Trophy dash:
1.
Petter, 2. Burns,
3. Bliss, 4. Margeson
Heat:
1.
Atkinson, 2.
Margeson, 3. Sarale, 4. Petter, 5. Hoffses, 6. Burns, 7.
Bliss, 8. Blair
Feature:
1.
Margeson, 2.
Petter, 3. Hoffses, 4. Atkinson, 5. Sarale, 6. Burns, 7.
Blair, 8. Bliss
The first WMRA race
at Spokane County Raceway since 1980 proved to be a successful
one for Ben Petter. Aboard his own Beaast/Esslinger, Petter
easily won the 25 lap feature Saturday, over 2008 WMRA Champ
Mark Atkinson and Pat Bliss.
An unusually small
count of six cars started the day with Atkinson, in the Atkinson
Lighting Beast/Esslinger setting a new track record and taking
fast time honors over 2007 WMRA Champ Evan Margeson. In the
dash, Petter, in the Mac Towing sponsored machine, took full
advantage of his outside front row starting spot to beat Tony
Seidelman to take his second dash in a row. Margeson, in the
Beal Beast/Pink Ford for the first time this season, also got by
Seidelman on lap one to grab the runner up position.
In the fully
inverted heat race, rookie Johnny Blair, driving the beautiful
Dick Voss #45 Ultramotive/Nissan, brought the field down for the
green from his pole position, with Seidelman, in his dad’s #4
Hawk/Gaerte on the outside. Seidelman grabbed the lead with
Margeson quickly moving up to second. On the second lap,
Margeson got under Seidelman for the lead. Two laps later,
Petter also got by Seidelman to gain second place. Atkinson
repeated the feat on the sixth lap for third. By the finish,
Margeson had built about an eight car lead over Petter, with
Atkinson in third followed by Seidelman. Pat Bliss, in the Tom
Maples owned #98 Beast/Pink Ford was fifth, barely making the
race after the determined crew overcame major driveline
problems.
In the feature,
Petter repeated his dash tricks, beating the pole sitting
Seidelman to lead the first lap with Seidelman in second after
one round, followed by Margeson, Atkinson, Bliss and Blair.
Margeson got a great launch on lap three , to get under
Seidelman. On the fourth lap, Atkinson drove around Seidelman
on the outside in turn one to gain third. The top three were
about equal speed, with Margeson very gradually cutting into
Petter’s five car length lead. On the seventh lap, Petter slid
up just a bit in turn three just as Margeson was catching up to
him, enabling Margeson to get beside Petter in turn four.
Margeson was able to win the drag race into turn one and took
the lead. Margeson quickly built his advantage to about ten car
lengths until Petter found some extra speed and began to whittle
the lead back to four car lengths by lap fourteen. On the
backstretch of the next lap, Margeson’s newly rebuilt motor
expired in a ball of flames, allowing the field to get by while
he coasted into the pits. Petter inherited the lead again,
followed by Atkinson.
Meanwhile, Seidelman
and Bliss were having the best duel of the event, with Seidelman
repeated holding off the challenges of Bliss for the third
spot. Petter continued his quick pace with Atkinson narrowing
the lead just slightly each lap until about lap twenty when the
torrid pace slowed Atkinson. He dropped back slightly on each
of the last few rounds, the results of a blistered right rear
tire. On the twentieth round of the twenty-five event, Bliss
was able to complete the pass on Seidelman for third, for the
last position change of the race. At the end Petter, whose dad,
Terry was the 1985 WMRA Champion, became a second generation
winner won over Atkinson, Bliss, Seidelman, Blair and Margeson,
ending a yellow flag free day.
