Cottage Grove Sentinel
Sports & Recreation
SOUTH LANE COUNTY SPORTS AND RECREATION
Winters, Bender,
And Fischer CGS
Dwarf National
Champions
•
WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 14, 2019
•
B1
CONTACT SPORTS REPORTER NICK SNYDER AT
942-3325 OR NSNYDER@CGSENTINEL.COM
CG Skatepark, 15 years on
By Ben Deatherage
Cottage Grove Speedway
The cars and stars of
the Dwarf Cars returned
to racing at Cottage
Grove Speedway on Sat-
urday, August 10th for
the fi nale of the Dwarf
Car Nationals. Also on
the card were the Late
Models, IMCA Sport
Mods, and Hornets.
Like the night before
the signifi cant Dwarf
event drew over seventy
entries, divided into three
individual
divisions,
with teams from Oregon,
Washington, California,
Idaho, Nevada and Colo-
rado represented as well
as the Canadian province
of British Columbia.
The event is held under
the sanction of the West-
ern Dwarf Car Associ-
ation but hosted by the
Northwest Dwarf Cars
club. Those seventy-plus
cars got split into three
divisions: Pro, Veteran,
and Sportsman.
The Pro Dwarf main
event witnessed Camden
Robustelli taking charge
of the fi eld in the early
laps. The Medford rac-
er obtained the lead on
the fi rst start only to lose
it shortly after a restart
within the fi rst ten laps.
Ryan Winters got around
Camden and refused to
let go. The race went
non-stop after a few ear-
ly cautions and Winters
dominated the rest of
the way. The Galt, Cal-
ifornia traveler scored
a massive victory in his
fi rst Cottage Grove visit.
A massive melee was
on hand for the fi ght for
second. Night one win-
ner Darren Brown, of El
Cajon, California, picked
up the runner-up position
over third fi nishing Jon-
athan Henry from Stock-
ton, California. The rest
of the top fi ve was made
up of Central Point’s
Josh King, in fourth, and
Portland gasser Ryan
Martinez, in fi fth.
Heat races winners
were Sean Banks of Col-
orado Springs, Colorado,
Josh King and Jonathan
Henry. Camden Robus-
telli was victorious in the
scramble. Josh King fi n-
ished in fi rst place in the
consolation feature.
Placerville, Califor-
nia’s Mike Reeder set the
pace on the fi rst lap of the
Veteran Dwarf main. An
early caution bunched
the fi eld up and Mark
Biscardi of San Jose,
California made the pass
on him on lap two after
the restart. The fourth
circuit witnessed another
lead change at the hands
of Tim Fitzpatrick. The
Wheatland, California
driver, based initially out
of the Las Vegas, Nevada
area, fought valiantly to
hold off contenders the
rest of the race.
Both Fitzpatrick and
Kevin Bender duked it
out for much of the last
half of the main event.
Bender took control on
lap fi fteen only for Fitz-
patrick to reclaim the po-
sition on lap seventeen.
The ensuing lap Bender
of Rocklin, California
secured the top spot and
went on to win the fea-
See SPEEDWAY 4B
Local scooter riders, BMX riders and skateboarders make use of one of the grinding rails at Cottage Grove skatepark. The chain link
fence, which has become a hazard, can be seen in the background. PHOTO BY NICK SNYDER/CG SENTINEL
Future of skatepark
care unclear after years
of operation
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
A decade and a half after its in-
ception, Cottage Grove skatepark
looks a bit worse for wear at 15
years old.
The skatepark, originally com-
pleted in 2004, celebrates its 15th
anniversary this week, which would
typically be a cause for celebration.
However, due to years of repeated
vandalism and graffiti as well as an
unclear delegation of maintenance
and cleaning responsibilities, the
future of the park is as murky as
the water that gathers in the main
bowl due to its perpetually clogged
drain.
“The maintenance department
oversees taking care of our city
parks and the skatepark is one of
the parks that we try to manage,
mow and cleanup on a regular ba-
sis,” said Public Works and Devel-
opment Director Faye Stewart.
“It’s not uncommon for me to
drive by and notice that there’s
garbage and paper cups and differ-
ent things that are littered around
the park … but we’re trying to get
folks to acknowledge that this is
their park, their skatepark and, you
know, please help us keep it clean
for all the users to use.”
