Journey Gets First Win of Season, Miller and Bergman 3 for 4 on Season.
By Jack Fordyce
Grays Harbor Raceway
Elma, WA. Allison Journey, Springfield, OR. worked her way back through the pack and made a late pass for the win for her first feature event win of the season at Grays Harbor Raceway Saturday night.
Seth Bergman, Snohomish and Scott Miller, Shelton both made it three out of four feature wins on the season at Elma.
Journey passed Dustin O’Brien with just 4-laps remaining in the “Midgets” 20-lap main event, while both Bergman had no problems. Bergman led all but the first lap in the “360 Sprints” 25-lap feature and Miller led from the green flag to the checkered in the “Modifieds” 25-lap main event.
Sprints
Bergman started the feature race on the outside of Jared Peterson, Stanwood in the front row with Tacoma driver Mitch Olson and Shelton’s Jay Cole a row back.
Bergman was in the top spot before the first lap was completed and quickly distanced himself from the rest of the pack.
With Bergman well out in front it left Peterson, Brock Lemley, Bellingham, Cole, JJ Hickle, Quilcene and Henry VanDam, Enumclaw to vie for what was left over.
Peterson was able to hold onto the second spot through the first 15-laps before VanDam finally took over that spot when Peterson brought out the caution flag when he coasted to a stop in turn-4.
Lemley exited the top five and the race when he brushed the wall in turn-2 on the restart and left the track on the hook, and Cole gave up the third spot when his rear-end came apart on lap19.
Olson finished third, Hickle fourth and defending series champion, Glenn border Jr. Raymond rounded out the top five.
Bergman’s win gives him a 34 point lead in the season point’s race over VanDam.
Midgets
Journey started the main event on the inside of the second row, next to Montesano’s Jeremy Miller and behind pole sitter Reece Goetz, Snohomish and Hoquiam’s Ariel Biggs.
Miller took over the lead when Goetz left the track with mechanical problems on the second lap. Goetz was unable to return to the race because the race was caution free and a car can not return to the track under the green flag.
Journey fell out of the top five on the first lap when she got too high in turn-4.
Defending series champion, Seth Hespe of Snohomish took over the second spot from Biggs five laps into the race with Dustin O’Brien of Snohomish fourth and Garret Johnson fifth.
Journey had moved back into the top five by lap-7, behind Miller, Hespe, O’Brien and Biggs.
Hespe moved into the top spot on lap-11 and held off O’Brien for three laps before yielding the top spot.
O’Brien was only able to hold onto first for three laps before Journey edged him out of the front with 4-laps left.
Journey took the checkered flag a little over a second in front of O’Brien, Hespe finished third, Biggs fourth and rookie driver Jeff Westergard, Sedro Wolley had an impressive fifth place finish for his first race on the Harbor.
Journey moved into a tie in the season point’s race with Hespe with O’Brien just 14 points back.
Modifieds
Miller and defending series champion Josh Muller put on the usual duel for supremacy and the top spot for twenty of the twenty five laps in the main event.
Muller yielded the second spot to Del Schnitzer, Shelton on the second lap but regained it on the next circuit.
Muller would close the gap on Miller in the turns, but was unable to complete a pass before the Shelton driver would pull away on the straight aways.
With Miller and Muller out in front of the rest of the pack, Schnitzer, McCleary’s Jim Oien Jr. and another former series champion, Craig Moore, Seabeck were all jockeying for position.
Oien Jr. left the track just before the mid-point of the race with a flat tire and didn’t return.
Miller pulled away from the rest of the pack when they got into slower traffic.
Moore and Muller traded places for second twice before Moore prevailed in that battle.
Aberdeen’s Joe German made a late charge four fourth and Shelton’s Alan Muenchow edged out Steve signal, Olympia for fifth.
Miller complete a perfect night when he won his heat race and had fast time in qualifying and extended his season point’s lead to 27 points over Muller.
Next week end will be the season opener for the American Sprint Car series, Northwest Region tour with races on Saturday and Sunday nights, with the Midgets as the under card both nights. Gates open at 4:30 with racing around 6:30 both nights.
Top Finishers-Top Points
Whitney’s Auto Group “360 Sprints” A Main. 1. Seth Bergman, Snohomish. 2. Henry VanDam, Enumclaw. 3. Mitch Olson, Tacoma. 4. JJ Hickle, Quilcene. 5. Glenn Borden Jr. Raymond. 6. Jared Peterson, Stanwood. 7. Danielle Huson, Sedro Wolley. 8. Trey Starks, Puyallup.9. Jay Cole, Shelton. 10. Jake Mann, Monroe. Heat 1. 1. Borden Jr. 2. Bergman. 3. Hickle. 4. Cole. 5. Jason Bloodgood, Burlington. Heat 2. 1. Shane Broers, Sedro Wolley. 2. VanDam. 3. Peterson. 4. Brock Lemley, Bellingham. 5. Huson. Heat 3. 1. JJ Dishneau, Maple Valley. 2. Jeff Dunlap, Renton. 3. Olson. 4. Steve Vague, Kirkland. 5. Starks. Fast Time: Shawn Rice 12.258-110.132 MPH. Top Points (Unofficial). Bergman 464. VanDam 430. Borden Jr. 392. Hickle 385. Cole 384. Olson 383. Rice 363. DeWitt 356. Starks 332. J. Dunlap 324.
Triple X Racing “Ford Focus Midgets” A Main. 1. Allison Journey, Springfield, OR. 2. Dustin O’Brien, Snohomish. 3. Seth Hespe, Snohomish. 4. Ariel Biggs, Hoquiam. 5. Jeff Westergard, Sedro Wolley. 6. Jeremy Miller, Montesano. 7. Garret Johnson Poulsbo. 8. Todd Hartman, Bothell. 9. Annika Johanson, Lacey. 10. Kelley Douglas, Poulsbo. Heat 1. Reece Goetz, Snohomish. 2. Hartman. 3. Miller. 4. Biggs. 5. Douglas. Heat 2. 1. Hespe. 2. Journey. 3. Johnson. 4. Johanson. 5. O’Brien. Fast Time: Goetz 16.164-83.519 MPH. Top Points (Unofficial). Hespe 223. Journey 223. O’Brien 209. Goetz 197. Miller 194. Johnson 193. Biggs 193. Hartman 187. Johanson 176. Studer 169.
Ship Wreck Beads “Modifieds” A Main. 1. Scott Miller, Shelton. 2. Craig Moore, Seabeck. 3. Josh Muller, Montesano. 4. Joe German, Aberdeen. 5. Alan Muenchow, Shelton. 6. Steve Signal, Olympia. 7. David Bottoms, Ridgefield. 8. Dave Burns, Bremerton. 9. Del Schnitzer, Shelton. 10. Todd Hardesty, St Helens, OR. Heat 1. Miller. 2. German. 3. David Wolfard, Seabeck. 4. Signal. 5. Burns. Heat 2. 1. Schnitzer. 2. Jim Oien Jr. McCleary. 3. Muller. 4. Moore. 5. Bottoms. Fast Time: Miller 16.247-83.092. Top Points (Unofficial) Miller 458. Muller 431. Moore 391. Schnitzer 370. Wolfard 363. Signal 363. Oien Jr. 362. German 357. Hardesty 351. Burns 350.
