September 1, 2003

By Mike Weber

St. Helens race car drivers Tricia "Great" Brittain, Lisa Liner, Rick Rilatos and Tom Zywicki recorded career best finishes in the Baxter Auto Parts Labor Day weekend stock car races Aug. 30-31 at River City Speedway. Kerry Smith of Scappoose and St. Helens drivers Clint Petty, Aaron Prettyman and Joe Lires each posted top-five finishes to remain in contention for a Columbia County Racing Association division title.

Brittain passed Portland's Don Schott on lap six of Sunday's Longview NAPA sportsman main event and led the remainder of the 30-lap race in her Warren Country Inn/Eaton's Tire sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Brittain, 32, won by four car lengths over Liner, in the Heckman Trucking/Lawrence Oil Chevy Malibu. It marked the first time in recent history (last 10 years) that a woman driver has won a sportsman A main and it's the first time ever in the track's 17-year history that two women took first and second in the division. Castle Rock's Doug Hurley was third, followed by Randy Allen of Sandy and Longview's Boyd Owen. Kirk Brissett of Scappoose, manuevered up from a 16th place start to take sixth in the Jesse Allen Trucking Lumina.

"This is just awesome and I'm so excited to get my first sportsman win, but it almost seems unbelievable that I could actually beat these guys," said Brittain, whose Tony's Shoes Racing team includes her husband Sam and Jim Myers of St. Helens. "I had no idea who was behind me until the end of the race, but it's so nice knowing that I'm capable of competing well in the sportsman class and it's absolutely the highlight of my six-year motorsports career. Our pit crew works hard every week to prepare the car extremely well for every race so that I can improve my performance and their effort is a major contributing factor to our success."

For Liner, it marked her third top-five and best ever finish in the series and it's likely she'll win the Rookie-of-the-Year award since Lisa is currently ranked fourth in the point standings behind Allen, Brian Vaughn and division leader Troy Schreiner of Longview. Allen won Saturday's A main in the American Tire/John's Frame Shop Camaro. Hurley took second in a Monte Carlo and Rilatos posted a career best third in his Char's 3rd Ave. Saloon/Heckman Trucking Ford Thunderbird. Brittain (ninth), Liner (seventh) and Marty Holmason (sixth) of St. Helens, each had a top-10 finish.

"I'm thrilled to get second, which is really awesome and this reminds me of how Tricia and I battled for first place in the women's division a couple years ago," said Liner, 20. "If I can finish near the front in the last two races (Sept. 13th, 20th) think that I'll probably accomplish my goal of finishing in the top-five of the standings, but I'm also hoping to get a win too. I'm beginning to feel more comfortable now racing with these guys and I feel like I'm capable of competing well in every race."

Shawn Dorie of St. Helens, won Saturday's Reser's Fine Foods modified A main to record his first win this year and Jeremy Martin of St. Helens, recorded a career best second.

"The track was very slick, which made passing very tough and most everyone finished in the same spot that they started in," said Petty.

"It was a good, fun race and all I had to do was just drive around that track and avoid making any mistakes," Petty continued. "It's tough going high on the outside groove to try passing and the only way to get by someone is if they drift up too high and leave room to pass underneath."

Clint's father, Richard Petty of Scappoose, won the PHRA dwarf car 25-lap main event.

Scott Puncochar captured Saturday's street stock A main, with Vancouver's Dennis Krohling the runnerup and Zywick posting a career best third. Scott's sister, Kari, took fourth in a Camaro, followed by Prettyman in the West PAC Camaro. It was just the opposite on Sunday as Krohling took the checkered flag in his Dusty's Machine Shop/Holland Automotive Camaro, with Puncochar getting second in the RPM Motorsports/Louis Contruction Camaro. Fairview's Mark Jones was third, followed by defending series champion Gary Meyer of Vernonia and Prettyman, who recorded his eighth top-five finish. Battleground's Steven Harris captured the heat race and street stock B main in his 1991 Camaro, which marked the first the wins ever of his career.

Vancouver's Ken Warford captured his first ever mini stock main event win Saturday. A runnerup finish by Lires in the McMullen Water Systems Toyota Celica enabled him to take over first place in the division standings. Bernie Lujan of St. Helens, finished in third place.

In the Women's Division, it certainly appeared that Marcie Heckman of Scappoose was on her way to victory lane for the first time ever as she led the first 25 laps of Sunday's main. Her Heckman Trucking Chevy Malibu overheated though and she exited to the pits. Castle Rock's Brenda Hurley took over first and led the last five circuits in the Meyer Auto Body Pontiac Grand Prix to record her second main event victory. Portland's Jacki Graham won Saturday's main and Kari Puncochar took second, followed by series leader Paula Timmons of Kelso, who also took third place on Sunday. Smith, who is ranked second in the standings, posted fifth place finishes both days with the Alliance Automotive Buick Regal.