Seventh Annual Roger Haudenshild Tribute At Southern Oregon Speedway This Saturday

Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion

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Seventh Annual Roger Haudenshild Tribute 

At Southern Oregon Speedway This Saturday

White City, Oregon...After back-to-back rainouts, Southern Oregon Speedway returns to action with one of the biggest events of the season. This Saturday night will be the Seventh Annual Roger Haudeshild Tribute race. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks will be racing for increased purses, and the Late Models and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars will make this a five-division program.

Roger Haudenshild was a Destruction Derby and Stock Car competitor as well as a hot rod enthusiast. He sponsored many different racers through the years. The community was saddened by his passing, and this race was established in 2013 as a way to remember him. The Haudenshild family and Matt Duste of Dusty's Transmissions has sponsored this race and kept it going. Each year it has gotten bigger.

Another hallmark of the event is the special $200 to win Crack-the-whip race that will be held for the three featured divisions. The format calls for as many laps as there are starters in the race. Each lap, the last place car leaves the track until only one driver remains to collect the prize. These special races will be flagged by longtime flagman Maurie Skaggs.

In three of the past four races, the IMCA Modified winner has been Nick Trenchard. Trenchard has proven to be a clutch racer when the money is on the line, winning several big events at Southern Oregon Speedway and other area tracks. Trenchard was unstoppable last season in collecting the $2,000 victory. The only driver keeping him from winning four races in a row was 2016 winner Mark Wauge, who recently announced his move up to the Late Models after selling his car.

The Wauge departure from the IMCA Modifieds also will affect the championship battle. Trenchard could be the driver to beat on Saturday and in the championship race as well. Three-time reigning track champion Albert Gill is hoping to collect his biggest feature win ever this week, and other drivers to watch for include season opener winner Jeffrey Hudson, Preston Jones, Zach Fettinger and Justin Foux.

The lure of the extra money has brought some fast competitors to the IMCA Sport Modified show these past few seasons. Last year, 2015 California State champion Fred Ryland picked up the win. The year before that, reigning Oregon State champion Jorddon Braaten picked up his second win in the big race. A year earlier, Todd Cooper got the win. With the first prize set at $1,600, some fast racers are expected on Saturday.

The season opener showcased two of the toughest competitors in the state in a photo finish, won by Matt Sanders ahead of Justin McCreadie. These two drivers may be at the top of the list of potential winners this week, but other drivers to watch for include Rich McCoy, Branden Wilson,  Isaac Sanders and two-time track champions Mike Medel and Dwayne Melvin.

Dr. Scott Lenz has become an unstoppable force in the Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stock division. In addition to winning this year's Billy Geyer Memorial race in Yreka, Lenz has won the past two Roger Haudenshild Tribute races. He comes into Saturday's show as the odds-on favorite to win again. The two drivers nipping at his heels so far this year are the father-son team of Scott Flowers and James Flowers. They may have the best shot at beating Lenz. Other drivers to watch for this week include 2016 champion Steve Borror, Matt Harlow and Bryan Hammond.

The addition of Mark Wauge to the Late Model roster is adding more star power to the growing division. Trent Elliott is the driver many people have talked about as the one to beat in this year's championship chase, but 2017 title winner Nathan Augustine and last season's top rookie, Miles Deubert, are two others hoping to make a run for the money this year. Other drivers to watch for this week include 2016 champion Bob Dees, Dave Foote, 2013 Pro Stock champion Dave Everson and Tony Bartell.

The Dwarf Cars round out what is sure to be an action-packed program this weekend. Camden Robustelli served notice to the competition with his impressive victory a few weeks ago. Robustelli got that win after a great battle with three-time reigning champion Josh King and two-time champ Brock Peters. These three drivers will be tough to beat this week, but others, such as Chad Cardoza, Fred Hay, Jesse Lorentz, Kalvin Morton and Joe Sanders, will be out there to give it a go.

The Roger Haudenshild Tribute race is one of those events that people mark on their calendar to see. There will be many great competitors in all of the classes, and the weather report is looking good for the weekend. Gates will open at 5 pm with the first race starting at 7. General Admission will be $15 with Seniors, Veterans and Juniors 7 to 12 $10. Children 6 and under are free. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Pit Stops

This Saturday night, Southern Oregon Speedway will try to get their first race in the books since May 11th. It's been back to back rainouts for the 3/10 mile clay oval, but racing returns with the Seventh Annual Roger Haudenshild Tribute race. This race was created as a way to honor the beloved member of the racing community.

Once again, sponsorship from the Haudenshild family and Matt Duste of Dusty's Transmissions will see to it that the IMCA Modified winner receives $2,000 once again, the IMCA Sport Modified winner gets $1,600 and the Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stock Association winner will win $1,200. The association may be taking the money given by the Haudenshild family and distributing it amongst more than just the winner, but it will still be an increased purse for the group.

For the first few years, the race was there to offer more money, but it seemed like it still flew in under the radar. With the arrival of Mike McCann and KJE Enterprises, an effort has been made to feature this event as one of the biggest shows of the season. The goal is to make this a show that Roger himself would be very proud of, and the racing over these past few years has certainly been enjoyable.

The bounty hunter of the IMCA Modified division could be considered Nick Trenchard. Nick generally shows up at the big races in the Pacific Northwest and has won his share of them. When it comes to Roger's race, he has won three of the last four, interrupted only by seven-time IMCA Modified champion Mark Wauge. For the time being at least, Wauge is not looking to get another win in this event. He has moved on to the Late Model division and will be making his debut there this Saturday night.

The fact that Trenchard is anticipated this Saturday night makes him the early favorite to get the win. He has been breaking in a new car this year and didn't get the results he was hoping for at the season opener. At the Bill Mills race in Madras, it was even worse as he was involved in a crash that ended his race. He's looking to get his season back on track and will certainly be tough to beat.

The question will be whether Jeffrey Hudson is in town to compete after winning the season opener. This talented second-generation racer has looked very impressive through the years as a Pro Stock champion and the runner-up in Winged Sprint Car points twice in the last three seasons. He even managed to get a second place finish in the Cascade Wingless Sprint Car Challenge race last season. If you haven't figured it out yet, Hudson is the real deal.

Albert Gill is one of the most decorated champions at the speedway in the last decade, but maybe he's not considered one of the elite racers yet. Though he has won some races through the years, he lacks that marquee victory that many of the other frontrunners have earned. Gill felt his car was running strong at the season opener before mechanical issues sidelined him. He's hoping to make his mark this Saturday night.

Weather it's Zach Fettinger, Preston Jones, Jeremy Ohlde, Duane Orsburn or the return of Travis Perry, there are some good racers hoping to earn the second biggest IMCA Modified payday being offered at Southern Oregon Speedway this year. Plus, they write their name into the record books as a winner of the Roger Haudenshild Tribute race.

The IMCA Sport Modifieds don't get a lot of bigger payday races, but Saturday night is one of them. This division is the only other class that has been a part of all of the previous Roger Haudenshild Tribute events. Only two-time division champion Jorddon Braaten, who tops the division's all time win list by a wide margin, is a multi time winer of this race. The $1,600 payday that was offered last year went to 2015 California State champion Fred Ryland. Braaten actually pocketed a few more bucks for his second win a year before that, while Todd Cooper enjoyed the big pay of the year before. Matt Duste and his Southern Oregon Racing Hall Of Fame father Dave Duste Sr are the other winners of this race.

You can pretty much see that this division is the fastest growing class at Southern Oregon Speedway these days, and the proof was further given at the season opener when 21 racers showed up. It was a rapidly run event that featured a photo finish at the checkered flag, won by Matt Sanders ahead of race long leader Justin McCreadie. These two drivers enter the race as the ones to beat. Sanders has looked good in the early season and also has a win in Yreka.

It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of the field of drivers who will show up on Saturday night have a chance to get the win here, and it's likely that we will see some drivers coming in from California to take a shot at the money. Will Ryland again make an appearance? As of press time, we haven't heard any confirmation, but there were a few drivers that we heard could show up. One who has made plans to come up north is Brian Cooper. Brian is the 2016 California State champion.

Two-time Medford champions Mike Medel and Dwayne Melvin have something in common. Both drivers are looking for their biggest feature wins to date. Melvin showed everybody just how much of a threat he is when he ran a strong third and had a bold move to get by the two drivers in front of him wiped out when a slower car spun in his path. It's no exaggeration to say that Dwayne is a threat to win this race.

Generally, Medel will get his car to a Top 5 finish or better when he's got everything running just right, and he went to Sunset Speedway for a third place finish last weekend. Mike has enjoyed calling this his home track for the past 22 years, and he has a big win in him. It just may be that Saturday night will be his night.

Medel didn't do so well at the season opener as he had a flat tire, and last season's championship runner-up, Branden Wilson, didn't do as well as hoped. Wilson has a newer car this year and is hoping to make a challenge for more wins. He has his eyes on the big prize as does long time Speedway racer Rich McCoy in the Lightning McQueen #95 car. McCoy had a strong Top 5 effort at the season opener. Just watching this division and the Modifieds alone this weekend will be worth the price of admission, but there's much more.

In the Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks division, Dr. Scott Lenz is the odds on favorite to win this race for the third straight year. Lenz has been an unstoppable force in this class, and the only thing that's beat him on the track has been mechanical issues. So, it may just be that the speculation could be who will finish second behind him on Saturday night.

There have been unconfirmed rumors that long time Chico and Vallejo Stock Car competitor Gary Newman and Brent Lawrence might be coming to town from the Chico area, and both generally run pretty well. Two regulars from the Outlaw Pro Stock group, Scott Flowers and his son James Flowers, are the next best bet. Scott finishes second so often that a case could be made to rename second the Scott Flowers position. He's hoping to get his first win of the past few years, and a win for him on Saturday night would certainly be huge.

The 2016 winner of this race was the champion of that year, Steve Borror. The last time Lenz got beat in a regular association point race, it was Borror, who did it in Yreka. The list of drivers hoping to take a shot at beating Lenz includes long time Medford Pro Stock racer John David Duffie, Jeff Haudenshild, Matt Harlow, Bryan Hammond, two-time champion Ken Irving and Scott Bennett

There has been some speculation as to the possibility of Lenz eventually moving up to a Late Model. The Late Model division has been included on this weekend's card, and people in Medford are talking about this class. Much interest has been shown, and seven-time Modified champion Mark Wauge made good on his intentions to move up to the division. Wauge got a good deal on one of the Trent Elliott cars and is excited about this next challenge.

Elliott would seem to be the driver to beat this Saturday night. Last time out, he was beat by Coos Bay star Preston Luckman, who isn't anticipated this week. The two drivers hoping to have the best shot at beating Elliott would be 2017 champion Nathan Augustine and last season's stop rookie, Miles Deubert. Deubert got a new car this year in the hopes of stepping up his game a little bit. Both drivers came from the back to get Top 5 finishes at the season opener.

There are some good drivers waiting in the wings to go Late Model racing, and we anxiously await the arrival of track record holder Dustin Knight to the group. It may be a couple of weeks before we see the past Modified and Pro Stock champion in the field, but we anticipate 2016 champion Bob Dees, 2012 Coos Bay title winner Dave Foote, 2013 Pro Stock champion Dave Everson and Tony Bartell to be among the field this week. Might we see the season debut of reigning champion John Dees?

the Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars have managed to be a part of most of the big events happening at the speedway in recent years. This weekend will be no different. They've been included in all but one of the Roger Haudenshild Tribute races. Brock Peters is not only a two time champion, but he's the winner of the last two races, beating season opening winner Camden Robustelli last year and his son Cody Peters the year before that. Another two-time winner of the race is three-time Southern Oregon Speedway champion Josh King. CJ Putnam is the other winner.

Kalvin Morton had a disappointing season opener this year, but he has earned Top 3 finishes in this event three times with a second and two thirds. He'll be hoping to get his first win this time around. One nice thing about the Dwarf Cars is they bring a good field of racers when they come to town. At the season opener, there were 20 drivers as people like Sean Trujillo, Shane Hines, and Dan Halbert have helped grow the roster, and more drivers continue to join.

The season opener featured another good battle as long time racer Fred Hay and Mason Lewman went at it all night. Lewman held off Hay to win their heat race, and Hay won the battle for fourth in the Main Event. Jesse Lorentz continues to dial in his Mod Lite and is on the verge of a victory. Another driver who's always in the hunt is perennial championship contender Chad Cardoza. There is sure to be lots of excitement and plenty of speed when the Dwarf Cars get on the track.

The Southern Oregon Speedway show will be the perfect cure for the people suffering from the rainy day blues. Rain has not been our friend as we've lost a pair of races, but the Roger Haudenshild Tribute race is the perfect way to get back into racing. Roger was an important member of our racing community. Not just somebody who loved being a Destruction Derby and Stock Car competitor, but somebody who helped out his fellow racers whenever he could. This will be a fitting race honoring his memory.

