ELMA — The 19th Annual Shipwreck Beads Northwest Modified Nationals kicked off Friday night at Grays Harbor Raceway as over 40 dirt modifieds took to the 3/8-banked clay oval.

Also on hand were the PHRA Dwarf Cars for the Dwarf Car Challenge on Friday, the first day of racing at the two-day event.

Northwest Modified Nationals – Race of Champions

After two sets of heat races set the field for Saturday’s feature event — the Race of Champions.

Campbell River, British Columbia driver Graham Cook took the early lead but it didn’t take long for Lane Zerbin of Campbell River, BC to get by for the top spot.

The battle for third between Corbett, Oregon’s Collen Winebarger and Lawrence O’Connor of Port Hardy, BC was the race to watch as Winebarger worked his way to the front. He moved by Cook and set his sights on Zerbin for the lead.

Winebarger used the lowside of the track to take control, but Zerbin put up a hard fought battle on the outside racing side-by-side for multiple laps.

A late race spin by Nick Trenchard of Klamath Falls, Oregon gave Zerbin a shot at Winebarger for the lead. Zerbin went to the inside of turn one a little too hard and brought out the caution as he spun to a stop.

Winebarger had no lap traffic in front of him on the restart and went on to pick up the Race of Champions feature victory. Cook, John Campos of Salem, Oregon, Trenchard and Burlington’s Kevin Smith rounded out the top five.

PHRA Dwarf Car Challenge

The PHRA Dwarf Cars made their second appearance of 2018 at Grays Harbor Raceway on Saturday.

Jeremiah Hester of Hillsboro, Oregon took to the early lead. Just as the green flag flew, the yellow flag made an appearance after a multi-car incident in turn four.

Hester looked fast on the low side of the raceway, bringing the field to the green flag on the restart. Josh King of Medford, Oregon stayed right on his back bumper waiting for any mistake. Albany, Oregon driver John Chrisman sat in the third spot.

Multiple cautions plagued the first little bit of the feature giving King and Chrisman a shot at the lead. Portland’s Ryan Martinez moved past Chrisman and King to get into the top three.

Hester saw many charges from Martinez throughout the feature but couldn’t take over the lead.

King saw issues under caution and went to the pit area, giving up third to Chrisman.

A long green-flag run saw a three-car battle between Hester, Chrisman and Martinez until a late race caution set up a five-lap shootout for the lead. On Lap 23, Martinez made his move, taking over the lead from Hester and picking up the feature-race win.

Hester, Chrisman, Brandon Ross of Kelso and Mollala, Oregon’s Henry Corbin III rounded out the top five.

Ryan Martinez drives his No. 9 dwarf car to a victory in the PHRA Dwarf Car Challenge on Friday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma. (Photo by AR Racing Videos)