Qualifying: 1. Mark
Atkinson, Atkinson #23, 17.530, NTR; 2. Evan Margeson, Beal
#50, 17.578; 3. Ben Petter, Petter #22, 17.901; 4. Tony
Seidelman, Seidelman #4, 18.129, 5. Johnny Blair, Voss #45,
18.623; 6. Pat Bliss, Maples #98, NT
Dash: 1. Petter,
2. Margeson, 3. Seidelman, 4. Atkinson
Heat: 1. Margeson,
2. Petter, 3. Atkinson, 4. Seidelman, 5. Bliss, 6. Blair
Feature: 1. Petter,
2. Atkinson, 3. Bliss, 4. Seidelman, Blair, 6. Margeson
Margeson Takes Ephrata Win
June 13
By Dolan
Lannan
Evan Margeson,
aboard the Forler Trucking Beast/Pink Ford easily
took the win Saturday night, his second this season
and his fourth win in a row at the quarter mile
track.
Johnny Blair was second and Kenny Burns earned the
third spot. “This Forler car is great”
stated Margeson, “and the start didn’t hurt us any
either.”
Tony Seidelman,
aboard his father’s Hawk/Gaerte edged out Margeson
for fast time. At
the start of the dash, pole sitter Johnny Blair in
the Voss Ultramotive/Nissan spun just before the
green flag. On
the restart, with Blair relegated to the back,
Margeson starts from the pole and his never
seriously pushed. Mark
Atkinson, Seidelman and Blair follow Margeson across
the line.
The start of
the heat saw probably the most action of the night
with Blair again spinning on lap one. More
action followed on the restart, with Atkinson, in
the Atkinson Lighting Beast/Esslinger
rubbing with Margeson and Ben Petter in his Beast/Esslinger
doing a 360 degree spin and Seidelman stalling on
the track amid all the action. The
race was once again restarted with Kenny Burns in
the Jerry Burns Beast/Gaerte grabbing the lead from
the pole. Atkinson
soon grabbed the lead with Margeson and Seidelman
moving up to the second and third positions by lap
two. Atkinson
built about a six car lead but Margeson was able to
cut it in half by the end of the eight lap event. Seidelman
remained in third with Petter, Blair and Burns
following.
In the
feature, Blair got a big jump on pole sitter Petter
with Margeson right on his tail. Margeson
was able to get under Blair for the lead by the end
of lap one. On
the next circuit both Seidelman and Atkinson were able
to get by the ill handling Petter machine. Blair
continued in second until lap six when Seidelman was
able to get by. Atkinson got under Blair on the next
round for the third spot. Margeson
gradually stretched his lead over Seidelman while
Atkinson continually challenged for the second
spot. Blair
continued in fourth with Petter and Burns following
until a lap eleven spin sent Petter to the back.
On the
restart, Margeson again built up a sizable lead and
Atkinson continued to pressure Seidelman. The
race continued with no position changes until the
seventeenth circuit when Petter pitted. At
the white flag, Atkinson got under Seidelman on the
front stretch with the two of them getting together
and spinning up the track allowing the rookie Blair
to grab second and Burns to move up to the third
spot.
Qualifying: 1.
Tony Seidelman, Seidelman #4, 13.294; 2.
Evan Margeson, Forler #2, 13.322; 3.
Mark Atkinson, Atkinson #23, 13.459; 4.
Johnny Blair, Voss #45, 14.057, 5. Ben
Petter, Petter #22, 14.161, 6.
Kenny Burns, Burns #21, 14.348
Dash: 1.
Margeson, 2. Atkinson, 3. Seidelman, 4. Blair
Heat: 1.
Atkinson, 2. Margeson, 3. Seidelman, 4. Petter, 5.
Blair, 6. Burns
Feature: 1.
Margeson, 2. Blair, 3. Burns, 4. Seidelman, 5.
Atkinson, 6. Petter
Margeson Spins and
Wins at Agassiz
By Dolan
LannanJune 20
In 2008,
at Agassiz Speedway, Mark Atkinson spun
out and came back to win the WMRA
feature. Evan
Margeson, in the potent Steve Forler
Trucking Beast/Pink Ford #2, did the
same thing Saturday, spinning out on lap
nine and grabbing the lead ten laps
later.
