Walters, Carrell, O’Neil, And Westcott Visit Sunset Speedway Park Victory Lane
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Ken O’Neil)
Sunset Speedway Park was back in action after taking Labor Day Weekend off. The “Banks Bullring” would feature four exciting divisions which included the Northwest Extreme Late Model Series, IMCA Modifieds, WRS Late Model Lites, and the Pure Stocks.
The Northwest Extreme Late Model Series made their return to SSP for the first time in over a month. The Reser’s Fine Foods/Wayne Martin Floor Covering #99 of Warren’s Brad Martin would be the car to beat in the early stages. Martin would lead the first thirteen laps before being passed by Greg Walters from Banks.
Walters, who has won the last four series races, would dominate the field for the rest of the distance. Leading the remainder of the feature Walters would leave only four cars, including himself, on the lead lap. It would be the eighth time this year that the T&G Trucking/American Landscaping #97 Victory Circle of Walters has won with the Northwest Extreme Late Model Series.
The Ireland & Ireland at Law #8 of fellow Banks driver Rob Ireland was second while Corbett’s Collen Winebarger in his Discount Race Car Parts/All In Property Investments/Hillsboro Vac & Sew #1 MasterSbilt finished third. Brad Martin would end his evening in the fourth position followed by the Schram Brothers Excavating/Century III Stables/BDR Racing #16 MasterSbilt of Jerry Schram in fifth.
Leading the entire distance in the IMCA Modifieds was Mark Carrell for his second win at SSP in 2013. The Redmond native would take full advantage of his outside pole starting position to seize the lead on the first lap and take off. The only thing that would slow down the Mark’s Auto Body/Gray’s Automotive #27 GRT by Phillips would be a handful of cautions. With the win Carrell would become the first driver in 2013 to win more than once in the IMCA Modified division.
The MNT Transport/M.T. Bell Construction/Waste Management #21 Harris of Tigard driver Mark Reser would end up in the runner-up spot while third was Kenny Miller of Vancouver, Washington in his VP Braille Services/Race 2A Cure/Jody’s Bar & Grill #57 TRE. The rest of the top five would see two other Vancouver, Washington chauffeurs Aaron Elwess and his #27E mount end the night in fourth followed by Robert Jenner in the Extreme Auto Repair/Dancin’ Bare/Eric’s Frame Repair #5R Shaw.
The Pure Stocks were on hand for their second exhibition race of the year. The #53 of Terry Houck from Yamhill would set the pace early before losing the top spot on lap two. Taking over the desired position would be Vancouver, Washington’s Danny O’Neil in the #96. O’Neil would dominate the field and blazed the trail the rest of the way to pick up the victory.
Banks driver Bob McGrotty was second in his #23 followed by the #33 of Jim Peterson in third. Terry Houck was fourth while Jim Biggs ended his night in the #22 in fifth.
The WRS Late Model Lites were back in the house and it was Bob Westcott of Milwaukie taking care of business. Navigating his way through the field Westcott would have the lead by lap six and cruise the rest of the way in his Fab Tek/Vision Graphics/Royal Purple #93. Westcott would dominate the rest of the way leaving just the second place finisher on the lead lap.
Dennis Pittsenbarger of Portland was the only driver left on the lead lap in the Royal Purple/Gumout/Brembo Brakes #94 MasterSbilt while crossing the line in third was the Brian Luzny-Keller Williams Real Estate/Morgan Stanley Financial/Dick’s Towing #10 Klemcheck of Medford’s Nolan Fincher. The #3 of Randall Hansen would end up fourth while in fifth was the #36 of Don Brewster.
Sunset Speedway Park will be back in action this Saturday September 14th. Classes on hand for competition include the Northwest Wingless Tour, IMCA Modifieds, Northwest Extreme Modifieds, Street Stocks, and 4-Bees. It will be the final race of the year for the Northwest Wingless Tour, IMCA Modifieds, and 4-Bees. For more information log on to www.sunsetspeedwaypark.com.