By Mike Weber
Ralph Puncochar Motorsports (RPM)
and the Sam Jeffers-owned Superior Torque Converter
(STC) Racing were two of the most successful race teams
among nearly 140 competitors at the Reser's Fine Foods
Labor Day weekend races Sept. 4-5 at River City Speedway
in St. Helens. Hillsboro drivers Scott Puncochar and
his sister, Kari, both captured Columbia County Racing
Association wins. Scott, 26, drove his Oly's Construction/Goddard
Gardens Landscaping Chevrolet Camaro to victory lane
in the street stock A mains Saturday and Sunday. Kari
won both day's women's division mains in the Fox Automotive/Louis
Construction Nova.
Jeremy Martin of St. Helens, won Sunday's
modified A main and STC Racing teammate Dan Smith of
Scappoose, was runnerup, with Shawn Dorie of St. Helens,
in third. Smith (4th) and Martin (7th) also notched
top-10 finishes Saturday and they're both ranked in
the top four of the division point standings behind
leader Ray Elwess of Portland and runnerup Gary Morris
of Boring.
The 12 fastest cars from time trials
were lined up in reverse order in all of Sunday's A
mains. Martin, the 12th fastest qualifier, took advantage
of his front row spot and led the 40-lap, caution-free
event from start-to-finish with the Reser's open-wheel
style modified racer. Dorie won Saturday's A main and
Scott Puncochar, a double duty driver who competes
in two CCRA classes, was second, followed by Elwess.
Marty "McFly" Holmason, of St. Helens, won
Saturday's modified B main.
"The 12-car invert really helped
me get a good starting position and I just stayed up
front the entire race," said Martin, who was 12th
in qualifying on the quarter-mile clay oval track. "There's
no doubt that Sam has provided Dan and I with probably
two of the best cars in this class. Getting a 1-2 finish
is something that Sam has always hoped for, so this
is like a dream come true for him."
"We couldn't ask to compete for
better car owners than Sam and Jane Jeffers of Scappoose," said
Smith. "I tried to make it a little more exciting
too when Jeremy and I got side-by-side each other once,
but we just wanted a 1-2 finish, we didn't care how
we did it and it sure was lots of fun."
The women's division included identical
top-three main event results both days as Dan's wife,
Kerry Smith, notched two runnerup finishes in her Alliance
Automotive Camaro to Kari Puncochar and Vancouver's
Stacey Fordyce took third place twice.
"The 12-car invert was tough,
but everything worked out pretty good since I was able
to manuever up towards the front and get second," said
Smith, who was the fastest qualifier (16.62 seconds)
Sunday. "Hopefully, I'll continue holding onto
the lead during the last two events (Sept. 18 & 25)
and it sure would be a thrill to accomplish my goal
of winning the division championship. It was great
having more cars (16), which was about twice as many
as we've normally had in the class and that made racing
a little more fun. My pit crew of Dan, his brother,
Robert Smith and Dennis Blasier always does a great
job preparing the car for each race."
Vancouver's Joe Cherington, 43, won
both mini stock mains, he has a commanding lead in
the standings and he's on target to possibly win a
third series title in four years with his Dusty's Machine
Shop Datsun.
Paul Liner of St. Helens, won Saturday's
sportsman A Main in his Lawrence Oil Chevy Malibu.
Holmason, who also competes in two classes, was runnerup
in his Emmert Chevrolet Monte Carlo and division leader
Troy Schreiner of Longview, took third. Corbett's Scott
Winebarger won Sunday's sportsman A main in his Monte
Carlo as he led all the way, followed by Rainier's
Mike Hagen, Schreiner, Randy Allen of Sandy and Kelso's
Bob Cram. Phil Sprague of St. Helens, was a two-time
winner Saturday as he won the B main and heat race.
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