Margeson
also had the fast time of the evening,
earning a new track record in the
process. After
qualifying, Agassiz Speedway invited
Atkinson, in the Atkinson Lighting
Beast/Esslinger #23 and Ben Petter, who
were just a tick behind Margeson during
qualifying to take another shot at the
track record. Atkinson
was able to beat Margeson’s mark but the
laps were not part of the official
qualifying. Tony
Seidelman, once again in his dad’s #4
Hawk/Gaerte, won the trophy dash form
the pole, followed closely by Atkinson,
Petter in his #22 Beast/Esslinger and
Margeson.
In the
first heat, Troy Globe in his dad’s Blue
Dot/Focus midget, moved from the third
spot to second on the first lap and took
the lead on lap two increasing his lead
every lap for the win. Steve
Hora in his newly acquired beautiful
orange #46 Ellis, who started last, took
only three laps to gain the second
position where he finished. The third
spot went to Dolly Klatt the #60
Ellis/Focus, in one of two Keith
Davidson owned machines in the race. She
was followed by Jeremiah Franklin in his
own #77 Beast/Focus and Davidson whose
evening ended with motor problems on the
third circuit in his own #52
Lightning/Focus machine.
Ray Jones
was aboard the Dick Voss Ultramotive/Nissan
#45 for the first time and earned the
pole position for the fast heat race. He
jumped to the lead at the start and was
never seriously challeng ed for the rest
of the eight lap race. Petter,
in his own Beast/Esslinger was able to
get under Seidelman on the third circuit
for the second position. At
the end of the race, Jones held a narrow
lead over Petter, with Seidelman in
third, followed by Margeson and
Atkinson.
In the
feature, Seidelman went from his inside
row two starting spot to the lead in
only one lap, getting by pole sitter
Globe and Jones. On
the next circuit, the thundering herd of
Atkinson, Margeson and Petter all
freight trained by the two front row
starters to follow Seidelman. Seidelman
continued at a fast pace with Atkinson
pressuring him until the seventh lap
when Atkinson got loose in turn two and
slid sideways down the infield of the backstretch,
throwing up a cloud of dust. Atkinson
was able to recover but not before both
Petter and Margeson go around him. On
lap nine, Margeson spun in the second
turn, while putting pressure on
Seidelman for the lead. Seidelman
maintained his lead on the restart,
trailed by Petter, Atkinson,20Globe,
Jones, Hora and Klatt. It
took just a lap for Marrgeson to weave
his way from the back to fourth place,
where he stayed until the seventeenth
round., when he got under Atkinson going
into turn three. On
the same lap, Klatt retired with oiling
problems.
Petter
gained the lead the next time around
with Margeson also getting by Seidelman. Petter’s
lead lasted only a lap until Margeson
got under him for the lead. An
overheated motor caused Jones to retire
at about the same time and on the next
lap the
Globe machine developed an oil leak,
creating the evening’s only red flag. On
the restart, Margeson pulled out to
about a three car advantage and he was
never again pressured. Petter
maintained the second position for five
laps until he slipped up on the oil
soaked track and allowed Seidelman to
retake the spot. The
race finished in that order with the top
three followed by
Atkinson, Hora and Franklin.
Qualifying: 1.
Evan Margeson,
Forler #2, 12:955 NTR. 2.
Mark Atkinson, Atkinson #23, 12:984. 3. Ben
Petter #22, 13:026. 4. Tony
Seidelman, Seidelman #4, 13:284. 5.
Ray Jones, Voss #45, 13:405. 6. Troy
Globe, Globe #11, 13:621. 7. Steve
Hora, Hora #46, 14:184. 8. Dolly
Klatt, Davidson #60,
14:495. 9.
Keith Davidson, Davidson #52, 14:886. Jeremiah
Franklin, Franklin/Klatt #77, 15:682.
Dash: 1.
Seidelman, 2.
Atkinson, 3.
Margeson, 4.
Petter
First Heat: 1.
Globe, 2.
Hora, 3.
Klatt, 4.
Franklin, 5.
Davisdon
Second Heat: 1.
Jones, 2.
Petter, 3.
Seidelman, 4.
Margeson, 5.
Atkinson.
Feature: 1. Margeson, 2.
Seidelman, 3.
Petter, 4. Atkinson, 5.
