Saturday May 13th
Bellingham's Tom Waggoner was the man of the hour Saturday night at Skagit Speedway as he outpaced a hard charging Jason Solwold to take his second 410 main event of the year.
The 360 Feature winner was Everett's Jayme Barnes in the
360's and Canadian Mike Melswick for the fourth
straight week in the Sportsmen sprints.
Waggoner started on the outside of the front row
for the 25-lap 410 main event along side Randy Ridge.
It would take three tries to get the 410 main
event underway. The first attempt to start the race
was unsuccessful when rookie Dave Walker spun in turn
one. The next try saw Shannon Wheatley and point
leader Barry Martinez come together in turn two,
causing both to flip. Both drivers' were OK.
The next start would prove to be the one, as
Waggoner jumped out in front of fourth starter Toni
Lutar, Ridge and eight starter Jason Solwold.Waggoner maintained a torrid pace, using the
tracks top groove to pull away from the field. Later
Waggoner would say that the track conditions were
"perfect".As Waggoner entered lap traffic on lap four
Solwold was getting by first Ridge and then Lutar on
lap eight. Solwold was also running on the top of the
traffic.
Two cautions one on lap 13 and one on lap 19
gave Solwold a chance to get close to the leader. But
Waggoner was up to the challenge taking the checkers
aboard his own Waggoner Motorsports Jenkins.
When asked if he saw Solwold, Waggoner said, "he
came up to me on that last yellow and waved saying he
was there."
Solwold though was never able to get close
enough to make his move and had to settle for second
in the KarMart/Frontier Chrysler Mopar
powered sprint car.
Next in line was Canadian Jimmy Carter. Carter
started sixth in Kevin Rudeen's Wesmar powered Eagle,
was on the move in the last half of the race roaring
past Ridge and Lutar to take third in front of Chad
Hillier.Hillier started his father's Becker next to
Carter toiled in mid pack until a late race charge
netted him fourth. Lutar who ran with leader's early faded late as
he nearly spun on lap 22. He settled for fifth in his
own Wesmar powered Eagle.
The 360 main event, like the 410 main event took three starts to finally get started. On the first attempt Wade Kench spun in turn one and on next one front row starter's Mike Gable and Randy Ridge came together.Ridge flipped violently into the turn two wall, while Gable suffered extensive front end damage. Both driver's were OK, but done for the night. This coupled with fourth starter Shawn Green unable to make the call after the second red allowed Barnes, who was slated to start sixth, to now start second.Barnes would take advantage of this situation as he drove his Rocket chassis flawlessly for 25-laps to take his first win of the year.
Afterwards Barnes said this, "I just got lucky
to start up front,".Barnes, like Waggoner set a fast pace using the
tracks top groove. For the first 15 laps he was chased
by Jay Smith and Jason Solwold, but he was
consistently able to keep the two at least three to
four car lenghts back.
Smith looking for second win of the year fell
victim to a slick turn four and spun, ending his
night.This put Solwold in second, but he also
struggled with turn four nearly spinning on a couple
occasions, and settled his second runner-up finish of
the night aboard the KarMart/Frontier
Chrysler Mopar powered sprint car.
Third went to a hard charging Travis Jacobson.
Starting ninth, Jacobson pushed in families Jacobson
Trucking J&J pass Dennis Armey and Travis Hawthorne
late in the race.Hawthorne settled for fourth in the Carroll
Family J&J after running with leader's in the middle
of the race. Army took fifth in Bob Hillier's Becker.
For the fourth straight week Mike Melswick dominated the sportsmen sprint main event. Starting fourth Melswick took the lead on lap four and ran away form the field.He was followed by Marc Baddock, Randy Barnes, Brain Ashe and rookie Len Evans.Melswick afterwards said that, "We planned on doing a good job this year," but admitted being surprised by his dominance.
The fast qualifiers for the night were Solwold in the 410's and 360's and Brian Ashe in the sportsmen.
