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NWWT HOLDS PRE-SEASON KICKOFF MEETING
April 05, 2009
PORTLAND, Oregon — The NorthWest Wingless Tour held its pre-season kickoff meeting Saturday afternoon in Portland, Ore. Even better, food was served.
The NWWT board and general members convened to discuss several topics, including formats and insurance, and several drivers were on hand, some of them meeting each other for the first time, and midget car owner Keith Steenslid had the grill nice and hot, serving up hamburgers and bratwursts.
Sprint car drivers on hand included Mike Morris, Nick Tomlinson, Mark Nichols, Marz Herz, Gary Davis and Joe Bosso Jr. Midget drivers included Doug McVae, Allison Journey, Mitch Hoffses and Dallas Melby. The NWWT got as many driver profiles as they could on Saturday in preparation for the upcoming season.
Journey, a 17-year-old Springfield, Ore. driver already established in Ford Focus midgets but new to full blown midgets, was also confirmed on Saturday afternoon as the driver of the No. 11x midget owned by Morris, who will be piloting the No. 14 Ron Brown-owned sprint car in 2009. Morris, who won the Salem Indoor title in his midget this past winter, himself will be new to sprint cars, joining his father and former champion Keary Morris. After the meeting, Morris spent time familiarizing Journey with her new ride, which was sitting next to Mike’s sprint car ride inside the Competition Motorsports shop.
Another newcomer will be Kelso, Wash. driver Dylan Olsen, who will be a rookie in the NWWT sprint car division. Tyler Steenslid, a standout dwarf car racer, will also race in the NWWT midget division driving a car owned by his father Keith.
Bob Farwell, the new owner of the Cottage Grove Speedway, was also on hand to meet with NorthWest Wingless Tour drivers, who will be racing at his ¼-mile clay oval near Eugene, Ore. several times. The NWWT sprint cars will open the season on Saturday, April 25th at the track’s annual Grove Classic event.
Also to the delight of the midget teams on hand, the NWWT announced it has secured another race for them on September 5th at Cottage Grove, the same night the sprint cars are in Washington. The fans at Cottage Grove Speedway will get to enjoy the NWWT midgets on seven occasions this season.
NWWT teams also expect to compete in Cottage Grove Speedway’s Non-Wing Nationals, which the track has scheduled for Saturday, September 26th, one week before the NWWT closes its inaugural season on Saturday, October 3rd at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore.
The NorthWest Wingless Tour currently has ten sprint car events and nine midget events scheduled at three different tracks in Oregon and Washington. The season is set to open on April 25th at Cottage Grove Speedway. A temporary website has also been set up at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com.
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NWWT Schedule
Sprint cars
April 25 - Cottage Grove Speedway - Cottage Grove, OR (Grove Classic)
May 23 - Cottage Grove
June 5 - Willamette Speedway - Lebanon, OR (Strawberry Cup)
June 6 - Cottage Grove
June 27 - Cottage Grove
July 18 - Cottage Grove
August 15 - Cottage Grove
September 5 - Grays Harbor Raceway - Elma, WA (Big E Weekend)
September 12 - Cottage Grove
October 3 - Willamette (Lebanon Fall Classic)
Midgets
May 23 - Cottage Grove
June 5 - Willamette (Strawberry Cup)
June 6 - Cottage Grove
June 27 - Cottage Grove
July 18 - Cottage Grove
August 15 - Cottage Grove
September 5 - Cottage Grove
September 12 - Cottage Grove
October 3 - Willamette (Lebanon Fall Classic)
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