Hora, 6. Franklin, 7.
Globe, 8.
Jones, 9. Klatt, DNS Davidson.
Globe Wins First
Ever WMRA Feature
By Dolan Lannan
July 18
Troy Globe from
Abbotsford, BC won the feature
Saturday at his home track, Agassiz
Speedway. It was his first time
ever racing the former Dan
Press/Brea Lopez entry which
the family purchased over the
winter, now the red #11 Brian Globe
owned Beast/Focus
Eight cars made the tow to Agassiz
BC, with Kenny Burns in the family
Beast/Profab Gaerte #21 getting fast
time with a 13.199 clocking, just
barely beating Tony Seidelman in his
dad's Hawk/Gaerte #4. In the dash,
rookie Kris McKenzie in the Brin
Globe #1 BlueDot/Focus was unable to
start allowing alternate Troy Globe
to make the field. Steve Hora in
his own #46 Ellis/Focus started on
the pole but Seidelman took the lead
from the outside and built up about
a four car length lead. Burns got by
Hora for second on the third circuit
but was not able to to close the
gap, giving Seidelman the win.
In heat race action, Dolly Klatt
started on the pole in the Keith
Davidson #60, with Jeremiah Frankln
in the Klatt/Franklin Beast/Focus
#77 on the outside. Globe made a
great move, grabbing the lead by the
end of lap one, followed by
Seidelman and Burns. The order in
front remained the same until the
fourth lap when Globe spun out in
turn two. Seidelman inherited the
lead on the restart, remaining in
front to the checkered, while Burns
remained in the second spot. Hora
ended up in the third position while
Globe was able to make it back to
fourth. They were followed by
McKenzie, Franklin, Keith Davidson
in his own #52 Lightning/Focus and
Klatt.
In the feature, Seidelman once again
grabbed the lead from the outside of
the front row over pole sitter Hora.
Burns was also able to get by Hora
on the first lap and began his
pursuit of Seidelman. Globe passed
Hora on the next round for third.
Seidelman set a super fast pace,
building up about a five car length
lead until about lap five when Burns
began to whittle down the
advantage. Lapped cars upped the
excitement with six cars being
lapped in the first dozen rounds of
thee race, but the leaders were able
to get by without incident. By lap
fifteen, Seidelman was still in the
lead but Burns was steadily closing
the gap. Globe was not far behind
in third followed by Hora and
McKenzie. On lap twenty, Seidelman
checked up just a bit for a lapped
car coming out of turn two, allowing
Burns to slip underneath for the
lead. On the front chute, Burns
moved up to avoid the lapped car and
Seidelman ran over his right rear
tire, sending the beautiful car into
the turn one wall, ending his
evening with severe damage and
bringing out the red flag.
While the red flag was still
displayed, an unprecedented and odd
event occured. Although the WMRA
officials and all the drivers
involved strongly disagreed, the
Agassiz Speedway flagman
disqualified Burns for being "too
agressive". With the two front
runners in the pits, Globe inherited
the lead on the restart. Globe was
flawless on the remaining laps,
winning over Hora, McKenzie and
Franklin.
Qualifying: 1.
Kenny Burns, Burns Beast/Fontana
#21, 13:199. 2. Tony
Seidelman, Seidelman Hawk/Gaerte
#4, 13:255. 3. Kris McKenzie,
Globe Blue Dot/Focus #1,
13:794. 4. Steve Hora, Hora
Ellis/Focus #46, 13:839. 5.
Troy Globe, Globe Beast/Focus
#11, 14:095. 6. Jeremiah
Franklin, Franklin & Klatt
Beast/Focus#77, 14:331. 7.
Dolly Klatt, Davidson
Ellis/Focus #60, 14:889. 9.
Keith Davidson, Davidson
Lightning/Focus#52, no time.
Dash: Seidelman,
Burns, Hora, Globe.
Heat: Seidelman,
Burns, Hora, Globe, McKenzie,
Franklin, Davidson, and Klatt.
