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Barraza is 2-for-2 in NWWT, Margeson sweeps midget opener Andrew Kunas, NWWT Publicist |
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MAY 23, 2009 - COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. - When local classes were rolling onto the track for hotlaps, Kyler Barraza was not around and it was speculated that the NorthWest Wingless Tour's inaugural sprint car feature winner would not come at all. A few hours later, Barraza was sitting in victory lane after a wild evening to make himself 2-for-2 in NWWT competition. The Roseburg, Ore. driver, winner of the NWWT season opener at Cottage Grove Speedway on April 25th, arrived late and was the last car to qualify. His qualifying time and heat race effort was good enough to secure the fifth starting position for the scheduled 30-lap main event. Barraza had a number of issues in the feature, first spinning out on Lap 10. He drove back to the fourth position only to come to a stop with a flat tire on Lap 20. Barraza again came from the back and was sitting fourth on the race's final restart with 27 laps down and three remaining. With race leader Gary Davis, Keary Morris and California visitor Greg Taylor in front of him Barraza got a strong run on the drop of the green, and passed all three cars to take the lead. Just as the white flag was about to be thrown, three cars tangling in turn one brought out the yellow flag again officials decided to throw the checkered flag, making Barraza a two-time winner this season in the Barraza Motorsports No. 87 Rodgers-powered Eagle. Like he did on April 25th, Albany, Ore. driver Gary Davis finished second in the Bob Farwell No. 30 Chevy-powered XXX after leading laps 19 to 21 and then having the lead on the Lap 28 restart after prior leader Dale Smith had spun out. Davis started the event outside the fourth row. With 18 laps down, NWWT points leader Kyle Miller was trying to hold off Jeff Rivers for the top spot when Rivers climbed over Miller's left wheels as they rounded turn two. That sent Rivers going upside down and Miller's car came to a stop in the infield with front suspension damage. Davis inherited the lead and led until Smith, the many-time Cottage Grove Speedway who was running a non-wing sprint car for the first time, took the lead on Lap 22. Smith pulled away until getting out shape in turn one as he was trying to lap a slower car with 27 laps down. Davis caught back up but wouldn't need to make a pass as Smith spun out on the back stretch. Greg Taylor, the former champion at Ventura Raceway in southern California, earned an impressive third place finish in a car he had never driven before at a track he had never raced at. Driving the Herz Racing No. 28 Howard-powered F5, Taylor started outside the front row and fell as far back as eighth place, but a late race charge put him on the podium. Theo McCarty of Hillsboro, Ore. was the evening's hard charger, starting 19th and steadily making his way through the field to eventually finish fourth in the Roy Crouch No. 24 Maxim. Pole-sitter Keary Morris of Portland led eight total laps before finishing fifth in his No. 11x Chevy-powered Eagle. Nick Tomlinson, Matt Hein, Sammy Wright, Dylan Olsen and Mike Romig rounded out the Top 10. The NWWT midgets held their inaugural event on Saturday and it was Tacoma, Wash. driver Evan Margeson, a standout in pavement midgets, sweeping the entire evening in his first ever dirt midget start. It was his first time racing at Cottage Grove Speedway also. Driving the Margeson Racing No. 50 Esslinger-powered Beast, the former Washington Midget Racing Association champion set fast time in qualifying, won the dash, won his heat race and then quickly bolted to the lead from the fourth starting position to win the 20-lap main event. Mike Gehringer of California