Iron Giant Street Stock Series Comes To Southern Oregon Speedway

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Iron Giant Street Stock Series Comes 

To Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...Southern Oregon Speedway fans rarely get an opportunity to check out some great Street Stock racing, but Saturday night will be the exception. The Iron Giant Street Stock Series rolls into town for the Third Annual Disorder On The Southern Border 50 lap event. The race will pay $1,000 to win. Also on the jam-packed schedule will be the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars, Valley Store All Late Model Lites and OTRO Hardtops.

The Iron Giant Street Stock Series was put together by Chris Sine and James Whitehouse two years ago to offer race fans some of the best Street Stock racing they will find anywhere on the West Coast. The inaugural event of 2017 took place at Southern Oregon Speedway with Donald Schott picking up the win. There was a ten car field that year, but it doubled to over 20 last year in a race that was won by Andrew Langan.

Drivers come from several other Oregon venues to do battle in these long-distance events, and last season saw seven different winners on the competitive tour. Aided by his win at St Helens, David Cronk would win last season's championship. Andrew Langan won the Southern Oregon Speedway race, but a crash not long after that forced him to miss a race and derailed his effort just a little bit. He still ended up second in the standings ahead of Schott, Josh Sheller and Coos Bay winner Brian Cronk.

The one thing about the Iron Giant Street Stock Series is they bring a loaded field of talented racers, and it's no exaggeration to say that most of the drivers have a legitimate shot at winning on any given week. Street Stock racing is something that hasn't been seen very much at Southern Oregon Speedway since it opened in 1996, and this will be a race you won't want to miss.

The IMCA Modifieds always bring the speed and excitement when they are in town. The season-opening race was an exciting battle early on before Jeffrey Hudson gained the lead. Mark Wauge managed to work his way into second, only to run out of time in his quest to reel in Hudson. However, he was gaining on him, and he will be hungry to get his 50th career feature win at his home track this week.

Albert Gill will have his mechanical issues sorted out this week as he tries to get into the win column. The three-time reigning champion was running strong at the season opener, but his mechanical issues sent him to the pits early in the race. There are some talented racers vying for the victory this week, and other drivers to watch for include Preston Jones, Nick Trenchard, Zach Fettinger and Jeremy Ohlde.

The most exciting race at the season opener took place in the IMCA Sport Modified division. It required the computerized scoring to determine that Matt Sanders beat race long leader Justin McCreadie back to the line by mere inches. These two drivers looked very strong at the opener, which was a race that only needed two yellow flags. Another driver looking good was two-time champion Jorddon Braaten, who managed to take third from Rich McCoy late in the race but ran out of time before getting an opportunity to mix it up with the leaders.

A flat tire in the early goings of the race kept two-time champion Mike Medel from mounting a serious challenge. He diagnosed that problem later in the race, but he never had the chance to go get the tire changed and come back at it again. There are some good drivers to keep an eye on this week in their quest for victory, and some of the ones to watch for include two-time champion Dwayne Melvin, last year's top rookie Branden Wilson, Willie McFall and Doug Coffman.

The Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars put on the race of the night two weeks ago, and a battle between eventual winner Camden Robustelli, three-time reigning champion Josh King and two-time title winner Brock Peters took place. All three drivers led the race. Peters led most of the distance, but Robustelli led the all-important final lap. These three top the list of drivers to watch for this week, but others hoping to stake their claim on the victory include ageless veteran Fred Hay, Mason Lewman, Chad Cardoza, Jesse Lorentz and Kalvin Morton.

Charlie Eaton opened the season with a win in the Valley Store All Late Model Lites season opener. His top rival from last season, Greg Arnold, gave it a good run before settling for second. These two drivers will be battling it out at the front of the pack, and others to watch for this week include Pete Bowne, Mike Cloud, Ross Payant and the husband and wife team of Terry and Krista Hadley.

Rounding out the field are the nostalgic OTRO Hardtops. They bring a fun style of racing with their vintage Coup and Sedan race cars. Last season, Mark Minter led the win column in the Minter family entry. This car has its origins dating back to the founding of OTRO back in the 1980s and was built by Mark's grandfather, Harold Minter. Other drivers to watch for this week include Bill Trotter, Dusty Trotter, Chris Mehrer, Jay Smith and Matt Butler.

Just For The Iron Giant Street Stocks and IMCA Modifieds alone, Saturday night will be an exciting program. It will be nonstop action. Gates open at 5 pm with the first race starting at 7 pm. General Admission prices are $15 for adults and $10 for Seniors, Veterans and Juniors 7 to 12. Children 6 and under are free. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Pit Stops

Not much can be done when the rain comes down. The state of Oregon saw every race except for the events in Hermiston and Madras rained out this past weekend, and several venues in California were awash as well. Sadly, this included the Friday night Kart and Flat Track Motorcycle program at Little Southern Oregon Speedway and the five division program that was to happen at the big track on Saturday.

This Saturday night will be a special six division offering that will be headlined by The Iron Giant Street Stock Series. Street Stocks are something that Southern Oregon racing fans aren't used to seeing these days. At the old Medford Raceway, fans watched stars such as Jimmy Walker Jr, Jay McCleary Dave Duste Sr and Ben Neel battle it out for supremacy.

In the final years of the old track, the Street Stocks had evolved to create a Sportsman class as sort of the in-between division from Street Stocks to the Late Model class. What's interesting was that only the Sportsman division, now called Pro Stocks, made it to Southern Oregon Speedway when it first opened. The Late Models and Street Stocks were both left behind. Other than a brief run from 2010 through 2014, Street Stocks never got much of a chance at Southern Oregon Speedway.

The budding Street Stock effort on rare occasions had as many as 12 competitors on the track, and stars in the division's brief run included two-time champion Duane Orsburn, one-time champions Jorddon Braaten and Miles Deubert, Brett Provost, Garrett Dees, Tyler Lockwood and Darren Arnold. Several racers from Klamath Falls were a part of the early effort, including Scott Flowers, Scott Bennett, Jeff Hudson and Jeff Haudenshild, all of whom are Pro Stock competitors these days.

While Southern Oregon Speedway may have been left out of the Street Stock loop, Oregon had a thriving effort at every other track in the state. In Willamette, they created a huge event called The Iron Giant race. When there were 55 competitors competing for $5,000 to win in 2016, Chris Sine and James Whitehouse knew that there was great potential to launch a big series for the Street Stocks.

The plan was very simple. There are nine outdoor racing venues in Oregon, and eight of them were included in 2016. There was one race at each track, culminating in The Iron Giant race in Willamette on Labor Day Weekend. The series would start at Southern Oregon Speedway, and Donald Schott wrote his name into the record books in 2017 by winning the first Disorder On The Southern Border race. This was a 50 lap event paying $1,000 to win. Ten drivers competed in that race.

There might have been some question as to who was willing to come to Southern Oregon Speedway from up north, but over 20 racers came to town last season for the second annual event. Andrew Langan picked up the win that night and won another race at Madras. If not for some bad luck that forced him to miss a race, Langan might have been the series champion last year. As it was, David Cronk succeeded Kyle Yaeck as The Iron Giant Series champion last season, aided by his win in St Helens.

The Street Stock division is a nice mixture of Camaros and Firebirds, Monte Carlos, Novas and other makes. The metric cars are starting to grow in popularity as a couple of tracks in Oregon have started the IMCA Stock Car division. Unfortunately for the drivers who choose to run Camaros and Firebirds, their cars are not legal for that effort. Since the Street Stocks are still alive and well in Oregon, that hasn't become an issue yet.

Every so often, you'll hear people in the Medford area ask why there isn't a Street Stock division at the speedway. You would have to ask the track's founder, John Skinner, why he never thought it was important enough to be a part of his roster from the start. These days, the speedway rotates nine different divisions on any given week, so finding a spot for the Street Stocks in the lineup might be a challenge. As there hasn't been sufficient enough interest shown by potential racers, this hasn't become a topic that management has chosen to entertain.

The Iron Giant Street Stock Series visit begins a string of big events coming to Southern Oregon Speedway through the month of June. IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds have been included this weekend, and the two divisions will take center stage in the Seventh Annual Roger Haudenshild Tribute race on June 1st. Among the other divisions included will be the Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stocks for their first of three visits to the speedway.

The next two weeks will be important in setting the stage for this year's Sport Modified and Modified championship battles. Not only will there be more money on the line for the Haudenshild race, but these two events will go a long way towards putting the racers in a position to really contend for the track title.

Mark Wauge was making some waves during the offseason. With all of the talk centering around the Late Model division and drivers getting involved in that class, he hinted that he was taking a look at getting a car himself in the event that he sold both his trailer and his race car. As he still had his Modified when the season started, Wauge clarified that he was going for an unprecedented eighth IMCA Modified championship. He was also hoping to score his milestone 50th career Modified win at his home track.

Some very late breaking news reports that he has in fact finally gotten a Late Model and is hoping to make some practice laps with it this Saturday night. This is one of the cars previously owned by Trent Elliott. Wauge's departure from the Modified division will break the championship race wide open.

Albert Gill is back to see if he can  successfully defend his championship, and conflicting reports tell us that perennial title contender Nick Trenchard plans to give it a go this year. Trenchard has always been a factor when the big money has been on the line, but he has never really pursued a championship in Medford. Should he be doing so this year, the Gill, Trenchard, Zach Fettinger, Preston Jones battle could be epic.

What's interesting is that Jeffrey Hudson has forced the competition to take notice with his impressive drive to victory at the season opener. Driving the Don Romer owned Modified, Hudson turned in a superb performance in winning the season opener. Romer has generally had his car where the money is for the past couple of years, but should a championship in Medford catch his attention, Hudson has proven he's got the ability to hang with the leaders. Thie 2015 Pro Stock champion has only just begun to show what he can do behind the wheel.

These drivers will likely be in town for the IMCA Wild West Speedweek race on June 22nd. That event brings some of the best racers Oregon and even California have to offer for a week-long series that crowns a champion. To this day, only Brian Poppa has managed to win a Speedweek crown from the Medford Area.

The Malicious Monster Truck Tour will come to town to entertain the fans on June 8th and 9th. Last year, despite a conflicting Monster Truck show at the drag strip and rain on the day of the event, the stands were still packed at Southern Oregon Speedway to watch these drivers in their gargantuan machines as they flew through the air and crushed the cars beneath them. This year, fans get two days of entertainment, thanks to the sponsorship of Dave's Carpet and Vinyl Liquidators.

There's just too much excitement happening at Southern Oregon Speedway, and fans will have something good on the schedule almost every week through the scheduled season finale on September 14th.

People have been saying for a couple of years that the IMCA Sport Modifieds were going to get to the level where they would deliver the biggest car counts at the track, and they have finally been proven right. Last season, the division started putting car counts into the twenties on the track, and they opened this year with an impressive 21 car field. Everybody is getting one of these race cars, and it's also opened the door for a few racers on the lower levels who didn't think they could move up.

One of the interesting entrants in the season opener was two-time champion Jorddon Braaten. It wasn't known what the reigning IMCA State Sport Modified champion would do, and we're still not taking anything for granted where the #84 car is concerned. However, if he chooses to compete in every event, he would certainly be a factor in the championship hunt.

Braaten had to come from mid pack to battle the #95 car of Rich McCoy in a good race for third. Ahead of him, Justin McCreadie seemed to have things in hand until being challenged on the final lap by Matt Sanders. Dwayne Melvin had a piece of that action early on until lapped traffic got him. It was one of the best runs we've seen from Melvin in quite some time and an indication that the #69 car could be a threat to win this year.

When the checkered flag falls on the field and the finish is so close that electronic scoring is needed to determine the winner, you know it's been one heck of a battle. The scoring showed that Sanders beat McCreadie back to the line by mere inches in one of the closest finishes in Speedway history.

The aforementioned addition of Wauge to the Late Model roster is sure to get people talking. The division's season debut included 12 competitors, but there were several local stars who weren't quite ready for the show. Three who were on hand and expected to be title contenders were Trent Elliott, Nathan Augustine and Miles Deubert. All three drivers scored Top 5 finishes that night with Elliot finishing second, Augustine fourth and Deubert fifth.

Just when we thought we might not see Dave Foote, he made the announcement at the opener that he will continue to race at Southern Oregon Speedway, and we were also happy to see the Dees family represented by 2016 champion Bob Dees. Even 2013 Pro Stock title winner Dave Everson was making good laps and finishing sixth in the feature.

However, there are some racers we hope to see in action in the weeks ahead, including reigning champion John Dees. John was with his father Bob for the opener. We anticipate the return of past champion Jeremy Richey along with teammate Chris Biggs, James Welshonse, Don Garrett Jr, Brian Bowman, Jason Schultz, John David Duffie and new cars for both Eric Massey and Dustin Knight. People have been saying that this could be a breakout season for the class, and they may be right. The Late Models will be part of the big show on June 1st.

