Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion
R Charles Snyder Salute $5000 To Win IMCA Modified Race Flier September 1-2 HERE
2nd Annual R Charles Snyder Salute Brings Best Competition To Southern Oregon Speedway
White City, Oregon...The biggest race of the season is on the schedule at Southern Oregon Speedway this Saturday and Sunday nights. It is the Second Annual R Charles Snyder Salute, paying tribute to the long time radio DJ and racing announcer. Competing divisions include the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars and a Sunday appearance by the Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks.
For over 40 years, Snyder was a popular radio DJ in the Medford area. Through the years, he also announced at the old Medford Speedway, Siskiyou Motor Speedway and Southern Oregon Speedway. He lent his voice to different causes to help people within the community and also promoted some big concerts through the years. When he passed away in 2015, many people mourned his loss.
Under the management of KJE Enterprises, Southern Oregon Speedway wanted to have a special race to honor Snyder and reached out to his son Travis to schedule the first event last year. Travis, who like his father has been a leader in helping people in the community, was moved by the gesture. He also stepped in to help bring in some sponsors for the big Modified show. During the big two day weekend, the scoring tower was dedicated as the R Charles Snyder Memorial Race Tower.
Travis Snyder, joined by Travis Hoppes and Claudia Linker, has worked to bring in sponsorship to increase the IMCA Modified and IMCA Sport Modified purse money again this year. The drivers will also compete for lap money. In both Main Events, if you lead a lap, you get $10 per lap. Also, there will be an R Charles Snyder Salute t-shirt available this weekend. This will be an event that Charles would surely be proud of.
Once again, the IMCA Modifieds will be racing for $5,000 to win on Sunday. The IMCA Sport Modified payoff has been increased to $2,000 to win this year. Already, there are over 40 confirmed Sport Modified drivers coming to compete, and the list of entries planning to race in the IMCA Modified portion of the show is approaching 40.
Last season, Troy Foulger picked up the $5,000 paycheck in what was his biggest win. He beat Mark Wauge for the win. Seven-time Southern Oregon Speedway champion Wauge is hoping this will be his year. He had his hands full holding off Bobby Hogge IV to get that second place finish. Hogge has won some of the biggest races up and down the West Coast throughout his decorated career and would have to be considered the driver to beat this weekend.
Bakersfield Speedway star Robby Sawyer will be making his first appearance at Southern Oregon Speedway. Sawyer is currently second in the standings at his home track. Meanwhile, Merced Speedway point leader Darrell Hughes II has his eyes on the big payday following his win in the Ed Parker Tribute race at his home track. Brothers Chase and Chris Neiman, two of the frontrunners at American Valley Speedway in Quincy, California, are coming along with past Susanville champion Larry McCracken.
Past Quincy champion Jeff Olschowka will be making another appearance as will Willamette Speedway champion Collen Winebarger, who won the Speedweek race at Southern Oregon Speedway earlier this season. Decorated Nevada and California champion Robert Miller will be coming in from Nevada once again, and local racer Jeremy Richey will be making a rare appearance. That's just a sampling of the big-name drivers that will be coming from all over the West Coast for a shot at the big money. We just got late word that 2016 Speedweek champion Kellen Chadwick is coming.
Of course, when they get through the gates, they'll have to deal with local stars Albert Gill, Zach Fettinger and Nick Trenchard. Gill is a two-time track champion and current point leader, while Fettinger has won three Main Events this season and is second in points. Nick Trenchard collected his second win of the season last time out. He has a knack for winning the big races, including the Beads Shipwreck Nationals in Elma, the John Arnberg Memorial in Yreka and the Roger Haudenshild Tribute Race at Southern Oregon Speedway. Dave Duste Jr, Duane Orsburn and James Welschonse are others anticipated from the area.
About the biggest name in IMCA Sport Modifieds that you'll find in Oregon is two-time Southern Oregon Speedway champion Jorddon Braaten. Braaten won the big race last season and has spent much of his time traveling up north as the point leader at Willamette and Cottage Grove this year. Braaten has his eyes on the $2,000 payday and enters as the early favorite to win. Two-time champion Mike Medel hopes to have something to say about this.
