5/30/2021
Cottage Grove Speedway
Thompson, Evans, James, Donofrio, And D. Comer Capture May 29th Wins At CGS
Thompson, Evans, James, Donofrio, And D. Comer Capture May 29th Wins At CGS
By Stephanie Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Cody Reeder)
Cottage Grove, Oregon- Cottage Grove Speedway hosted night one of two of their Memorial Day Weekend doubleheader on Saturday, May 29th. Five divisions were in attendance, including two Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing program classes. They included the Todd's Auto Body Sprint Cars, Northwest Focus Midget Series, IMCA Modifieds, Late Models, and the Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods.
The Todd's Auto Body Sprint Car main event was an incident-plagued affair. There was a total of eight stoppages, including two red flag incidents. After three attempts to get the first lap completed, Tyler Thompson got into the lead. Unfortunately, it happened to be no pleasure cruise for the Harrisburg racer as he had to deal with pressure from second place, lapped traffic, and several restarts.
Despite all of the factors, Thompson successfully was able to thwart all advances and overcome all obstacles. Tyler Thompson scored his third win of 2021 in the Todd's Auto Body Sprint Cars at Cottage Grove Speedway.
Winston's Tyrell Mead was an impressive runner-up while Kyle Alberding of Roseburg placed third. Jacksonville teenager Carley Holmes ended her night fourth, followed by Steven Snawder, also from Roseburg, completing the top five in fifth.
The Northwest Focus Midget Series made their first trip of the season to Cottage Grove Speedway. The Washington-based tour brought a healthy car count and was complimented with an exciting feature. The non-stop twenty-five-lap race began with Michael Vollbrecht seizing first place at the drop of the green flag.
The Shoreline, Washington chauffer of Vollbrecht, would find his hands full quickly as Nick Evans came to call to challenge him for supremacy of the field. From Granite Falls, Washington, Evans performed the pass to the front on lap seven and stayed there the rest of the way despite having to deal with traffic.
Michael Vollbrecht was a respectable second, with third being credited to Elma, Washington's Garrett Thomas. The rest of the top five comprised of Washington racers Alex Peck of Federal Way and Graham's Nik Larson, in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The twenty-five-lap IMCA Modified main event began with a couple of cautions before the competition could complete the first lap. However, once green flag action unfolded, Coburg's Jesse Williamson paced the pack. Williamson held on to the position until he was overtaken on lap seven.
Bricen James was the man to overtake Williamson and started to pull away from the field's main body. A late-race caution, on lap twenty-two, kept the cars all tightly knit together and set up a late-race restart. James, from Albany, held on to win his second race of the season at CGS and his first since April 23rd.
Bricen's triumphs have all been in KMJ Performance Oregon State and the Shaw Race Cars Western Region competition. Keizer racer John Campos and Curtis Towns, from Cottage Grove, were second and third. Jake Mayden, of Springfield, ended his night fourth while Stayton's Grey Ferrando came out of the B Main as well as an earlier set back from a flat tire to finish in fifth. Boring pilot Cody Jones won the consolation feature.
In the Late Model ranks, Rob Williams showed the way early. The Cottage Grove driver remained in front of the rest of the field until lap seven. That is when Salem's B.J. Donofrio performed the pass to obtain first place. Only one yellow flag occurred in the main event as Donofrio went on to win his first race of the campaign and became the fifth winner in as many races in the division this year.
In the Jerry and Mandee Casey-owned entry, Brian Smith was second at the line beating out third, finishing Jordan Wright of Toledo. Cottage Grove's Mike Peters, racing in his brother Ed's machine, ended the race fourth with Rob Campos, from Scio, behind him in fifth.
Finally, in the Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Theran Trissell was the initial race leader. Trissell of Springfield stayed in front until Ray Bloom got around him on lap three. Bloom, from Creswell, remained at the point before Travis Pruitt navigated his way around Ray on lap seven.
The Molalla racer of Pruitt kept his mount in front for a good while but was overtaken on lap eighteen shortly after a restart. Dustin Comer, from Springfield, was the driver to get around Pruitt and stayed there the rest of the way to win his second race of 2021.
The last time Comer had inhabited victory lane was at the Season Opener on April 3rd, and both wins have been in KMJ Performance Oregon State competition. Roseburg's Doug Coffman ended the night second while Shawn Hand of Springfield bounced back from an early race incident to get third. Jordan Henry, also from Roseburg, was fourth at the line, followed by deep-starting Springfield veteran, Mike DeSilva, grabbing fifth.
Cottage Grove Speedway returns to racing on Sunday, May 30th, for the second and final night of the doubleheader. Classes include the Todd's Auto Body Sprint Cars, Northwest Focus Midget Series, Street Stocks, IMCA Sport Compacts, and Senior Sprints. For more information, be sure and check out the track website and Facebook pages.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
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