Alger,Wa. Jason Solwold broke out of an early season slump in dominating fashion Saturday night at Skagit Speedway with main event victories in both the 360 and 410 divisions. Solwold coming into the night with bruised ribs dominated the 25 lap 410 main event leading the final 14 laps. In the 25 lap 360 main event Solwold rode on the cushion in turns one and two to pass Travis Hawthorne with three laps remaining.
Afterwards Sowlold said,"We had an awesome night tonight. You know both the cars were fast. Ah, we didn't have any bad luck tonight." Expressing optimism for the rest of the season Sowlold said, "Hopefully we got the cat off our back and hopefully we can have a good rest of the season."
When asked about the riding above the cushion in the 360 amin to make the pass of Hawthorne Solwold, who was aboard Tim Hansen owned Mopar-powered KarMart/Frontier Chrysler Eagle's in both divsions, replied, "That was a pretty good groove tonight." In the 410 main event Solwold was followed by early race leader Randy Ridge and Marc Huson. Both Ridge and Huson were aboard Dick Wilskey owned Don Ott powered Maxim's. Rounding out the top five was Shannon Wheatly and Jerry Edson. In the 360 main Solwold was followed by Hawthorne, aboard the Carroll Family J&J, and Dennis Armey who was in Bob Hillier's Becker. Rounding out the top five were sixteenth starting Travis Jacobson and Randy Ridge. In sportsmen sprint action Mike Melswick rode to victory lane for the third straight week in the twenty lap main event. He was followed by Chuck Ashe, quick qualifier Greg Sandquist, Brian Ashe and Marc Baddock.
New Projected Point Leaders:
410-Barry Martinez
360-Randy Ridge
Sportsmen -Mike Melswick
End of May 6th results
Carter started the twenty lap 410 main event ninth
and looked like a long shot at best. However,
utilizing the tracks fast surface which offered many
different racing grooves Carter pushed his Rudeen
Racing Eagle into the lead on the final lap, edging
race long leader Jay R. Harkness.
Harkness, started on the pole and dominated the
first sixteen laps distancing himself from second
starter Randy Ridge and then fourth starter Jason
Solwold. But then on lap sixteen Solwold spun, then on
the restart now second place running broke his front
end going into turn one. This put Toni Lutar into
second put he broke on the very next restart moving
Carter into second with Carter eventually taking the
win. Still Harknesses second place run aboard the
families SHARK powered Rocket was his career best in
the 410 divsion.
Jayme Barnes started sixth in Dick Wilskey's Maxim and raced in midpack until late when front runners Ridge,Lutar, Solwold and Tom Waggoner ran into trouble, elevating Barnes to a third place finish. Barry Martinez started fourth and finished their followed by Kirk Fellers.
Week one 360 main event winner started on the pole and looked as if he might repeat leading the first fourteen laps. But leaking tire went flat during a lap fourteen caution fotrcing wim to the pits. This cleared the way for fourth starter Randy Ridge who would lead the last six laps to atke the win aboard Dick Wilskey's Maxim.
Fifth starter Jayme Barnes made a late charge but fell short. However his seocnd place run moved into the 360 point lead after two races. Third went to pole sitter Barry Martinez in his families Jolly Construction JB. Fourth went to Ricky Fauver, who fell inches short of taking third at the checkered. Rounding out thre top five was eleventh starter Tim Levin. SPORTSMAN SPRINTS
Mike Melswick repeated his opening night performance by winning the fifteen lap sportsmen sprint main event. Melswick made his winning move on lap eight passing early raca leader Chuck Ash. Rounding out the top was Greg Sandquist, Marc Baddock, Tim Dunham, Brian Ashe.
The night started out with Chad Hillier breaking Kasey Kahne's track record. Hillier went 11.210 bettering Kahne's 11.233. Overall nine 410 drivers and 360 fast qualifier Mike Hobeck broke into the eleven second bracket.