finished second in his own No. 27 Fontana-powered Edmonds and Mitch Hoffses was third in the Karl Hoffses No. 5m Gaerte-powered Hawk. Doug McVae was fourth in the Ron Brown No. 14 Cosworth Ford and Steve Dickenson finished fifth in his own No. 99 Pontiac-powered Edmonds. Margeson's fast time in qualifying for the midgets was a 13.75-second run around the 1/4-mile, high-banked clay oval. Miller set fast time in NWWT sprint car qualifying for the second time, going around the track in 13.295 seconds. Following Margeson's dash victory in the midgets, Smith beat out Barraza to win the sprint car dash. Heat race victories in the sprint cars went to McCarty, Tomlinson and Rivers. Aside from Margeson, McVae also won a heat race in the midget division. Competition Motorsports LLC in Portland, Ore. awarded fast time bonus money to Margeson and Miller. Margeson and McCarty also earned hard charger award money for their efforst in the main event. Triple X Race Components INC was also a contingency sponsor on Saturday as Steve Veltman in the midgets and Steve McVay in the sprint cars went home with new front axles from Triple X Race Co. The NorthWest Wingless Tour's next races are on back-to-back nights in June as the NWWT's first "Summer Shootout" takes place on June 5th and 6th at Willamette Speedway and Cottage Grove Speedway. Points will be tallied over the two nights and the top five point scorers in each division will earn bonus money from the NWWT. More information on the NorthWest Wingless Tour can be found online at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com. - - - NorthWest Wingless Tour Cottage Grove Speedway - Cottage Grove, OR May 23, 2009 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS 360 SPRINT CARS 21 cars Fast qualifier: 10 Kyle Miller, 13.295 seconds Dash (4 laps): 1. 41 Dale Smith, 2. 87 Kyler Barraza, 3. 10 Kyle Miller, 4. 28 Greg Taylor. Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 24 Theo McCarty, 2. 6 Matt Hein, 3. 7 Dylan Olsen, 4. 2x Steve McVay, 5. 2 Mitch Holte, 6. 2k Sterling Kane. Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 16 Nick Tomlinson, 2. 1w Sammy Wright, 3. 22 Mike Romig, 4. 14 Mike Morris, 5. 7k Kyle Mehner, 6. 62 Axel Walker, 7. 64 Mark Nichols. Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 45 Jeff Rivers, 2. 41 Dale Smith, 3. 11x Keary Morris, 4. 28 Greg Taylor, 5. 10 Kyle Miller, 6. 87 Kyler Barraza, 7. 30 Gary Davis. Feature (29 laps, time): 1. 87 Kyler Barraza, 2. 30 Gary Davis, 3. 28 Greg Taylor, 4. 24 Theo McCarty, 5. 11x Keary Morris, 6. 16 Nick Tomlinson, 7. 6 Matt Hein, 8. 1w Sammy Wright, 9. 7 Dylan Olsen, 10. 22 Mike Romig, 11. 64 Mark Nichols, 12. 01 Jeff "Ozzie" Osburn, 13. 7k Kyle Mehner, 14. 41 Dale Smith, 15. 2x Steve McVay, 16. 2k Sterling Kane, 17. 14 Mike Morris, 18. Kyle Miller, 19. 45 Jeff Rivers, 20. 2 Mitch Holte, 21. 62 Axel Walker. Lap leaders: Keary Morris 1-7, Kyle Miller 8, Keary Morris 9, Kyle Miller 10-18, Gary Davis 19-21, Dale Smith 22-27, Kyler Barraza 28-29 OPEN MIDGETS 11 cars Fast qualifier: 50 Evan Margeson, 13.75 seconds Dash (4 laps): 1. 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 27 Mike Gehringer, 3. 99 Steve Dickenson, 4. 5m Mitch Hoffses. Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 14 Doug McVae, 2. 37 Tyler Steenslid, 3. 6 Steve Veltman, 4. 5 Glenn Bittrolf, 5. 23 Mark Atkinson, DQ'd - 15 Peter Bittrolf. Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 27 Mike Gehringer, 3. 5m Mitch Hoffses, 4. 98 Dallas Melby, 5. 99 Steve Dickenson. Feature (20 laps): 1. 50 Evan Margeson, 2. 27 Mike Gehringer, 3. 5m Mitch Hoffses, 4. 14 Doug McVae, 5. 99 Steve Dickenson, 6. 23 Mark Atkinson, 7. 37 Tyler Steenslid, 8. 15 Peter Bittrolf, 9. 6 Steve Veltman, 10. 98 Dallas Melby, DNS - 5 Glenn Bittrolf. - - - NWWT: The NorthWest Wingless Tour www.nwwinglesstour.com www.nwwingless.com |
