The Summer Thunder Sprint Series, Shipwreck Beads Modifieds and the Northwest Focus Midget Series were in action on the 3/8 banked clay oval of Grays Harbor Raceway on Sunday night for Labor Day Weekend, leading up to Monday's World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event presented by Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel.
Northwest Focus Midget Series
The first feature event of the evening saw the Northwest Focus Midget Series in action for their 25 lap feature. Granite Falls driver Nik Larson took the early lead with Garrett Thomas of McCleary in second. The caution quickly flew for Michael Hodel of Arlington, spinning in turn four. On the restart it was Larson back in command, as a three car battle between Garrett Thomas, Tristin Thomas of Burlington, and Shoreline's Hannah Lindquist became the exciting race to watch. Chance Crum of Snohomish joined in on the battle. Crum worked his way into second looking to track down Larson for the lead. Larson had no room for mistake as Crum was right there waiting to strike. Crum and Tristin Thomas both made a move for Larson giving the lead to Crum. Tristin Thomas couldn't make the pass for second, allowing Larson to try and take the lead back. A late race caution for Newberg, Ore driver Elijah Gibbs, gave Garrett Thomas, Lindquist, and Larson a shot at Crum for the lead. Crum went on to take the checkered flag over Garrett Thomas, Lindquist, Larson and Snohomish driver Seth Hespe. Heat race winners were Larson and Garrett Thomas.
Shipwreck Beads Modifieds
22 Modifieds signed in for the evening. It was Scott Miller of Shelton that picked up the lead, but it didn't take long for Lawrence O'Connor of Port Hardy, BC to take over the top spot. Just as the racing action picked up, the yellow flag flew for debris in turn four. On the restart O'Connor took over the lead once again, as Miller had tough company with Cosmopolis driver Tom Sweatman and Zack Simpson of Hoquiam. Sweatman moved into second, running the high side of the raceway, looking to take the lead from O'Connor. Simpson battled Miller for third, just as the battle for the fifth position heated up between Tyson Blood of Olympia, Devan West of Shelton, and Oakville driver Brian Harding. Blood continued to stay in fifth as Harding and West battled behind him. Simpson moved into second mid way through the feature on a restart and continued to run the high side. Lap 7 saw Simpson take the lead from O'Connor and quickly pull away from the rest of the field. O'Connor had Sweatman right there waiting to take over the runner up position. A late race restart gave Sweatman, Miller and O'Connor a shot at Simpson for the lead, it was Miller looking to the low side coming to the white flag but didn't have the momentum. Simpson picked up the win over Miller, Sweatman, O'Connor and Blood. Heat race winners were Sweatman, Simpson and Miller.
Summer Thunder Sprint Series
The final Summer Thunder Sprint Series at Grays Harbor Raceway for the 2019 season saw a strong field of northwest sprint car drivers. Marysville driver Colton Heath and Tyler Anderson of Everett set the front row, it was Heath who struck first taking the lead. Justyn Cox of Sacramento, CA moved into second. Trevor Cook of Mount Vernon brought out the first caution of the 30 lap feature with a spin in turn one on lap 1. Heath looked strong on the restart as Devon Borden of Raymond moved into third, looking to track down Cox and Heath. The red flag flew on lap 2 for Baily Sucich of Granite Falls after a violent flip in turn three and four. Sucich did exit the car under her own power and was ok. Heath quickly caught lap traffic on a long green flag run, maneuvering his way through on a very fast race track. Cox looked to get close a few times, but couldn't make a pass for the lead. Cox saw problems late after contact with a lap car, bringing out the caution on lap 21. Borden moved into the second spot, looking to take over the lead from Heath on the restart. Heath went on to pick up the win over Borden, Mill Creek's Cam Smith, Anderson, and Burlington's Jason Solwold. Heat race winners were Borden, Smith, and Anderson, with Hollister, CA driver Tony Gualda picking up fast time.
Grays Harbor Raceway
September 1, 2019
Shipwreck Beads Modifieds
Heat 1:
- 11s Tom Sweatman, 2. 27EH Lawrence O'Connor, 3. 28 Brian Harding, 4. 14K Kyler Moore, 5. AK47 Austin Kerrigan, 6. 98 Dan Kinnaman, 7. 714 Zach Fuller
Heat 2:
- 12 Zack Simpson, 2. 1W Dan West Jr, 3. 5W Devan West, 4. 75C Graham Cook, 5. 58 David Wolfard, 6. 31 Don Martin, 7. 87K Brenton Schnitzer
Heat 3:
- 26 Scott Miller, 2. 97 Tyson Blood, 3. 81 Lane Zerbin, 4. 34T Jason Tole, 5. 41 Tim Phillips, 6. 8 Steve Bulpitt, 7. 42 Kevin Hanson
A-Main:
- Simpson, 2. Miller, 3. Sweatman, 4. O'Connor, 5. Blood, 6. Schnitzer, 7. Zerbin, 8. Wolfard, 9. Cook, 10. Kerrigan, 11. Phillips, 12. Bulpitt, 13. Hanson, 14. Moore, 15. Devan West, 16. Dan West Jr, 17. Fuller, 18. Harding, 19. Kinnaman, 20. Tole, 21. Martin
Northwest Focus Midget Series
Heat 1:
- 16 Nik Larson, 2. 13A Alex Peck, 3. 7s Chance Crum, 4. 8 Mike Stryker, 5. 04 Matt Loving, 6. 35G Elijah Gibbs, 7. 81 Marty Rosler
Heat 2:
- 14 Garrett Thomas, 2. 19 Thomas Walker, 3. 3H Hannah Lindquist, 4. 44 Shane Smith, 5. 12JD JD Dryden, 6. 29 Katie Jackson, 7. 11T Ray Stebbins
Heat 3:
- 9T Tristin Thomas, 2. 25 Michael Hodel, 3. 71 Seth Hespe, 4. 48 Stewart Lee, 5. 12 Jesse Conway, 6. 37 Guy Tow Jr, 7. 90 Brenden White
A-Main:
- Crum, 2. Garrett Thomas, 3. Lindquist, 4. Larson, 5. Hespe, 6. Tristin Thomas, 7. Loving, 8. Striker, 9. Lee, 10. Walker, 11. Conway, 12. White, 13. Dryden, 14. Gibbs, 15. Peck, 16. Hodel, 17. Tow Jr, 18. Rosler, 19. Stebbins, 20. Jackson, 21. Smith
Summer Thunder Sprint Series
Heat 1:
- 8 Devon Borden, 2. 23 Michael Millard, 3. 0J Jay Cole, 4. F1 Corbyn Fauver, 5. 14B Bailey Suicich, 6. 8P Tony Gualda
Heat 2:
- 17 Cam Smith, 2. 33 Colton Heath, 3. 22X Trevor Cook, 4. 97R Jason Reed, 5. 17C Chris Bullock, 6. 18 Jason Solwold
Heat 3:
- 24 Tyler Anderson, 2. 8R Justyn Cox, 3. 3 JJ Hickle, 4. 33s Lance Sargent, 5. 15 Jeff Dunlap, 6. 22R Mike Romig
A-Main:
- Heath, 2. Borden, 3. Smith, 4. Anderson, 5. Solwold, 6. Hickle, 7. Sargent, 8. Cole, 9. Millard, 10. Fauver, 11. Romig, 12. Bullock, 13. Cox, 14. Dunlap, 15. Cook, 16. Reed, 17. Suicich, 18. Gualda