51 cars turned out Saturday, for race number two in the Kenworth Northwest Points Series at the Grays Harbor Mini Raceway. This marked the largest car count in a single day event for the I-5 QMC. The club continues to experience the positive rewards for the move last year to the Grays Harbor Fairgrounds, and there doesn't appear to be an end in sight.
The day got off to a fast start with the make up race from last week in Lt 160. TJ Hartman continued where he left off by leading every lap en route to victory. Allison Journey chased him from second and Hannah Shute rounded out the top three.
Jr Novice was split into two groups. In the first group, Justin Sample narrowly missed a clean sweep of the day, finishing first and second in his heat races, and then led every lap from the pole, lapping the field, to garner his first A-main win. Dylan Boman gave chase to finish second. Andy Palmer, making his first appearance of the season, finished third.
Jr Novice group 2 found Chance Brogan getting the jump on pole sitter Tanner Olson to lead the first 5 laps until he got tangled up with a lapped car. That handed the lead back to Tanner for a restart and he never looked back, crossing the line first while Zachary Gee chased him in second place and Colton Johansson finishing third.
In Sr Novice, Tyler Grady was able to complete the clean sweep by winning both heat races and the main event. Jessica Bryant gave chase but had to settle for second, and Tyler Palmer overcame a spectacular heat race flip to finish third. Tyler Grady looks to be a force in Sr Honda when he moves up to the unrestricted class.
Jr Honda once again had enough cars to relegate a B-main event. Josiah Volz started on the outside front row and led every lap. Ryan Mottner crossed the line second, Dylan Volz third, and Riley Watkins fourth to transfer to the A-main.
In the A-main, Janell McPeake showed her experience by jumping out to a commanding lead while Jeremiah Mueller and the rest of the pack gave chase. Lapped traffic plagued Janell though as she got tangled up with another car and had to go to the rear of the field. Jeremiah tagged the wall hard and was done for the day. McKenzie Journey held the point for the restart and led the next 4 laps until she spun and went to the rear as well. That gave the lead to Ryan Mottner who had been patiently making his way through the field. Ryan led the remaining fifteen laps to win his first Jr Honda A-main event. Janell rallied for second and Josiah Volz completed his B-main run by finishing third.
In Sr Honda, sisters Angie and Raina Magnuson split the wins in the heat races. In the A-main, Ariel Biggs and Jessie Olson earned enough points to start on the front row. Scrapping it out from their front row starting positions, Ariel eventually overcame and led the final 8 laps for her first win of the season, with Garret Johnson in tow for second, and Angie Magnuson following in third.
Lt 160 found TJ Hartman leading every lap from the pole while the rest of the field put on a great show for the fans. Allison Journey patiently worked traffic from her seventh place starting position. With seven laps to go, a restart had Allison lined up behind TJ, but his experience prevailed, and he earned his second win of the season. Allison's great run came up just short, settling for second, and Garret Johnson wound up third, in what is turning out to be the main attraction for the fans. The Lt 160 class is fast, and with ten cars filling the grid, it makes the 1/20th mile clay oval seem even faster.
In the quickest race of the day lasting less than 5 minutes, and running green to checkered, Serina Mcpeake put it to the field. Starting on the pole she led every lap on her way to victory. James Alexander held off Jessica Sprague for second as she worked her way into third from starting at the tail.
The Briggs World Formula continues to impress the fans and racers alike in the Jr 1/2 class. Testament that the decision to switch engine platforms was right for the club, both the competitors and the fans are smiling when the races conclude, leaving everyone wanting to see more. The drivers continue to evolve with the new engines, and each is still searching for the limits. Seth Hespe, Allison Journey, and TJ Hartman each struggled to keep the cars underneath them, proving the engine has enough power to experience throttle control and test the drivers skills. TJ and Seth split the heat race wins, with TJ prevailing in the main event, Seth and Allison finishing second and third.
Racing resumes May 7th for the I-5 QMC, as drivers take to the track in race number 3 of the Kenworth Northwest Points Series at the Grays Harbor Mini Raceway in Elma, WA..................."where families learn & grow together".
As always, admission is free. See you there.
LT 160 A MAIN (FROM 4/23 RAINOUT):
1st - TJ Hartman
2nd - Allison Journey
3rd - Hannah Shute
4th - Nicki Hartman
5th - Ariel Biggs
6th - Austin Hespe
7th - Tucker Sprague
8th - Garret Johnson
9th - Angie Magnuson
JR HONDA B MAIN:
1st - Josiah Volz
2nd - Ryan Mottner
3rd - Dylan Volz
4th - Riley Watkins
5th - Cale Shute
6th - Kailey Schlenz
JR NOVICE (GROUP 1) A MAIN:
1st - Justin Sample
2nd - Dylan Boman
3rd - Andy Palmer
4th - Layne Buchanan
5th - Nate Mueller
6th - Tucker Holcomb
JR NOVICE (GROUP 2) A MAIN:
1st - Tanner Olson
2nd - Zachary Gee
3rd - Colton Johansson
4th - Chance Brogan
5th - Joey Palmer
SR NOVICE A MAIN:
1st - Tyler Graddy
2nd - Jessica Bryant
3rd - Tyler Palmer
4th - Christina Buchanan
JR HONDA A MAIN:
1st - Ryan Mottner
2nd - Janell McPeake
3rd - Josiah Volz
4th - Alex Oster
5th - Dylan Volz
6th - McKenzie Journey
7th - Jeremiah Mueller
8th - Riley Watkins
SR HONDA A MAIN:
1st - Ariel Biggs
2nd - Garret Johnson
3rd - Angie Magnuson
4th - Jason Reed
5th - Raina Magnuson
6th - Delaney Brogan
7th - Jessie Olson
8th - McKen'a Brogan
LT 160 A MAIN:
1st - TJ Hartman
2nd - Allison Journey
3rd - Garret Johnson
4th - Ariel Biggs
5th - Nicki Hartman
6th - Angie Magnuson
7th - Tucker Sprague
8th - Hannah Shute
9th - Austin Hespe
10th - David White
HVY 160:
1st - Serina McPeake
2nd - James Alexander
3rd - Jessica Sprague
4th - Cassy Olson
5th - Andrea Lytle
JR 1/2/BRIGGS WF:
1st - TJ Hartman
2nd - Seth Hespe
3rd - Allison Journey