Southern Oregon Speedway Racing Discussion
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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.