The JOAT Labs Hornets division has seen the competition level rise this year. 2016 champion Tim Hedges knew that was going to be the case, which led him to put new cars together for both himself and wife Jenna Hedges. Basically, the white #14 car ended up giving up the on Tim at last season's finale, and he nearly could have gotten out and ran faster than his car was going on the 3/10 mile clay will that night. Somehow, he managed to cling to second in the standings behind champion Bree Tritchler.

Tritchler stepped up her game with a new car this year, and Dylan Sauer planned to hit the ground running this year after he ended last season with back-to-back Top 3 finishes. Though Hedges has been very fast this season, Sauer has been just a little bit faster with a pair of wins. Because Tim has had just a little bit better luck in the preliminaries, he is clinging to a slim lead, but he knows he'll have to start winning some Main Events to keep his lead.

Tritchler is forced to play catch up with everybody after she blew a motor in hot laps at the opener and was done for the night. It looked like her motor was going to give up on her again at the most recent race, but things worked out and she managed a fourth place feature finish. All of the drivers are watching Sauer, knowing that he is certainly going to be tough to beat.

The Nelson family, meanwhile, has had mixed results so far. Derrel Nelson Jr did get a Top 5 finish in the first race, though he didn't do as well in the most recent show. Son Zach Nelson was nursing a sick motor to the finish line in that race, while Ryan Nelson missed the race making repairs after hitting the front wall in the season opener. He hopes to be back for the next event. The Hornets have certainly been exciting to watch so far.

Car count has been an issue in both the Valley Store All Late Model Lites and Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks as some drivers aren't ready to go. The Late Model Lites were without last season's third and fourth place competitors, Eric and Dusty Aos, who are still getting their cars ready. Likewise, Lee Doty's car wasn't quite ready for Ross Payant to make his return last time. It's hopeful that they'll have another car or two in the field this week to do battle with reigning champion Charlie Eaton, Greg Arnold and Pete Bowne.

The Mini Stock division has been without 2014 champion Gary Anderson, who has decided to take a break. Rookie Scott Yergis and Garrett Fredrickson still aren't quite ready to go, and 2013 title winner Steve Goetz blew a motor in Yreka and has missed two races. Had last weekend's race went on a scheduled, reigning champion David Steele was intending to race in Yreka at the annual Mike Caveye Memorial race. Steele has attempted to help a few of his fellow racers get their cars ready and is hoping that there will be another car or two in the field for the next race.

Rain Puts A Damper On Southern Oregon Speedway Weekend

Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion

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Rain Puts A Damper On Southern Oregon Speedway Weekend

White City, Oregon...The weekend was set to include two events at the Southern Oregon Speedway facility. In addition to a five division line up on the Jim Rodgers prepared 3/10 mile clay oval on Saturday night, a full complement of Outlaw Karts, Flat Track Motorcycles and Quads were scheduled to compete on Friday night.

However, rain began to fall on Wednesday afternoon and its been raining for much of Thursday. The forecast calls for continued rain through the weekend. After consulting various weather reports and the National Weather Service, Promoter Mike McCann made the decision to cancel all racing for the weekend. The news will come as a disappointment to the racers and fans who were hoping the show would go on, but it's the best course of action to take for the tracks.

Next on the schedule for Southern Oregon Speedway will be Saturday, May 25th. This will be the third visit for The Iron Giant Street Stocks. It's Disorder On The Southern Border III, and the Street Stock division will be running a 50 lap Main Event paying $1,000 to win. The thrilling IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modified will both be competing that night along with the Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars, the Valley Store All Late Model Lites and the OTRO Hardtops.

Fans rarely get an opportunity to see the Street Stock division, which was a regular fixture at the old Medford Speedway for years but only ran regularly at Southern Oregon Speedway for about five seasons. The series, put together by Chris Sine and James Whitehouse, takes the Street Stocks to almost every venue in Oregon, along with visits to tracks in Washington and California. The Southern Oregon Speedway event begins the season for the group.. Andrew Langan is the defending race winner and Donald Schott won the inaugural event a year earlier.

Mark Wauge was forced to settle for second at the IMCA Modified season opener behind the flying Jeffrey Hudson. While he appeared to be closing in on Hudson, time ran out on him. He will be back on Saturday in pursuit of his 50th career IMCA Modified win at his home track. The IMCA Sport Modifieds staged a thrilling race that ended in a photo finish last time out, won by Matt Sanders ahead of race long leader Justin McCreadie. The division produced a strong 21 car field that night.

The next program at little Southern Oregon Speedway will take place on June 14th, and all of the divisions featured at the opener will be back. Promoter Mike McCann has invited the Flat Track Motorcycle riders to compete on the little track, and 69 year old Bobby Ingle answered the call with an impressive win in the Unlimited division last week. Also along as part of the program were the three-wheel Trikes, and Ryan Comstock won that race.

The 250 Intermediate Karts continue to put on a great show, and 2017 champion Trevor Grimes opened the season with a victory ahead of rookie Jacob James. Reigning Box Stock champion Keaton Augustine won his season opener, and Brionna Fuller was a double winner at the opener, winning the Four Cycle Main Event and the 500 Open class race as well. June 14th is poised to be the biggest turnout of competitors across all classes that the speedway has seen in recent years.

Many exciting events are still lined up for Southern Oregon Speedway all the way through mid September. You can find out more information on the all-new webpage at www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Pit Stops

Southern Oregon Speedway had their first Late Model show of the season last Saturday night. There's been lots of buzz centered around this division during the offseason with a few new drivers getting cars to join the fun. This resulted in a 12 car field for the opener, despite the fact that several other drivers who intend to compete were not there.

Three of the drivers who did show up happened to be regulars at Coos Bay Speedway. Reigning Coos Bay champion Brody Montgomery, current Coos Bay point leader and 2018 Cottage Grove champion Preston Luckman and Deven Brown were the three coming to Southern Oregon Speedway to make a run at the money. It was the first Late Model visit for all three drivers.

Montgomery, who was the 2017 Sportsman Late Model champion at his home track prior to moving up, purchased a new Late Model for this season. He sold his other car to two-time Late model champion Wayne Butler, who is now full time in the Super Late Models as a result. Montgomery found Southern Oregon Speedway to his liking and hopes to make another visit or two before the season concludes. He won his heat race, and despite a spin on the opening lap, he charged back to an impressive third place feature finish.

Luckman ended up leading the pack after the Montgomery spin. One probably expected a showdown between Luckman and Trent Elliott for the lead, but it never really materialized. Elliot was the one chasing Luckman and hoping for the opportunity to make a challenge. He has only made two visits in the prior two seasons, both victories. Elliott has thrown his hat into the ring as a point competitor this year, and this second place finish will still be useful in his championship goal.

The only thing threatening Luckman was a few scary moments in slower traffic during the final few laps. However, he still made all the right moves to get it to the finish line in first. Much like Montgomery, Luckman is hoping to make another visit or two before the season closes. Luckman's win from the increased purse also included a nice bonus from Northwest Trucking Academy.

Two of the drivers expected to be in the championship battle this year are 2017 title winner Nathan Augustine and last season's top rookie, Miles Deubert. Deubert has been battling some fuel problems and was hoping he had most of them worked out when he made practice laps the week before. He lined up in the sixth row of the Main Event and got it all the way to third before he ended up settling for fifth. He was passed during the later stages by Augustine, who ended up fourth. It wasn't a bad start for either of these drivers, and it won't be a surprise to see them getting victories at some point.

What is interesting is that everybody has to bring their A Game this year as the competition level has gotten that much tougher. Dave Everson, who won the 2013 Outlaw Pro Stock championship, seems much quicker this year and would manage a sixth place finish. However, Dave is a very competitive racer and knows he can do better. Another Dave, 2012 Coos Bay champion Dave Foote, had announced earlier that he might be racing more at his home track. We've been fortunate enough to have him at most of the races during the past two seasons, and he was a two-time feature winner last year. Dave says that he will be racing regularly in Medford once again.

You can never assume anything when it comes to racing. Reigning Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stock champion David Steele has not been beat very often for Main Event wins since late in the 2017 season. After winning the season opener in impressive fashion, it looked as if he might pick up another win last week. However, Ashtin Hedges had other ideas. Hedges settled the matter between himself and 2017 champion Kristopher Mix for second and began to close in on Steele. He surprised him by making a late pass and collecting his first career victory.

Both drivers were all smiles after the checkered flag flew. Though he lost the battle, Steele admitted that this was one of the funnest races he'd been a part of in recent memory. He's also excited about the possibility that drivers like Hedges are getting better and making things more competitive in the class. David is still working to try and get other drivers back for the next Mini Stock appearance.

2017 champion Kristopher Mix and Carrie Weiser celebrated the arrival of their second baby boy on Friday night. On Saturday, Mix further celebrated as he picked up an impressive heat race win. In a nice gesture after winning the Trophy Dash, Steele donated his trophy to baby Bo.

Tim Hedges was hoping that he could pick up a JOAT Labs Hornets Main Event win. His night started off the way he wanted it to with wins in both the Trophy Dash and heat race. However, he never quite got his Main Event effort going the way he wanted to. Plus, season opening winner Dylan Sauer showed everybody that his previous win was no fluke by winning yet again with 2016 champion Hedges in pursuit. Because Hedges has done so well in preliminary competition, he has a slim point lead over Sauer after two races.

The Hedges team is fielding new cars for both Tim and his wife Jenna. Jenna had a battle on her hands with reigning champion Bree Tritchler for the fourth position. Tritchler watched the season opener from the sidelines after blowing a motor in hot laps. She made the most of the second week by out-running Jenna to get the fourth place finish, but she couldn't quite keep up with her father, Quentin Tritchler. Quentin is driving Bree's championship car and finished third in the feature.

Rookie Lacey Sauer did a good job as she is getting more confident behind the wheel of her #10s car. This was only her second start of the season, and though she got lapped midway through the race, she seemed to keep pace with the leaders pretty well after that and would still get a respectable sixth place finish. It would not be a surprise to see her compete for a win at some point this season.

If you want to even be in the discussion as a potential feature winner with the Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars, you've got to bring your A Game. Two drivers setting the bar rather high are three-time reigning champion Josh King and two-time champion Brock Peters. This duo accounts for the past five championships. One driver who's been in contention for most of those titles is Camden Robustelli, and it might have seemed like he didn't quite have it when King passed him to win the A Dash. However, Robustelli had a trick up his sleeve.

Peters actually led most of the Main Event with King and Robustelli in close pursuit. Because these drivers are getting around the track so rapidly, slower traffic became a factor early on in a race that didn't see very many yellow flags. King grabbed the lead from Peters, but Robustelli managed to wrestle the lead from King on lap 22. Unlike Yreka, where mechanical issue sent him pitward, Robustelli didn't let this win get away.

It's rather interesting to watch Camden and his dedication to Dwarf Car racing. He also competes in the Limited Sprint car division, but the Dwarf Car division seems to take a higher priority with the team as they still have one goal left to be achieved. They are hoping to win the championship. Last season, because of an encounter with a slower car while running at the front of the pack in the finale, he ended up having to come from the back and fell just one point short of the title. Robustelli has what it takes to win the title, but you have to have the breaks go your way. He has been racing more on the Sprint Car circuit and was Top 5 ranked in the Interstate Sprint Car Series last season.

While Peters would hold off King to get the second place finish, ageless veteran Fred Hay and Mason Lewman had a classic battle going all night. Lewman outdueled Hay to win their heat race, but Hay managed to win the battle for fourth in the Main Event. He looked good all night, and it might make people wonder if a feature victory is in the cards for the long time Southern Oregon racer. A win for "Fast Freddie" would certainly prove to be very popular with the fans.

The Dwarf Cars produced 21 cars for the show, which pretty much picks up right where they left off last season. Oftentimes, they have the biggest car count when they are on the roster. Long time Medford racer Reggie Ayers was back with his Mod Lite, but he struggled all night to get the car up to speed. Another Mod Lite, driven by Jesse Lorentz, did get a Top 10 finish as did perennial title contender Chad Cardoza. The Dwarf Cars are certainly a crowd-pleaser and some say they had the race of the night last week.

Car count was a little on the sparse side for the Valley Store All Late Model Lites last week as the Hadley team suffered a setback. Word is that the Aos team won't be ready with their two cars until June. 2016 champion Lee Doty didn't have the car parts he needed in time to get his car ready. Ross Payant will be wheeling the Doty owned machine when it's ready. The show still went on as scheduled and included the return a "Pistol" Pete Bowne. Pete raced Mini Stocks several years back and drove the Doty #93 car to a third place finish. Mini Stock graduate Mike Cloud had mechanical issues in his heat race to end his night early.

This left the two stars of last season, reigning champion Charley Eaton and Greg Arnold, at the front of the pack. Eaton picked up right where he left off last season by winning both the heat race and the Main Event in impressive fashion. Arnold would finish second, and he has a plan this year. When the Late Model Lites are not running, he intends to swap the motor out of his car for a Late Model motor and race in that class. However, he wants to continue to support the Late Model Lites when they have races.