From California, Yreka point leader Trevor Tiffee plans to run this race along with 2016 Yreka champion Jimmy Lipke. Merced Speedway stars Tanner and Chase Thomas are planning to make the trip. Reigning Chico and Marysville champion Phillip Shelby is coming to race along with Marysville racers Jimmy Ford and Alan Furuta. This is just a sampling of the over 40 drivers planning to come race the Sport Modified show.
Point leader David Marble will be hoping to make his presence known on the big stage. Marble is hoping to notch his first division championship and has been a consistent Top 5 finisher. He's also one of seven different Main Event winners this year along with second-ranked Branden Wilson. Other local leadfoots such as Willie McFall, Tony Duste, Tony Bartell, Billy Richey and Jesse Merriman are anticipated.
if the two Modified divisions aren't enough, the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association is anticipated with another big turnout. Young Cody Peters was the point leader at the last update, and he and his two-time championship winning father Brock Peters should be leading the pack this week along with championship contenders Kalvin Morton and Chad Cardoza, two-time champion Josh King, ageless veteran Fred Hay and Ryan Smith.
The Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks will be a part of Sunday's card for what is their second and final appearance of the season. Dr. Scott Lenz has been winning everywhere they go and holds a 50 point lead over Scott Flowers in their championship race. Lenz won the Main Event the last time the group was at Southern Oregon Speedway. Other drivers to watch for include 2016 champion Steve Borror, the consistent Matt Harlow, Johnny Cobb, Roy Bain, Ginny Flowers, Bryan Hammond and Jeff Haudenshild. We've also received late word that First Class Auto Glass will be putting an additional $500 into the Main Event purse.
On both nights, the gates will open at 5 p.m. with the first race scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tickets on Saturday will be $15 for General Admission. Seniors, Veterans and Juniors (7 to 12) will be $10 and children 6 and under are free. On Sunday night, General Admission is $20 with Seniors, Veterans and Juniors (7 to 12) $15. Children 6 and under are free. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.
Unofficial R Charles Snyder Salute Roster Information
IMCA Modifieds
0 Duane Orsburn Hornbrook, Californa
1 Chase Nieman Quincy, California
1C Tim Cecil Fresno, California
1M Mark Wauge Medford, Oregon
2H Bobby Hogge IV Salinas, California
3 Chris Nieman Quincy, California
4 Anthony Slaney Martinez, California
5j Preston Jones Central Point, Oregon
5m Jake Mayden
W5 Jesse Williamson
7C Clint Reichenbach Santa Maria, California
15J Jeremy Richey Phoenix, Oregon
19K Buddy Kniss Oakley, California
21 Jeremy Ohlde Klamath Falls, Oregon
21 Matthew Drager Albany, Oregon
28H Darrell Hughes II Manteca, California
28K Chet Kniss Oakley, California
34 Mark Gaylord Boring, Oregon
36 John Campos Salem, Oregon
50 Brett Provost
54N Nick Trenchard Klamath Falls, Oregon
59 Robert Miller Gardnerville, Nevada
64 Stan Gunderson
68 Jesse Bailey Central Point, Oregon
73m Dave Duste Jr.
