|
Seven and counting, Crockett wins again
Andrew Kunas, NSCS Publicist
Seven and counting, Crockett wins again
Andrew Kunas, NSCS Publicist
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. - Roger Crockett lost much of his point lead Friday night at Willamette Speedway. Saturday night at Cottage Grove Speedway, he got most of it back, winning his seventh Northwest Sprint Challenge Series feature race in 15 starts.
Crockett's win was his second in three NSCS events at Cottage Grove this year in the Henderson Motorsports No. 7N Bailey Bros.-powered Eagle. Crockett, out of Medford, started the 30-lap event outside the second row, motoring to third on the initial start. He ran there for nine laps before overtaking leading rookie Robbie Vaughn for second place on lap ten.
Six laps earlier, Crockett had taken the lead for a moment when Vaughn and leader Mitch Olson both slid off the track in turns one and two, allowing Crockett and Travis Rutz to motor by. Olson and Vaughn, however, were bailed out when Rob Held spun into the infield to bring out the yellow flag.
The bad timing didn't slow Crockett, and neither did slower cars. After passing Vaughn, Crockett went after Olson, who had opened up a near straightaway lead by then. Olson, who trailed Crockett by 28 points going into the evening, encountered several slower cars on lap 14. That allowed Crockett to almost immediately catch Olson, who struggled to get through the traffic. On lap 15, Crockett made his move, passing the Puyallup, Wash. driver as they exited turn four. Crockett skillfully maneuvered his way through traffic and was not threatened the rest of the race.
"Getting through traffic was key," said Crockett, who broke his own record for wins a season with the old Northern Sprint Tour, the NSCS's predecessor series. "I had a car that could run the bottom, run the top, run wherever I needed it to be.
"It's always easier when you're running second. When you're leading you need to make a decision. When you're second you just go where the leader doesn't."
Perhaps almost as big as his win for Crockett was Olson suffering a flat right rear tire in the closing laps. After losing a number of positions on a lap 27 restart, Olson took advantage of a red flag for the flipping Shane Forte' on lap 29 and went to the pit area to put on a new tire. The damage was done though, as Olson finished tenth in the Mike Olson No. 98m Shark-powered Rocket. Crockett had entered the weekend with a 60-point lead and lost 32 points on Friday. Unofficially, his lead is back up to 50.
"It's a good night for points, but I don't wish any bad luck on Mitch," Crockett said.
Vaughn, fifth in points entering the night, ran in the top five until falling out late in the race with power steering failure, finishing 19th.
Marvin Smith, the former Cottage Grove Speedway champion, made just his second appearance in a 360 sprint car this season and his first with the new NSCS. Smith made it a memorable one, finishing second after starting eighth. Driving his own No. 41 Maxim powered by a Rodgers motor that was built between Thursday night and Saturday morning.
"It feels really good to come back and do well, and I was just trying to get the thing back in the trailer," said Smith, who's finish received perhaps the biggest cheers from his hometown crowd. "If not for the engine builder, this would not have happened. He told me on Thursday that it'd be ready. He worked on it until midnight Thursday, all day Friday and was in my driveway working on it this morning."
Smith was running fourth behind Rutz on the lap 27 restart. As Olson went backwards with the flat tire, Rutz went outside and Smith inside as the they went three-wide exiting turn two. Smith emerged out front and held the position over Rutz. Unfortunately for Smith, Crockett had put four lapped cars behind him beforehand and they were all in front of Smith on the lap 29 restart.
"You've gotta hand it to Roger. He does well every week," Smith said.
Seth Bergman, last year's NST Rookie of the Year who was sixth in NSCS points going in, started seventh behind the dash cars after getting his qualifying time back when he won the B-main. The Snohomish, Wash. driver backed up his second place run from the night before and passed Rutz on the final restart to take third in the Steve Bergman No. 23a Wesmar-powered Eagle.
"I just had to be patient for the guys to miss their marks, and I hit my marks. We tried a really low stagger, lower than what a lot the drivers tried I think," Bergman said. "It was too tight at the beginning, but it got better. The last few laps, it was really good. Early on, it hurt."
Not happy fighting his prior car all season, Bergman was still pleased with his new car, having his third top-five finish in as many starts in it. He had also finished fifth in the car's debut in the Kasey Kahne Foundation event at Skagit Speedway last month, and Bergman is hoping his most solid weekend of the year with the NSCS is a sign of things to come.
"It's big, momentum wise," Bergman said. "It built my confidence back up, and we have some big races coming up."
Rutz, out of British Columbia, came into the weekend fourth in points and finished fourth for the second straight night in the Rutz Racing No. 8 Richmond-powered Triple X. Former NST champion Bill Nutter of Central Point, Ore. came from 11th to finish fifth in his own No. 3N Zeitler. Rookie J.J. Dishneau of Maple Valley, Wash. finished sixth in the Michael Newman No. 9j Eagle and Garen Linder of Medford finished seventh in his own No. 22 Maxim.
