Crockett, Tole, Sweatman, Martinez win at Grays Harbor Raceway

By The Daily World • June 5, 2017 7:30 pm

ELMA — A large field of cars, especially for the Summer Thunder Sprint Series, jammed up the Grays Harbor Raceway pits and performed admirably on the three-eights of a mile clay oval during Saturday’s program.

Veteran sprint car drive Roger Crockett, of Medford, Ore., showed off his experience by winning the STSS main feature race of the night. Hoquiam’s Jason Tole grabbed the street stock feature win, Cosmopolis’ Tom Sweatman won the modifieds and Portland’s Ryan Martinez won the PHRA dwarf cars feature to round out the night.

Summer Thunder Sprint Series

Tacoma’s Evan Margeson and Crockett set the front row of the 25-lap feature, which went non-stop from green to checkered flag. The only caution of the night came on the first wave of the green flag with a spin in turn one from Puyallup’s Trey Stark.

After that, the racing didn’t stop. Crockett took the lead from pole sitter Margeson on the second lap, while Quilcene’s J.J. Hickle grabbed second place from Margeson on the ninth lap. Crockett, once he took the lead, never relinquished it, sending the action behind him.

Burlington’s Jason Solwold made a late run for Crockett, got past Hickle for second, but never got close enough. Crockett did have to deal with traffic in front of him, but held on for the win. Solwold, Hickle, Robbie Price and Chase Goetz rounded out the top five. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Chance Crum, Reece Goetz, and Chris Schmelze. Fast time went to Austen Wheatley.

Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks

This 25-lap feature turned into a 20-lap affair after multiple caution flags slowed the action to a near-standstill. Arlington’s Brandon Babcock, Aberdeen’s Austin Kerrigan and Tole each took turns leading the pack, with caution flags bunching up the field into mini-sprint races.

Once the race was shortened, there was one more attempt at getting the race restarted. It didn’t last long when Austin Kerrigan and Montesano’s Scott Fritts hit each other, with Kerrigan slamming hard into the back-straightaway wall to bring out the red flag.

Tole, who was leading at the time, got the checkered flag for the win, with last week’s feature winner, Jack Parshall of Hoquiam, taking second. Fritts, Haney and Rodger Perry of Belfair rounded out the top five. Heat race winners earlier were Fritts, Shane Kerrigan, and Mike Mann of Shelton, with Tole picking up fast time.

PHRA Dwarf Cars

Nineteen Northwest drivers showed up for the first of four appearances by the PHRA Dwarf Cars to Elma.

The 25-lap feature started off with a violent flip from Leo Ward of Happy Valley, Ore., in turn one on the opening lap after contact with Mollala, Ore’s Henry Corbin II. Ward did walk away from the incident uninjured. The restart saw Longview’s Kerry Provolt of Longview lead the field, but Albany’s Dylan Chrisman moved into the lead. Chrisman had tough company as Longview driver Andy Lemmons was right there quickly to battle him for the lead. Martinez of Portland, Ore also joined in. Lemmons took the lead from Chrisman on lap 2, but Martinez made the pass for the lead one lap later.

The field bunched up behind Martinez, with Mollala’s Henry Corbin III sitting in second in the final set of laps. However, Martinez pulled away for the win. Corbin III, Scappose’s Doug McVae, Lemmons and Rich Holbert of Carson rounded out the top five. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Martinez, McVae and Dylan Chrisman.

Shipwreck Beads Modifieds

Several cautions made for quick segments of racing in this 25-lap modifieds final, with Sweatman at or near the top for nearly every lap.

The veteran Cosmopolis driver kept the lead and was challenged by several drivers throughout the race. However, as the battle to get to Sweatman heated up, the contenders fell off to bring out caution flags and a new set of challengers. In the end, Sweatman easily picked up his second feature win of the season. Oakville’s Brian Harding, Shelton’s Kris Asche, Shelton’s Del Schnitzer and Shelton’s Scott Miller rounded out the top-five spots. Heat race winners earlier in the evening were Aberdeen’s Austin Kerrigan and Aberdeen’s Zack Simpson.

Racing at Grays Harbor Raceway will resume on Saturday night with the return of the Wingless Sprint Series. The Northwest Focus Midgets Series, Shipwreck Beads Modifieds and Outlaw Tuners will also be in action. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m., with racing beginning at 7 p.m.