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Lemley scores NSCS victory at Skagit
Andrew Kunas, NSCS Publicist
ALGER, Wash. – Brock Lemley was not a happy man on Friday, having a winning pass taken away from him by a yellow flag. On Saturday, Lemley turned that frown upside down in a big way, scoring the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series victory at Skagit Speedway.
The popular Lemley, out of Bellingham, Wash. inherited the lead when Langley's Travis Rutz tangled with the slower car of Danielle Huson in turn four on lap 29 of the 40-lap feature. Lemley was challenged once by Medford's Roger Crockett but held his ground and took the victory aboard the Kentch Bros. No. 40 Triple X with their own motor under the hood.
Lemley is a regular competitor in Skagit's weekly 410 sprint car program, also taking a victory at the track's opening night. After he inherited the lead, Lemley was unaware for the most part where the other cars were behind him.
"I didn't know for a while who was back there after Rutz crashed," said Lemley, who was more than happy with the car he also finished second in on Friday.
"That car worked great on the bottom and the top," Lemley said. "I couldn't ask for a better car."
Crockett, the four-time Northern Sprint Tour champion and current NSCS points leader, finished second aboard the Henderson Motorsports No. 7N Eagle with a Bailey Bros. engine.
The same crash with Rutz also victimized third place runner Brendan Boyce of Cottage Grove, Ore. Boyce, driving the Rick Boyce No. 65 Maxim with an Ostrich engine, was running the race of his life and was in a fierce battle with Lemley for second. When Rutz and Huson tangled in turn four of the 3/10-mile, high-banked clay oval, Boyce was unable to avoid, making contact with one of the cars and shredding his right rear tire.
Crockett, who started third and was running the top five throughout the event, moved from fourth to second as a result of Rutz's and Boyce's misfortunes. Crockett dove low inside Lemley going into turn one, but was cut off by Lemley on lap 31. Crockett lost ground and was not able to challenge again, even with the final caution on lap 32 putting him back on Lemley's rear.
Crockett, however, extended his points lead with Rutz, the third place point man, and Oregon's Billy Nutter, second in points, both crashing out. With only a lap complete, the fifth starting Nutter tangled with third place finisher Robbie Vaughn in turn three, breaking Nutter's front suspension.
Vaughn, out of Snohomish, Wash. escaped the encounter unscathed and continued in the Jeff Jansma-owned No. 4r Becker chassis with a Becker motor. LaConner, Wash. driver Evan Funk, who had difficult times in recent weeks in both sprint cars and midgets, capped off a solid weekend with a fourth-place finish. Staying out of trouble in the crash-filled A-Main, Funk backed up his sixth-place finish from Friday aboard the Gary Funk-owned No. 8e Rocket with a Shark engine.
Local star Jason Bloodgood, having won the weekly 360 sprint car feature at Skagit the last two weeks, finished fifth aboard John Beard's No. 38 Rocket with a Fauver motor. Defending 410 sprint car track champion Travis Jacobson took over Roger Oudman's ride and finished sixth aboard the No. 7o Eagle with a Shark motor.
Brian Kirkpatrick, Seth Bergman, Tayler Malsam and Henry Van Dam rounded out the top ten. Van Dam stopped on the track earlier in the race and was taken to the pit area. Coming back out, Van Dam recovered to earn a top ten finish.
Boyce was scored with a 12th place finish. Friday NSCS main event winner Mitch Olson of Puyallup, Wash. was running fourth when he dropped out of the race with rear end problems. Olson was credited with a 13th place finish. Rutz was scored 14th and Huson 15th. Idaho standout Joe Ramaker was 18th and Nutter was scored 20th.
Rutz's accident on lap 29 capped off a rough weekend for the rising 19-year-old star. Rutz, starting on the front row of Friday's feature, also crashed early in the race and then raced back to 11th with a wing borrowed, ironically, from Boyce. On Saturday, Rutz failed to transfer out of his heat race and had to race into the A-Main from the B-Main.
Vaughn won the 15-lap B-Main event, and got his qualifying time back to start seventh. Rutz followed him into the big show with Malsam and Huson. Huson passed Greg Sandquist for the fourth and final transfer spot after Sandquist was held up by a slower car.
Rookie Jon Farrell won the shortened C-Main event, heading to the B-Main with Steve Dyer and Ernie Seager.
Olson took win in the six-lap dash, which set the first six starting positions for the A-Main. Boyce was second, followed by Crockett, Lemley, Nutter and Funk.