83 Kellen Chadwick
88 Zach Fettinger Klamath Falls, Oregon
89C Albert Gill Central Point, Oregon
06 Larry McCracken Susanville, California
121 Jeff Olschowska Susanville, California
198 Robby Sawyer Bakersfield, California
203 Chris Silva
211 Dave Satterfield
555 Bo Mueller-Shields
S Collen Winebarger Corbett, Oregon
IMCA Sport Modifieds
2 Matt Sanders Brookings, Oregon
3 Toby Judd
4m David Marble Eagle Point, Oregon
4Y Yimmy Lipke Yreka, California
5 Bob Thomas Medford, Oregon
6 Justin Foux Redding, California
7m Willie McFall
7mx Ethan Killingsworth Yreka, California
7N Craig Nieman Quincy, California
10 Guy Ahlwardt
11j Jesse Merriman Central Point, Oregon
12 Branden Wilson Eagle Point, Oregon
12a Tommy Fraser
12I Issac Sanders Brookings, Oregon
12 James Ford Yuba City, California
12R Jon Rowden McChord AFB, Washington
13 Courtney Burks (unsure) Merced, California
14 Billy Richey
15 Anthony Giuliani Morgan Hill, California
17 Chris Frisbie White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
17R Michael Rule Medford, Oregon
19 Trevor Tiffee Yreka, California
19 Jason Ferguson Meridian, California
21t Chase Thomas
22t Tanner Thomas
23 Tony Duste Central Point, Oregon
24 Steve Hopkins
25p Braxton Possinger Medford, Oregon
27b Anthony Bartell Trail, Oregon
27 Sean Hulsey Anderson, California
28 Randy Wright
28L Stephen R Lysinger
30 Mike Medel Medford, Oregon
34 Ryan Pruitt Springfield, Oregon
42 Jacob Hoppes Eagle Point, Oregon
43 Travis S Pruitt Molalla, Oregon
44 Tyler Rodgers Chico, California
58M Mike Merritt Yuba City, California
69 Dwayne Melvin Medford, Oregon
74r Danny Rule Medford, Oregon
75 Andrew Peckham Grass Valley, California
76 Aj Parker
84 Jorddon Braaten
86 Phillip Shelby Olivehurst, California
88 Robby Senn Antioch, California
95 Rich McCoy
01 Daniel Ray Eugene, Oregon
08 Ryder Boswell Yreka, California
99c Doug Coffman Roseburg, Oregon
112 Alan Furuta Yuba City, California
401K Brian Knorr
555 Joby Mueller-Shields Gold Hill, Oregon
923 Tyler Eckels Greenville, California
Pit Stops
The Cascade Wingless Sprint Car Challenge race happened last week at Southern Oregon Speedway. One of the things that made this possible was to the sponsorship of Herz Precision Parts. Mark Herz, who is an avid supporter of Wingless Sprint Car racing in Oregon, stepped forward last year to get this show started, and this was the second running of the event. There were several things working against this show, including a couple of big Wingless shows in California. However, the race went on and entertained the crowd with the drivers who were there.
Once he knew the race was happening, car owner Ted Finkenbinder made his commitment to bring the championship car back for an attempted repeat. Once again, he put Geoff Ensign behind the wheel. Ensign is as skilled with a wing as without a wing. Not only has he won the big USAC Turkey Classic in Ventura, he was also the champion at both Watsonville and Petaluma last season. He was clearly the driver to beat going into the night.
Not many of the local drivers were brave enough to take the wings off of their cars and give this race a shot. Some of it might have been the fear of the crash that happened when Kyler Barraza returned to the race after a crash. Honestly, the type of crash that he endured could have happened with a wing or without a wing, but many of the locals either didn't show up or were up in the stands watching.
The one exception was Jeffrey Hudson. This rising young star has gone from winning championships in Outlaw Karts to the Pro Stock championship in 2015 to Sprint Car "Rookie of the Year" at Southern Oregon Speedway a year later and currently second in the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Car Series. In his young career, Jeffrey has racked up quite a list of credentials, and he was certainly a sleeper contender for the big win.
Shawn Arriaga is a third generation racer who has already won championships at both Antioch and Petaluma Speedway. He has also begun to dabble in wingless racing and has upcoming wingless shows at Petaluma and the historic Calistoga Speedway on his schedule. Interesting enough, Southern Oregon Speedway was the first time that Shawn had ventured out of California for a race, and he was very excited to be there.
