The 3/8-mile banked clay oval of Grays Harbor Raceway was ready and roaring to go Saturday night as the Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks, Northwest Focus Midget Series and Outlaw Tuners were in action on a sunny summer night.
Outlaw Tuners
The Outlaw Tuners started out the evening as 13 cars were ready to go for the 15-lap feature event.
Max Sanford of Belfair took the early lead as a three-car battle for second between Zachary Stallsmith of Olympia, Aberdeen’s Cory Sweatman and Robert Lokovsek of Eatonville ensued. Sweatman worked his way into second, looking to chase down Sanford for the lead.
Tyler Sundstrom of Hoquiam looked to join in on the battle as he stayed close to the back bumper of Stallsmith.
The battle for the lead saw Sweatman work to the outside of Sanford a few times, before taking the lead on lap 6. Sanford saw tough company as Stallsmith and Sundstrom looked to make a pass for second, making it a three-car battle for the runner-up position.
Spanway driver Timmy Phillips looked to join in on the battle for third as Stallsmith pulled away looking to track down Sweatman for the lead.
At the end of the caution-free Outlaw Tuners feature, it was Sweatman picking up the win over Stallsmith, Sundstrom, Phillips and Maynard Barnum of Raymond.
Heat race winners were Sweatman and Sundstrom
Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks
Hoquiam’s Jack Parshall and Austin Kerrigan of Aberdeen set the front row of the 20-lap Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks feature race.
It was Parshall that took the lead on the opening lap.
Scott Fritts of Montesano worked his way into third with Hoquiam’s Matt White running fourth.
The first caution saw Jared Stevens of Shelton stopped in turn two on lap 3. On the restart, Parshall continued to lead Fritts and White. Fritts stayed within striking distance of Parshall as they both slowly pulled away from White.
A three-car battle for the fourth position saw Scott Semanko of Shelton, Westport’s Taylor Miller and Rodger Perry of Belfair. Semanko moved into fourth position, as Perry and Miller raced for fifth.
Fritts continued to stay up close with Parshall, even making a move a handful of times for the lead, but couldn’t make the pass. Both drivers took the white flag.
Fritts looked to the outside going into turn three, taking over the lead, and picked up the feature win. Parshall, White, Semanko and Perry rounded out the top five.
Heat race winners were Parshall and Kerrigan, with Aberdeen’s Zack Simpson picking up the fast time.
Northwest Focus Midget Series
Twenty Northwest Focus Midgets took to the track.
Thomas Walker of Elma took the early lead, but the red flag quickly flew for a multi-car incident in turn two.
On the restart, Walker took the lead once again with Marysville driver Nick Evans looking to the low side to try and make a pass. Evans did take the top spot out of turn four on lap 3.
Evans looked strong out front, as the battle for third between McCleary’s Garrett Thomas and Alex Peck of Spanaway was the race to watch. Thomas looked to the low side and took over the second position from Walker.
Evans continued to extend his lead early, but that was all erased on lap 7 when Bow’s Shane Smith spun in turn two. Evans led Thomas and Peck to the green flag. This time around Evans didn’t extend his lead like he did early on. Thomas stayed close and even looked to the low side to make a pass but couldn’t take over the lead.
Lap traffic became a factor late in the race, giving Thomas a chance to take the lead, but the lap traffic was in the favor of Evans as he went on to pick up the win over Thomas, Peck, Matt Loving of Burlington and Shoreline driver Hannah Lindquist.
Heat race winners early in the evening were Walker, Evans and Rainier, Ore’s Guy Tow Sr.
Shipwreck Beads Modifieds
The 25-lap Shipwreck Beads Modified feature saw Scott Miller of Shelton take the early lead but the yellow flag quickly flew for Aberdeen driver Austin Kerrigan as he stopped in turn two.
On the restart, it was current point leader Kyler Moore of Seabeck taking the early lead. Tom Sweatman of Cosmopolis worked his way into second getting by Aberdeen’s Zack Simpson and Miller. Sweatman set his sights on Moore for the lead.
Plenty of battling throughout the field made for an exciting race as the battle for third saw Don Jenner of Vancouver move into the top three, getting by Simpson.
Problems for Sweatman late in the feature brought out the caution, giving Simpson and Jenner a shot at Moore for the lead. Moore led Simpson to the green flag and the battle for third was exciting to watch with Jenner and Oakville’s Brian Harding.
Moore and Simpson slowly pulled away from the third-place battle, making a exciting race between both of them. Moore took the white flag with a hard charging Simpson on his back bumper, both drivers raced into turn four, Simpson running the high side and it was a drag race to the checkered flag.
Simpson picked up the win by a nose at the line over Moore, Jenner, Harding and Miller.
Heat race winners were Olympia’s Tyson Blood, Simpson and Lawrence O’Connor of Port Hardy, British Columbia, with Spanway’s Tim Phillips winning the B-Main.
Racing Sunday
Racing will resume Sunday and Monday for Labor Day weekend. Sunday night the Summer Thunder Sprint Series 360 Sprint Cars will be in action, along with the Shipwreck Beads Modifieds and Northwest Focus Midget Series. Monday night will see the yearly appearance of the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Cars presented by Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel. Also on hand will be the Northwest Focus Midget Series.
Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. with racing at 7 p.m.
For more information, visit to www.grayshabrorraceway.com.