Upon taking a trip to the park,
visitors will instantly notice what
Stewart is alluding to. There is in-
deed trash strewn around the inside
and outside of the park. The park
rules sign is tagged with enough
graffiti that parts have become il-
legible. Pine needles from nearby
trees gather on the concrete, creat-
ing small hazards for users.
While the park receives regu-
lar garbage pickup every Monday,
it remains unclear if the inside of
the park sees regularly-scheduled
maintenance and sweeping from
city officials. But it has, at least,
received periodical care as Stewart
mentions several times in the past
few years where officials have been
out to the park to plunge the flood-
ed bowl after receiving calls from
local residents.
“I have received several calls in
the last couple years that the drain
needs to be unplugged … once in a
while the fencing gets damaged and
we have to go in and fix it … the po-
lice department brought to our at-
tention that the steps needed some
attention and we worked on that a
couple months ago. So besides rou-
tine garbage, we try to recognize
when things need to be cleaned up,
but it’s not swept on a daily basis,”
Stewart continued.
According to Stewart the city
provides the same services to the
skatepark as the other parks in the
area, however the daily users of the
park feel like their favorite hangout
- for skateboarders and BMX and
scooter riders alike - has long been
forgotten.
“It just kinda seems like nobody
cares about it, but this is where we
like to hang out. There’s not much
to do in Cottage Grove so if this
skatepark goes away or gets too
messy to use then we have nowhere
else to go,” said one of the users
present at the park last week.
“Lots of people probably think it’s
us that’s making a mess at the skate-
park, throwing garbage, doing graf-
fiti, but this is where we hang out.
It’s not us. It’s like having a dirty
bedroom,” he continued.
While there is undoubtedly a
group of people who wantonly
throw trash into the park, break
bottles or tag the concrete with
spraypaint, the users and city offi-
cials seem to disagree on who ex-
actly those people might be. In any
case, taking a sense of ownership
in maintaining a shared-use public
space sometimes requires tools and
See SKATEPARK 2B
Young racers with
big time goals
Local boys get to
work fundraising for
big race in California
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
Justin Lemon and his little brother, Austin, pose after competing
at Cottage Grove Speedway. PHOTO C/O CAMERON GRANT
Athlete of
the Week
For some, sport is about recre-
ation. For others, it’s about fitness.
For a select few, it’s a burning pas-
sion and even further, for some in-
dividuals and families, it’s an all-en-
compassing lifestyle.
Local Cottage Grove racers and
brothers Justin Lemon and Austin
Ellertson, their family and Justin’s
best friend Cameron Grant fall into
that final category. They will spend
the next two weeks pouring all their
energy into fundraising efforts to
allow Justin, 14 years old, and his
little brother Austin, seven years
old, a chance to participate in the
Fifth Annual Kyle Larson Outlaw
Kart Showcase, held September 2
and 3 at Cycleland Speedway in Or-
oville, California.
According to the event’s own
website, it is known as “the Indy 500
Th is week’s athlete of the
week is Eric Ashley of Jasper,
Oregon. Ashley led every lap
to claim his third hornets
title of the current campaign
on Aug. 10 at CG Speedway.
of outlaw kart racing.”
“We are doing, like, pretty much
anything. Car washes, collecting
cans and donations, we’re doing
house care, animal care, anything
pretty much to make money. Our
overall goal is to raise about $2000,”
said Lemon when asked about the
details of their fundraising efforts.
As one could imagine, racing isn’t
the most cost-friendly activity to
get involved in. With other sports,
all you often need is a ball and
some space, but when the neces-
sary equipment includes high-per-
formance engines, specialized tires
and the ever-rising cost of fuel,
meeting the financial demands of
your passion requires some help
and a particular attitude.
“One thing that I’m very proud of
as a parent, he didn’t just go around
saying, ‘can someone give me mon-
ey,’” said Justin’s dad, Nate Ellertson,
when asked about his son’s efforts.
“He looked at it as a way to get out
there and provide a service to peo-
ple doing side jobs, whatever it is,
to achieve his goal. So now he has a
See FUNDRAISING 3B
Eric Ashley
shows off
his winnings
with family.
PHOTO C/O BEN
DEATHERAGE