Third-ranked Oregon Wingless Sprint Car Tour racer Lindsay Barney and fourth-ranked competitor Mark Herz were also there along with Northwest Focus Midget star Jonathan Jorgenson, who was driving for Sterling Kane. There were some good drivers in the field to give the fans a show. The format called for qualifying on the clock with the Top 2 drivers punching their tickets into the Scramble without need of a heat race start. Ensign was no surprise as fast time, and Arriaga looked really good at second quick. Though they were in the heat races, Barney and Jorgenson handled themselves well in scoring their respective victories.
The Scramble would determine the order at the front of the Main Event. The Top 2 qualifiers and the Top 2 finishers of the heat races redrew, and Arriaga got a front row start for the Scramble. He proceeded to lead all eight laps for the win, followed by Barney and Ensign. This gave Arriaga quite a bit of confidence going into the 25 lap race with the $3,500 prize on the line. It paid back pretty well with $1,500 for second, $1,000 for third and even $700 for fourth.
Arriaga led early, but it didn't take long for Ensign to move in and battle him side by side. By lap seven, Ensign had taken the lead. By lap 15, Ensign was a straightaway in front. Ensign clearly appeared to be on his way to the big win, but Arriaga was not being threatened in his quest for second. It wasn't until he slipped off the groove exiting Turn 4 on the 22nd lap that Arriaga paid dearly for his mistake. He hit the wall and flipped to end his race, though he got out of his car unshaken. By then, Hudson had managed to take over third in his battle with Jorgenson and Barney.
When the race resumed, nobody was stopping Ensign from repeating as the champion of the race. Hudson was delighted with the $1,500 second prize, especially considering that his car had an oil leak that his crew was able to fix during the red flag after the Arriaga flip. Barney wasn't letting Jorgenson back around her as she scored the third place finish. All in all, it was a good show for the Sprint Cars, though there was some question where the other competitors were considering this was the biggest paying Wingless Sprint Car race of the year in Oregon.
The Late Model division appears to be a two-car battle for the championship between reigning champion Nathan Augustine and John Dees. Rookie Miles Deubert is still lurking within range, but he needs a few breaks to go his way. One of them actually happened on Saturday night. Deubert was really not even sure what he would be doing going into the season when the opportunity came to take over the 2017 Madras Late Model championship car.
When Miles came out and won the season opener, it seemed like he might be the surprise championship contender. Since then, he's tried different set ups. On Saturday night, he gave everybody a glimpse when he looked pretty good in the heat race, but the best was yet to come in the Main Event.
Deubert followed John Dees into second on lap three as Nathan Augustine began to fall back. Augustine discovered he had a left rear flat tire, and rather than stalling for a yellow flag, he headed for the pits. Not long after that on lap nine, Deubert made the move around Dees for the lead. He took it from there to his second win of the season. For Dees, this was his fourth second place finish of the year as he managed to cut some more points off of the Augustine lead. Augustine is now 13 points in front of Dees, and Deubert is 21 points behind Dees.
For Augustine, the night started with such promise as he won both the Trophy Dash and his heat race ahead of Bob Dees. It looked like he might have the car for a clean sweep on this occasion, but the flat tire put an end to that. it shows the respect and sportsmanship of Augustine that rather than mess up the battle for the lead and stall, he kept going to the pits. However, if something like this were to happen again, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him do things differently.
Meanwhile, Bob Dees was finishing third ahead of Dave Foote in the Main Event. It was a solid night for 2016 champion Dees, and he managed to move to within nine points of Foote, who finished behind him in fourth. In fact, Bob is also just 13 points behind Deubert with a shot at third in the standings once again. There are two races left, and anything can happen. The division welcomed past Pro Stock champion Dave Everson into the field. Dave was still getting things sorted out and would join Augustine in the pits before the finish.
David Steele has had such an amazing season that all he will need to do is start the next Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stock Main event to lock up his first championship at his home track. This was the goal for the longtime Mini Stock competitor along with taking the spot atop the all time division Main Event winner's list. David knows that he'll get the best competition from his fellow competitors, including teammate Steve Goetz. The 2013 champion Goetz illustrated that well by denying Steele the Trophy Dash win. Goetz joined Steele as a heat race winner and then chased him early in the Main Event. However, Steele wasn't getting beat by anybody as he scored his eighth feature triumph of the season.
