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Hot shoe Walker overtakes Solwold to score Dirt Cup opener
Andrew Kunas
ALGER, Wash. - Tyler Walker used a late race pass on a restart around Jason Solwold to score the Thursday night preliminary feature victory in the first night of the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Van's Equipment. Coming from the ninth starting position, Walker earned enough passing points to earn the early lead in the Dirt Cup points standings.
The Los Angeles driver won his heat race first in the SC Motorsports No. 24 Shark-powered JEI before his run in the main event. With 23 laps down, Walker passed Solwold on the restart to earn his first career victory at Skagit Speedway. Solwold wound up second in the Shark Racing No. 73 Shark-powered Maxim. Jayme Barnes, the defending Dirt Cup champion out of Everett, Wash. finished third in the LAW Motorsports No. 33b XXX.
Peter Murphy of Australia made the run of the night. After finishing second in the B-Main, Murphy started the 30-lap feature in the 17th position and passed 13 cars to finish fourth in the Anderson / Curtis No. 18 Shark-powered Rocket. Murphy unofficially sits three points behind Walker and only one point behind two-time Dirt Cup champion Jonathan Allard, who came from 15th to finish sixth in the Morrie Williams No. 0 Kistler-powered Maxim. Pole-sitter Tommy Tarlton of California finished fifth in the No. 21 Shark-powered Maxim.
Danielle Huson drove the Shark Racing No. 73 Shark-powered Rocket to a solid seventh place finish in her second Dirt Cup appearance. Former track champion Brock Lemley finished eighth in the Kentch Bros. No. 40 XXX after starting 21st and passing 13 cars himself. Rick Fauver finished ninth in his and Bob Reynolds No. F1 Ott-powered Maxim. Former Dirt Cup champion Shane Stewart of Oklahoma rounded out the top ten in the Kirkpatrick Racing No. 7k Shark-powered A.R.T.
With their finishes, Barnes sits fourth in the points and Solwold is fifth. Stewart's effort put him seventh in points, followed by Lemley, Chad Hillier and B-Main winner Kyle Hirst. Huson and Tarlton are tied for tenth in the points.
Hirst's victory in the B-Main came over Murphy, Tim Kaeding, Hillier, Mitch Olson, Lemley and Bud Kaeding, who earned the last transfer spot to the A-Main. A surprising no-show in the A-Main was three-time Dirt Cup champion Brent Kaeding, who had to race in the C-Main before he finished 14th in the B-Main. Kaeding won the C-Main event and took Skagit newcomer Kyle Larson with him to the B-Main.
Heat races went to Marc Dupperon, Jesse Whitney, Walker, Solwold and Hirst. Allard paced the 42-car field in qualifying with a time of 11.541 seconds.
Friday's event is another complete program of qualifying, heat races and main events. Points from both nights will be combined to help determine main event line-ups on Saturday. More information on Skagit Speedway can be found online at http://www.skagitspeedway.com.
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38th Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Van's Equipment
Thursday preliminary program
Skagit Speedway - Alger, WA
June 18, 2009
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
42 cars
Fast qualifier: 0 Jonathan Allard, 11.541 seconds
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 11d Marc Dupperon, 2. 0 Jonathan Allard, 3. 57c Chris Schmelzle, 4. 40 Brock Lemley, 5. 6 Kyle Hirst, 6. 7N Chadd Noland, 7. 4e Nick Engberg, 8. FK1 Glenn Borden Jr, 9. 25c Chad Groves. First three finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 88 Jesse Whitney, 2. 33b Jayme Barnes, 3. 18 Steve Kilcup, 4. 10 Sammy Swindell, 5. 59 Eric Fisher, 6. 69 Brent Kaeding, 7. 7b Brent Bjork, 8. 29 Bud Kaeding, 9. 26 Travis Rutz. First three finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 24 Tyler Walker, 2. 73h Danielle Huson, 3. 7k Shane Stewart, 4. 83 Tim Kaeding, 5. 4x Toni Lutar, 6. 35a Wayne Johnson, 7. V8 Jeff Hodgson, 8. 23 Steve Parker. First three finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. 73 Jason Solwold, 2. 66 Barry Martinez, 3. 21 Tommy Tarlton, 4. 98m Mitch Olson, 5. 38 Chad Hillier, 6. 7s Cory Chamberlain, 7. 94 Zach Zimmerly, 8. 81 Kelleigh Johnson. First three finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 5 (8 laps): 1. F1 Rick Fauver, 2. 11 Roger Crockett, 3. 5x Colton Heath, 4. 18m Peter Murphy, 5. 12 Jared Ridge, 6. 75 Kevin Smith, 7. 83v Kyle Larson, 8. 20 Ryan Benoit. First thiree finishers transfer to A-Main.
C-Main (15 laps): 1. 69 Brent Kaeding, 2. 83v Kyle Larson, 3. 4x Toni Lutar, 4. 94 Zach Zimmerly, 5. FK1 Glenn Borden Jr., 6. 7b Brent Bjork, 7. 23 Steve Parker, 8. 81 Kelleigh Johnson, 9. 25c Chad Groves, 10. 20 Ryan Benoit. First two finishers transfer to B-Main.
B-main (20 laps): 1. 6 Kyle Hirst, 2. 18m Peter Murphy, 3. 83 Tim Kaeding, 4. 38 Chad Hillier, 5. 98m Mitch Olson, 6. 40 Brock Lemley, 7. 29 Bud Kaeding, 8. V8 Jeff Hodgson, 9. 4e Nick Engberg, 10. 35a Wayne Johnson, 11. 12 Jared Ridge, 12. 59 Eric Fisher, 13. 7N Chadd Noland, 14. 69 Brent Kaeding, 15. 7s Cory Chamberlain, 16. 4x Toni Lutar, 17. 83v Kyle Larson, 18. 75 Kevin Smith. First seven finishers transfer to A-Main.
A-Main (30 laps): 1. 24 Tyler Walker, 2. 73 Jason Solwold, 3. 33b Jayme Barnes, 4. 18m Peter Murphy, 5. 21 Tommy Tarlton, 6. 0 Jonathan Allard, 7. 73h Danielle Huson, 8. 40 Brock Lemley, 9. F1 Rick Fauver, 10. 7k Shane Stewart, 11. 11 Roger Crockett, 12. 38 Chad Hillier, 13. 6 Kyle Hirst, 14. 29 Bud Kaeding, 15. 18 Steve Kilcup, 16. 66 Barry Martinez, 17. 57c Chris Schmelzle, 18. 88 Jesse Whitney, 19. 98m Mitch Olson, 20. 83 Tim Kaeding, 21. 5x Colton Heath, 22. 11d Marc Dupperon.
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Skagit Speedway - Alger, WA
http://www.skagitspeedway.com
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