5/13/2024
Cottage Grove Speedway
Thompson, Wheeler, Schmidt, Donofrio, Simmons, And Lancaster Mom’s Night Out Winners At CGS
Thompson, Wheeler, Schmidt, Donofrio, Simmons, And Lancaster Mom’s Night Out Winners At CGS
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Jason Davenport Photography)
Cottage Grove, Oregon- After several weeks of wet weather, Cottage Grove Speedway finally returned to racing on Saturday, May 11th, for Mom’s Night Out. The Todd’s Auto Body 360 Sprints, Late Models, Todd’s Auto Body Limited Sprints, Street Stocks, and the Junior Division were on the card. The lone Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing program class was the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods presented by Roadhouse Billiards & Brew.
Cottage Grove’s Melissa Solesbee paced the field on the opening lap of the Todd’s Auto Body 360 Sprint main event. She could not build a sizable lead due to a caution on lap one. On the restart, Tyler Thompson would power his way past Solebee to obtain the lead. The Harrisburg racer pulled away from the rest of the pack to win his first CGS race of 2024.
Solebee had a terrific battle with fellow Cottage Grove native Kinzer Cox, scoring second place. Cox wound up third while the rest of the Top Five was Medford’s Camden Robustelli, in the T.J. and Stacy Winningham entry, in fourth, and Don Waddell, from Roseburg, earning fifth.
B.J. Donofrio took care of business in the Late Model ranks. The Salem chauffeur took over the top spot after a double overtake in turn two on the first lap. The caution-free feature would see Donofrio pull away from the rest of the field but did get bottled up in traffic several times.
Racing for car owner Tim Morgan, Jake Mayden, from Springfield, would chase down the leader and briefly put up a challenge. Still, Donofrio made several key passes in traffic to pull away again and earn the win. Mayden was second, while Redmond’s Nathan Augustine placed third. Dalton Bloom, now residing in Battle Ground, Washington, beat out Eugene veteran Chuck Christian for fourth.
The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod, presented by Roadhouse Billiards & Brew, had an entertaining finale. Once the race started, Jason Kocks took control of the top-place position. The Creswell pilot had to deal with four straight restarts in the early goings but successfully maintained the top-place position each time.
However, when the field came back to life after the sixth caution, he was challenged and overtaken by Aaron Bloom on lap eight. Bloom, from Cottage Grove, tried to separate from the rest of the pack, but Roseburg’s David Schmidt kept things close.
Schmidt tried to make the necessary pass numerous times but couldn’t until finally on the twenty-first circuit. Unfortunately, shortly after being passed, Bloom had mechanical problems that forced him to retire early. Schmidt had no issues once in the top-place position and picked up the win.
La Pine teenager Landyn Philpott rallied to finish second, with Kocks wrapping up the podium in third. Coburg’s Kevin Williamson was fourth, finishing ahead of Trevor Points of Salem.
In the Todd’s Auto Body Limited Sprints, Ryan Hirschbock set a torrid pace early. The Klamath Falls teenager, racing for car owner Brian Crockett, had firm control of the lead until he suffered a flat left rear on lap seventeen. That would put Central Point’s Jake Wheeler in the lead. Wheeler would dominate to earn the victory for himself and car owner Roger Henderson.
From Shady Cove, David Marble finished second, while Newberg’s Scotty Fox was third. The rest of the Top Five consisted of hometown racer Tim Minter in fourth and Roseburg racer Kyle Woodcock, in the Chris Owens fielded entry, in fifth.
The Street Stocks had a thriller of a main event when they came out to run. Adam Applebee, representing Eugene, blazed the trail in the early goings but would have a driveline spit out of his car on lap three, ending his efforts. Albany’s Tahlan Rogers became the new leader.
Once the field got back to green, Rogers felt the heat from Cottage Grove youngster Jared Simmons. Simmons eventually used the top shelf of the race track to obtain first place at the wire of the fifth circuit. Before too long, Graig Osborne came to call to get around Simmons.
Osborne, from Creswell, kept his faith on the bottom of the track and drew level with Simmons on many occasions but couldn’t quite get ahead of him. The two would slug it out lap after lap, and Simmons held on to score the big triumph at the drop of the checkered.
Osborne and Rogers made up second and third at the line. Shannon Collins, of Camas Valley, placed fourth over Creswell’s Brad Hicks.
Lastly, the Junior ranks brought some entertaining racing to the ¼-mile clay oval. Coos Bay teenager Faith Bryant led the first few laps before Rowan Lancaster made it around her. Lancaster, from Eugene, had control of the lead during the entire stoppage-free race despite getting some pressure from Tynlee Mayden of Springfield. Lancaster won, with Mayden getting second over Bryant in third.
Cottage Grove Speedway returns to racing on Saturday, May 18th, for Armed Forces Night, presented by Shriners. The Todd’s Auto Body 360 Sprints, Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods presented by Roadhouse Billiard & Brew, Street Stocks, Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts, and Juniors will all be in action. For more information, log on to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
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