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Crockett takes NSCS Willamette checkers
Andrew Kunas, NSCS Publicist
LEBANON, Ore. – Roger Crockett became the first repeat winner in the short history of the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series when he took the checkered flag Friday night at Willamette Speedway.
Crockett, who won the inaugural NSCS event April 28 at Washington's Grays Harbor Raceway and came into the weekend with a 45-point lead, led all 30 laps for the win aboard the Henderson Motorsports No. 7N Eagle with a Bailey Bros. motor.
Mitch Olson of Tacoma, Wash. attempted to take the lead from Crockett at the start of the event as they drove through turns one and two of the tight oval, but Crockett got the bite on the bottom of the track and took command. One red flag and five cautions scattered throughout the feature event kept the track in front of Crockett clear for most of the race.
"The car was nice all night," Crockett said following his victory. "The yellows fell pretty good for us. We were doing good in traffic, but it was only a matter of time before something happens. The yellows didn't bother me."
The victory was also Crockett's first on the 3/10-mile clay oval in almost two years. Crockett had won a number of races and had many other high finishes at Willamette Speedway with the former Northern Sprint Tour.
"This track's treated pretty well," Crockett said about Willamette Speedway. "We run pretty decent here."
Only once just past the midway point of the event was Crockett threatened by Olson as Olson chased him down as they went through traffic. Crockett, however, caught a break on lap 22 when the fourth stoppage to racing occurred when third-running Travis Rutz of Langley, Brit. Col. spun the Rutz Racing No. 8r Triple X around in turn one. In that same instance, fifth-running Rob Held got together with the slower car of Danielle Huson as they tried to avoid Rutz. Held cut one of his rear tires down and was forced to go to the work area before coming back out.
Crockett, having the stronger car on restarts, pulled away from Olson with the track in front of him cleared and wasn't challenged again. Olson, who won his first touring event on May 11 at Skagit Speedway, had to settle for second aboard the Mike Olson No. 98m Rocket with a Shark engine after an eventful night.
"He had us on the short runs," Olson said about Crockett. "We'd pull him in on the long runs in traffic, but unless we got him off the bottom we weren't going to get around him."
Olson had issues with his car after his hot lap session with the rear of the car. His crew scrambled to get the torque tube replaced. Olson praised his crew and for their efforts he rewarded them with the second fastest time in qualifying, won his heat race, finished second in the dash and turned in his second top-five finish of the season.
"Hopefully we'll move up (in the standings)," said Olson, who came into the evening fourth in points and was only ten points out of second place. "Unless we start finishing in front of (Crockett), however, we won't gain any on him."
The surprise of the night was the third place finish by 19-year-old Tyler Spath, who entered Memorial weekend a distant 26th in points after a long, tough weekend at Skagit. The Chico, Calif. resident who is a student at Oregon State University, a short drive from Willamette, had never even seen the track, let alone raced on it before Friday.
Spath was the third quickest in qualifying, finished third in his heat race and fourth in the dash before running in the top-five throughout the main event aboard the NorCal Performance No. KR14 Rocket with a BMB Machine motor.
"This turned us around big time," commented Spath, who took out a school loan to go racing with the NSCS. "If we can keep this momentum going, we'll be able to get back up there (in points). Skagit just killed us before.
Spath, an experienced wingless racer whose finish on Friday was his best ever with the wing on, is hoping to get into the top ten in points in order to qualify for the Brodix Tournament of Champions at Knoxville Raceway in August. Spath is taking his wingless sprint car to do some racing out east that month and wants to bring his winged 360 car along to race on the legendary Knoxville clay oval. Friday's finish was a big step in that direction for Spath.
Six-time former Cottage Grove Speedway champion Dale Smith finished fourth aboard his own No. 75 Maxim with a Shaver motor, followed by Sacramento visitor Kyle Hirst in the Harley Van Dyke No. 5v J&J with an RPM motor. Idaho visitor Randy Pierce, who surprised some people by making the dash, posted a strong sixth place finish aboard his own No. 12p Rocket with a Schwanke motor. Seth Bergman, former NST champion Billy Nutter, Derek Ingalls, and Josh DeWitt rounded out the top ten.
