By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Madman Photography)
Cottage Grove Speedway would host another thriller of an American Sprint Car Series-Northwest Region feature On Saturday June 14th. Twenty-four cars would be on tap with entries hailing from the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho as well as British Columbia Canada and New Zealand.

Everett, Washington’s Jayme Barnes would grab the initial lead in his R Transport/Speedmart Inc./Jayme Barnes Trucking #9 XXX. However he would lose the top spot to Henry Van Dam of Enumclaw, Washington and Van Dam would set a rapid pace. Lapped traffic came in to play as long green flag runs would occur and Van Dam would be threatened by Colin Baker.

Baker, of Cottage Grove, would briefly seize the lead on lap thirteen only for the yellow flag to come out which would put Van Dam back out in front due to reverting back to the last completed lap. After that Van Dam managed to retain the race lead and hold off all challengers to win fourth career ASCS-Northwest Region victory and the second time he has done so at CGS. It was also the second win at Cottage Grove in 2014 for Henry and the Kovash Logging/Johansen Excavating/FK Shocks/Big Al Kids & Motorsports Foundation #33V A.R.T. as they picked up the $4,100.00 to win Marvin Smith Memorial Grove Classic on May 31st earlier in the season.

“After the last night went we put in a clean night and had to be patient,” commented Van Dam in victory lane, “our car was tight and I did all I could do to not run the bottom. It was a lot of fun to race here the track is always good and to go home with the trophy is cool.”

Colin Baker was a respectable second in the Hedge Carter owned Hedge Carter Gutter Service/Oregon West RV/Steelhouse Metal Roofing Supply/Huddle Automotive Repair #71 XXX while third went to Vern Wheeler Jr. from Central Point in his Wheeler Racing/In & Out Gardens/Finishline LLC/Prather Racing #21W Maxim entry. The rest of the top five would consist of Sutherlin’s Rob Held in fourth, driving the Held’s Automotive & Accessories/Double R Powdercoating/Budget Lumber Company #68 J&J, followed by Jayme Barnes in fifth.

Earlier in the evening three heat races were contested with Henry Van Dam, Vern Wheeler Jr., and the Snohomish Auto Parts/Ridge Runner Wings #12 XXX of Snohomish, Washington’s Jared Ridge all picking up victories. Earning the win in the consolation feature was Jesse Thistle from Creswell in the RCV Custom Coach Service/Cobalt Computer Services/Williams & Mathis Accounting/All Around Printing #4 XXX.

The ASCS-Northwest Region will return into action on Sunday June 29th at Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Yreka, California to kick off Speedweek Northwest. It will also be the first ever series race held in the Golden State of California. For more information log on to www.ascsnorthwest.com.

Race Summary:
ASCS-Northwest Region Race #6
Saturday June 14th, 2014
Cottage Grove Speedway
Cottage Grove, Oregon

A Feature: 1. 33V-Henry Van Dam[2]; 2. 71-Colin Baker[3]; 3. 21W-Vern Wheeler Jr[5]; 4. 68-Rob Held[8]; 5. 9-Jayme Barnes[1]; 6. 9R-Reece Goetz[7]; 7. 12-Jared Ridge[6]; 8. 3-J.J. Hickle[10]; 9. 26F-Shane Forte[4]; 10. 7K-Kyle Mehner[15]; 11. 70-Raquel Ivie[19]; 12. P12-Randy Pierce[18]; 13. 8J-Brady Janson[9]; 14. 4J-Allison Journey[13]; 15. 6A-Kady Adelman[16]; 16. 4-Jesse Thistle[17]; 17. 50-Evan Margeson[11]; 18. 16-Nick Tomlinson[20]; 19. W5-Jesse Williamson[14]; 20. 44-Daniel Anderson[12]

B Feature: 1. 4-Jesse Thistle[1]; 2. P12-Randy Pierce[4]; 3. 70-Raquel Ivie[6]; 4. 16-Nick Tomlinson[2]; 5. 84K-Wayne Kniffen[7]; 6. 5-Brian Boswell[5]; 7. 18-Mike Carrothers[3]; DNS 5N-Seth Nunes

Heat 1: 1. 33V-Henry VanDam[1]; 2. 68-Rob Held[4]; 3. 8J-Brady Janson[6]; 4. 4J-Allison Journey[3]; 5. 7K-Kyle Mehner[5]; 6. 4-Jesse Thistle[7]; 7. 18-Mike Carrothers[8]; DNS 5N-Seth Nunes

Heat 2: 1. 21W-Vern Wheeler Jr[1]; 2. 71-Colin Baker[6]; 3. 50-Evan Margeson[3]; 4. 44-Daniel Anderson[4]; 5. 6A-Kady Adelman[5]; 6. W5-Jesse Williamson[8]; 7. 5-Brian Boswell[2]; 8. 70-Raquel Ivie[7]

Heat 3: 1. 12-Jared Ridge[1]; 2. 9-Jayme Barnes[5]; 3. 9R-Reece Goetz[6]; 4. 26F-Shane Forte[7]; 5. 3-J.J. Hickle[8]; 6. 16-Nick Tomlinson[3]; 7. P12-Randy Pierce[4]; 8. 84K-Wayne Kniffen[2]

• Bryan Hulbert on Jun 15, 2014
• Article Date: 6/15/2014