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Roger Crockett at Cottage Grove Speedway on Saturday. MadMann photo

Crockett smokes NWWT sprints at Cottage Grove
Andrew Kunas, NWWT Publicist

COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. - If you’re Roger Crockett, winning never gets old. It’s even better when you’re out of your element. Running without the wings for just the second time in his career, Crockett took the checkers in the NorthWest Wingless Tour 360 sprint car Summer Shootout event at Cottage Grove Speedway on Saturday night.

Ironically, Crockett also won his first time out in a non-wing car. However, that September show at Willamette Speedway was a on a very dry slick track where he needed to just carefully idle around the bottom of the track. Saturday at Cottage Grove, he was kept busy by a tacky, fast and challenging track.

“It was fun, and I wanted that wing back on,” Roger joked about the differences between running with the wing and without, and the difficulties he dealt with despite his clear talent as a race car driver. In fact, Crockett also raced in the local winged 360 sprint car class that evening, in the very same car. Crockett and crew were kept busy all evening, installing and removing wings and changing setups back and forth, but the Medford, Ore. driver finished second in that main event before he removed the wings and won the NWWT main event in the SKS Racing No. 11 Shaver-powered KPC.

Crockett started the 30-lap feature in the fourth position and jumped up to second place on the start. Going after early leader Keary Morris of Portland, Crockett caught him on Lap 3 as Morris bobbled slightly as he was going through Turn 2 on the high side. That was all Crockett needed as he motored past Morris to the inside as they exited the turn. From there, Crockett proceeded to lap everyone except the top six finishers. There were a couple of close calls along the way as he once brushed the back stretch wall and later made contact with a lapped car, in addition to dealing with his unfamiliarity with non-wing racing.

“It was definitely different from Lebanon, where I just had to idle it around the bottom,” Crockett said. “Here, I had to drive the heck out of it. You hit a rut, and without the wings there’s nothing holding the car down, and you bounce a bit. It’s a whole lot different on these wet, rough tracks than when it’s dry.”

Eugene’s Kyle Miller, who started outside Morris on the front row, would finish second in the Scott Miller No. 10 Springer-powered XXX. Morris, who entered the evening only one point behind points leader Kyler Barraza, earned a third place finish in his No. 11x Chevy-powered Eagle. Both drivers were generally happy with their evenings and accepting of Crockett just being a really good driver.

“Roger’s tough,” said Miller, whose runner-up was his second podium finish in three NWWT starts. “I thought I had a chance to close in on Roger with about five laps to go, but with like three laps to go I hit a hole and bicycled the car. I got it back on all fours and just rolled it to the finish.”

With Barraza, who won the first two NorthWest Wingless Tour event, dropping out with problems on his car and finishing 17th, Morris has likely taken over the points lead after earning his third Top 5 finish in as many starts.

“This the best the car’s been,” said Morris, whose finishes have come despite a less than stellar handling car in each main event. “The crew’s been working really hard. They are getting it better. A lot of things we’re learning this year. On these rough tracks, coil-overs don’t work well. It takes a lot of forward bite, and you lose the front end. We fell back to fifth, got back to third. Lappers were a big issue, Crockett was fast.”

Mark Nichols of Eagle Creek, Ore. had his best finish this season with his fourth place effort in his own No. 64 T-Mac powered Rocket. Many-time Cottage Grove Speedway champion Dale Smith, running without the wings for just the second time, was running third until contact with a lapped car bent a radius rod on his car. Under yellow, Smith went to the work area to replace that radius rod and came back out. Only six cars were on the lead lap at the time so Smith didn’t lose many positions and he did come back to finish fifth in the closing laps in his brother Marvin’s No. 41 Rodgers-powered Rocket.

Theo McCarty of Hillsboro, Ore. was the last car on the lead lap, taking sixth in the Roy Crouch No. 24 Maxim. After suffering a concussion in a crash two weeks before at the same track, Jeff Rivers of Lebanon, Ore. returned to finish seventh in the John Rivers No. 45 Chevy-powered Rocket. Joe Bosso Jr. took eighth in the Bosso Racing No. 69 S&J-powered Gambler. Rookie Sammy Wright was ninth in the Sam Wright No. 1w Chevy-powered Zeitler and Mark Herz rounded out the Top 10 in his own No. 28 Howard-powered F-5.

Nineteen laps were completed before Mike Morris brought out the main event’s first caution on Lap 20 when he came to a stop in Turn 2 when his engine spewed some flames and things got a little warm for him. Morris did escape the car unharmed. Only two more stoppages to racing came the rest of the way, both for cars spinning around after collisions with competitors.

Barraza started the evening by setting fast time in qualifying with a time of 12.944 seconds around the ¼-mile, high-banked clay oval. He would also win the trophy dash race over Miller and Nichols. Heat race victories went to Bosso, Davis and Crockett. Sammy Wright won the B-Main and took Herz, Kyle Mehner and Sterling Kane with him to the A-Main.