Goetz was hoping to ride along in the second position, but Hunter Magnan had other ideas. Magnan has had an up-and-down season in recent weeks, but he continues to hold on to second in the standings. After a disappointing outing at the previous race, Hunter knew he needed to come up big. He had his third season-best second place feature finish, while his closest point rival, reigning champion Kristopher Mix, ended up a disappointed last in the 10 car field. This enabled Magnan to put some distance between himself and Mix in the race for second. He leads Mix by 27 points, while Mix is only 15 points ahead of Goetz in the battle for third.
With two point races left, there is still a chance for a few positions to change hands and some intriguing possibilities. Though Ashtin Hedges might not have been thinking about points after a late start, he finds himself trailing Michael McLeod by just 23 points. Hedges picked up another Top 5 finish in fifth last week. To do so, he had to battle two-time reigning Yreka champion Marilyn Yawnick, and he nearly cost himself as he cut Turn 2 too early and drove into the infield. A few laps later, he regained 5th and managed to keep Steele at bay to keep himself on the lead lap.
Goetz and 2014 champion Gary Anderson battled for the third position with Goetz coming out ahead. For Anderson, the point race is pretty much a done deal, but he'd still like to get a Main Event win before the season comes to its conclusion. To think that he's even out there in a position to possibly win is amazing considering how hard he hit the front wall in his heat race a few races back. The fifth place point position continues to be held by Garrett Fredrickson, but McLeod is only 20 points behind him. Garrett needs to get out there and keep finishing if he wants to hold on to that spot.
2016 JOAT Labs Hornets champion Tim Hedges might have been just a tad bit aggressive during the night. The heat is on in the championship battle, and it's the surprising Bree Tritchler who seems a lock for top rookie honors this year while also standing in Hedges' way in the point lead. Tritchler has picked up four second place finishes and a win this year. Hedges needed to come up big after an overheating issue dropped him back a few more points in the past couple of weeks. Hedges went out there and picked up a Trophy Dash win, and also made an and aggressive move in picking up a heat race victory. Joining him in the heat race winners category was second generation racer Dylan Irving.
We've seen just about everything happen to Dylan this year. He's had his ups, and he's had his downs. But this kid has shown his toughness and has never given up. It wasn't a question of if, but when he would win the Main Event. Hedges was the driver standing in his way, but when he got his car up on two wheels on lap eight in the main event and nearly rolled, Irving made his move into the lead. Amazingly, Hedges kept his composure and maintained third all the way to the checkered flag.
For Irving, there was still the pressure of teammate Brandon Wonsyld, who has picked up two wins and was looking for his third. Dylan wouldn't give up the lead as he held off Brandon for the hard-fought victory. While Hedges cut Tritchler's lead down to six points, Wonsyld was able to take a four point lead over Chris Boynton in a close battle for third. It was just not Boynton's night. Brandon is left to wonder what might have been had he not missed a pair of races. He led the early goings of the season. Irving, meanwhile, is still in the hunt for third, 21 points behind Wonsyld and 17 behind Boynton.
After Jenna Hedges' car was sold to the Silva Racing Team, she finally returned in the #4t car that was driven by her husband of 17 years, Tim, to the 2016 championship. Interesting enough, that car may be the longest running car in this division as it was a part of the program in 2015 as well before Tim bought it. Jenna didn't have a great night, but she still managed to move into sixth in the standings. One driver who did look good was Dylan Sauer. Dylan had his best finish yet in fourth and has moved into the Top 10 in the standings as a result.
Now is the time to make your move. Everything comes to a conclusion after September 22nd. There will be two more races at little Southern Oregon Speedway and four more races on the big track, including this weekend's big R Charles Snyder Salute. There should be some good racing action from now until then, and you never know who might win on any given week.
