Grays Harbor Raceway Park June 23rd 2001
Borden, West, Lemmon, Nicholsons win at GHRP

(June 23rd 2001)Elma, Wa- Saturday night was a good night to be a Junior at Grays Harbor Raceway Park in Elma. Glen Borden Jr. won the Sprint Car 'A' Main while Dan West Jr. won the Modified 'A' Main. Wayne Lemmon won in Hobby Stocks, while the husband and wife duo of Marvin and Bernie Nicholson won in Cruisers.

Borden got the jump on polesitter and defending track champion Donny Fry to start the 25 lap Sprint main event. A couple of laps later, Fry brought out the first of many cautions by spinning in turn 2. Despite seven caution flags, no one was able to make a move on Borden. Behind him, Steve Walker and Randy Van Aagten battled the whole race. The two were battling for second until Rob Eddie Evans got both of them.

After a final restart with two laps to go, Van Aagten grabbed third coming for the white flag. But Walker got the position back right at the finish line. Borden cruised to victory over Evans, Walker, Van Aagten, Rob Johnson, Mark Kenworthy, Ron Reed, Buddy Messick, Mike Gable, and Ryan Christiansen.

Borden noted later the number of cautions nearly caused him to run out of fuel. Still, he was more than happy with the win. "There was actually more speed in the car," Borden said, noting he and his father are starting to get the car figured out. "I was only running it about 90 percent. My dad had it absolutely perfect."

West, the 1999 GHRP Modified champion, took the lead after Leroy Lawhead came to a stop. Once West grabbed the lead, the race was for second. Randy Ward was not able to back up his trophy dash win, leaving Jon Swiglo among those trying to catch West. In the closing laps, Swiglo battled hard with Craig Moore and Matt Scherer. Moore grabbed second late in the race, while Scherer briefly grabbed third before sliding through the inside of turn 4.

When the race was over - after mistakenly being extended to 21 laps instead of 20 - West had breezed to victory over Swiglo, Moore, Josh Muller, Scherer, James Jensen, Don Walker, Kevin Beerbower, James Wolford, and Ward.

West said his team has been able to get its car set up for the track, after struggling early. "The first two weekend this year we were dorks," said West, who has also gotten a couple of top-10s in Monroe this year. "Our setup didn't match the track. But we didn't give up. We just keep working on it. When I came in after the trophy dash (tonight), I basically told the crew to leave it alone because it was so good."

Muller provided one of the scariest moments of the night during his heat race. While going down the backstretch, Muller's already loose steering wheel came off in his hands, leading him to spin through the infield. "The steering wheel came off," Muller said afterwards, noting it had not been properly locked into place. "I was in a panic situation."

Lemmon won in Hobby Stocks for the first time in quite a while, taking a race that was shortened to 15 laps due to a plethora of yellows. Lemmon started from the pole, while fellow front row starter and trophy dash winner Jack Parshall Jr. immediately ran into problems with a flat tire, bringing out one of nine yellows. The last yellow came out two laps from the end when Shannon Bemis hit the wall and lost a wheel. Bemis felt Jeff Foster had something to do with the accident. Bemis got out of his car, waited until Foster drove by under caution, and stuck his head in Foster's car to discuss the situation.

Back up front, Lemmon led the whole way but had to hold off a strong challenge from defending series champion Terry Bower. Despite valiant attempts, Bower had to settle for second. Just behind them, Jason Tole and Rick Milbourn put on an equally impressive battle for third.

At the end, Lemmon hold on to defeat Bower, Tole, Milbourn, Josh Springer, Kris Asche, Wes Valentine, Roy Borgenson, Foster, and Jake Sorenson.

In the Cruisers, Marvin and Bernie Nicholson returned to their winning ways, letting the beating and banging take place behind them.

For a more complete story and pictures from the June 23 race, be sure to pick up a copy of this week's issue of The Vidette, available Thursday. To subscribe to The Vidette, stop by the office at 109 W. Marcy Avenue in Montesano, or call (360) 249-3311.