The Little Southern Oregon Speedway track has featured Outlaw Karts since 1998. In an effort to get more participants to come out and race, Promoter Mike McCann has extended an invitation to the Flat Track Motorcycles, Quads and Trikes by adding them to the schedule. There's been some uncertainty as to who might even show up to race, and a week prior to the season opener, it didn't look like anybody was coming. However, McCann is interested in doing something more with Motorcycles, which haven't really been featured all that much in Southern Oregon for many years on the oval tracks.

There is a thriving Motorcycle culture in the Medford area, and the addition of the MX track to the Southern Oregon Speedway facility has brought riders out of the woodworks. The inaugural practice at that track produced over 100 riders, so there has been some thought that some of these people would like to go racing on an oval track.

The first race was a moderate success. It managed to catch the attention of the oldest rider in the state of Oregon, Bobby Ingle. Ingle just recently turned Pro and has found the competition to be very tough at Salem Indoors. He's a tough man as well. This was illustrated when he crashed in practice. You might have thought you saw the last of him, but he came back strong to win his heat race.

In the Main Event, there was a moment when second place rider Shawn Vernier bumped his front wheel with the rear wheel of Ingle and crashed in Turn 4. Vernier was back on his bike moments later at the back of the pack. For Ingle, he would lead the rest of the way with Collin Laeger getting the second place finish.

There were eight riders, two of which were in the 65 to 85 Flat Track class. They were brothers Christopher and Devin Raper, who finished first and second. Word is, we can expect more riders in the two classifications and might even see a third classification next time around. Much like the Karts, the Flat Track Motorcycles have riders from all age groups.

It wasn't known that there would be any three-wheel Trikes. it's not the best known type of racing out there, but the five riders who came to the track gave the fans an exciting introduction. Throughout their heat race and Main Event, they ran in close competition. Ryan Comstock wrote his name into the books as the first ever winner in this class at the little track, beating Ben Herbert and third place finisher Garrett Stookey in the feature race.

The people were talking about the bikes as nobody really expected them to be there. However, they can expect that the open invitation will stand. McCann has been keen on boosting the numbers of competitors, which would give fans more of a reason to want to come out on Friday night and watch the show. It will be interesting to see how this program develops and what exactly it is that McCann has in mind for the future.

The 250 Kart class has sort of taken on the top dog status with the 500 Open Class struggling to produce a field. This year, the brother and sister duo of Brionna Fuller and Taylor Fuller are both in 500 Open Karts along with Brenden Bartlett. McCann has drawn the line at four Karts to produce a purse for the 500 Open Class, due to the fact that you never know who will show up on any given week, and sometimes the track hasn't even had a race for them. There is just a little bit of frustration due to the fact that it's known that there are somewhere between 15 and 20 Open Karts in the Medford area, and yet support is lacking for the class.

For their part, the Speed City team is doing what they can to jump start the 500 Open class in addition to maintaining the presence of the UAS Speedway Kart and Four Cycle Kart programs. Brionna Fuller was a busy young lady as she picked up the hardware with her wins in the 500 Open and Four Cycle classes. She and her brother did a good job in the 500 Open Karts as both grabbed the checkered flag in the Main Event. It was also young Taylor's first start in that division.

Moving over to the Four Cycle class, Brionna's mother Lori Fuller was in the same Kart that she drove most of the season to her UAS Speedway Kart championship last year. Lori won both of her heat races and led half of the race before being surprised by her daughter. Once Brionna got the lead, she didn't relinquish it and forced Lori to settle for second. Originally, Brionna had intended to run the UAS Speedway Kart race, but mechanical issues in that Kart saw a change of plans with her jumping into the Four Cycle Kart.

The one thing about Brionna is she's a tough young lady. Last season, despite having a broken arm, she still started a few UAS Speedway Kart races and did pretty well in that. She probably would have even driven her Cage Kart, but her cast prevented it. Brionna will get behind the wheel of whatever the class of Kart is that's offered to her and give it a great effort. She's driven just about every level of Kart now and has even competed in 600 Micros.

Trevor Grimes is intent on adding the 2019 championship to his 2017 honors in the 250 Intermediate class. Last season, though he won most of the Main Events, Vinny DeBenedetti dethroned the champion with a great effort. DeBenedetti is back, plus Box Stock star Emma Rodgers and Jacob James have joined the fun as well. James made his very first start a winning effort as he held off Grimes to win the first heat race.

After that, the flying Grimes was on a mission. He piloted the #100 Kart to victories in both the second heat race and the 20 lap Main Event and was never really challenged. It's still a goal of the team to eventually move this talented young driver into a Sprint Car when he becomes old enough. Judging by the way he handles his Kart, he will do well.

James did a fine job of bringing his Kart home to second in his first feature start in this class. Having won Main Events in both the Beginners class and the Box Stocks, you would have to think he has a win within him in this division as well. DeBenedetti, meanwhile, brought it home to a respectable third.

Keaton Augustine is hoping for a little competition in the Box Stock class. The reigning champion won both of his heats and the Main Event and was never really challenged. However, Mikey Wheeler Jr was second, and it won't be a surprise to see him become more competitive and challenge Augustine in the weeks ahead. 2017 Beginners champion Malachi Johnson was eliminated in the heat race, but he too will be somebody to watch in the weeks ahead.

Moving over to the Beginners class, after dominating the division with two heat race wins and a Main Event triumph, it is possible that Albert Gill Jr may be bumped up to the Box. class. He clearly has the confidence in his ability that one would see from a driver moving up to the next level. Meanwhile, Top 3 2018 competitor Jayme DeBenedetti did a nice job of finishing second in the Beginners feature, which is her best finish to date. She won the final Novice feature of 2018.

It wasn't really planned to have a Novice race for the season opener until officials looked at the speed difference between some of the drivers in the heat races. A hastily scheduled Novice Main Event was put on the track. Bhaltaire Edwards was the champion last year, but it was felt that he might benefit from one more start in this class. He's clearly on the cusp of a move up, but it was interesting to see Urijah Boardman, who was making only his second start, do a pretty good job of keeping pace with Edwards in his second place finish.

Talia Colley and Saige King highlight exactly why the Novice class exists. These two girls were making their very first starts and were doing what many newcomers do. They ran the bottom at a slow and steady pace. It can be very intimidating for kids at five or six years old to jump into one of these Karts, and there have been a few occasions in the past three years where they decided they didn't even want to go on the track.

The Novice class is there to help the kids feel less intimidated by faster Karts coming up to lap them every couple of circuits. Colley ended up taking a checkered flag in third while King crossed the line in fourth. Word is that Caleb Ranney, who's likely to be in the Novice class again this year, could be seen in June.

There's a lot of history and pride associated with the Outlaw Kart program. There were over 30 Karts on hand for the show, which was one of the better turnouts for the class. There are several other drivers out there, and a count of over 40 Karts is very achievable. Could this happen in June? Time will tell, but little Southern Oregon Speedway is becoming a more interesting place to be on Friday nights. The June 14th and 21st programs should both be worth checking out.

Grimes, Ingle, Augustine, Comstock Win 

At Little Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...May 10...Trevor Grimes opened the season at Little Southern Oregon Speedway with a win in the 20 lap 250 Kart Main Event Friday night. Grimes is the 2017 champion, and he finished second in the standings last season, though he won four Main Events. The night started off with Box Stock graduate Jacob James winning his very first heat race ahead of Grimes. Grimes turned the tables on James by holding him off to win the second heat race. Heat race points put the duo on the front row for the feature, and Grimes charged into the lead at the drop of the green flag. James settled into second ahead of a reigning champion Vinny DeBenedetti. The first yellow flag of the race waived on lap eight when Taylor Fuller spun in Turn 4. Fuller spun for another yellow flag a lap later, and Grimes continued to lead James and DeBenedetti on the restart. Fuller moved around Emma Rodgers for the fourth position on lap 12. Grimes set a rapid pace and lapped Rodgers late as he won ahead of James, DeBenedetti, Fuller and Rodgers.

The little track hosted its very first Flat Track Motorcycle race, and 69 year old Pro Rider Bobby Ingle won the Unlimited class 12 lap Main Event. In hot laps, Ingle crashed in Turn 2. He bounced back by winning his six lap heat race in front of Shawn Vernier. For the Main Event, Ingle raced into the lead with Vernier in close pursuit. As they exited Turn 4 to complete the second lap, the two touched wheels with Vernier crashing. He got up and continued racing as Collin Laeger settled into second ahead of Brooke Lozano. Ingle set a good pace and picked up the victory, followed by Laeger, Lozano, Alec Vernier and Shawn Vernier.

Laeger ran both the Unlimited class and the event for the 65 to 85 Flat Track Motorcycles, but because he moved up to run with the Unlimited class, he vacated his apparent win in the other Main Event. Brothers Christopher Raper and Devin Raper would finish first and second in the heat race and the Main Event. Devin Raper led his younger brother until the final lap when Christopher surprised him by making the pass and just beating him back to the finish line.

Albert Gill Jr won the 12 lap Beginners Box Stock Main Event. Gill scored a clean sweep as he won both heat races ahead of Jayme DeBenedetti. Gill, who was only making his sixth ever start, set a rapid pace and looked like a racer with more experience as he easily won the Main Event. DeBenedetti managed to hold onto a lead lap finish in second, followed by Isaac Grimes and Hunter Granger.

The newest of the new racers were moved into their own 10 lap Novice Beginners Box Stock Main Event, and reigning Novice champion Bhaltaire Edwards won their 10 lap Main Event. Edwards trailed Urijah Boardman for one lap before moving by for the lead. Edwards pulled away just a little bit, but Boardman started to close in on him by the midway point of the race. Boardman made good laps, and though Edwards was the winner, he was a much improved lead lap second. Talia Colley and Saige King were making their very first starts and set a steady pace at the back of the pack. Colley would finish third ahead of James, and both drivers took the checkered flag.

The Trikes made their very first visit to Little Southern Oregon Speedway, and Ryan Comstock won their 12 lap Main Event. Comstock won the six lap heat race ahead of Garrett Stookey. In the Main Event, Comstock charged into the lead ahead of Stookey and Ben Herbert. The five competitors ran closely throughout the 12 lap distance, and Herbert made a move around Stookey for the second position on lap six. Comstock would take the checkered flag in first, and Herbert held off the challenge of Stookey to finish second. Erin Melvin and Mike Burson completed the finishing order.

Keaton Augustine won the 12 lap Box Stock Main Event. The reigning champion kicked off his evening by out running Mikey Wheeler Jr to win both heat races and earned the pole for the Main Event. Wheeler was making his first start in the Box Stock class. The Main Event had a scratch when 2017 Beginners Box Stock champion Malachi Johnson spun in Turn 4 and was hit by 2016 Beginners Box Stock champion Kiley Grimes. Augustine raced into the lead and led all the way for the feature victory, followed by Wheeler and Grimes.

Mike Wheeler collected the hardware with a 12 lap feature victory in the UAS Speedway Karts. The 500 Open star won both heat races. His first win came ahead of Brenden Bartlett, and he outran past Yreka champion Ed Grubb to win the other heat. Attrition eliminated Larry Fuller, Steve Rambo and Nathan Augustine before the Main Event ever started. Wheeler took the lead from the start and won ahead of Grubb and Bartlett.

In a more exciting Four Cycle Flat Kart race, Brionna Fuller surprised her mother by passing her to win their 12 lap Main Event. Reigning UAS Speedway Kart champion Lori Fuller was driving the 4 Cycle Kart she ran for most of last season and won both of her heat races, the first ahead of Cody Bruckenstein and the second ahead of her daughter Brionna. Lori Fuller set the early Main Event pace ahead of Bruckenstein and Steve Rambo. Brionna Fuller leapt from fourth to second on lap five and made an inside pass in Turn 3 of the sixth lap to take the lead. Brionna Fuller would lead the rest of the way to collect the victory ahead of Lori Fuller, Rambo and Bruckenstein.

Brionna Fuller wasn't done with the Four Cycle race, she also won the 15 lap 500 Open Main Event. She won one of her heat races ahead of Brenden Bartlett and the other ahead of her brother Taylor Fuller. Brionna Fuller led the Main Event from start to finish with Taylor Fuller second and Bartlett finishing third.

Completing the packed program was the first visit from the Quads. Tyler Gove won the heat race ahead of John Creveling. On the warm-up lap, Bo Stanridge rolled his Quad on the backstretch and didn't run the race. He came back to run the Main Event, but Gove would win that race ahead of Stanridge and Creveling.

The next show at Little Southern Oregon Speedway will be Friday night and will offer all of these divisions. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Race Results

Beginners Box Stock

Heat 1a-Albert Gill Jr, Jayme DeBenedetti, Isaac Grimes, Hunter Granger, Bhaltair Edwards, Urijah Sanders, Talia Colley, Saige King.

Heat 2a-Albert Gill Jr, Jayme DeBenedetti, Bhaltair Edwards, Talia Colley, Saige King, Isaac Grimes, Hunter Grange, Urijah Sanders DNS.

