The I-5 Quarter Midget Club hosted leg 4 of the Region 9 points series at the Grays Harbor Mini Raceway over the Labor Day weekend, courtesy of Kenworth Northwest. 126 competitors from Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia turned out for the 3 day event, culminating in 40 races and over 1,000 laps of green flag racing on the 1/20th mile clay oval.

The event entails 3 days starting Friday with practice, and racing on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday also gave the families an opportunity to see the future of the drivers, thanks to a few local drivers from the Grays Harbor Raceway. Mark Torres brought out his winged 360 Sprint car for display, as did Ford Focus Midget drivers Brian Thomas, Don Billings, and Ron Sprague.

On Sunday, the field for the 10 divisions of cars had been set, and when the dust settled, the A-main winners were crowned. Justin Sample, Shane Albedyll, Chance Crum (2 divisions), Rachel VanKopp, Samantha Taylor, TJ Hartman (2 divisions), Thane Sunde, and Logan Forler were all sitting on top of their fields.

Heat races and lower mains were ran on Saturday. Jr Novice C-main found Zachary Gee taking the checkered first, and Wyatt Gardner atop the podium in the B-main. A large turnout for Jr Honda warranted a D-main. Josiah Volz made quick work of the "D" and "C" mains, with Janell McPeake following him through those and taking the B-main win for herself. Sr Honda was equally as large of field, and Brandon Barlow found himself deep in a hole. Brandon was on a terror, winning the "D", "C", and "B" mains making him ripe for the pick to complete a run of the alphabet in the A-main on Sunday. Missy Geary won the Heavy Honda B-main. Garret Johnson fought off the field in Light 160 taking the B-main win. Kerstin Smutny missed her heat race by mere minutes after returning from Europe. Tagging the back of the Heavy 160 C-main, she made quick work of getting to the front for the win. Shain Cannon ended Saturday with a win in the Heavy 160 B-main, setting the field for Sunday, and allowing the families to take in the action Saturday night over on the big track as the Grays Harbor Raceway hosted its season championship race.

The Hvy 160 class took to the track first in the rotation Sunday on a beautifully prepared and hooked up track. 40 green flag laps later, Thane Sunde found himself first to cross the stripe, followed closely by Kerstin Smutny, and Samantha Taylor.

Jr Stock went out next, and Chance Crum found himself carrying his first checkered flag of the day in celebration. Justen McConville made the trip from his home track in Oregon worthwhile, ending up second, and Collin Starks rounded out the top three.

The Alcohol burning Lt AA class was next. Just the sound of the 12,000 RPM monsters brings the fans to their feet to watch, and the drivers did not disappoint. Trey Starks set the pace while several drivers looked for an opportunity to advance. Unfortunately, gremlins struck Trey when his chain fell off after a stop for refueling, and later his engine would expire while working his way from the back. TJ Hartman had been silently stalking the leaders, and made his way through the field to find himself in victory lane. Logan Forler wound up second, and Dylan Westrick completed the top three.

Lt 160 found a familiar face carrying the checkered flag around the tiny bullring, as TJ Hartman raced for the win in a race he wanted to dedicate to an I-5 family member that passed away recently. He completed his goal and later that evening handed the trophy to the family suffering the loss of their loved one. Liam Ryan showed that our neighbors to the North love racing and wound up second, with Doug Anderson finished third.

The Jr Novice race won the award for the longest race of the day, but the credit for the delay belonged to mother nature. With barely 1/2 the race complete, the skies grew dark and the race was red flagged while the racers waited for the rain to stop. 5 1/2 hours later, the race resumed on a track that was even better. Justin Sample quickly resumed his pole position, and didn't let the delay dampen his spirits. He led every lap en route to his first major event win and his family and friends celebrated. The race for second was a wild one. After giving chase for most of the race in second with a bent rear axle, Colton Johansson got tangled in lapped traffic and was sent to the rear. Zachary Gee had silently been making his way to the front using both grooves to make his passes. He found himself in prime position on a restart to make his bid for the lead, but Wyatt Gardner had made other plans. Wyatt got the jump and completed the final lap in second. Zachary completed a great run from the C-main to end up third in the debut appearance of his new Fiser car that was on the fast track this weekend.

Sr Novice was next, and saw some of the best racing of the day. Several drivers made their way to the front only to get bogged down and passed. When the checkered fell, Shane Albedyll found himself in the winners circle, followed by Kyle Nations in second, and Anthony Chapin in third.

Hvy Honda resulted in Samantha Taylor setting a torrid pace while the rest tried to keep up. Samantha secured her points lead by taking the win. Karly Logan was closing, but ran out of laps and settled for second. David Peppel showed his "turn right to go left' talents once again and came home third.

Rachel VanKopp chalked up another win for the girls in Sr Honda while the boys could only look on from behind. Matt Henderson tried, but had to settle for second, and Brandon Barlow fell just short of completing a perfect run of the mains, winding up third.

In the Jr Honda A-main, Chance Crum found himself speechless after winning his second race of the day. The race went green to checkered and Chance nearly gave it away after spinning into the infield while leading with 1 lap to go. He was able to save it and hang on for the win, his dad narrowly avoiding a nervous breakdown, and was followed by Collin Starks, and Justen McConville.

If the race in Jr 1/2 were 41 laps long the results would have been different. As it was, 40 laps was just right for Logan Forler as he blew up after taking the checkered flag. Allison Journey was ready to take advantage, but had to settle for second. The action was further back though, as Tim Venable and Seth Hespe diced for position. Tim led the even numbered laps, however, and finished lap 40 in the third slot.

Racing will resume September 10th when the kids take to the track in round 8 of the Kenworth Northwest Points Series at the Grays Harbor Mini Raceway. Hot laps get underway at 9:30 AM, with racing at 10:00. As always, admission is free, and the public is encouraged to come out and see the future of racing develop right before their eyes.

Dedicated to Nancy Schlenz - may you rest in peace

The I-5 QMC @ The Grays Harbor Mini Raceway.............

Where the Legend Begins!