by Mike Weber
Columbia County Racing Association
division leaders Celeste Hardesty, Curt Nusom and his
brother John, each proved that they're worthy of their
top ranking as they won main events in the Baxter Auto
Parts race Saturday at River City Speedway.
Sportsman drivers Jon "Razor"
Gillett and Tricia "Great" Brittain recorded
top-five A main finishes and Dan Smith of Scappoose,
won his first modified main this year. Portland's James
Lutz had a sweep in mini stocks as he captured the dash,
heat and main with his Volkswagen. In the student class
(kids age 13-16), Portland's Dylan Hallberg was also
undefeated as he swept all three races while driving
his Marty's Transmission Volkswagen.
Gresham's Curt Nusom took the lead
from Toledo's Ken Bryan passing him on the outside lane
of the back straightaway on lap 18 and led the remainder
of the 50-lap race in his Tom's Auto & Performance
Machine/Steven's Printing Chevrolet Monte Carlo, winning
by three-quarters of a lap over runnerup Ray Cota of
Vernonia. Portland's Bryan Collins was third, followed
by Gillett and Brittain. Gillett of St. Helens, had
a particularly impressive performance, recovering from
a lap 30 spinout, then maneuvered up front from the
rear of the 17-car field taking fourth in his Carousel
Concessions Camaro.
"The track was a little rough,
especially on the bottom groove, with all the ruts there,
but I was able to pass guys on the outside which was
much smoother and I just stayed up there most of the
race," said Nusom. "After having bad luck
(broken tied rod on the last lap), in the last race
(July 7), so you just never know what can happen, but
I had some good luck tonight and it was a fun race.
Having three weeks off was too long though and it was
somewhat of a frustrating schedule, so I was feeling
a need for speed, today."
Brittain, of St. Helens, was a double-duty
driver as she also notched a women's division top-five
finish. Hardesty, of St. Helens, dominated the class
as she was the fastest qualifier at 16.04 seconds and
swept three races. Teia Thomas of St. Helens, led the
first seven laps, but then collided with Tria Prettyman
on lap eight. Following the yellow flag caution period,
Hardesty was positioned up front on the lap nine restart
and led the rest of the way with her Al's Automatic
Transmission Monte Carlo, winning the 40-lap race by
a straightaway length over Portland's Jackie Graham.
"Baxter Auto has been very helpful
while providing a tremendous amount of support and always
giving us parts to help keep the car running well,"
said Hardesty.
Corbett's Scott Winebarger passed Sam
Jeffers of Scappoose on lap two of the modified main
and led the next 17 circuits until he had a flat tire.
Vernonia's Doug Davenport capitalized on a lucky break
to take the lead, but Smith wasn't far behind. Their
two open-wheel style cars circled the quarter-mile oval
side-by-side for five laps until Smith took the lead
for good on lap 30. Smith, a former series champion
(2005) stayed up front with the Alliance Automotive
racer owned by Jeffers and won by eight car-lengths
over Davenport.
"We made some changes on the car
to improve the suspension, so it's running good and
I couldn't ask to have a better race team, with everyone
working well together," said Smith, whose STC Racing
Parts team includes Robert Smith, Dennis Blasier, Mike
Harrison, Bobby Morley and Jeremy Martin. "There's
no doubt that Scott has one of the fastest cars, but
I feel that I still could've won even if he didn't have
a flat."
Ian Lamma of St. Helens, led the first
12 laps of the street stock main until Gresham's John
Nusom passed him on lap 13. Nusom remained ahead until
the end of the 50-laps, taking the checkered flag in
his T&T Draggin' Wagons Camaro to win by five car-lengths
over Beaverton's Mark Reser.
"I wanted to dedicate this win
as a memorial to my adopted grandfather, Jim Kuiawa,
who died July 9 at age 82," said Nusom, referring
to his friend who lived with his family for the last
two years. "All four of the Nusom Racing cars had
his name on them to honor his memory and he really was
looking out for us, so this win was for grandpa. It's
been a great season so far and Eddie Farness (co-driver)
and I have combined for four wins. I'm very grateful
to all our sponsors (City Sprint, Bud's Auto Wrecking),
because I wouldn't even be able to compete here without
all their help."
Deer Island's Rick Beehler led 39-of-40
laps in the mini stock main in his Rainier Log Hauling
Subaru until Lutz passed him on the final lap for the
win. Beehler finished second and defending champion
Joe Cherington of Vancouver, was third.
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