Main Event-Albert Gill Jr, Jayme DeBenedetti, Isaac Grimes, Hunter Granger.

Novice Beginners Box Stock

Main Event-Bhaltair Edwards, Urijah Sanders, Talia Colley, Saige King

Box Stock

Heat 1a-Keaton Augustine, Mike Wheeler Jr, Kiley Grimes, Malachi Johnson.

Heat 2a-Keaton Augustine, Mike Wheeler Jr, Kiley Grimes, Malachi Johnson.

Main Event-Keaton Augustine, Mike Wheeler Jr, Kiley Grimes, Malachi Johnson DNS.

250 Intermediate

Heat 1a-Jacob James, Trevor Grimes, Taylor Fuller, Vinny DeBenedetti, Emma Rodgers.

Heat 2a-Trevor Grimes, Jacob James, Vinny DeBenedetti, Emma Rodgers, Taylor Fuller DNS.

Main Event-Trevor Grimes, Jacob James, Vinny DeBenedetti, Taylor Fuller, Emma Rodgers.

4 Cycle

Heat 1a-Lori Fuller, Cody Bruckenstein, Steve Rambo, Brionna Fuller.

Heat 2-Lori Fuller, Brionna Fuller, Steve Rambo, Cody Bruckenstein.

Main Event-Brionna Fuller, Lori Fuller, Cody Bruckenstein, Steve Rambo, Ashley Bruckenstein

500 Open

Heat 1a-Brionna Fuller, Brenden Bartlett, Taylor Fuller DNS.

Heat 2a-Brionna Fuller, Taylor Fuller, Brenden Bartlett.

Main Event-Brionna Fuller, Taylor Fuller, Brenden Bartlett.

UAS Speedway Karts

Heat 1a-Mike Wheeler, Brenden Bartlett, Steve Rambo, Ed Grubb, Larry Fuller DNS, Nathan Augustine DNS.

Heat 2a-Mike Wheeler, Ed Grubb, Brenden Bartlett, Steve Rambo, Larry Fuller, Nathan Augustine.

Main Event-Mike Wheeler, Ed Grubb, Brenden Bartlett, Steve Rambo DNS, Larry Fuller DNS, Nathan Augustine DNS.

Unlimited Flat Track Bikes

Heat-Bobby Ingle, Shawn Verneir, Collin Laeger, Alec Verneir, Brooke Lozano, Jason Lucas.

Main Event-Bobby Ingle, Collin Laeger, Brooke Lozano, Alec Verneir, Shawn Verneir.

Trikes

Heat-Ryan Comstock, Garrett Stookey, Ben Herbert, Erin Melvin, Mike Burson.

Main Event-Ryan Comstock, Ben Herbert, Garrett Stookey, Erin Melvin, Mike Burson.

65-85 Flat Track Bikes

Heat-Christopher Raper, Devin Raper.

Main Event-Christopher Raper, Devin Raper.

Quads

Heat-Tyler Gove, John Creveling, Bo Stanridge.

Main Event-Tyler Gove, Bo Stanridge, John Creveling.

Luckman, Robustelli, Hedges, Sauer, Eaton Southern Oregon Speedway Winner

Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion

Can Be Heard HERE

Luckman Leads The Way In Late Models 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...May 11...Preston Luckman opened the 2019 Late Model season with an impressive 25 lap Main Event victory Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. Luckman is the 2018 Cottage Grove champion and is currently competing for the title at Coos Bay Speedway. The win paid $1,000 to Luckman, and that increase was made possible thanks to an extra $200 of sponsorship from Northwest Trucking.

There were a dozen Late Models for this show, and reigning Coos Bay Speedway champion Brody Montgomery held off Luckman to win the first eight lap race. Trent Elliott outran 2013 Pro Stock champion Dave Everson to claim the honors in the second heat. The wins put Montgomery and Elliott on the front row for the Main Event, and Montgomery took the lead ahead of Elliott and Luckman. Unfortunately, Montgomery spun in Turn 2 with fellow Coos Bay regular Deven Brown to bring out a yellow flag and cause a restart. This moved Luckman to the pole, and he charged into the lead ahead of Elliott and 2017 champion Nathan Augustine. A lap four yellow flag flew when Augustine spun from third in Turn 2. Luckman continued to lead Elliott, and Montgomery had already worked his way back into third. 11th starter Miles Deubert was battling Everson for the fourth position before making a move on lap six to gain the spot. A lap 10 caution flag waved when Brown and Everson made a bit of contact on the front straightaway, resulting in a spin by Brown. Luckman led a lap before the final yellow flag slow down as Brown spun on the back straightaway. Luckman continued to lead Elliot and Montgomery on the restart. Luckman was setting a rapid pace and was into slower traffic by lap 18. Despite a few scary moments that could have resulted in a crash, Luckman brought it home to the impressive victory. Elliott settled for second, followed by Montgomery. Augustine made a charge back through the pack to finish fourth, followed by Deubert, Bob Dees, Everson, Dave Foote, Davey Evans and Brown.

Late Models are part of this Saturday's show along with the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Race Results

Late Models

Heat 1-Brody Montgomery, Preston Luckman, Nathan Augustine, Deven Brown, Miles Deubert, Tony Bartell.
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Heat 2-Trent Elliott, Dave Everson, Bob Dees, Dave Foote, Davey Evans, Cliff Massey.

Main Event-Preston Luckman, Trent Elliott, Brody Montgomery, Nathan Augustine, Miles Dubert, Bob Dees, Dave Everson, Dave Foote, Davey Evans, Deven Brown, Tony Bartell, Cliff Massey.

Robustelli Wins Thrilling Dwarf Car Race 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...May 11...Camden Robustelli thrilled the crowd in winning a three-car battle for the 25 lap Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Main Event victory Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. Robustelli looked like he would be a sure winner in the opener at Yreka before mechanical issues sent him to the pits that night. To win this race, he had to battle three-time reigning champion Josh King and two-time champion Brock Peters, who led most of the race before settling for second.

A strong turnout of 20 Dwarf Cars needed three eight lap qualifying heat races. Robustelli looked impressive in winning the first race ahead of Peters. Mason Lewman won the next heat ahead of early leader Fred Hay. The final heat race victory was a flag-to-flag run for King ahead of Joe Sanders. King took the lead from Robustelli on lap five to win the six lap A Dash. Peters made a move around Kalvin Morton on lap five to win the six lap B Dash. Unfortunately for Morton, his Main Event ended very early.

Brock Peters had the outside front row for the Main Event with Robustelli lined up fifth and King starting eighth. Peters charged into the lead at the start ahead of Lewman. Reggie Ayers stalled on the front stretch for a lap two caution flag. Peters continued to lead the restart with Hay moving into second. King took third from Lewman on lap four, and a high pass in Turn 2 on lap seven gained King second from Hay. Peters was already working slower traffic, and Robustelli quickly slipped past Hay for third on lap eight.  A three-car battle developed at the front of the pack as Peters, King and Robustelli pulled away from everybody else. On the 18th lap, a high pass in Turn 2 put King into the lead, and Robustelli also got by for second. Traffic made things interesting at the front of the pack as Robustelli managed to get by King for the lead on lap 22. Moments later, a caution flag waved for Paul Haslow. Robustelli maintained the lead on the restart with Peters getting by King for second. However, Robustelli was not letting go as he scored the impressive victory, followed by Peters, King, Hay, Lewman, Cardoza, Jesse Lorentz, Sanders, Shane Hines and Jerry Hauck.

The Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars return this Saturday night along with the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, Late Models, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com or check out www.sodca.net.

Race Results

SODCA Dwarf Cars

Heat 1-Camden Robustelli, Brock Peters, Kalvin Morton, Paul Haslow, Ashleigh Strain, Chad Lorentz.

Heat 2-Mason Lewman, Fred Hay, Chad Cardoza, Michael Johnson, Sean Trujillo.

Heat 3-Josh King, Joe Sanders, Jesse Lorentz, Cody Peters, Jerry Hauck, Shane Hines.

A Dash-Josh King, Camden Robustelli, Brock Peters, Mason Lewman, Fred Hay, Joe Sanders.

B Dash-Chad Cardoza, Kalvin Morton, Paul Haslow, Michael Johnson, Jesse Lorentz, Cody Peters.

Main Event-Camden Robustelli, Brock Peters, Josh King, Fred Hay, Mason Lewman, Chad Cardoza,  Jesse Lorentz, Joe Sanders, Shane Hines, Jerry Hauck, Ashleigh Strain, Chad Lorentz, Paul Haslow, Michael Johnson, Cody Peters, Reggie Ayers, Kalvin Morton, Sean Trujillo.

Hedges Battles Steele For First Career Mini Stock Win 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...May 11...Taking the lead from David Steele late in the race, Ashtin Hedges won his first career Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stock Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. With a second place finish in the opener, Hedges is off to a good start and is a player in the championship battle.

On Friday night, Kristopher Mix and Carrie Weiser welcomed their second baby boy into the world. On Saturday, the 2017 champion celebrated by holding off Steele to win the eight lap heat race. Steele claimed the four lap Trophy Dash victory ahead of Hedges. Mix had the pole for the Main Event and set the early pace ahead of Steele and Hedges. A low pass in Turn 2 of the fifth lap gained Steele the lead from Mix, and Hedges followed Steele into second. The only yellow flag of the race flew on lap seven when rookie Dylan Irving spun in Turn 2. Steele led the restart with Mix moving past Hedges for second. A low pass in Turn 2 of the ninth lap regained Hedges second, and he started to set his sights on Steele. Hedges kept it close in the waning laps and surprised Steele by making an inside pass in Turn 2 of the 19th lap to gain the lead. They raced across the start-finish line in a near dead heat, and Hedges held off Steele in the race to the checkered flag for the well-earned victory. Mix settled for third, followed by Michael McLeod and Irving.

The Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks will return to Southern Oregon Speedway this Saturday night along with the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, Late Models, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars and JOAT Labs Hornets. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Race Results

Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks

Heat-Kristopher Mix, David Steele, Ashtin Hedges, Michael McLeod, Dylan Irving.

Trophy Dash-David Steele, Ashtin Hedges, Dylan Irving, Michael McLeod.

Main Event-Ashtin Hedges, David Steele, Kristopher Mix, Michael McLeod. Dylan Irving.

Eaton Opens Season With Late Model Lites Victory 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...May 11...Reigning Valley Store All Late Model Lites champion Charlie Eaton won the 12 lap Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. Eaton won the eight lap heat race in a flag-to-flag run ahead of Greg Arnold. Making his return to the class after a pair of starts in 2017, Mike Cloud had mechanical issues sideline him for the night. Eaton led the Main Event from the outset and would lead every lap to win ahead of Arnold. Pete Bowne made his division debut with a third place finish.

The Late Model Lites will return to action on Memorial Day Weekend, May 25th. They will be a part of the Disorder On The Southern Border III Iron Giant Street Stock event. Also on the card will be the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars and OTRO Hardtops. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Race Results

Valley Store-All Late Model Lites

Heat-Charlie Eaton, Greg Arnold, Pete Bowne, Mike Cloud.

Main Event-Charlie Eaton, Greg Arnold, Pete Bowne, Mike Cloud DNS.

Sauer Wins Second Straight Hornets Main Event 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...May 11...Leading from the drop of the green flag, Dylan Sauer won the 20 lap JOAT Labs Hornets Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. This was the second straight victory for Sauer as he asserts himself as a contender for the championship this season.

Sauer took the lead from Bree Tritchler on the fourth lap and held her off to win the first of two eight lap heat races. Tim Hedges grabbed the lead from Quinton Tritchler on lap four and won his heat ahead of Chris Boynton. Hedges picked up the four lap Trophy Dash win, followed by Sauer.

The Main Event turned out to be a non-stop affair. Sauer used his pole position start to charge into the early lead ahead of Hedges. Bree Tritchler was an early third ahead of her father Quentin Tritchler. Third place turned out to be a close battle early on, and it was Quentin passing his daughter Bree for third on lap ten. Saur was quickly into slower traffic and had a decent lead over Hedges. The leaders lapped the fourth place battle of Bree Tritchler and Jenna Hedges on lap 18, and Dylan Sauer cruised to victory, followed by Tim Hedges, Quentin Tritchler, Bree Tritchler, Jenna Hedges, Lacey Sauer, Derrel Nelson Jr, Shawn Nelson, Jenna Silva and Zach Nelson.

The JOAT Labs Hornets are back in action this Saturday night along with the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, Late Models, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars and Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Race Results

JOAT Labs Hornets

Heat 1-Dylan Sauer, Bree Tritchler, Lacey Sauer, Derrel Nelson Jr., Shawn Nelson.

Heat 2-Tim Hedges, Chris Boynton, Quinton Tritchler, Jenna Hedges, Zach Nelson.

Trophy Dash-Tim Hedges, Dylan Sauer, Chris Boynton, Derrel Nelson Jr.