Saturday’s event was to the be the second night of the NWWT’s first annual Summer Shootout Series. Points were to be tallied over the two nights and bonus money was to be paid to the Top 5 point scorers. With Friday’s event at Willamette Speedway rained out, half the money was paid to the first five finishers in Saturday’s main event at Cottage Grove Speedway. Combining the bonus money with the track purse, Crockett’s victory was worth $1,050. Wright earned $150 for the hard charger award.

The other half of the Summer Shootout Series bonus money will be paid at a later race this season. The NorthWest Wingless Tour hopes to make an announcement soon.

The next currently scheduled event in the inaugural season for the NorthWest Wingless Tour is Saturday, July 18th at Cottage Grove Speedway. More information on the NorthWest Wingless Tour can be found online at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com.

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Kyle Miller - Docs Photos

NWWT Summer Shootout Series sponsors

Bridgetown Electric
Competition Motorsports
Herz Precision Parts
Tire Factory Of Oregon
Maxline Custom Cases
JS Perrot Company
R.G.C. Enterprises
Chapman Auto

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NorthWest Wingless Tour
Summer Shootout
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, OR
June 6, 2009

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

NON-WING 360 SPRINT CARS

23 cars

Fast qualifier: 87 Kyler Barraza, 12.944 seconds

Dash (4 laps): 1. 87 Kyler Barraza, 2. 10 Kyle Miller, 3. 64 Mark Nichols, DNS - 11 Roger Crockett.

Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 69 Joe Bosso Jr., 2. 22 Mike Romig, 3. 28 Mark Herz, 4. 7k Kyle Mehner, 5. 2k Sterling Kane, 6. 4 Forrest Meadows, 7. 5 Roy Crouch, DNS - KR14 Tyler Spath.

Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 30 Gary Davis, 2. 24 Theo McCarty, 3. 7 Dylan Olsen, 4. 1w Sammy Wright, 5. 16 Nick Tomlinson, 6. 14 Mike Morris, DNS - 18 Mike Carrothers.

Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 11 Roger Crockett, 2. 11x Keary Morris, 3. 10 Kyle Miller, 4. 87 Kyler Barraza, 5. 41 Dale Smith, 6. 45 Jeff Rivers, 7. 64 Mark Nichols.

B-Main (6 laps, time): 1. 1w Sammy Wright, 2. 28 Mark Herz, 3. 7k Kyle Mehner, 4. 2k Sterling Kane, 5. 22 Mike Romig, 6. 4 Forrest Meadows, DNS - 01 Jeff "Ozzie" Osburn, 5 Roy Crouch, KR14 Tyler Spath. First four f

A-Main (30 laps): 1. 11 Roger Crockett, 2. 10 Kyle Miller, 3. 11x Keary Morris, 4. 64 Mark Nichols, 5. 41 Dale Smith, 6. 24 Theo McCarty, 7. 45 Jeff Rivers, 8. 69 Joe Bosso Jr., 9. 1w Sammy Wright, 10. 28 Mark Herz, 11. 7 Dylan Olsen, 12. 30 Gary Davis, 13. 16 Nick Tomlinson, 14. 7k Kyle Mehner, 15. 2k Sterling Kane, 16. 14 Mike Morris, 17. 87 Kyler Barraza, DNS - 18 Mike Carrothers.

Lap leaders: Keary Morris 1-2, Roger Crockett 3-30

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NWWT: The NorthWest Wingless Tour
http://www.nwwinglesstour.com

Evan Margeson (left) and Justin Grant (right). Docs Photos

Margeson holds off Grant, is 2-for-2 in NWWT midgets
Andrew Kunas, NWWT Publicist

COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. - Evan Margeson had to work for it this time, but in the end he caught the right breaks at the right time and held off a determined Justin Grant to win his second NorthWest Wingless Tour midget main event in as many starts, and this is also only his second start in a dirt midget.

For the Tacoma, Wash. driver it was only a qualifying time short of a second clean sweep as well. The former Washington Midget Racing Association champion has gotten comfortable racing on the dirt, also winning the dash and his heat race before an exciting battle with former Bay Cities Racing Association champion Justin Grant in the main event.

Margeson started on the pole for the 20-lap NWWT Summer Shootout feature and immediately took the lead on the start. The fourth starting Grant, an 18-year-old Ione, Calif. star making his first visit to Cottage Grove Speedway, established himself in the second position and chased Margeson the entire race. On three instances did Grant make a serious challenge for the lead.

Grant first challenged Margeson on a restart with five laps complete and the California driver was held at bay by the Washington driver. Then with 11 laps complete, Margeson was slowed as he tried to lap Steve Veltman. That allowed Grant to scoot by to take the lead, only to see his pass negated by a yellow flag for the literally red hot piece of debris that came off of Mike Gehringer’s midget.

