Roden, Henry, Melton, And Batalgia Capture SSP Victories
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Ken O'Neil)
The second of race of the 2015 campaign would be completed at Sunset Speedway Park on Saturday April 25th. In addition to the Northwest Extreme Late Model Series local classes included the Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, IMCA Sport Mods, and 4-Bee's. The track was really fast and would produce some good hard racing.
Earl Claypool Jr. of Hillsboro would take over the early race lead in Street Stock competition. However Claypool, in the RC's Collision Center/JNR Construction #3 Camaro, would lose lead on lap two to Brian Roden from West Linn. Roden would be in dominant form and lead the rest of the distance to win his first race of the season for him and the JNR Construction/Molecular Motions #14 Camaro team.
Earl Claypool was second followed by the Ireland & Ireland at Law/Privateer Racing #88 Monte Carlo of John Ireland from Banks in third. Fourth would go to the Baker Racing #10 entry of James Baker while the In Memory of Desert Storm-Gulf War Veterans with PTSD/McCutcheon Fence/Darrel's Economy Muffler #32 Camaro of Robert Summerhalder of Portland was fifth.
In the Pure Stocks it looked as if Trevor LaBarge, from Forest Grove, was going to win the feature. The DVC Machine/Pure Addiction Diesel Performance/S&R Motorz #7 Camaro, of LaBarge, would grab the lead on lap four from Marcie Treat of Cornelius.
But by lap sixteen a new race leader would emerge and John Henry of Hillsboro now blazed the trail. The Ernest Racing/Henry Racing/TK's Auto Repair/Joe's Auto Body and Paint #68 Camaro, of Henry, would lead the rest of the way to win his first Pure Stock race of the season.
Marcie Treat would place her DVC Machine/Dave's Automotive/Transaction Transmission #02 Camaro in second and in third was the Luttrell's Trucking/Trask Mountain Outpost/Sweere's Trucking #53 Nova of Scott Hoodenpyl from Yamhill. Trevor LaBarge was fourth and Forest Grove's Kendall Lee was fifth in his Lee Racing #66 mount.
In the IMCA Sport Mods Michael Melton, hailing from Battle Ground, Washington, was the only car to start the feature. The Dan Jones Conveyor Trucks/Deanna Melton Reality/Hollywood's Custom Design/M&M Racing #04 Pro would win his first career feature. Ken Frisbie from Ocean Shores, Washington was the only other car to sign in but the Frisbie Motorsports #99 entry would wreck in the heat race that unfortunately brought a premature end to his night.
Last but not least was the 4-Bee division. Nathan Owen was the car to beat for much of the race in the Owen Racing #1 machine. Owen would lose the lead on lap twenty-six to Chris Batalgia of Forest Grove. The Sweere's Trucking/Auto-Inter Automotive/O'Reilly's Auto Parts #38 Dodge Neon of Batalgia would lead the remaining laps to win his second straight feature of the season.
The Mastrangelo Racing #00 Ford Probe of Mike Mastrangelo from Banks got second while in the third position was Rob Ferree of Vancouver, Washington in his Mudd Monkey Mobile Mix Concrete/Korner Street Bar & Grill/Eagle Creek Saloon #24 Acura Integra. Crossing the line in fourth was Lonnie Jackson of Molalla in the Luttrell's Trucking/Trask Mountain Outpost/Sweere's Trucking #13 while in fifth was the Wolfe Racing #8 of William Wolfe.
Sunset Speedway Park returns to racing on Saturday May 2nd. Classes will include the Budweiser IMCA Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, 4-Bee's, and the 2015 debut of the Open and Restricted 600cc Micro Sprints.
Pit Gates will open at 2:00 PM, Front Gates open at 4:00, and racing starts at 6:30. Tickets for this event are Adults $13.00, 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. For more information log on to www.sunsetspeedwaypark.com.
Race Summary:
Saturday April 25th, 2015
Sunset Speedway Park
Banks, Oregon
IMCA Sport Mods
A Feature: 1. 04-Michael Melton; DNS 99-Ken Frisbie
Street Stocks
A Feature: 1. 14-Brian Roden; 2. 3-Earl Claypool; 3. 88-John Ireland; 4. 10-James Baker; 5. 32-Robert Summerhalder; 6. 23-Bobby Morley; 7. 77-Clark McGary; 8. 19-Tony Catalano
Pure Stocks
A Feature: 1. 68-John Henry; 2. 02-Marcie Treat; 3. 53-Scott Hoodenpyl; 4. 7-Trevor LaBarge; 5. 66-Kendall Lee; 6. 58-Terry Houck
4-Bee's
A Feature: 1. 38-Chris Batalgia; 2. 00-Mike Mastrangelo; 3. 24-Rob Ferree; 4. 13-Lonnie Jackson; 5. 8-William Wolfe; 6. 19-Jason Gilman; 7. 1-Nathan Owens; 8. 7-Gary Jones; 9. 7C-Josh Corley; 10. 36-Greg Davidson; 11. 23-Damion Owens