Main Event-Dylan Sauer, Tim Hedges, Quinton Tritchler, Bree Tritchler, Jenna Hedges, Lacey Sauer, Derrel Nelson Jr, Shawn Nelson, Jenia Silva, Zach Nelson, Chris Boynton.

Ingle, Grimes, Comstock Win 

Little Southern Oregon Speedway Opener

White City, Oregon...The racing season finally got started at the little Southern Oregon Speedway oval track Friday night with a full lineup of Outlaw Karts and a new addition to the program. Motorcycles, Trikes and Quads joined the card to make this one of the biggest supported races the track has had in recent years.

In the 12 lap Open Motorcycle Main Event, Bobby Ingle wrote his name into the record books as the first ever winner on the eighth-mile dirt oval. Ingle is the oldest driver in the field at 69 years old and competes against the pros at Salem indoors during the winter. Ingle wiped out in the first turn in practice, but he came back to win his six lap heat race ahead of Shawn Vernier. In the Main Event, Ingle was the class of the field in leading all the way for the victory. Colin Laeger won a close battle with Brooke Lozano to finish second as Alec Vernier and brother Shawn Vernier completed the order. Alec Vernier was challenging Ingle early in the race when the two touched wheels in Turn 4, resulting in Vernier crashing. He got back on his bike and finished the race.

Trevor Grimes won the 20 lap 250 Intermediate Kart Main Event. The 2017 champion had the pole for the race and moved into lead from the outset. There were a pair of mid-race yellow flags, but that didn't stop Grimes from leading all the way for the win. Grimes won a heat race, and Jacob James was the other heat race winner and second-place feature finisher, followed by Vinny DeBenedetti, Taylor Fuller and Emma Rodgers.

The three wheel Trikes division was fast and entertaining in their 12 lap Main Event. Ryan Comstock withstood a late challenge from Ben Herbert to win that race. Garrett Stookey finished third ahead of Erin Melvin and Mike Benson. Stookey also won the heat race.

Keaton Augustine won the 15 lap Box Stock Main Event. After winning both heat races, he went flag to flag to win the feature ahead of Mikey Wheeler Jr and Kiley Grimes.

Double heat race winner Albert Gill Jr led the entire 12 lap distance to win the Beginners Box Stock Main Event. Jayme DeBenedetti finished second ahead of Isaac Grimes and Hunter Granger.

Bhaltaire Edwards won the Novice Box Stocks 10 lap race ahead of Urijah Boardman, Talia Colley and Saige King.

Mike Wheeler proved unbeatable in the 15 lap UAS Speedway Kart Main Event. Wheeler took the lead from the start and collected the victory ahead of Ed Grubb and Brenden Bartlett. He also won both heat races.

In the 4 Cycle Main Event, double heat winner Lori Fuller saw her attempt to sweep thwarted by her daughter Brionna Fuller, who made the pass on lap six and brought it home to a Main Event victory. Lori Fuller settled for second ahead of Steve Rambo and Cody Bruckenstein.

Tyler Gove won the 12 lap Quads Main Event ahead of Bo Stanridge and John Creveling.  Christopher Raper won the 65 to 85 Motocross race ahead of brother Devin Raper.

The same program will happen next Friday night at the little track. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Race Results

Beginners Box Stock

Heat 1a-Albert Gill Jr, Jayme DeBenedetti, Isaac Grimes, Hunter Granger, Bhaltair Edwards, Urijah Sanders, Talia Colley, Saige King.

Heat 2a-Albert Gill Jr, Jayme DeBenedetti, Bhaltair Edwards, Talia Colley, Saige King, Isaac Grimes, Hunter Grange, Urijah Sanders DNS.

Main Event-Albert Gill Jr, Jayme DeBenedetti, Isaac Grimes, Hunter Granger.

Novice Beginners Box Stock

Main Event-Bhaltair Edwards, Urijah Sanders, Talia Colley, Saige King

Box Stock

Heat 1a-Keaton Augustine, Mike Wheeler Jr, Kiley Grimes, Malachi Johnson.

Heat 2a-Keaton Augustine, Mike Wheeler Jr, Kiley Grimes, Malachi Johnson.

Main Event-Keaton Augustine, Mike Wheeler Jr, Kiley Grimes, Malachi Johnson DNS.

250 Intermediate

Heat 1a-Jacob James, Trevor Grimes, Taylor Fuller, Vinny DeBenedetti, Emma Rodgers.

Heat 2a-Trevor Grimes, Jacob James, Vinny DeBenedetti, Emma Rodgers, Taylor Fuller DNS.

Main Event-Trevor Grimes, Jacob James, Vinny DeBenedetti, Taylor Fuller, Emma Rodgers.

4 Cycle

Heat 1a-Lori Fuller, Cody Bruckenstein, Steve Rambo, Brionna Fuller.

Heat 2-Lori Fuller, Brionna Fuller, Steve Rambo, Cody Bruckenstein.

Main Event-Brionna Fuller, Lori Fuller, Cody Bruckenstein, Steve Rambo, Ashley Bruckenstein

500 Open

Heat 1a-Brionna Fuller, Brenden Bartlett, Taylor Fuller DNS.

Heat 2a-Brionna Fuller, Taylor Fuller, Brenden Bartlett.

Main Event-Brionna Fuller, Taylor Fuller, Brenden Bartlett.

UAS Speedway Karts

Heat 1a-Mike Wheeler, Brenden Bartlett, Steve Rambo, Ed Grubb, Larry Fuller DNS, Nathan Augustine DNS.

Heat 2a-Mike Wheeler, Ed Grubb, Brenden Bartlett, Steve Rambo, Larry Fuller, Nathan Augustine.

Main Event-Mike Wheeler, Ed Grubb, Brenden Bartlett, Steve Rambo DNS, Larry Fuller DNS, Nathan Augustine DNS.

Unlimited Flat Track Bikes

Heat-Bobby Ingle, Shawn Verneir, Collin Laeger, Alec Verneir, Brooke Lozano, Jason Lucas.

Main Event-Bobby Ingle, Collin Laeger, Brooke Lozano, Alec Verneir, Shawn Verneir.

Trikes

Heat-Ryan Comstock, Garrett Stookey, Ben Herbert, Erin Melvin, Mike Burson.

Main Event-Ryan Comstock, Ben Herbert, Garrett Stookey, Erin Melvin, Mike Burson.

65-85 Flat Track Bikes

Heat-Christopher Raper, Devin Raper.

Main Event-Christopher Raper, Devin Raper.

Quads

Heat-Tyler Gove, John Creveling, Bo Stanridge.

Main Event-Tyler Gove, Bo Stanridge, John Creveling.

Luckman Wins Late Model Race At Southern Oregon Speedway

Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion

Decided to do a special Sunday edition
Can Be Heard HERE

Luckman Wins Late Model Race 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...May 11...Preston Luckman won the 25 lap Late Model Main Event Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. Luckman is the 2018 Cottage Grove Speedway champion, but this was his first ever Late Model start here. Luckman led after a complete restart with Trent Elliott in pursuit. Luckman had some scary moments in traffic late in the race, but he kept his cool and scored the well-earned victory ahead of Elliott, Brody Montgomery, Nathan Augustine and Miles Deubert.

Camden Robustelli won the 25 lap SODCA Dwarf Car Main Event. Brock Peters led from the start ahead of Fred Hay, but Hay surrendered second to defending champion Josh King on lap seven. Peters and King began to pull away from the pack, but Robustelli made it a three car battle up front. King made a Turn 2 pass on Peters for first on lap 19 with Robustelli following into second. Robustelli took the lead from Peters moments before a lap 23 caution flag. Robustelli led Peters on the final restart and held him off for the impressive victory. King settled for third in front of Hay and Mason Lewman.

Ashtin Hedges won his first career 20 lap Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stock Main Event. David Steele won the heat race and Trophy Dash. Steele took the lead from Kristopher Mix in Turn 2 on lap five. Mix and Hedges had a battle for second, but Hedges grabbed the spot on lap ten. Hedges closed in on Steele and made a challenge for the lead. The duo crossed the line even on lap 18, and Hedges went low in Turn 2 to take the lead from Steele. Hedges stayed low in the final turn to protect his lead and brought it home a happy winner. Steele settled for second ahead of Mix, Michael McLeod and Dylan Irving.

Dylan Sauer won his second straight JOAT Labs Hornets 20 lap Main Event. In the early goings of the non stop race, Sauer was challenged by Trophy Dash winner Tim Hedges. However, Sauer pulled away to a comfortable lead by the time the race concluded. Hedges settled for second ahead of Quinton Tritchler, Bree Tritchler and Jenna Hedges.

Charlie Eaton led all 12 laps to win the Valley Store All Late Model Lites Main Event ahead of Greg Arnold and Pete Bound.

Racing resumes next week with Late Models back in action along with Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, SODCA Dwarf Cars, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets. There wll also be a full program of Outlaw Karts and Motorcycles. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Unofficial Race Results

Late Models

Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Brody Montgomery, Trent Elliott. Main Event (25 Laps)-Preston Luckman, Trent Elliott, Brody Montgomery, Nathan Augustine, Miles Deubert.

Dwarf Cars

Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Camden Robustelli, Mason Lewman, Josh King. A Dash (6 Laps)-Josh King. B Dash (6 Laps)-Chad Cardoza. Main Event (25 Laps)-Camden Robustelli, Brock Peters, Josh King, Fred Hay, Mason Lewman.

Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks

Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Kristopher Mix. Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-David Steele. Main Event (20 Laps)-Ashtin Hedges, David Steele, Kristopher Mix, Michael McLeod, Dylan Irving.

JOAT Labs Hornets

Heat Winners (8 Laps)-Dylan Sauer, Tim Hedges. Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-Tim Hedges. Main Event (20 Laps)-Dylan Sauer, Tim Hedges, Quinton Sauer, Bree Tritchler, Jenna Hedges.

Valley Store All Late Model Lites

Heat Winner (8 Laps)-Charlie Eaton. Main Event (20 Laps)-Charlie Eaton, Greg Arnold, Pete Bound.

Ingle, Grimes, Comstock Win Little Southern Oregon Speedway Opener

Ingle, Grimes, Comstock Win Little 

Southern Oregon Speedway Opener

White City, Oregon...The racing season finally got started at the little Southern Oregon Speedway oval track Friday night with a full lineup of Outlaw Karts and a new addition to the program. Motorcycles, Trikes and Quads joined the card to make this one of the biggest supported races the track has had in recent years.

In the 12 lap Open Motorcycle Main Event, Bobby Ingle wrote his name into the record books as the first ever winner on the eighth-mile dirt oval. Ingle is the oldest driver in the field at 69 years old and competes against the pros at Salem indoors during the winter. Ingle wiped out in the first turn in practice, but he came back to win his six lap heat race ahead of Shawn Vernier. In the Main Event, Ingle was the class of the field in leading all the way for the victory. Colin Laeger won a close battle with Brooke Lozano to finish second as Alec Vernier and brother Shawn Vernier completed the order. Alec Vernier was challenging Ingle early in the race when the two touched wheels in Turn 4, resulting in Vernier crashing. He got back on his bike and finished the race.

Trevor Grimes won the 20 lap 250 Intermediate Kart Main Event. The 2017 champion had the pole for the race and moved into lead from the outset. There were a pair of mid-race yellow flags, but that didn't stop Grimes from leading all the way for the win. Grimes won a heat race, and Jacob James was the other heat race winner and second-place feature finisher, followed by Vinny DeBenedetti, Taylor Fuller and Emma Rodgers.

The three wheel Trikes division was fast and entertaining in their 12 lap Main Event. Ryan Comstock withstood a late challenge from Ben Herbert to win that race. Garrett Stookey finished third ahead of Erin Melvin and Mike Benson. Stookey also won the heat race.

Keaton Augustine won the 15 lap Box Stock Main Event. After winning both heat races, he went flag to flag to win the feature ahead of Mikey Wheeler Jr and Kiley Grimes.

Double heat race winner Albert Gill Jr led the entire 12 lap distance to win the Beginners Box Stock Main Event. Jayme DeBenedetti finished second ahead of Isaac Grimes and Hunter Granger.

Bhaltaire Edwards won the Novice Box Stocks 10 lap race ahead of Urijah Boardman, Talia Colley and Saige King.

Mike Wheeler proved unbeatable in the 15 lap UAS Speedway Kart Main Event. Wheeler took the lead from the start and collected the victory ahead of Ed Grubb and Brenden Bartlett. He also won both heat races.

In the 4 Cycle Main Event, double heat winner Lori Fuller saw her attempt to sweep thwarted by her daughter Brionna Fuller, who made the pass on lap six and brought it home to a Main Event victory. Lori Fuller settled for second ahead of Steve Rambo and Cody Bruckenstein.

Tyler Gove won the 12 lap Quads Main Event ahead of Bo Stanridge and John Creveling.  Christopher Raper won the 65 to 85 Motocross race ahead of brother Devin Raper.

