By Ben Deatherage
The madness of Labor Day weekend officially started on Saturday September 1st with the first night of the Bill Workman Memorial. The DirtCar Super Late Models and DAA Northwest Extreme Late Model Series presented by Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes would be billed at the top of the card and competed in preliminary events as well as the Race of Champions. Classes also in action were Sportsman, Classic Sportsman, and the Mini Trucks.
Russ Sell managed to capture the Late Model Race of Champions victory it mark the third victory for the Brownsville ace. The race was a thirty-lap event that consisted of main event winners and champions throughout. Russ Sell was able to make the appropriate moves to pass his son Cody, of Shedd, and hold on for the win.
Cody Sell would finish in second place after holding back Trevor Glaser from Tangent. Glaser would finish in third followed by Portland’s Brian Cronk and Vancouver, Washington’s Jerry Schram completing the top five.
A unique format was utilized with group qualifying being implemented and the field being divided amongst four groups. Fastest in qualifying overall was Vancouver, Washington driver Jimmy Schram. Winners in heat race action were Randy Boyd of Albany, Russ Sell, Trevor Glaser, and Bend’s Rob Mayea. A dash was run with cars that had the slowest times in qualifying and that race was won by Bob Trout from Banks.
Brian Smith made a last lap pass on Justin Dittman to win his third Sportsman race of the season. Prior to that the Albany driver played it conservative and stayed quit most of the way. Tom Conway of Albany appeared to have the field covered till Dittman, from Tangent, made the move shortly after a restart for the lead.
Justin Dittman would finish a respectable second and Tom Conway would capture third. The balance of the top five was made up with Brian Goetz of Lyons in fourth and hometown driver Danny Altom from Lebanon in fifth. Brian Smith was fast time of the night at a time of 16.655 among the thirty-four qualifiers and Smith would win the trophy dash. Earning heat race victories were Mike Bennett of Estacada, Jeff Rash from Lebanon, Oregon City’s Randy Passmore, Tom Conway, and Brian Winkler of Newberg. A two consolation events were ran which were a B and C feature and were both won by Mike Bennett.
Kyle Yeack of Crawfordsville pretty much had his way with the field in the Classic Sportsman. The young driver would walk away from the field and earn his thirteenth win of 2012. Eight of those wins have come out of the Classics and he has managed to win on five occasions against the USRA Modifieds.
Sean Cronk of Portland would finish in the runner-up position and crossing the line in third was Bricen James from Albany. The fourth place finisher was D.W. Northy of Walton while completing the top five finishers was Doug Scott from Sandy in fifth. Fast time of the night was Bricen James at a time of 18.324 seconds, winning the Crocker Cars Classic Sportsman Trophy Dash was J.J. Irvine from Lebanon, and heat race winners were Lebanon’s Michael Byram and David Cronk of Portland.
Scott Lehman brought his Mini Truck back into victory lane and earned his fourth win of the season. Lehman’s main event victory would cap off a night of dominance as he earned yet another clean sweep.
Second place in the main event went to Banks driver Jeremy Stinnett and finishing in third was Mark Vonsild of Scio. The finishing order was completed with teenagers Pete Haag of Alvadore in fourth and Jefferson’s Jennifer Robbins in fifth.
The Willamette Speedway continues with action on Sunday night with the finale for the Bill Workman Memorial. Late Models will be in action alongside the American Sprint Car Series-Northwest Region and Interstate Sprint Car Series taking on one another. The weekend will be completed with the World of Outlaws and Northwest Wingless Tour paying a visit to the historic 1/3-mile oval. For more information log on to www.trophymotorsports.com.
Race Results:
Bill Workman Memorial
Saturday September 1st, 2012
Willamette Speedway
Lebanon, Oregon
Late Models
46 Entries
Fast Time: Jimmy Schram 15.689
Slow Trophy Dash Winner: Bob Trout
Heat Race Winners: Randy Boyd (1), Russ Sell (2), Trevor Glaser (3), Rob Mayea (4)
Race of Champions: 1. Russ Sell, 2. Cody Sell, 3. Trevor Glaser, 4. Brian Cronk, 5. Jerry Schram, 6. Steve Moore, 7. Jimmy Schram, 8. Greg Walters, 9. Casey Vitale, 10. Joey Tanner, 11. Brady Sell, 12. Paul Culp, 13. Billy Workman Jr., 14. Rick Wyatt, 15. John Duty, 16. Tony Seeley, 17. Bryan Norton, 18. Tony Brakeall
Sportsman
34 Entries
Fast Time: Brian Smith 16.655
Trophy Dash Winner: Brian Smith
Heat Race Winners: Mike Bennett (1), Jeff Rash (2), Randy Passmore (3), Tom Conway (4), Brian Winkler (5)
C-Feature: 1. Mike Bennett, 2. Adam Passmore, 3. Jeff Rash, 4. Austin Gorham, 5. Trevor Brotherton, 6. Shane Sholtz, 7. Jody Tanner, 8. Vahn Stone, 9. Tony Bounds, 10. Rick Nelson
B-Feature: 1. Mike Bennett, 2. Sonny Wallace, 3. Casey Rhoades, 4. David Cronk, 5. Tim Patrick, 6. Sean Cronk, 7. Randy Passmore, 8. Adam Passmore, 9. Jeremy Tyree, 10. Willie Sutton, 11. John Campos, DNS Tim Archer
A-Feature: 1. Brian Smith, 2. Justin Dittman, 3. Tom Conway, 4. Brian Goetz, 5. Danny Altom, 6. Todd Miller, 7. Mike Bennett, 8. James Slover, 9. Phil Houseworth, 10. Brian Brown, 11. Loren Kruesi, 12. Kevin Roberts, 13. Dan Kerr, 14. Clyde Rood, 15. Sonny Wallace, DNS Brian Winkler,
Classic Sportsman
18 Entries
Fast Time: Bricen James 18.324
Trophy Dash Winner: J.J. Irvine
Heat Race Winners: Michael Byram (1), David Cronk (2)
A-Feature: 1. Kyle Yeack, 2. Sean Cronk, 3. Bricen James, 4. D.W. Northy, 5. Doug Scott, 6. Archie Teeples, 7. Steve Jorgenson, 8. Cory Yeack, 9. J.J. Irvine, 10. Christina Foster, 11. Roy Doran, 12. Michael Byram, 13. Larry Rametes, 14. Jody Tanner, 15. David Cronk, DNS James Brooks, DNS Justin Evans, DNS Trevor Brotherton
Mini Trucks
5 Entries
Fast Time: Scott Lehman 19.902
Trophy Dash Winner: Scott Lehman
Heat Race Winner: Scott Lehman (1)
A-Feature: 1. Scott Lehman, 2. Jeremy Stinnett, 3. Mark Vonsild, 4. Pete Haag, 5. Jennifer Robbins
