7/25/2016
Cottage Grove Speedway
Mark Carrell Wins Final Night Of Mark Howard Memorial CGS Modified Nationals; Robustelli And Williamson Also Get Wins
Mark Carrell Wins Final Night Of Mark Howard Memorial CGS Modified Nationals; Robustelli And Williamson Also Get Wins
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Dirt Oval TV)
Cottage Grove, Oregon- Cottage Grove Speedway would host the second and final night of the 2016 Mark Howard Memorial CGS Modified Nationals on Saturday, July 23rd. As was the first night the Late Models, along with the Northwest Extreme Late Model Series, was the support class. However, the Street Stocks had the night off and in their stead was the Clark Printing Extreme Sprints.
In the fifty-two lap feature for the IMCA Modifieds Craig Hanson would obtain the lead on the opening lap. The Albany veteran would remain there for quite some time. Collen Winebarger, of Corbett, finally found a way around him on lap sixteen. At lap twenty-five, the red flag would be thrown to refuel the cars to finish the rest of the distance.
On the restart, for the second half of the race, Winebarger was the leader followed by Mark Carrell in second and Craig Hanson running third. Lap thirty-one would see another lead change but this time with Carrell making the pass around Winebarger. Carrell, of Redmond, would set a wicked pace but a caution with five laps to go would bunch everyone up one last time. On the ensuing restart Carrell kept all challengers in check and held on to win his first career Mark Howard Memorial CGS Modified Nationals.
Collen Winebarger was a respectable second followed by twenty-fourth starting Nick Trenchard, of Klamath Falls, in third. The rest of the top five would be made up of Eugene’s Jesse Williamson, in fourth, and fifth finishing Craig Hanson.
The top ten drivers in overall points from the first night were locked in the A Main and the rest of the drivers had to try and qualify via the heat races. Medford’s Mark Wauge, Kreg Britton from Cottage Grove, and Dustin Cady of Albany were the winners. Craig Hanson won the scramble to earn the pole starting position of the feature and the B-Main was won by Derrick Young of Hines.
In the Late Models, Jason Johnson got to the front on lap one. The Gresham driver would only hold down the position for just a single lap. Jesse Williamson, pulling off double duty and driving for car owner Jerry Schram, made a swift move around Johnson on the second lap. The only thing to slow Williamson down were three cautions which kept the field close. But each restart Williamson would retain the top spot. Williamson would go on to win the race for his first Late Model win at CGS this year and his third overall.
Ron Brewster, of Redmond, was the runner-up while Lebanon’s Josh Sim got third. David Schmidt, from Eugene, ended his night fourth, and Jason Johnson got fifth.
Jesse Williamson was fast time of the night in time trials while Eugene veteran Chuck Christian won the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash. Williamson and Salem’s Britton Donahoo were the two heat race winners.
In the Clark Printing Extreme Sprints, it was all about Camden Robustelli. Robustelli, from Medford, was on rails for the feature. Utilizing the bottom of the track he was at one time half a lap ahead of second place. The southern Oregon youngster would hit some heavy lapped traffic but with the luxury of such a large interval over the rest of the field, and no cautions coming out, he would go unchallenged. It would Robustelli’s first win of the season and second of his career at “The Grove”.
Cottage Grove’s Patrick Dills placed second and Ricky Ashley, of Thurston, we behind him in third at the line. Raquel Ivie, from Eugene, crossed the wire in fourth while Harrisburg teenager Tyler Thompson finished in fifth.
Patrick Dill was fast time of the night and Raquel Ivie was the winner of the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy Dash. Heat race winners were Roseburg’s Dusty Redmond and Ricky Ashley.
Cottage Grove Speedway gets back to racing action on Saturday, July 30th for the Froggy 44 Hornet Tribute To Mel. This is the biggest Quality RV Repair Hornet race of 2016 at CGS and is ran in honor of Melvin Walker. In addition to the Hornets racing, there will also be Clark Printing Extreme Sprints, Late Models, and IMCA Sport Mods.
Times for Saturday are Pit Gates open at 2:00 PM, Front Gates 4:00, and Racing is scheduled to start around 6:30. Tickets are Adults $13.00, Juniors/Seniors $10.00, Youth (6-12) $5.00, Family Pass $30.00, and Children 5 or under are FREE. As will happen all year long in honor of our 60th Anniversary the 60th fan through the Front Gate gets in for FREE. For more information log on to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage