotorsports.com.

Race Summary
Friday May 2nd, 2014
2014 Season Opener
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, Oregon

5HP Intermediate/Open
A Feature: 1. 47-Carter Patterson; 2. 7-Austin Sause; 3. 55H-Connor Hanson; 4. 1W-Skyler Winebarger; 5. 44-Blake Boshart; 6. 21B-Bridgette Imel; 7. 92-Alex Roe

Pee Wee
A Feature: 1. 72-Jayden Trupp; 2. 47-Makayla Patterson; 3. 88-Nicholas Lundquist

Kids Speedway Karts
A Feature: 1. 17-Jayden Kimball

Adult Speedway Karts
A Feature: 1. 4-Melissa Aicher; 2. 7-Darren Brown

125's
A Feature: 1. 02-Kyle Roles; 2. 47-Trinity Pendley; 3. 18-Jadan Walbridge; 4. 55H-Connor Hanson; 5. T3-Talyn Roberts; 6. 6A-Dustin Asher

250's
A Feature: 1. 37-Eric Scofield; 2. 99-Jared Lund; 3. 113-Kyle Cormican; 4. 151-Duke Johnson; 5. T3-Talyn Roberts; 6. 199-Christian Osbourne

Open Kage
A Feature: 1. 13-Bricen James; 2. 29W-Brenden Waterman; 3. 35-Kyle Fitch; 4. 13*-Casey Starr; 5. 4A-Anthony Imel; 6. 5N-Kevin Hilgendorf; DNS 15-Cory Yeack; DNS 14-Megan Fitch; DNS 007-Caleb Henderson

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