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In a week that finally seen some great weather, in fact for many of us Oregonians rather warm weather, brought about a card of racing with all classes save for one having their best count of cars for the year. The evening was presented by Todd’s Cottage Grove Yamaha and RC Hobbies with Modifieds, All-American Street Stocks, Hornets and Late Models in action. Also on tap was the first ever race for the newly created Interstate Sprint Car Series the Northwest’s newest Winged 360 Sprint Series.

The Interstate Sprint Car Series feature saw Roger Crockett of Medford lead entire distance but not without the challenges of some talented individuals in lapped traffic. The event was stopped three times during the course of the thirty-lap race including two times due to some violent crashes. Crockett also was able to pick up the clean sweep for the series’ first ever race and added another series of competition to an already decorated resume.

Kyle Miller of Eugene finished in second after passing Cottage Grove’s Dale Smith at the line on the last lap. Rob Held of Sutherlin put up a very impressive fourth place finish while Nate Morelock of Eugene finished in fifth place. Fast time of the night was Roger Crockett over the eighteen other drivers at 11.186 seconds while heat races were won by Crockett, Smith, and Colin Baker of Cottage Grove.

In the Late Models twenty cars showed up for action and twenty cars battled hard for thirty laps in the main event. Darren Coffell of Bend led early in the race with Mark Carrell of Bend looking for the lead. Coffell held on for the first third of the race until Carrell officially secured the top place position on ten. Carrell would get close to possibly losing the lead but the cautions fell into the hand of the leader as it put lapped traffic out of the picture.

In the race that saw four total cautions Jimmy Whisler of Otis finished in second with Trent Elliott of La Pine in third. Finishing in fourth was Kevin Ropchan of Veneta and the top five was completed with Mike Miller of Springfield. Fast time of the evening was Mark Carrell at 13.136 seconds while the trophy dash was won by Darren Coffell and heat races were won by Randy Neal of Lincoln City, Whisler, and Cottage Grove’s Kreg Britton.

The All-American Street Stock race saw ten cars on hand for the night, the most the class has seen in one race in 2011. It was Andrew Langan of Jasper getting through the field and making some key passes to take the lead and eventually the win for the second straight race in a row and his third win overall and also pulling off a clean sweep of the events. Also it was a unique win for Andrew as he was racing against his own father Tom as T.J. Langan was out of town for the weekend.

Tom Langan, the 1991 Sportsman Track Champion, finished in second in his first career All-American Street Stock start with third place going to Thurston’s Russ Blum. April Howard of Eugene was the fourth place finisher and fifth place was Darin Crooks of Cottage Grove. Fast time of the night went to Andrew Langan at 16.000 seconds also the trophy dash as well while heat race winners were Andre Langan and Justin Evans of Lebanon.

The Modifieds had twenty-two cars for the night for some great racing in their main event despite three cautions. The main battle for the lead was between Shady Cove’s Troy McElroy and Mark Carrell. McElroy led form the first lap until the twenty-fourth when Carrell was able to grab the lead and not let go for his first win of the season in both the Late Models and Modifieds all coming on the same night.

Troy McElroy was the second place finisher with Curtis Towns of Cottage Grove finishing in third. The rest of the top five was made up of Gus Cooper of Creswell and Greg McDonald of Cottage Grove. Fast time of the night was McElroy at 14.480 seconds with Gus Cooper winning the trophy dash while heat races were won by Mark Carrell, Towns, and Cooper.

In the final class of the night the Hornets were in action for the third time for 2011. Chris Pierce of Cottage Grove seized the early race lead but was being run down by Sean Hand of Cottage Grove with the race being decided in the closing laps. Pierce held on to become the third different winner in the class and earned his first ever feature win.

Sean Hand finished in second place with Tony Juaire of Veneta finishing in third. The rest of the finishing order was Andrew Salmon of Independence and Jim Simmons of Cottage Grove. No qualifying is implemented with the Hornets but Juaire won the trophy dash while Hand won the heat race.

Well race fans that does it for this week’s write up plenty of action is in store as three races will be taking place in four days at the Cottage Grove Speedway this coming weekend and the beginning of next week. Friday night kick everything off with the third race for the Kage Karts while Saturday night will feature the DAA Northwest Spec Late Models for their only appearance here this year along with All-American Street Stocks, Hornets, Limited Sprints, and Mini Sprints. Then on Monday June 13th the facility will host the “Road To Dirt Cup” Open Comp 410 Sprints at the famed ¼ mile it will be the final race before the big race in Washington and plenty of out of town cars will be making the trip. For more information on news, stories, and updates log on to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.

This article posted by Cottage Grove Speedway. Click here for more track information.