After what turned out to be an emotional morning filled with celebration, happiness, relief, and a brand new beginning for the I-5 QMC, racing got underway at the Grays Harbor Mini Raceway.

40 drivers and a crowd of friends, families, and several QMA and County Officials witnessed another great day of racing on the brand new clay oval.

 

The Jr Novice race looked to have a first time winner as early season winner Josiah Volz moved up to the Jr Honda class, leaving the door open for the others to take advantage of the class.  As the race got underway it was apparent that the kids may have enjoyed too much cake in the midmorning ribbon cutting ceremony.  When you are 5 or 6 years old, cake and balloons take priority over racing, and some of the drivers were a little more interested in the balloons stuck in the trees rather than what their position should be.  Cale Shute figured out once again that the high line around the track is his choice to get to the front, and also gave him a better view of the ongoing celebration, making sure he wasn't missing anything.  Cale led early on but was distracted by the balloons caught in the tree, and was forced to the rear of the field.  When racing resumed he wasted no time getting back to the front and led the final 8 laps to take his first ever A-main win.  He was noted later to have been admiring his gold hardware, vowing to add to the collection.  Jeremiah Mueller and Dylan Volz rounded out the top three, and promised next time to give Cale a run for his money.

 

In Jr Honda, Janell McPeake jumped out to an early race lead from her front row starting position, but a lap 4 restart had Cassidy Forler get the jump on her and Cassidy proceeded to check out from the field.  Cassidy dominated the next 15 laps until a caution bunched the field up.  Nicki Hartman had rallied from a 6 position invert to line up for the restart behind Cassidy, but when the green flew once again, Cassidy proved to be too strong and picked up her first win of the '04 season.  Nicki finished second, with Janell holding onto third.

 

Sr Honda was yet again another wild one as the field was full making the 1/20th mile track seem even smaller.  Allison Journey returned from a week off of racing, and proved she hadn't missed a beat.  She led the entire 25 lap event, while the rest of the field battled it out behind her.  Austin Hespe was giving her all that she could handle until he hit the wall avoiding a spinning car.  Heat race winner Nickolas Larson found some difficulty overcoming the 6 position invert, but eventually wove his way through traffic, giving chase to the leaders.  Garret Johnson then took over the second position and looked to have a shot at Allison, but lapped traffic once again entered into the equation and Allison worked the traffic to her advantage, leading the final lap ahead of Garret and a hard charging Nickolas Larson.

 

Kasey Rubin made his first visit to the new track in Hvy Honda, and ran very well with the Sr's despite being at a 40 pound weight disadvantage.  Kasey had fun despite being the only car in his class, and hopes to come back again to meet up with some more competitors.

 

Light 160 proved once again to be the class to overcome, as TJ Hartman proved once again he is the car to beat in that class.  TJ wasted no time getting to the front from his 6th place starting position and on lap 3 took over the lead from front row starter Allison Journey.  Logan Forler gave chase until mechanical difficulties forced him to the pits for repairs.  Nickolas Larson and Brett Scott Jr than each took a shot at the lead, but TJ proved once again too strong for them and won his third clean sweep of the still young season.  Brett finished second with Logan making a last lap pass on Nickolas for third. 

 

Heavy 160 found first time track visitors Samantha Taylor and Kasey Rubin using the track time to their advantage for practice.  Samantha finished first with Kasey in second, both hoping for some more competition in the weeks to come.

 

Jr 1/2 found the heavy hitters looking for a setup to hook up to the dry slick track.  Ryan Styger went with what worked last week, and once again left the rest of the competitors scratching their heads.  Ryan led the entire race from the front row with TJ Hartman and DJ McPeake giving chase.  Ryan had definitely found his groove though, and none of the field had anything for him.  TJ settled for second with DJ rounding out third.

 

The club takes a break from the action for the next 2 weeks while Region 9 racing gets started, but looks to get back to Grays Harbor Mini Raceway on June 5th.  Please come out and see what 1/4 midget racing is all about - friends and families having fun.  As always, admission is free.