Stacy Verrall, YAKIMA, Wash. (September 25, 2010) – Fiction would pale in comparison to the suspense-filled reality that spectators witnessed during the final race of the ASCS Northwest’s 2010 season at the Central Washington State Fair Raceway on Saturday night.
Jason Solwold came into the evening with a 42 point lead over Roger Crockett, but was instantly hit with bad luck mid-way through his hot lap session causing the Scott Safety-Xtreme Oilfield Technology-Kentek Forest Services-39c to pull into the pits for a rapid engine change. This twist of fate would make the 42 point gap seem much smaller as Crockett would end up starting on the pole with Solwold lining up in the tenth position for the “A” Feature.
And that is merely the beginning.
The first lap of the feature event would send rookie contender Mack Brown flipping wildly into turn three and hooking his car on the fence. As the safety crew worked to untangle Brown’s car from the wires, an open red would become a welcomed opportunity for crews to fine tune their vehicles for the final 30 laps of the 2010 season.
Cam Smith would jump to the front and lead the first few laps until Logan Forler took a tumble in turn three landing in almost the same spot as Brown.
With 26 laps to go, Smith surged back to the front on the restart with a commanding lead over second place Crockett.
In order to win the championship, Crockett needed a top three finish while at the same time hoping Solwold didn’t cross the stripe any better than eleventh.
On lap seven it would appear Crockett was getting the lucky break he desperately needed. While running fifth, Solwold’s car suddenly slowed to a stop on the backstretch, returning to the work area on a hook.
It was the longest two minutes of the year as fans held their breath waiting for the 39c car to be pushed back out on the track before the green flag dropped. Unfortunately, Solwold’s crew was not able to get the car back out on the track in time.
On the restart, Casey Adams would find himself out of control in the ever famous turn three and another red flag would drop.
This time the lucky break swung in Solwold’s direction allowing his crew enough time to fix the car without having to go a lap down.
The crowd went nuts when the 39c reappeared on the track. The battle for the championship would continue with Roger restarting in second and Solwold in thirteenth – 23 laps to go!
On lap 23 race leader, Smith, would slow to a stop in turn one ending what was quite possibly the ride of his life. Smith’s unfortunate caution was turned into a much needed fuel stop.
Crockett would cross the finish line first, but unfortunately it just wouldn’t be enough. Solwold had worked his way back up through the pack finishing seventh, securing his first ever ASCS Northwest Championship.
“Exciting event tonight,” Crockett admitted in the winner’s circle. “Unbelievable all the things that happened.”
The ASCS Northwest 2010 Rookie of the year award went to 14 year old Trey Starks of Puyallup, WA.
In the “B” Feature Josh DeWitt dominated the first ten laps, easily a ½ lap ahead of the rest of the field on Yakima’s ½ mile oval, but slowed to a stop in turn four due to apparent mechanical problems. Alberta’s Casey Adams would go on to win the “B” main event. Unfortunately second place Trey Starks and third place Glenn Borden Jr were disqualified for not stopping at the scales after the race.
Mack Brown, Henry Van Dam and Roger Crockett claimed victories in the heat races.
The Travis Rutz Hard Charger was Jayme Barnes climbing from twelth to fourth in the Feature Race.
Race Results from Central Washington State Fair Raceway:
Heat Race One (10 laps): 1. 96x-Mack Brown, 2. 2L-Logan Forler, 3. 17-Cam Smith, 4. 48-Barry Martinez, 5. 9p-Jared Peterson, 6. 0j-Jay Cole, 7. 55-Trey Starks, 8. 29w-Steve James, 9. 22-Garen Linder.
Heat Race Two (10 laps): 1. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 2. 13c-Colton Heath, 3. 11w-Shane Broers, 4. 08-Steve Vague, 5. 15-Dan Dunlap, 6. 98m-Mitch Olson, 7. 12a-Casey Adams, 8. 31-Colton Akerstrom, 9. 72-Glenn Borden Jr.
Heat Race Three (10 laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett, 2. 23n-Gary Taylor, 3. 39c-Jason Solwold, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 7n-Jayme Barnes, 6. 5d-Josh DeWitt, 7. 19-TJ Hartman, 8. 7k-Danny Kirkpatrick.
“B” Feature (12 laps): 1. 12a-Casey Adams, 2. 15-Dan Dunlap, 3. 31-Colton Akerstrom, 4. 22-Garen Linder, 5. 29w-Steve James, 6. 5d-Josh DeWitt, 7. 19-TJ Hartman, 8. 55-Trey Starks (Disqualified; failed to report to scales after finishing second), 9. 72-Glenn Borden, Jr. (failed to report to scales after finishing third). DNS: 7k-Danny Kirkpatrick.
“A” Feature (30 laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett, 2. 23n-Gary Taylor, 3. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 4. 7n-Jayme Barnes, 5. 13c-Colton Heath, 6. 23-Seth Bergman, 7. 39c-Jason Solwold, 8. 9p-Jared Peterson, 9. 0j-Jay Cole, 10. 17-Cam Smith, 11. 15d-Dan Dunlap, 12. 48-Barry Martinez, 13. 08-Steve Vague, 14. 98m-Mitch Olson, 15. 12a-Casey Adams, 16. 2L-Logan Forler, 17. 11w-Shane Broers, 18. 96x-Mack Brown.
ASCS Northwest Region Points (Final Top Ten): 1. Jason Solwold 2,211, 2. Roger Crockett 2,200, 3. Henry Van Dam 2,072, 4. Mitch Olson 2,007, 5. Seth Bergman 1,995, 6. Jayme Barnes 1,790, 7. Trey Starks 1,723, 8. Logan Forler 1,655, 9. T.J. Hartman 1,629, 10. Garen Linder 1,567.
Photos by Stacy Verrall