The same program will happen next Friday night at the little track. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Late Models Headline Five Division Show Saturday At Southern Oregon Speedway

Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion

Can Be Heard HERE

Late Models Headline Five Division Show Saturday 

At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...A good turnout of fans witnessed an entertaining program of racing last Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway. There's excitement in the air as there is word of several drivers joining the ranks of the Late Model division this season. Saturday night, we'll get our first look at the Late Models along with the Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars and Valley Store All Late Model Lites. The Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets will make it a five division program.

Last season, one of the closest battles for the championship took place in the Late Models where John Dees overtook 2017 champ Nathan Augustine on the final night to claim the title. Both drivers are anticipated for the season opener, though neither is making any official commitments to race for points as of yet. One driver looking to make a run at the championship is last season's top rookie, Miles Deubert. Deubert has a new car and was trying to work out issues with his fuel system with some practice laps last week.

One of the things drawing drivers to this division is that it was a mainstay at the old Medford Speedway for many years, and some drivers have always wanted to compete in this class. Top 5 ranked B Modified racer Tony Bartell has made a move up to the division this season. 2016 champion Bob Dees it is anticipated along with Dave Foote, who was a two-time winner last season.

Word from up in the La Pine area is that Trent Elliott will be returning for the opener, and there are several drivers, including 2013 Pro Stock champion Dave Everson, Eric Massey, Cliff Massey, Brian Bowman and Cory Biggs, who could be there this week as well. Hard charger Dustin Knight has revealed that he will be racing this season, though his car may not be ready for another month or so.

The Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars are coming off a very strong season last year that had the closest championship battle in the history of the group. Josh King laid claim to his third championship, but he beat the tied Brock Peters, Chad Cardoza and Camden Robustelli by just one point. All four drivers are anticipated for this show, and King won the season opener in Yreka ahead of Cardoza and Ryan Smith two weeks ago.

On multiple occasions, the Dwarf Cars fielded over 20 cars last season, and word is that there are several new drivers getting into the class this season. Some of the drivers anticipated this week include ageless veteran Fred Hay, Bret James, Jesse Lorentz, Joe Sanders and Kaycee Sheeler. The Dwarf Cars bring plenty of speed and excitement anytime they are in town.

Greg Arnold plans to do some Late Model racing this season, but he also wants to help support the Valley Store All Late Model Lites division. Arnold finished second in the standings last season and is anticipated for the opener. Reigning champion Charlie Eaton is excited about attempting a title defense, and the father-son duo of Eric and Dusty Aos are both expected for the opener. Jim Cunningham has a new car for this season, and Mike Cloud is excited about returning to action after a year off. Lee Doty will be taking a more active role behind the scenes with the group and will be putting Late Model racer Ross Payant behind the wheel of his car this year. Word is there are a few others we will be seeing this year as well, including the husband and wife team of Terry and Krista Hadley.. Though they run four cylinder motors, the Late Model Lites get around the speedway nearly as fast as the Late Models.

David Steele reminded everybody in the Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks who the champion was last year with an impressive feature victory last week. It was also the milestone 30th career win for him at his home track, which leads all drivers in this division's 24 year history. Ashtin Hedges is back, only this time he intends to make every race. He gave a strong performance last week by holding off top 2018 rookie Michael Mcleod for second. These three hard chargers will be there along with rookies Dylan Irving and Brandyn Wonsyld. 2017 champion Kristopher Mix and 2013 champion Steve Goetz are also anticipated for this week.

Some of the most exciting battles taking place on the track last week were in the entry-level JOAT Labs Hornets division. Drivers were slicing and dicing for position, and it was Dylan Sauer winning his first career Main Event after a good battle with Chris Boynton and 2016 champion Tim Hedges. These three drivers will be giving it a good run this week. After blowing a motor at the opener, reigning champion Bree Tritchler is anticipated along with her father Quentin Tritchler, Derrel Nelson Jr, Zach Nelson and Lacey Sauer.

In addition to Saturday night's five division offering, fans looking for just a little bit more racing can go to the Little Southern Oregon Speedway and watch the program of Outlaw Karts on Friday night. This will be their season opener. Gates open at 5 on both nights with racing starting at 7 on both nights. It's a $10 entry that gets you pit access on Friday. On Saturday, grandstand admittance is $13 for General Admission, $7 for Seniors, Veterans and Juniors 7 to 12 and children 6 and under are free. For further information, go www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

Pit Stops

There's always a bit of excitement in the air when a racing season begins. It's the newness of it all. The grass around the racing facility is still green. Several new cars are out there with no dents on their bodies yet. It's a clean slate. All of the accomplishments or failures of the previous season are forgotten. It's what matters now that's important.

Southern Oregon Speedway opened their 24th season of racing last Saturday night. This was also the fourth season under the promotion of Mike McCann of KJE Enterprises. Little steps have been made each year to improve upon the situation that was left in 2015. Though the speedway hasn't returned to those glory days once known in the early years, last season showed a few glimpses of what could be. People were talking. There was an excitement in the air as the 2018 seasons concluded.

This season opened with the popular IMCA Modifieds, the ever growing IMCA Sport Modifieds, the Kendall Oil Winged Sprint Cars, the Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and the JOAT Labs Hornets. Everybody wanted to be there to see how things would go and who would be running in what division. The fans left knowing that they had seen a great racing program from start to finish.

The Sprint Cars opened their season with David Hibbard looking early on like he might be picking up from where he left off the previous season. The reigning champion set a blistering pace in winning his heat race and then picked up the win in the Scramble, which would put him on the pole for the feature. However, this is where things got interesting.

Making his first start in a Sprint Car, reigining IMCA Sport Modified as well as past Mini Stock champion David Marble made a big statement. Marble won his first heat race after running some good side-by-side laps with Mike Wheeler. He had his car setup on the outside groove, and he was getting some good bite coming out of the turns each time Wheeler tried to move underneath him. It's possible that his uncle, 2004 champion TJ Winningham, learned a little bit from what Marble was doing.

Winningham had finished second in the Scramble, which gave him the outside line. He surprised Hibbard by charging into the lead at the start and looked like a sure winner during the first half of the 25 lap race. One thing he may not have been counting on is rising young star Tanner Holmes. If people in the Sprint Car world didn't know Tanner, they certainly got a nice introduction when he won the final two races of the 2018 season.

Winningham was doing as Marble had done in the heat race and working the outside line beautifully. Holmes was tenacious on the inside. He managed to make his move into the lead on lap 22, and Holmes would go on to the victory ahead of Winningham and Hibbard. The real question may come down to who is actually running for the championship this year. Will Holmes make a run for it? Word is that Hibbard may miss the next race and another race later in the season.

As always, you never know what to believe until the drivers either show up at the next race or don't. One thing that can be said is Winningham looked impressive on Saturday night. Though the win didn't materialize for the longtime open-wheel racer, he may be difficult to keep out of the Winner's Circle if he keeps driving as he did on Saturday. TJ was a frontrunner at tracks like Baylands and San Jose in California before moving up to Oregon.

While Marble won is heat race, he joined fellow rookies Jared Hood and Anissa Curtice on the sidelines before the Main Event checkered flag had waved. At least he knows what he is capable of in a Sprint Car, and it will be interesting to watch David as he gains more experience this season.

After his tow vehicle broke down on the way to the speedway, second generation competitor Aaron Miller arrived at the speedway after the heat races. Despite that, he managed to wheel his car to a respectable seventh place finish behind Enrique Jaime. Miller changed his number to #11 in honor of the late Jerry Casson. Casson, who was a competitor at the Yreka track among other places, passed away a couple of months ago.

Getting back to Jaime, he had a good battle going with past champion Charlie Thompson for the fifth position, but Thompson managed to get that spot by the time the checkered flag flew. Mike Wheeler, meanwhile, managed to have a solid effort in fourth. The Outlaw Kart star has looked good in recent starts and, much like Winningham, he is a driver it wouldn't be a surprise to see score a feature victory before the season concludes.

The future looks bright for Southern Oregon racing with young stars such as Holmes and Jeffrey Hudson in the field. Fans of the Outlaw Kart track next to the big track have watched both of these young drivers come from the ranks of Box Stock racing to one day become racers on the big track. Hudson, who is a second-generation competitor and son of past Pro Stock champion Jeff Hudson, himself became the 2015 Calculated Comfort Outlaw Pro Stock champion. A year later he was the Winged Sprint Car Rookie of the Year and second in the standings. He was again second in 2018. It's interesting to watch him go from one type of race car to another and still be able to compete for wins.

When the opportunity came to pilot a first-class IMCA Modified, Hudson jumped at the chance. On Saturday night, he managed to wrestle the lead away from division rookie Justin Foux midway through the race. Hudson would lead the remainder of the race, but he had Mark Wauge closing in on him. Though we're not sure that Hudson will be a point regular, Wauge has declared his intent to try to win an unprecedented eighth career IMCA Modified championship at his home track. He's also looking for the milestone 50th career feature win in this class, which will come with his next victory.

Wauge was mired back in the fifth row after a disappointing pill draw, but that didn't stop him from slipping past each driver ahead of him until only Hudson was in his crosshairs. Hudson had a decent lead on Wauge, but Wauge had nearly closed in on him when the checkered flag put an end to his victory hopes. Still, when you're running for points, second place is useful in the overall scheme of things. Wauge will regroup and give it another shot on May 18th when the division returns.

Foux, meanwhile has been one of the frontrunners in IMCA Sport Modified competition in recent years. When the opportunity presented itself for him to move up in classes, he jumped at the chance. He's already competed down in California this year, but he was excited about the opportunity to make his first start in this class at Southern Oregon Speedway. Having led some of the early laps, Justin knows he's got something for his fellow competitors. The third place finish offers further proof that he will be a driver to reckon with the next time he's in town.

"Cowboy" Duane Orsburn was hoping he would get the chance to mix it up with the leaders, but what happened instead was a major disappointment. In Yreka this year, he's already won a Trophy Dash and finished second in the Main Event. In the Main Event on this occasion, he was mired in the pack when it happened. Orsburn contacted the front wall and rolled four times. He was fortunately able to walk away under his own power, but there was some question as to how much damage there was to his race car and whether he could get it back together. Hopefully, the damage the two-time Street Stock champion's car sustained won't be as bad as early indications suggested.

Preston Jones left things in a good place last season by winning the season finale in a good battle with CJ Putnam. He didn't get a chance to mix it up for the lead last week, but after winning his heat race, he still managed to hold off 2018 point runner-up Zach Fettinger to grab the fourth position. We all know that Jones is capable of getting a win, so you can expect him to be a factor as the season goes on.

Sporting a new black paint job on his #68 car, 2017 champion Jesse Bailey managed to lead some early laps before falling back to a seventh place finish behind Jeremy Ohlde. We don't know how often we'll see Bailey as he slipped back to a casual schedule in 2018, but we know he has been one of the most consistent racers at the speedway during the past few years.

David Satterfield was the top rookie of 2018, and he was certainly hoping to become more than just consistent this year when he purchased the James Welshonse car. Welshonse will be moving up to the Late Models this year, and Satterfield is hoping to start contending for wins. His first start in his new ride was not all that he had hoped for as he finished back in ninth behind Ray Niffen Jr. After finishing in the Top 5 in 2017, Niffen was absent last season. It's great to see the #64 car back on the track again.

The IMCA Sport Modified division made a major statement when the 2018 season ended. There were 24 cars that night as Doug Coffman came to town and left with the winner's trophy. The division also required a B Main that night. Coffman has decided to be a part of the show this year, and he was one of 21 competitors at the season opener. This made the IMCA Sport Modifieds the biggest draw in the pits once again.

Several drivers have upped their games as they hope to get wins, and it looks like this could be another year in which you never know who will win from week to week. Last season, the only driver winning more than once was two-time winner Tyler Rodgers. This time around, the win was in question all the way to the checkered flag, though Justin McCreadie led the pack. For 16 laps, the race needed no yellow flags, giving the fans some of the best Sport Modified racing they've seen at the speedway in recent years.

McCreadie, Matt Sanders and two-time champion Dwayne Melvin were mixing it up pretty intensely when they hit slower traffic. Melvin's bold outside move through Turns 3 and 4 was interrupted when he made contact with a slower car and got sideways. A quick yellow flag slowed the pace, and Melvin was attributed with being the cause. This left him out of the battle between Sanders and McCreadie, and Sanders shocked the house on the final lap.

Sanders had picked up a feature win earlier this year in Yreka, and he had the momentum exiting Turn 4 for the final time. The two drivers crossed the finish line in a dead heat. Most people who watched the two cars cross the line couldn't even determine which driver was ahead of the other. It came down to the electronic scoring system, which determined that Sanders won what had to be the closest finish in the history of Southern Oregon Speedway.

While Sanders was left smiling, McCreadie was disappointed to know that he led all the way until the end. However, it's obvious that he has something for the rest of the competition. He was a feature winner last season, and it won't be a surprise to see him get the job done again this year.