Main Event:
Globe, Hora, McKenzie, Franklin,
Seidelman, Burns, Davidson,
Klatt
Petter Wins at South Sound
By Dolan Lannan
August 1
Ben Petter, driving his red #22
Beast/ Esslinger took the win
Saturday evening t South Sound
Speedway, ahead of Pat Bliss, Mitch
Hoffses and Kenny Burns in the 25
lap event.
Earlier in the day, Tony Seidelman
aboard Dave Hoene’s #24 Hawk/VW
edged out Petter for fast time
honors with a 13. 455 clocking.
With four classes present, no dashes
were run in any class.
In heat race action, Kenny Burns in
the families black #21 Beast/Gaerte
started on the pole after Johnny
Blair pushed off for the race but
had to return to the pits with
mechanical issues. On the start,
Burns ran side by side with Mitch
Hoffses in the Karl Hoffses #5
Beast/Gaerte through turns one and
two and then pulled out to a narrow
lead. Petter, coming from the third
row charged to the second spot by
the end of the first lap and
proceeded to get underneath Burns
for the lead on the following
circuit. Petter gradual increased
his lead while Pat Bliss got by
Hoffses for the third position on
lap three and set his sites on
Burns, with Hoffses and Seidelman
close behind. On lap seven of the
eight lap event Bliss got under
Burns coming out of turn four for
the runner up spot, the last change
of position in the race.
Hoffses earned the pole position for
the feature with Burns on the
outside. Hoffses got the jump while
both Petter and Bliss, aboard the
beautiful #98 Tom Maples Beast/Pink
Ford entry wasted no time getting to
first and second by the end of the
second lap. Bliss pressured Petter
until the fifth go round when he
tried to get underneath Petter on
the backstretch. At that point
contact was made and Petter jumped
to about a four carlength lead. The
best battle of the night was for the
third spot with Hoffses, Burns,
Seidelman and Blair, in the Dick
Voss yellow #45 Ultramotive/Nissan
running nose to tail and
occasionally side by side for the
entire race until the sixteenth lap
when Blair got a touch wide in turn
one while attempting to get around
Seidelman and spun. Mechanical woes
again struck and Blair was unable to
restart the race.
The green flag then dropped without
the traditional one lap to go signal
being given allowing the alert Bliss
to jump into the lead, which he held
until Burns attempted to get under
Hoffses in turn one, making contact
and bringing both cars to a stop for
the final yellow flag of the
evening.
On the restart Petter once again
built a slight lead over Bliss.
Seidelman, who inherited third on
the yellow flag was close behind
followed by Hoffses and Burns. The
race finished in that order but
Seidelman was later disqualified
after a post race tech inspection
found his car illegal.
Qualifying: 1.
Tony Seidelman, Hoene #24,
13:454; 2. Ben Petter, Petter
#22, 13:473; 3. Pat Bliss, Maples
#98, 13:511; 4. Kenny Burns, Burns
#21, 13:642; 5. Karl Hoffses,
Hoffses #5, 13:886, 6. Johnny Blair,
Voss #45, 17:085.
It was apparent that the 45
car was not running properly as
Blair took the green flag.
Not Qualifying, was the
Churchill #79 Challenger/Nissan as
there was no driver available for
this car.
Heat
Race: 1. Petter,
2. Bliss, 3.Burns, 4.
Hoffses, 5. Seidelman,
6. Blair DNS
Main
Event: 1.
Petter, 2. Bliss, 3.
Hoffses, 4. Burns, 5.
Blair, 6. Seidelman.
August 15 Results
Qualifying: 1.
Ben Petter, Petter #22, 13.444;
2. Pat Bliss, Maples #98, 13.483;
3. Matt Stone, Stone #10, 13.549,
4. Tony Seidelman, Hoene #24,
13.641, 5. Kenny Burns, Burns #21,
14.110, 6. Johnny Blair, Voss #45,
NT
Heat: 1.
Seidelman; 2. Bliss; 3.
Petter; 4. Stone; 5. Burns
Main Event: 1. Petter;
2. Seidelman; 3. Burns; 4. Bliss
September 5
The September 5 race
at Ephrata was rained out.