6/1/2021
Cottage Grove Speedway
Bryant Wins Froggy 44 Tribute To Mel Walker; T. Holmes, Evans, T. Swaim, And Ellertson Also May 30th Winners
Bryant Wins Froggy 44 Tribute To Mel Walker; T. Holmes, Evans, T. Swaim, And Ellertson Also May 30th Winners
By Stephanie Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Cody Reeder)
Cottage Grove, Oregon- For the second consecutive evening, Cottage Grove Speedway was in action on Sunday, May 30th. It was the final night of their Memorial Day Weekend doubleheader. Like the night before, five classes were on the docket, including just one a part of the Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing Program. Divisions on hand were the Todd’s Auto Body Sprint Cars, Northwest Focus Midget Series, Street Stocks, IMCA Sport Compacts, and Senior Sprints.
The IMCA Sport Compacts were the headliner of the night. The evening was specially reserved for the rescheduled Froggy 44 Tribute To Mel Walker. The forty-four-lap affair started with Tiffany Towns, from Cottage Grove, leading the opening lap. Burnie Bryant maneuvered his way past Towns by the completion of the second circuit.
Things would intensify as the race went on. Brad Moffett came to call on lap nine and took over the lead from Sutherlin’s Bryant. Moffett, of Eugene, blazed the trail for the field for quite some time. However, Burnie Bryant managed to reclaim the first-place position by lap thirty.
Despite six stoppages, including two red flag incidents, Burnie Bryant kept his mount in front of the rest of the competition to win his fourth victory of 2021. All his success has been at Cottage Grove Speedway and KMJ Performance Oregon State action and is his first win since May 8th. This happened to be the first occasion that the IMCA Sport Compacts had ran the Froggy 44 Tribute To Mel Walker as all previous editions featured the old Hornet division.
Dexter driver Brad Martin was the runner up followed by Brad Moffett, in third. Jack Vicari, from Eugene, ended the night fourth over fifth, finishing Andrew Langan of Jasper and in the Randy Kuhl entry.
For the Todd’s Auto Body Sprints, it was a stop-and-go main event. Seven stoppages were to be had, including the red flag being displayed twice. Things got started with Shady Cove chauffeur David Marble taming the field on the opening start. Junction City’s Shane Forte became the new leader the next trip past the flag stand.
Forte would receive some pressure from Kyle Alberding. The Roseburg youngster of Alberding captured first place on the fourth circuit. However, he could not get too far out from the rest of the pack as the competition slowed down five times between laps five and fourteen.
On lap fourteen restart, Kyle Alberding felt the heat by Tanner Holmes, who started fifteenth. By lap fifteen, Holmes was on top of the leaderboard. He stayed there the rest of the way and is the fourth different Todd’s Auto Body Sprint Car main event winner in six races.
Kyle Alberding held on to second as Steve Snawder, from Roseburg, was behind him, in third. The rest of the top five comprised Shane Forte and Roseburg’s Don Waddell, in fourth and fifth.
When it came to the Northwest Focus Midget Series, Nik Larson showed the way at the drop of the green banner. The Graham, Washington gasser remained ahead of everyone else until slipping back to second on lap eleven. Lake Stevens, Washington veteran, managed to maneuver his way around Larson, but he was by no means out of the woods.
Jacobson experienced a ton of pressure from several cars, including the previous night’s winner Nick Evans. Evans, of Granite Falls, Washington, was the first car to the stripe on lap eighteen.
The main event witnessed three incidents which all required the red flag to be displayed. However, despite the massive pressure from several cars chasing him, Nick Evans stayed clutch and won the second night in a row at the historic ¼-mile clay oval.
Travis Jacobson was a respectable second while Elma, Washington traveler Garrett Thomas again was third. Grabbing fourth for the second straight night would be Alex Peck, from Federal Way, Washington, followed by Arlington, Washington’s Levi Harless, in fifth.
Jordan Tillery of La Pine showed the way in the first few laps of the Street Stock feature. After a lap two restart, Tillery was overtaken by Taunton Swaim. The Dexter racer of Swaim was mighty quick despite having to deal with a few restarts due to cautions.
Despite the stoppages, Tauton Swaim went on to win his first race of the year. There have been eight races producing five different winners.
Sherwood’s Marc Farrar was the runner-up, and Graig Osborne, from Creswell, was scored third. Eugene native Adam Applebee and Michael Hollingsworth of Creswell were fourth and fifth.
Lastly, the Senior Sprints had their first race of 2021. The only racing they took part in was their main event at the very end of the night. Nate Ellerston, from Cottage Grove, was the first driver to the checkered flag to earn the victory.
Cottage Grove Speedway returns to racing on Saturday, June 5th for Kids Night. Kids 12 and Under get into the races for FREE and there will be a massive bicycle giveaway. 360 Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, Royalty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Street Stocks, and IMCA Sport Compacts will all be in action. For more information, log on to the track website or keep an eye on the Facebook page.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
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