Sutherlin, Ore.'s Rob Held, who also made the dash, finished 12th after coming back out with a fresh tire after his earlier incident. Rutz, who came into the evening second in points, finished 13th.
DeWitt won the B-Main event and took Shane Forte', Danielle Huson and J.J. Hickle with him to the A-Main. By finishing in the top two in the B-Main, DeWitt got his time back and was able to start the A-Main eighth. If he finished third or fourth, DeWitt would've started the A-Main in the back row.
Crockett's victory in the six-lap dash came over Olson, Rutz, Spath, Pierce and Held. The dash featured the fastest six qualifiers who transferred out their heat races and set the first six starting positions for the A-Main.
All that kept Crockett from a clean sweep of the evening was a second place finish in the first heat race to winner Seth Bergman. Olson captured the second heat while Brendan Boyce and Jay Cole won heats three and four, respectively. Crockett paced the 30-car field in qualifying with a time of 12.738 seconds around the 3/10-mile clay oval.
The first heat race was delayed several minutes after a frightening crash that saw Enumclaw, Wash. driver Henry Van Dam flip his No. 33v machine out of the track behind turns one and two. Van Dam was reported as conscious and alert and was taken to a medical facility. No further details are available at this time.
The NSCS continues its Memorial weekend swing through Oregon on Saturday with its first visit of the season to Southern Oregon Speedway, located just outside of Medford. The NSCS then wraps things up at Cottage Grove Speedway near Eugene.
More information on the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series can be found online at its website at www.racenscs.com.
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Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, OR
May 25, 2007
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
30 cars
Fast qualifier: 7N Roger Crockett, 12.738 seconds
Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 23a Seth Bergman, 2. 7N Roger Crockett, 3. 5v Kyle Hirst, 4. 91 Derek Ingalls, 5. 7D Josh DeWitt, 6. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 7. 51 John Farrell, 8. 33v Henry Van Dam. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. 98m Mitch Olson, 2. 3n Billy Nutter, 3. 9J J.J. Dishneau, 4. 68 Rob Held, 5. 26f Shane Forte', 6. 7 J.J. Hickle, 7. 7t Jeff Thompson, 8. 56 Nathan Large. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 65 Brendan Boyce, 2. 9 Jayme Barnes, 3. KR14 Tyler Spath, 4. 8r Travis Rutz, 5. 24 Braden Etchison, 6. 7g Chad Groves, 7. 8e Evan Funk. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 4 (10 laps): 1. 0J Jay Cole, 2. 32s Shawn Smith, 3. 75 Dale Smith, 4. 12p Randy Pierce, 5. 19 Dan Hix, 6. 73 Danielle Huson, 7. 92 Seth Hespe. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Dash (6 laps): 1. 7N Roger Crockett, 2. 98m Mitch Olson, 3. 8r Travis Rutz, 4. KR14 Tyler Spath, 5. 12p Randy Pierce, 6. 68 Rob Held. Finish determines first six starting positions in A-Main.
B-Main (15 laps): 1. 7D Josh DeWitt, 2. 26f Shane Forte', 3. 73 Danielle Huson, 4. 7 J.J. Hickle, 5. 51 John Farrell, 6. 7t Jeff Thompson, 7. 24 Braden Etchison, 8. 83 Evan Funk, 9. 56 Nathan Large, 10. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 11. 7g Chad Groves, 12. 19 Dan Hix, DNS – 33v Henry Van Dam. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
A-Main (30 laps): 1. 7N Roger Crockett, 2. 98m Mitch Olson, 3. KR14 Tyler Spath, 4. 75 Dale Smith, 5. 5v Kyle Hirst, 6. 12p Randy Pierce, 7. 23a Seth Bergman, 8. 3n Billy Nutter, 9. 91 Derek Ingalls, 10. 7D Josh DeWitt, 11. 26f Shane Forte', 12. 68 Rob Held, 13. 8r Travis Rutz, 14. 7 J.J. Hickle, 15. 0J Jay Cole, 16. 9 Jayme Barnes, 17. 73 Danielle Huson, 18. 9J J.J. Dishneau, 19. 65 Brendan Boyce, 20. 32s Shawn Smith.
Lap leaders: 1-30 Roger Crockett
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NSCS: The Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
www.racenscs.com
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