By Ben Deatherage (Banks, OR) -- The Northwest Focus Midget Series heads to Sunset Speedway Park on Saturday, July 22nd. This will be the one and only appearance the series makes to the “Banks Bullring” in 2017 and is the second occasion they’ve visited the state of Oregon during the current campaign. It also marks the fourth race of the Summer Challenge and is the fifty-lap Heroes Race presented by Design 500 and Lady Eagle.
“After a weekend off, we are very excited for the upcoming event at Sunset Speedway, this will our fourth SUMMER CHALLENGE event for our series championship,” commented series co-owner, Carla Stewart, “after our first event, Michael Vollbrecht #4 ran the POINTS LEADER bright yellow visor, after the second it was found on the Tristin Thomas #9t, and after the third race for the championship, you will see the POINTS LEADER visor on the #21j Ryan Cully race car this weekend.”
The Northwest Focus Midget Series has visited SSP twice in the last two seasons. Chance Crum was victorious last year while Michael Vollbrecht got the job done in 2015.
Tristin Thomas has won the first two Summer Challenge events while Nate Vaughn picked up the huge win at Deming a few weeks ago. Thomas leads the overall win list this season, with five trips to victory lane, over Nick Evans’ three and two-time victor Chance Crum. Colton Heath, Ross Rankine, and the aforementioned Nate Vaughn are the only drivers to have won once. Around twenty-five cars are expected to be in attendance including Indiana’s Ross Rankine.
Along with the awesome series sponsors, the SUMMER CHALLENGE ten Race Series is powered by Bardahl, Central Welding, Demitris, and NWSprintcarhistory.com. NEW for this event is a special presentation/award for the 15th place finisher by BEAR4Life, fifteen is the age they lost their son to suicide, as a series we want to help share their story and to be aware, don't be shy asking questions, and tell someone if you think someone is at risk. We thank Kat and Dane Halbert for this very special award and their time spent with us on Saturday. Our drivers will have their NEW BEAR4Life Teen Suicide Prevention decals on their cars.
For all the latest news and info regarding the Northwest Focus Midget Series visit northwestfocusmidgets.com You can also get information via your favorite mobile device by checking out the Northwest Focus Midget Series page on Facebook or on Twitter @NW_focus. If you can’t make it to the races you can
Also Northwest Focus Midget Series t-shirts, hoodies, and hats are available for purchase at the series trailer.
Past Northwest Focus Midget Series Winners At Sunset Speedway Park:
2016- Chance Crum on July 23rd
2015- Michael Vollbrecht on August 1st
2017 Northwest Focus Midget Series Schedule:
Friday, April 14th-Deming Speedway-Deming, Washington-Nick Evans
Saturday, April 29th-Grays Harbor Raceway-Elma, Washington-Rained Out
Friday, May 5th-Deming Speedway-Deming, Washington-Rained Out
Saturday, May 6th-Skagit Speedway-Alger, Washington-Ross Rankine
Saturday, May 20th-Grays Harbor Raceway-Elma, Washington-Nick Evans
Saturday, May 27th-Southern Oregon Speedway-White City, Oregon (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 2)-Tristin Thomas
Friday, June 2nd-Deming Speedway-Deming, Washington-Colton Heath
Saturday, June 3rd-Skagit Speedway-Alger, Washington-Tristin Thomas
Saturday, June 10th-Grays Harbor Raceway-Elma, Washington (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 3)-Tristin Thomas
Friday, June 16th-Deming Speedway-Deming, Washington-Nick Evans
Thursday, June 22nd-Skagit Speedway-Alger, Washington-Tristin Thomas
Friday, June 23rd-Skagit Speedway-Alger, Washington-Tristin Thomas
Friday, June 30th-Grays Harbor Raceway-Elma, Washington - Fred Brownfield Classic-Chance Crum
Saturday, July 1st-Grays Harbor Raceway-Elma, Washington - Fred Brownfield Classic-Chance Crum
Friday, July 7th-Deming Speedway-Deming, Washington (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 4)-Nate Vaughn
Saturday, July 22nd-Sunset Speedway Park-Banks, Oregon (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 5)-Design 500/Lady Eagle Heroes Race (50 Laps)
Friday, July 28th-Deming Speedway-Deming, Washington
Saturday, July 29th-Skagit Speedway-Alger, Washington (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 6) Bob's Burgers & Brew 360 Nationals
Saturday, August 5th-Grays Harbor Raceway-Elma, Washington (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 7)
Friday, August 11th-Deming Speedway-Deming, Washington
Saturday, August 26th-Skagit Speedway-Alger, Washington (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 8)
Friday, September 1st-Skagit Speedway-Alger, Washington
Sunday, September 3rd-Grays Harbor Raceway-Elma, Washington
Friday, September 8th-Deming Speedway-Deming, Washington (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 1 Rain Date from 5/5)
Friday, September 29th-Silver Dollar Speedway-Chico, California (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 9) - Focus Fall Classic
Saturday, September 30th-Silver Dollar Speedway-Chico, California (SUMMER CHALLENGE Round 10) - Focus Fall Classic
Former Northwest Focus Midget Series Champions
2015- Tristan Thomas
2016- Nick Evans
Historical results and information can be found at http://www.nwsprintcarhistory.com
2017 Northwest Focus Midget Series Sponsors And Marketing Partners
ABS Business Data, Alger Bar & Grill, Arrow Motorsports, BR Motorsports, Bardahl, Central Welding, Demitris, DeYoungInc.com, Dirt Co. Media House, Elma Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Elma Lanes, Evans Gang, Golden Wheels, Highline Mfg. Inc., HighLine Performance, Highside Racing Promotions, JMS Engines, Jorgenson Manufacturing Inc., KRKO, Kimbridge, KINGS Race Products,MyTrafficMan.net, Landshark Media,nwsprintcarhistory.com, Northsound Racing, Olympic Machinery, OPC Exclusive, Pacific Performance Coating, PCI Powder Coating Inc., Purple Moon Promotions, ProFab Northwest LLC, Pyles Motorsports, RBN RacinBoys Broadcast Network, Robbie Price Racing, Scott Murdoch Motorsports, ShadowBrook Farms, Davidson Training, SpeedMart inc., Triple X Race Co., TrophyDash, VanDyne Engineering, Vics 66, WhirlyBall, WHR Motorsports, Washington Quarter Midget Association