Bellingham, Wash.'s Brock Lemley, who won Friday's event at Willamette, finished eighth in the Kentch Bros. No. 40 Triple X. For Lemley, recently crowned the 410 sprint car champion at Skagit, it was his first time not finishing in the top five in the nine NSCS events he competed in this season.
After racing to fifth from 13th at Willamette, Rob Held of Sutherlin, Ore. finished a solid ninth in his own No. 68 J&J. It was a long night for Held, who didn't qualify after crashing during his hot lap session. Held tagged the back of the fourth heat race and didn't transfer, putting him ninth to start the B-Main. He finished third to transfer to the A-Main, where he started 19th and moved all the way up to ninth despite his earlier spin.
Eighteen-year-old Brandi Bounds of Cottage Grove, driving her family's limited sprint car, surprised everyone by transferring out of her heat race. She started 19th and drove around to a respectable 11th place finish.
Six-time Grays Harbor Raceway champion Jay Cole of Shelton, Wash. finished 12th while 2008 NSCS Rookie of the Year candidate Chadd Noland of Medford finished 13th. Noland had spun out while running second in the B-Main, but passed two cars in the last two laps to take the fourth and final transfer position. Jayme Barnes of Everett, Wash. was in fifth for the lap 27 restart but pulled off the track, also the victim of a flat right rear tire. Barnes did not return and was scored 18th.
Derek Ingalls, who came into the night eighth in points, moved back into seventh when Evan Funk scratched for the evening following his crash in practice. Ingalls finished second in the B-Main and took 16th in the A-Main.
Olson led the entire six-lap dash race until the last lap. He lad gotten out of shape in turn two, allowing Vaughn to catch up and nip Olson at the line. Rutz was third, followed by Crockett, Dishneau, and Brian Kirkpatrick. The six drivers were the fastest qualifiers who transferred out of their heat races. Heat race victories went to Vaughn, Forte', Jeff Thompson and Brendan Boyce.
Crockett led the 28-car field in qualifying with a time of 10.511 seconds around the 1/4-mile, high-banked clay oval. Olson was second quickest and Kirkpatrick was a surprising third fast.
The NSCS continues its season this coming weekend with the 1st Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial Sprint Challenge at Grays Harbor Raceway in Washington, paying $10,092 to win on Saturday. More information on the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series and its drivers can be found online at http://www.racenscs.com.
- - -
Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, OR
September 8, 2007
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
28 cars
Fast qualifier: 7N Roger Crockett, 10.511 seconds
Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 2. 3N Bill Nutter, 3. 41 Marvin Smith, 4. 7N Roger Crockett, 5. 7k Danny Kirkpatrick, 6. 91 Derek Ingalls, DNS - 101 Charlie Thompson. First four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. 26f Shane Forte', 2. 22 Garen Linder, 3. 17 Brandi Bounds, 4. 98m Mitch Olson, 5. 23a Seth Bergman, 6. 08 Steve Vague, 7. 29 Dan Philpott. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 7t Jeff Thompson, 2. 40 Brock Lemley, 3. 9j J.J. Dishneau, 4. 5k Brian Kirkpatrick, 5. 7g Chad Groves, DNS - 8e Evan Funk, 13 Chadd Noland. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 4 (10 laps): 1. 65 Brendan Boyce, 2. 0J Jay Cole, 3. 8 Travis Rutz, 4. 24 Jayme Barnes, 5. 12p Randy Pierce, 6. 68 Rob Held, DNS - 7D Josh DeWitt. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Dash (6 laps): 1. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 2. 98m Mitch Olson, 3. 8 Travis Rutz, 4. 7N Roger Crockett, 5. 9j J.J. Dishneau, 6. 5k Brian Kirkpatrick. Finish determines first six starting positions in A-Main.
B-Main (15 laps): 1. 23a Seth Bergman, 2. 91 Derek Ingalls, 3. 68 Rob Held, 4. 13 Chadd Noland, 5. 12p Randy Pierce, 6. 08 Steve Vague, 7. 7g Chad Groves, 8. 7k Danny Kirkpatrick, 9. 29 Dan Philpott. First four finishers transfer to A-Main.
A-Main (30 laps): 1. 7N Roger Crockett, 2. 41 Marvin Smitih, 3. 23a Seth Bergman, 4. 8 Travis Rutz, 5. 3N Bill Nutter, 6. 9j J.J. Dishneau, 7. 22 Garen Linder, 8. 40 Brock Lemley, 9. 68 Rob Held, 10. 98m Mitch Olson, 11. 17 Brandi Bounds, 12. 0J Jay Cole, 13. 65 Brendan Boyce, 14. 13 Chadd Noland, 15. 7t Jeff Thompson, 16. 91 Derek Ingalls, 17. 26f Shane Forte', 18. 24 Jayme Barnes, 19. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 20. 5k Brian Kirkpatrick.
Lap leaders: Mitch Olson 1-15, Roger Crockett 16-30
- - -
NSCS: The Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
http://www.racenscs.com
|
