Wheeler, Orsburn, Burkett Win At Southern Oregon Speedway

White City, Oregon...June 4...fter his father Vern announced his retirement, Jake Wheeler kept the family in the winner's circle with his 25 lap Pennzoil Sprint Car feature victory at Southern Oregon Speedway. Wheeler survived a mid race restart with Wayne Kniffen to get the win. Duane Orsburn assumed the IMCA Modified point lead with his 25 lap Main Event win as Trophy Dash winner and early leader James Welshonse settled for second.


Point leader Bob Burkett collected his second 20 lap Mini Stock feature win with Andrew Hall a career best second. Sprint Car veteran Mike Linder grabbed the win in the 20 Lap Open Stock Main Event. Trevor Thomason won the heat and 20 lap Main Event in the inaugural appearance of the OTRO Hardtops. Rookie Darrel Nelson Jr. won his first start in the 20 lap Hornet race.


Jake Wheeler continued the Wheeler family domination of the Pennzoil Winged Sprint Car division. Wheeler won the heat and Trophy Dash earlier in the evening. 2009 champion Charlie Thomspon was running second when he blew a motor on lap 14 for a yellow flag. Wheeler held off Wayne Kniffen on the restart and went on to victory. Kniffen was second and Bill Hopper finished third.


Duane Orsburn took over the IMCA Modified point lead after winning the 25 lap Main Event. After his heat and Trophy Dash wins, rookie James Welshonse led seven laps before Orsburn made a Turn 4 pass to grab the lead. Welshonse settled for second ahead of Bo Shields. Daniel Herrera hit the Turn 4 wall hard to end his race on lap six.


Sprint Car veteran Mike Linder kicked off the Open Stock season by winning the heat race and 20 lap Main Event. Bob Dees finished second with 2014 Street Stock champion Miles Deubert placing third.


Trevor Thomason won the OTRO Hardtop feature in impressive fashion as he lapped the entire field by lap 15 of the 20 lap race. Bill Trotter battled Gary Barber all race long to grab the second place finish. Brian Crouch finished fourth. Chris Mehrer won the Trophy Dash, but he hit the wall in his heat race to knock the front end out front underneath his car.


Bob Burkett scored a flag to flag victory in the 20 lap Mini Stock feature. The point leader Burkett built a straightaway advantage over Andrew Hall, who was enjoying his best career finish in second. Eric Hanson rebounded from recent bad luck, and he did it by holding off Gary Anderson for third. Anderson spun out of second early and had to come from the back to finish fourth. Fourteen year old Marissa Hanson finished fifth after winning her first Trophy Dash earlier in the evening.


Rookie Darrel Nelson Jr. led from start to finish to win the 20 lap Hornet Main Event. John Hoult won an early duel with heat winner Tim Hedges to finish second. Hedges finished third ahead of Garrett Fredrickson. .


Racing continues next week with the first leg of the Wild West IMCA Modified Speedweek Series. Also on the card will be IMCA Sport Modifieds and Outlaw Pro Stocks. For further information, check out www.southernoregonspeedway.com.


Race Results Saturday, June 4

Pennzoil Winged Sprint Cars

Heat Winner (6 Laps)-Jake Wheeler. Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-Wheeler. Main Event (25 Laps)-Wheeler, Wayne Kniffen, Charlie Thompson, Bill Hopper.


IMCA Modifieds

Heat Winner (6 Laps)-James Welshonse. Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-Welshonse. Main Event (25 laps)-Duane Orsburn, Welshonse, Bo Shields, Daniel Hererra.


Mini Stocks

Heat Winners (6 Laps)-Gary Anderson, Bob Burkett. Trophy Dash (4 laps)-Marissa Henson. Main Event (20 Laps)-Burkett, Andrew Hall, Eric Hanson, Anderson, Henson.


Open Stock

Heat Winner (6 Laps)-Mike Linder. Main Event (20 Laps)-Linder, Bob Dees, Miles Deubert.


OTRO Hardtops

Heat Winner (6 Laps)-Trevor Thomason. Trophy Dash (4 Laps)-Chris Mehrer. Main Event (20 Laps)-Thomason, Bill Trotter, Gary Barber, Brian Crouch, Jimmy Delcastille.


Hornets

Heat Winner (6 Laps)-Tim Hedges. Main Event (20 Laps)-Darrel Nelson Jr., John Hoult, Hedges, Garrett Fredrickson.




