By Mike Weber
There were some surprising developements
in the Columbia County Racing Association's Wilcox
and Flegel race Saturday at River City Speedway. Rookie
driver Robert Sterling won the street stock main, a
woman competitor - Lisa Liner, was the fastest qualifier
in the sportsman class and Jeremy Martin of St. Helens,
captured his first ever Reser's Fine Foods modified
main event win. The top two modified contenders, Boring's
Gary Morris (eighth place) and Brian Timmons of Scappoose
(15th), struggled and had disappointing main event
finishes.
Things remain unchanged in the women's
division and the mini stock class. Division leader
Jacki Graham
of Portland, won the women's main and Kerry Smith of
Scappoose,
was runnerup and the duo continues to dominate the series as they've both recorded
two main event wins. Graham passed Battleground's Bobbi Harris on lap three and
led the remainder of the 20-lap race with her Flying V Motors/Perfection Automotive
Chevrolet Nova. Smith, who is second to Graham in the point standings, was a
straightaway length behind in the Alliance Automotive Camaro. Two-time champion
and current series leader Joe Cherington of Vancouver, captured his third mini
stock main event win with his Circle H Enterprises Datsun. Kelly Nace of Portland,
was second and Scott McMullen of Deer Island took third, which marked the exact
same finish as the previous race June 19.
Rainier's Ron Greer led the first
25 circuits of the 40-lap modified main until Martin
slipped
underneath, bumped Greer's car slightly, and then zoomed
down
the back straightaway after grabbing the lead. Another bumping incident immediately
followed in turn three when Greer made contact with Martin, who spunout which
resulted in a caution flag delay of the race. Greer was penalized by flagman
Ed Brasmer and sent to the rear of the 16-car field. Martin remained ahead in
the Superior Torque Converter open-wheel racer owned by Sam Jefffers of Scappoose,
and won by a car length over "Mello" Marc Sayre of Portland. Hillsboro's
Scott Puncochar was third, followed by Shawn Dorie of Scappoose, Portland's Ray
Elwess, Clint Petty of St. Helens and Dan Smith of Scappoose. Rudy Chappelle
of St. Helens, was a two-time winner as he captured the B Main and heat race.
"It sure feels great to finally get my first modified main win and it's
been a lengthy time span (2 yrs.) since I won an A Main, but it was worth waiting
for," said Martin, whose last A main victory was in 2002 when he competed
in the street stock class. "I sure enjoy driving Sam's car and we've got
an excellent pit crew with Robert Smith, Dennis Blasier, Rex Flatt along with
my teammate, Dan Smith. I took third in the standings last year, but it's a long
season and I'm going to try my best to win the championship. There was lots of
incidental contact, but that's just one of the normal aspects of racing."
The
10 fastest qualifiers were inverted at the front of all A Mains and Sterling,
who qualified 10th, started on the pole position of the street stock main.
Sterling took advantage of his good luck and led the
40-lap race from start-to-finish
in the Prudential Northwest Properties/Action Auto Glass Oldsmobile Cutlass.
Defending series champ "Hollywood" Gary Meyer of Vernonia, made
it interesting though as his Plymouth Roadrunner was side-by-side Sterling's
car
as he made several unsuccessful attempts to pass on the last five circuits
around the quarter-mile clay oval track. The two cars were bumper-to-bumper
at the finish
line, with division leader Clark Tenney of Scappoose, a close third in a
Chevy Malibu.
"I'm absolutely ecstatic, I'm on cloud nine and it's just incredible to
beat great drivers like Meyer and Tenney," said Sterling, 38. "Luckily
for me, the inverted start helped, so maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
"Stock car racing is such a
thrilling and exciting sport and what I've done so
far this year with three top-10 finishes and being
fifth in the division standings is just way beyond
my expectations," Sterling continued. "I'm
ahead of lots of good drivers, who have been competing
here a long time and I have a great crew chief in Adam
Smith, who really setup the car perfectly. I feel like
I have a pretty good chance to win the Rookie-of-the-Year
Award."
Liner, the 2003 sportsman Rookie-of-the-Year,
continues to enjoy success after winning the 2002 women's
title. Liner, 21, posted the top time trial of 15.92
seconds with her Lawrence Oil Malibu and she finished 10th in the 40-lap A
main.
Rainier's Mike Hagen won, followed by division leader Troy Schreiner of Longview,
Doug Hurley of Castle Rock, Randy Allen of Sandy, Kelso's Bob Cram and Tricia "Great" Brittain
of St. Helens. Marty "McFly" Holmason had an outstanding performance
in his Emmert Chevrolet Monte Carlo as he maneuvered up from 10th place and
finished second to Portland's LeRoy White in the B main. The top two finishers
from the
B feature qualify for a last row position in the 16-car A main. Holmason, of
St. Helens, again expertly moved through traffic to take seventh place.
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