by Mike Weber
Two drivers, "The Enforcer"
Terry Moss and Dave Ford notched their first career
A main wins and sportsman division leader Tim Williams
posted a fifth straight top-five A main finish in the
Heckman Trucking sponsored race Saturday at River City
Speedway. Tricia "Great" Brittain of St. Helens,
topped sportsman qualifying for the first time ever,
posting a time trial of 15.82 seconds on the quarter-mile
oval track.
In the Baxter Auto Parts modified main,
Gannin Thomas of St. Helens, notched his second win
this year after overtaking Deer Island's Stephen Kaptur
on the third circuit and then led the remainder of the
40-lap race with his Generation Transmission open-wheel
style modified racer. Portland's Ray Elwess was runnerup,
followed by St. Helens drivers Jeremy Martin, Sean Fox
and Portland's Marc Sayre.
"I've won two of the last four,
so that's pretty good, but I'm really not too concerned
about my position in the points," said Thomas.
"I'm having an enjoyable season and it's sure much
more fun when you're able to avoid mishaps and without
having people bumping into your car. I had to spend
all my spare time last week working on the car to just
repair the damage from the last race (June 17)."
Ford, from Troutdale, started on the
front row of the Reser's Fine Foods sportsman main and
led all the way with his DVS Machining Chevrolet Monte
Carlo to notch his first win in the series. Williams,
of Scappoose, took third in his Alliance Automotive
Camaro behind runnerup Jesse Freeman of Wilsonville.
Brittain was fourth in both the dash and heat and she
took eighth in the main for a fifth straight top-10
finish in the Competitive Edge Sign & Design Monte
Carlo.
"I had another good day, the car
is running great and I'm sure glad to be leading the
point standings after the first five races," said
Williams. "I actually gained a little edge tonight
on the second (Brittain) and third (Rodney Cook) place
drivers after finishing ahead of both of them in each
race (dash, heat, main). I've had a fantastic season
so far, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed and I hope
that my good luck continues all year."
Moss started on the pole position of
the 50-lap street stock main and led from start-to-finish
with his Cage Off-Road Motorsports/Al's Transmission
Chevy Malibu to post the first A main win of his four-year
career. Moss, who earned a $500 prize, was followed
closely throughout the 50-lap race by a trio of determined
frontrunners. Moss, from St. Helens, won by a car length
over Sandy's Chris Hallberg, with the Nusom brothers
of Gresham, Curt (3rd) and John (4th) also very close.
"I was planning to compete only
a couple of times this year, because I couldn't enter
the first three races, since I was in Virginia at the
FBI National Academy for job related training excercises,"
said Moss, a St. Helens police officer. "Paul Liner
stepped in and volunteered to compete as my co-driver,
but the car wasn't even in racing condition when I left
in April. Paul is an expert driver though, he set up
the car, he put everything together and made some minor
adjustments so that it would be ready when I returned
home and it was running just perfect tonight. After
a ninth place division finish last season, my goal is
a top-five finish this year and I think I'll have a
good shot at it."
Vancouver's Joe Cherington manuevered
up from an eighth place starting spot in a 16-car field
to capture the mini stock A main. Cherington, the defending
series champion, notched his third win with the C's
Machine Shop Datsun. Portland's Ben Palmer was second,
followed by Warrenton's Mark Guindon, Jared Hanson of
Portland and Brad Beehler of St. Helens.
Vancouver's Stacey Fordyce notched
a third straight victory as she won the women's main
in the All-Star Sports Bar Monte Carlo.
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