Outlaw Kart racing season finally opened at the little one-eighth mile track at Southern Oregon Speedway. The kids had a good night of racing and put on an entertaining show for the fans in attendance. Defending 250 Kart champion Tanner Holmes impressed with his win in 25 lap Main Event. Holmes won ahead of Brenden Bartlett. Holmes then followed that up by winning his first 25 lap 500 Kart feature ahead of Chase Hill. Trevor Grimes won the 20 lap Box Stock feature in impressive fashion ahead of Bryson Snow. Jacob James won the Beginners Box Stock Main Event.


Chase Hill won the first of two 500 Kart ten lap heats, but he was involved in a crash to end his second heat race. Holmes won the second heat before Hill returned to run the Main Event. Johnny Burke led the first five laps. Lap six saw Hill dive low in Turn 3 to grab the lead, but Burke ducked underneath in Turn 4 to regain the point. Hill made another dive into Turn 1 of sixth lap to regain the lead as the two bumped wheels. The yellow was out on lap seven as Burke stalled in Turn 1. A lengthy yellow flag period on lap seven for Burke saw Hill and Steve Rambo run out of fuel. T. Holmes had the lead on the restart, and he led the rest of the way with Hill a lead lap second. Rambo was third ahead of Burke and Jantzen Kinps.


T. Holmes had a great night in the 250 Karts as he won his first ten lap heat race along with Brenden Bartlett. T. Holmes and Enrique Jaime were the winners of the second set of heat races. T. Holmes led the Main Event from the start with Bartlett making a low pass in Turn 4 of the fourth lap for second. A pair of yellows in succession for Reece Slyter spins in Turn 2 were the only slowdowns on laps four and five. The last half of the race featured a good battle between Jaime, Bodee Weiser and Brody Sim for third as the three competitors ran closely. An inside pass in Turn 4 of the 12th lap gained Brody Sim third from Jaime, but he surrendered third to a Turn 4 pass by Weiser on lap 17. T. Holmes drove a flawless race and won by a straightaway ahead of the smooth running Bartlett. Bodee Weiser was third just ahead of Sim and Jaime, the final lead lap finishers.


The Box Stock division also had a good turnout. 2014 champion Carley Holmes and defending champion and Trevor Grimes were the first round ten lap heat winners. Isabella Jaime drove a good race to win a heat race in the second round as Grimes won his again. Grimes and C. Holmes led the pack to the Main Event green flag with Grimes racing ahead. An inside move on the back stretch of the third lap gained Bryson Snow second from C. Holmes. Holmes got out of shape in Turn 2 of the tenth lap, allowing Emma Rodgers to race by for third. Grimes drove a great race to collect a well earned victory. Snow was equally impressive in second as Rodgers, Holmes and Natalie Richard were lead lap finishers in the Top 5.


The Beginners Box Stock class saw Jacob James sweep both six lap heat races and the 15 lap Main Event. James was the third ranked driver last season and would lap the field as Adrian Richard and Kiley Grimes both made their first starts in second and third, respectively. Will Wigley was just a bit nervous about racing, but this young man did well just getting out on the track to make a lap by himself.


The drivers did a great job all night, and the next Outlaw Kart race will be on June 24th. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com and look in the Outlaw Karts section.


500 Karts

Heat 1 (10 Laps)-Chase Hill. Heat 2 (10 Laps)-Tanner Holmes. Main Event (25 Laps)-T. Holmes, Hill, Steve Rambo, Johnny Burke, Jentzen Kinps.


250 Karts

Heat 1 (10 Laps)-Tanner Holmes. Heat 2 (10 Laps)-Brenden Bartlett. Heat 3 (10 Laps)-T. Holmes. Heat 4 (10 Laps)-Enrique Jaime. Main Event (25 Laps)-T. Holmes, Bartlett, Bodee Weiser, Brody Sim, Jamie, Braden Weiser, Wyatt Pinchney, Carley Holmes, Reece Slyter.


Box Stock

Heat 1 (10 Laps)-Carley Holmes. Heat 2 (10 Laps)-Trevor Grimes. Heat 3 (10 Laps)-Isabella Jaime. Heat 4 (10 laps)-Grimes. Main Event (20 Laps)-Grimes, Bryson Snow, Emma Rodgers, C. Holmes, Natalie Richard, I. Jaime, Ryan Hirschbock, Cadyn Smith, Deven Felix.


Beginner Box Stock

Heat 1 (6 Laps)-Jacob James. Heat 2 (6 Laps)-James. Main Event (15 Laps)-James, Adrian Richard, Kiley Grimes, Will Wigley (DNS).