47 cars turned out for a rare Friday night race under the lights at the Grays Harbor Mini Raceway. Adding to the excitement was the anticipation for many of the drivers to get a chance at qualifying and establishing track records for the 1/20th mile clay oval.
Many of the youngsters had never experienced the qualifying format, as they usually pill draw for their heat races. This event gave them the chance to experience what it is going to be like in August - 2006, when the club hosts the Quarter Midgets of America Dirt Grand Nationals. This event is so large that qualifying all of the 400+ cars takes an entire day to get through. The lack of experience in a qualifying format never surfaced however, as each and every one of the drivers looked like veterans standing on the gas and getting up to speed one after another. The format called for 3 warmup laps, 2 on the clock, and a cool down lap. With lap times indicating about a total of one minute per car, the qualifying was complete in less than an hour, and the drivers should be commended for a job well done.
Qualifying got underway around 7:00PM and after the timing was complete, mains were lined out, and dinner was had, the racing got underway.
The Jr Novice B-Main was first out and was spectacular. Drivers diced for the transfer positions, and when the dust settled, Colton Johanson took the checkered flag first, followed by "Sinister" Zachary Gee, Theresa Chapin, and Tucker "I like it polished" Holcomb. They pulled in the pits for some adjustments and refreshments, then lined up for the A-Main.
In the Jr Novice A-Main, Joey Palmer was unable to capitalize on his fast time qualifying effort. A four car invert plagued him in traffic, and Justin Sample was determined to take home some hardware for the night. Justin led every lap while Chance Brogan and Colton Johanson fought it out behind him. Theresa Chapin completed a fantastic run from the B-Main to finish fourth.
In Sr Novice, Kyle Nations set fast time in his "Saturday Night SLider", but fell one spot short trying to overcome the invert. A determined "Miss" Raina Magnuson checked out on the start, but spun midway through and had to restart in the back. Anthony Chapin worked traffic to perfection, and crossed the stripe first, followed by Kyle, Tyler "Dimples" Palmer, and Raina Magnuson.
Jr Honda saw the rare occurrence of a nine car field, making the drivers stay on their toes. The race was the first of the evening to start under the lights, and the fans loved it. Janell "The Partner" McPeake set fast time, but mechanical problems trapped her in the pits when the race was called for time. Josiah Volz started on the pole and led every lap for the win. The run of the entire night belonged to Alex Oster who started 7th, and was working traffic like a knife through warm butter. When the race was called 10 laps shy of the scheduled 25, Alex had worked his way into second, followed by Autumn Johnson, and Ryan Mottner.
Sr Honda saw first year driver "Racin" Jason Reed set quick time, start in a 5 car invert, make a pass midway through the race, and capture his first ever win, doing it in grand style with a clean sweep of the night. Jason was on fire and nothing was going to put him out this evening. Ariel Biggs gave pursuit, but settled for second, followed by Garret Johnson and Delaney Brogan.
Lt 160 saw some great action in a race that was marred by only one caution. TJ "Smiley" Hartman set fast time, started 5th, and led lap 2 en route to a clean sweep of the evening. Garret Johnson chased him, but settled for second, with Ariel Biggs and Angie Magnuson in tow to round out the top four.
In Hvy 160, Serina McPeake set fast time, but David Hilts made his first trip of the year to the Grays Harbor Fairgrounds worthwhile and exciting. David led every lap en route to victory lane. Jessica "Who needs a horse?" Sprague and James"Mr orange shoes are cool" Alexander put on a great show for the crowd by swapping the second position several times. Jessica gained the advantage with 3 laps to go and scored a second place finish, James wound up third, and Andrea Lytle crossed the line fourth.
TJ Hartman took the night as an opportunity to get on the track for some testing in the Light AA class. The premiere class for QMA, the alcohol burning, 13,000 RPM, 7 cubic inch, four stroke engine rattles the inner ear of all those that hear one take to the track. Without any practice, gearing was a guess, but even missing the gearing completely, TJ propelled the car around the track at a blistering 6.956.
In Jr 1/2, using a stock Briggs W/F engine, TJ Hartman set fast time and led every lap over David White in his newly prepared Poweroll powered mount.
Qualifying and racing was completed in less than 4 hours, and the drivers retired to their beds to rest up for action to resume the next morning in race # 6 of the Kenworth Northwest Points Series.
Qualifying Fast Times:
JR NOVICE - Joey Palmer - 8.978
SR NOVICE - Kyle Nations - 8.334
JR HONDA - Janell McPeake - 7.977
SR HONDA - Jason Reed - 7.755
LT 160 - TJ Hartman - 7.231
HVY 160 - Serina McPeake - 7.466
LT AA - TJ Hartman - 6.956
JR 1/2 - TJ Hartman - 6.980
JR NOVICE B MAIN: Qualifying Time
1st - Colton Johanson 10.007
2nd - Zachary Gee 9.502
3rd - Theresa Chapin 9.829
4th - Tucker Holcomb 9.673
5th - Andy Palmer N/T
6th - Nate Mueller 9.387 D/Q(air filter)
JR NOVICE A MAIN:
1st - Justin Sample 9.425
2nd - Chance Brogan 9.100
3rd - Colton Johanson 10.007
4th - Theresa Chapin 9.829
5th - Joey Palmer 8.978 F/T
6th - Tucker Holcomb 9.673
7th - Dylan Boman 9.080
8th - Zachary Gee(DNF) 9.502
SR NOVICE A MAIN:
1st - Anthony Chapin 8.398
2nd - Kyle Nations 8.334 F/T
3rd - Tyler Palmer 8.779
4th - Raina Magnuson 8.552
5th - Sarah Chapin 10.32
JR HONDA A MAIN:
1st - Josiah Volz 8.148
2nd - Alex Oster 8.632
3rd - Autumn Johnson 8.094
4th - Ryan Mottner 8.138
5th - Dylan Volz 8.562
6th - Kailey Schlenz 8.679
7th - Janell McPeake 7.977 F/T
8th - Riley Watkins 8.744
9th - Jeremiah Mueller 8.171
SR HONDA A MAIN:
1st - Jason Reed 7.755 F/T
2nd - Ariel Biggs 7.802
3rd - Garret Johnson 7.885
4th - Delaney Brogan 8.253
5th - McKen'a Brogan 8.212
6th - Tyler Graddy(DNF) 9.418
LT 160 A MAIN:
1st - TJ Hartman 7.231 F/T
2nd - Garret Johnson 7.467
3rd - Ariel Biggs 7.493
4th - Angie Magnuson 7.991
5th - Nicki Hartman 7.693
6th - Nik Larson 7.983
7th - Tucker Sprague 7.741
8th - Hannah Shute N/T
HVY 160:
1st - David Hilts 8.351
2nd - Jessica Sprague 7.669
3rd - James Alexander 7.736
4th - Andrea Lytle N/T
5th - Serina McPeake 7.466
LT AA:
1st - TJ Hartman 6.956 F/T
JR 1/2:
1st - TJ Hartman 6.980 F/T
2nd - David White 7.692
The I-5 QMC @ The Grays Harbor Mini Raceway..........
Where the Legend Begins!