Another restart was needed with just a few laps remaining and Grant again got inside of Margeson, only to see Margeson slam the door shut one more time and hold on for the win in the Margeson Racing No. 50 Esslinger-powered Beast. Margeson’s win in the inaugural NWWT midget main event on May 23rd came by a comfortable margin.

“It feels pretty good really,” Margeson said about being 2-for-2 on the dirt. “The first one was nice, but this feels good as there were the California guys here. It was fun, nerve wracking at times (trying to hold off Grant).”

Grant was one of three BCRA drivers, all of them former champions of that series, who made the tow up from California for the NWWT’s first annual Summer Shootout Series. Friday’s event at Willamette Speedway was rained out. Grant, driving the Dave Thurston No. 17 Esslinger-powered Spike, admitted he still had fun on this trip to Oregon and said he liked racing at Cottage Grove Speedway.

“I was fired up,” Grant jokingly said about the moment the yellow flag came out to negate his pass around Margeson that would’ve been for the lead. “Once I showed him the bottom a couple of times, he moved down. It was still fun. We got the car going in the feature after we struggled a bit in the heat race.”

Another BCRA champion finished third, giving California two spots on the podium. John Sarale of Stockton took the spot in his own No. 32 Ford-powered Stealth, also in his first visit to Cottage Grove Speedway. Pavement-to-dirt convert Dallas Melby of Ravensdale, Wash. finished fourth in the Tom & Judy Maples No. 98 Fontana-powered Stealth. Rob Lindsey of Wilsonville was Oregon’s highest finisher as he took fifth place in his own No. 23 Pontiac-powered Ellis.

Doug McVae finished sixth in the Ron Brown No. 14 Ford-powered Challenger and Tyler Steenslid was seventh in the Keith Steenslid No. 37 Chevy-powered Stanton. Seven-time BCRA champion Floyd Alvis of St. Carlos, Calif. took eighth place in his own No. 18 Wesmar-powered Stealth. Veltman was ninth in his own No. 6 Pontiac-powered Gambler and Steve Dickenson rounded out the Top 10 in his own No. 99 Pontiac-powered Edmonds.

Alvis, who has raced at Cottage Grove Speedway in the past, set a new Cottage Grove Speedway track record for midget cars in qualifying with a time of 12.34 seconds around the ¼-mile high-banked clay oval.

The NWWT midget trophy dash was a dash of champions, consisting of Margeson from WMRA and Alvis, Grant and Sarale from BCRA. Margeson would win that four-lap event over Sarale, Grant and Alvis. Mitch Hoffses won the first heat and Margeson took the checkered flag in the second heat race.

Saturday’s program was the second night of the two-night NWWT Summer Shootout Series. Points were to be tallied over two nights and bonus money was to be paid to the top five point scorers. With Friday’s event at Willamette Speedway being rained out, half of the bonus money was paid to Saturday’s Top 5 in the main event. Combining the bonus money and the track payout, Margeson earned $650 for his efforts.

The other half of the bonus money will be paid out at an event later this season. The NorthWest Wingless Tour hopes to make an announcement about that event in the near future.

More information on the NorthWest Wingless Tour can be found online at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com.

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NWWT Summer Shootout Series sponsors

Bridgetown Electric
Competition Motorsports
Herz Precision Parts
Tire Factory Of Oregon
Maxline Custom Cases
JS Perrot Company
R.G.C. Enterprises
Chapman Auto


John Sarale. Docs Photos

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NorthWest Wingless Tour
Summer Shootout
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, OR
June 6, 2009

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

OPEN MIDGETS

15 cars

Fast qualifier: 18 Floyd Alvis, 12.34 seconds

Dash (4 laps): 1. 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 32 John Sarale, 3. 17 Justin Grant, 4. 18 Floyd Alvis.

Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 5m Mitch Hoffses, 2. 99 Steve Dickenson, 3. 37 Tyler Steenslid, 4. 23 Rob Lindsey, 5. 14 Doug McVae, 6. 6 Steve Veltman, 7. 98x Jim Calhoun, DNS - 15 Peter Bittrolf

Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 32 John Sarale, 3. 17 Justin Grant, 4. 18 Floyd Alvis, 5. 98 Dallas Melby, 6. 27 Mike Gehringer, 7. 5 Glenn Bittrolf.

Feature (20 laps): 1. 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 17 Justin Grant, 3. 32 John Sarale, 4. 98 Dallas Melby, 5. 23 Rob Lindsey, 6. 14 Doug McVae, 7. 37 Tyler Steenslid, 8. 18 Floyd Alvis, 9. 6 Steve Veltman, 10. 99 Steve Dickenson, 11. 98x Jim Calhoun, 12. 5m Mitch Hoffses, 13. 27 Mike Gehringer, 14. 15 Peter Bittrolf, DNS - 5 Glenn Bittrolf.

Lap leaders: Evan Margeson 1-20

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NWWT: The NorthWest Wingless Tour
http://www.nwwinglesstour.com