There are truly some great drivers in the field, and three of Southern Oregon Speedway's two-time champions were among them. In addition to Melvin, Jorddon Braaten and Mike Medel were both in the pack. Braaten may have been a surprise as he spent much of 2018 on the road winning championships at Cottage Grove, Willamette and the state of Oregon. He had a spirited battle with the #95 car of Rich McCoy, but Braaten managed to win that race for third. McCoy settled for fourth.

It's almost becoming an all star lineup of drivers in the field this year, and just making it into the Top 10 at the finish last Saturday was an accomplishment. Coffman managed to finish fifth ahead of last season's top rookie, Branden Wilson. Wilson has purchased a new car this year in the hopes of being more competitive, and he managed to get to the checkered flag ahead of two-time Late Model Lites champion and eighth place finisher Brian Johnsen. Johnsen had been trying to sell his Outlaw Pro Stock and managed to do that during the offseason. This helped open the door for his move into the growing Sport Modified class.

It was Matt's brother, Isaac Sanders, getting the ninth place finish ahead of Top 5 2017 and 2018 point competitor Willie McFall. Two drivers looking better than they have in the last year were Steve Lysinger and Brian Knorr. Lysinger managed to get a third place finish in his heat race and make it into the redraw for the Main Event, where he finished 11th. Knorr did even better in his heat as he finished second behind Melvin in their race, though his Main Event didn't end quite as well.

Some drivers have moved on from the Sport Modified division, including David Marble, Tony Bartell and Tony Duste. This opens the door for some new stars to emerge in the championship race. Two other new drivers in the field were Austin Petrey and Jesse Skidmore, and Top 5 2018 Modified racer Jantzen Knips has moved down in classes. Skidmore made a name for himself at tracks like Orland and Chico, California, where he he won several Hobby Stock Main Events. Sadly, Jesse lost his home in the Paradise fire last year, so he has relocated to Oregon.

David Steele has been doing the Mini Stock thing for several years, and he's built up a couple of reputations. One is the reputation of being a force on the race track. The other is the reputation of being a true sportsman and somebody willing to help out his fellow competitors. Hunter Magnan had  motor issues and wasn't sure he would even be at the opener, but Steele agreed to show up early and spend the time trying to get Magnan's #33 car to run.

Steele was in Yreka a few weeks back when Mini Stock graduates Ethan Killingsworth, Colt Boswell and Ryder Boswell grabbed the podium sweep. He competed against all three of these young drivers in the Mini Stock ranks, and he said it's encouraging to see these drivers moving up and helping fill the IMCA Sport Modified roster. David doesn't know if he'll ever get the opportunity to drive something beyond a Mini Stock car, but he is still living the dream every time he gets behind the wheel to go racing.

As the champion of 2018, Steele had racked up an impressive nine feature victories and two season-worst second place finishes. His record is quite impressive over the past couple of seasons between Medford and Yreka. For the season opener, once he took the lead, he was never really threatened. It was another milestone for him as he stretched his division all time win lead record to 30 at Medford.

The real question is, who might be the first driver to beat him this year. Young Ashtin Hedges is now full time in the Mini Stock division, and he battled last season's top Mini Stock rookie, Michael McLeod. The two drivers exchanged second several times before Hedges grabbed the position for good. Ashtin looked good last season, and something big may be on the horizon for him. In fact, it won't be a surprise to see him get his first career feature win in this class soon. He picked up two victories in the Hornet division last season.

2017 champion Kristopher Mix was mixing it up at the front of the pack for a while before problems reared their ugly head and sent the #89m car into the pits and out of the event. Two new drivers in the field are teammates Dylan Irving and Brandyn Wonsyld. Both drivers were Top 5 ranked in the Hornet class with feature wins to their credit last season. Wonsyld actually finished third with four victories. When Irving made the move up in the former David Marble Mini Stock, Wonsyld found a car and joined the fun as well.

There's a big difference between driving a Hornet and a Mini Stock, but Irving said he's enjoying his time so far. He did manage to take his car to the checkered flag with a fourth place finish last week, which puts him into the Trophy Dash for Saturday night. Wonsyld was credited with a fifth place finish. Steve Goetz missed the season opener due to motor issues in Yreka a few weeks back, but he hopes to be back soon.

With Wonsyld and Irving out of the lineup for the Hornet division this year, there are some drivers hoping to make a move on the Top 5 in the standings. There are also two drivers hoping to become the first two-time champions in the class. Reigning champion Bree Tritchler is one of them, but her night ended in disappointment early in the evening as she blew a motor.

The Hedges team has built two new cars this year for 2016 champion Tim Hedges and 2017 point runner up Jenna Hedges. Tim won one of the most entertaining heat races of the night and then mixed it up with two-time 2018 feature winner Chris Boynton and Dylan Sauer at the front of the Main Event pack. All three drivers led laps, and it was Sauer making the biggest statement. Once he got the lead, he pulled away from everybody. He had back-to-back Top 3 finishes to end last season, but this was the first career win for Sauer.

Boynton made a statement of his own. While the leaders were in traffic, contact sent Boynton spinning. Stuck at the back of the pack, he made a rapid charge to the front of the pack in his brightly-painted #28 car and would end up third. However, he didn't have quite enough to reel in Tim Hedges, who brought it home second.

Though these three drivers look like the top contenders in this division, the Hornet division is so competitive that virtually anybody in that pack could rise to the occasion and claim the glory on any given night. This includes fourth place finisher Derrel Nelson Jr. It was great to see Nelson back in the field. He was a multi-time feature winner in 2016, when he finished second in the standings. Last season, his effort was cut short as he had to bow out of competition and get shoulder surgery.

Once Derrel knew he had a clean bill of health, he couldn't wait to get back behind the wheel. He managed to hold off Jenna Hedges to claim fourth in the feature, which had to give him some confidence that a Main Event win may just be on the horizon. The Nelson's were three cars strong with sons Zach Nelson and Ryan Nelson in the field. Ryan was making his first start in his own car, and he led several laps of his heat race before surrendering the lead and victory to Tim Hedges. Unfortunately for Ryan, he contacted the front wall and was out of the Main Event early on. Brother Zach didn't do much better. The Nelson family is just having fun getting to race with each other, and any one of them could be a threat to win the next race.

In the rookie department, Lacey Sauer did a good job of getting a sixth place finish in her first-ever start, followed by Quentin Tritchler. Quinton is now piloting the car driven by his daughter Bree to the championship last year, and he grabbed his finish ahead of Johnny Hoult. As this division was getting some momentum in 2016, Hoult was one of the drivers who got on board. He was a Trophy Dash winner that year as well. He's been racing Speedway Karts for the past couple of years for Rambo Motorsports. He did look good in finishing second to Boynton in their heat race.

The season is just getting started at Southern Oregon Speedway, and people are talking. Racers are wanting to come back and there are plenty of reasons for the fans to want to come watch as we go on this year. Late Models make their debut this week with some positive buzz around this class. There will be some new drivers on the roster this year. Coupled with the Valley Store All Late Model Lites, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars, Bobbio's Pizza Mini Stocks and JOAT Labs Hornets, it's going to be a good show on Saturday.

Little Southern Oregon Speedway Pit Stops

On Friday, the Little Southern Oregon Speedway track will open. Promoter Mike McCann has been working on a few things for the track. During the past few years, he's attempted to add different classes to help bolster the total of competitors, but he's met with some dead ends each time. However, an effort is being made to establish a Motorcycle racing program and a Quad racing program. There are some potentially big things on the horizon for that style of racing, and some announcements could be made that will surprise some people. In fact, it could be very interesting at the little track this Friday night. It's all about offering fans more variety in the types of motorsports entertainment they enjoy at the venue.

For 21 years now, the Outlaw Kart program has continued on at the little track. This Friday night, the 500 Open Karts, 250 Intermediates, Box Stocks and Beginners Box Stocks are all on the schedule. Last season, the Novice Beginners Box Stock class was added as a means to give some of the very new competitors who aren't quite going up to speed an opportunity to make their first laps in a less intimidating environment. Should that race be needed, it's likely to be offered on Friday..

The big question will be who might come out and race in the 500 Open class. When it comes to the Kart classes that have the potential to draw fans not associated with any driver to come out, we know that the 500 Open class is at the top of the list. These are the fastest Karts on the eighth-mile dirt oval, and there are some very competitive racers within its ranks. Some of the drivers we watched last season include champion Kenny Boardman, Kart legend Mike Wheeler, Reece Slyter, past champion Johnny Burke, Bailey Sucich, Josh Steinhoff, Merissa Henson, Colby Bergquist and Brendon Bartlett. Bartlett and Bergquist were both making the move up from the 250 ranks.

It's the question we ask every year with this class. We know the roster of cars in the Medford area is at least 15 or 16 in this division, but who might show up is the question. Management has put the word out that there needs to be four competitors in the field for the purse to be paid out. Standard purse is $100 to win, $60 for second and $40 for third. A half dozen of these racers put on a good show on the little track. This track isn't the only place that has seen the class hit hard times, however. The numbers are down at several venues.

Last season, Vinny DeBenedetti shocked the field to win the 250 Intermediate championship. DeBenedetti had moments during the year where he showed flashes of brilliance in winning two Main Events. He managed to dethrone incoming champion Trevor Grimes, who was forced to miss a race due to a blown motor. Grimes won the most Main Events, but his absence from a race forced him to settle for second. During the last three seasons, Grimes is the Ironman of the Kart field. He has only missed one scheduled event during that time.

Brionna Fuller was poised to have a good season in the 250 class, but an accident at home left her with a broken arm. Being the competitor that she is, she still strapped into a Speedway Kart and ran some races, but she was unable to get into the Cage Kart during the second half of the season. We're hoping to see her more often along with her brother, Taylor Fuller, who was making his first laps in this class last season and had his moments. Likewise, Cadyn Smith was another driver who had some good moments. Smith has risen from the ranks of the Beginners Box Stock class, where he is a past champion.

The Box Stock division had an intense battle throughout the season between Ryan Hirschbock and Keaton Augustine before Augustine picked up the honors last year. Both drivers picked up three feature wins, but Hirschbock's third win in the finale was unable to propel him to the title. He was still perhaps a most improved driver in the group. Taylor Fuller looked good early in the season before moving up in classes, and Jacob James, of the legendary Markey James family, was also a feature winner.

We are likely to see Malachi Johnson running in this class. The 2018 runner up and 2017 champion in the Beginners Box Stock class did make one appearance in this division last year, which likely cost him a shot at the Beginner's title. There's also past Beginners Box Stock champion Kiley Grimes, who did race some in this division last year and was Top 5 ranked.

Young Carson Henson has already accomplished so much in his Beginners Box Stock career. He won the Yreka Indoor Kart championship a couple years ago and was the Beginners Box Stock champion last year at Little Southern Oregon Speedway. He also got his first feature win in Medford. Jayme DeBenedetti did well as she finished third in the standings. Uriah Sanders had been in the hunt, but he decided to stop racing and pursue other things. Third generation racer Mike Wheeler Jr, Shailene Horn and Hunter Granger where other good supporters of the program. Wheeler and Horn had some good moments along the way  We also saw the debut of Albert Gill Jr.

Because there were drivers going at their own pace and learning, it was decided to give them their own race. The class, called Novice Beginners Box Stocks, involved Bhaltair Edwards, Isaac Grimes and Caleb Ranney. These three young racers spent most of their time in that class once it was started. Edwards won the championship award.

The one thing about the young drivers is that sometimes they get a bit intimidated. Ranney was definitely very nervous about racing and was encouraged by his mother when he would panic just a little bit. In his first night of actually racing in this class, he received loud cheers from the spectators in the bleachers each time he passed the start-finish line. It's about family, fun and just doing your best at Little Southern Oregon Speedway.

Speed City has established a presence in the Medford area as the parts dealer for Outlaw Kart racing. They are also strong supporters of UAS Speedway Karts and 4 Cycle Karts. They bring several of these open cockpit Karts to the Speedway every week and have been responsible for establishing the Flat Kart effort. Lori Fuller was the inaugural champion last season.

What's interesting about Lori is she chose to run one of the slower 4 Cycle Karts for most of the season, and yet she emerged with two feature wins and managed to bump Steve Rambo from the top of the point list after Rambo didn't show up for the final race. Rambo and Larry Fuller were perhaps the fastest drivers in the field, both were feature winners and they finished second and third, respectively.

Past Yreka champion Ed Grubb was also a good supporter and managed to finish fourth in the standings ahead of Johnny Hoult and Brionna Fuller. A broken arm didn't seem to slow Fuller down as she ran well in her late season starts.

The little track has eight races scheduled, and for a change, the weather in May has been so good that not only will Friday night's show happen, it looks like next Friday night's race should happen as well. There's been some skepticism and doubt in the Kart community at large, but there's one thing to consider. Everybody has an opportunity to help make this little track grow and become better by supporting the show. If they do so, things will only get better and things they might not have thought would happen at the little facility could occur.