For the second time in three NSCS events so far this season, Crockett set fast time in qualifying, circling Skagit Speedway in 12.005 seconds. Picking up victories in the ten-lap heat races were Bloodgood, Van Dam, Jacobson, and Rob Held.
The next events for the NSCS are in Oregon on Memorial Weekend. Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. hosts on Friday, May 25. On Saturday, May 26 Southern Oregon Speedway near Medford welcomes the NSCS. The NSCS caps the weekend off on Sunday, May 27 when the series visits Cottage Grove Speedway near Eugene.
More information on the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series can be found online at www.racenscs.com.
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Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
Skagit Speedway
Alger, WA
May 12, 2007
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
40 cars
Fast qualifier: 7n Roger Crockett, 12.005 seconds
Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 68 Rod Held, 2. 7N Roger Crockett, 3. 5k Brian Kirkpatrick, 4. 8e Evan Funk, 5. 19 Greg Sandquist, 6. 26f Shane Forte', 7. 32s Shawn Smith, 8. 66 Jason Cocking, 9. 9a Steve Dyer, 10. 12 Jared Ridge. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. 7o Travis Jacobson, 2. 91 Derek Ingalls, 3. 3N Billy Nutter, 4. 40 Brock Lemley, 5. 23n Andy Jacobson, 6. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 7. 75 Dale Smith, 8. 44h Michael Harris, 9. 69p Rod Perkins, 10. 72x Karl Blumenhagen. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 33v Henry Van Dam, 2. 98m Mitch Olson, 3. 7d Josh DeWitt, 4. 65 Brendan Boyce, 5. 3p Dan Pierson, 6. 26 Tayler Malsam, 7. 73 Danielle Huson, 8. 5x Chuck Ashe, 9. 9f Ernie Seager, 10. 22 Blake Cook. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 4 (10 laps): 1. 38 Jason Bloodgood, 2. 23a Seth Bergman, 3. 9 Jayme Barnes, 4. 39c Joe Ramaker, 5. 18 Steve Kilcup, 6. 8r Travis Rutz, 7. 12p Randy Pierce, 8. 51 Jon Farrell, 9. KR14 Tyler Spath, 10. 10c Cory Chamberlain. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
C-Main (1 lap, shortened): 1. 51 Jon Farrell, 2. 9a Steve Dyer, 3. 9f Ernie Seager, 4. 10c Cory Chamberlain, 5. 72x Karl Blumenhagen, DNS – 5x Chuck Ashe. Top three finishers sent to A-Main after crash with one lap complete.
Dash (6 laps): 1. 98m Mitch Olson, 2. 65 Brendan Boyce, 3. 7N Roger Crockett, 4. 40 Brock Lemley, 5. 3N Billy Nutter, 6. 8e Evan Funk. Finish determines first six starting positions of A-Main.
B-Main (15 laps): 1. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 2. 8r Travis Rutz, 3. 26 Tayler Malsam, 4. 73 Danielle Huson, 5. 19 Greg Sandquist, 6. 75 Dale Smith, 7. 18 Steve Kilcup, 8. 32s Shawn Smith, 9. 3p Dan Pierson, 10. 12p Dan Pierson, 11. 69p Rod Perkins, 12. KR14 Tyler Spath, 13. 66 Jason Cocking, 14. 51 Jon Farrell, 15. 9a Steve Dyer, 16. 9f Ernie Seager, 17. 44h Michael Harris, 18. 26f Shane Forte', 19. 23n Andy Jacobson. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
A-Main (40 laps): 1. 40 Brock Lemley, 2. 7N Steve Kent, 3. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 4. 8e Evan Funk, 5. 38 Jason Bloodgood, 6. 7o Roger Oudman, 7. 5k Brian Kirkpatrick, 8. 23a Seth Bergman, 9. 26 Tayler Malsam, 10. 33v Henry Van Dam, 11. 91 Derek Ingalls, 12. 65 Brendan Boyce, 13. 98m Mitch Olson, 14. 8r Travis Rutz, 15. 73 Danielle Huson, 16. 68 Rob Held, 17. 9 Jayme Barnes, 18. 39c Joe Ramaker, 19. 7D Josh DeWitt, 20. 3N Billy Nutter.
Lap leaders: 1-11: Brendan Boyce, 12-28: Travis Rutz, 29-40: Brock Lemley.
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NSCS: The Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
www.racenscs.com
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