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The INDEPENDENT, August 2, 2000
Sprint car, bomber drivers bring excitement to Sunset Speedway
By Rusty Bolts
Kenny Cope of Myrtle
Creek, July 22, became the
fourth different winner in four
360 Sprint Car races at Sunset
Speedway this year. In the Pro
4 division, Grey Ferrando of
Salem led every lap and in
non-points Street Stock, hard
charger Brent Porter was victo
rious.
The most exciting race of
the night, however, was the
Bomber Feature. In their Main
Event, North Plains pilot
Shawn Thomson won with a
last turn pass over a surprised
Greg Long of Forest Grove.
Cope played a waiting game
enroute to his first win at
Banks, racing the bulk of the
event in the third position. It
was defending Champion Ty
Mayden who took an early lead
over pole sitter Tony Thomas,
Cope, Bill Winsley and Don
Trent.
Richard Weishan Jr., lost
control in the first turn, collect
ed Turner’s Rick Dewar and
plowed head on into a Euclid
tire. On the back straight, some
competitors let off, causing
problems for those who fol
lowed. Heat winner Vince Mc
Donnell apparently made con
tact with Shawn Smith of Idaho
and both mounts sustained
damage. Weishan and McDon
nell were done for the night, but
Smith’s crew was able to make
repairs and continue. Mayden
led on the restart while Cope
pressured Thomas. The best
battle of the race was between
Inter-Mountain point leader
Hinkle, and Trent of Veneta.
This dogfight would rage until
later in the feature, with neither
driver willing to concede.
Meanwhile, Thomas
shook
loose Cope and after a few
laps, was challenging Mayden.
Once Thomas made his pres
ence known, all he had to do
was wait for Mayden to err —
on a dry/slick track, Thomas
didn’t have to wait long. May
den half spun between turns
one and two, allowing not only
Thomas to pass, but Cope and
Winsley as well. Mayden re-en
tered the race in the fourth po
sition but had lost his rhythm
and soon found trouble in
stead. Hinkle and Trent caught
Mayden at full kilt and the three
cars tangled. The red flew for
Trent, who had driven over the
top of the disoriented Mayden
and disabled both cars. Cope
caught his second wind during
the clean up and launched an
other assault on Thomas. Then
the totally unexpected hap
pened; searching for a bit of
adhesion in the high groove,
Thomas spun and stalled.
Cope was handed the lead for
the last restart and drove the fi
nal few laps unchallenged.
Steadfast Winsley, who had
chased Cope the distance,
wound up second. Smith came
back after repairs to finish third.
Hinkle was a hard fought
fourth, and Dewar hung on for
fifth.
Eight cars started in the Pro
4 Feature after Mike Opoka
crashed hard, without injury, in
his heat. As he has done so
many times in the past, young
Grey Ferrando jumped into an
early lead in his hot-rodded
Honda. What set this night
apart, however, was that Fer
rando would not be denied. A
yellow flew for dash winner
Greg Walters, a second for
Scott Peal, and a third for
Steve Power, but through it all,
Ferrando kept Keith Peal of
Vancouver in his mirror. Tom
Pinkowsky, who had won the
last Pro 4 appearance at Sun
set, climbed only as far as third
this night. Walters recovered
SUMMARY, JULY 22
Bomber:
HEAT 1: Greg Long, Danny O’Neil,
George Daniels, Jay Silas Jr., Brian
Clark
HEAT 2: Craig Loomis, Mike Mas-
trangelo, Doug Younkin, Dave Ruby,
Brian Staley
HEAT 3: Kendall Lee,
Michael
Meyer, Stan Asanovic, Jeff Brookshire,
Terry Talbot
HEAT 4: Clint Meyer, Dennis
Krohling, Shawn Thomson, Tom Finley,
Bob Kister
DASH: Staley, Mastrangelo, Thom
son, Long
B MAIN: Silas Jr., Brookshire, Tal
bot, Ruby, Staley
MAIN: Thomson, Long, Loomis,
O ’Neil, Younkin, Silas Jr., Talbot, C.
Meyer, M. Meyer Asanovic, Lee, Ruby,
Krohling, Brookshire, Mastrangelo,
Daniels
Street Stock
HEAT 1: Don Jenner, A.J. Tipton,
John Nusom, Tony Catalano, Bill Pa-
traw
HEAT 2: Brent Porter, Jeff Gilman,
Dan Buker, Dustin Wilkenson, Robert
W illiams
DASH: Tipton, Gilman, Jenner,
Porter
MAIN: Porter, Nusom, Gilman, Buk
er, Tipton, Catalano, Jenner, W ilken
son, Ed Hayes, Williams, Brian Over
turf, Patraw
Pro 4
HEAT 1: Scott Peal, Keith Peal,
Red Van Dyne, Steve Power, Stanley
Steeves
HEAT 2: Dave Walters, Tom Pin
kowsky, S. Peal, K. Peal, Mike Opoka
DASH: Walters, Pinkowsky, Van
Dyne, Power
MAIN: Grey Ferrando, K. Peal,
Pinkowsky, Walters, Power, Steeves,
S. Peal Van Dyne
360 Sprint Cars
HEAT 1: Tony Thomas, Don Trent,
Mark Hinkle, Carl Tresser, Dick Weis
han, Jr.
HEAT 2: Vince McDonnell, Ty May
den, Bill Winsley, Kenny Cope, Shawn
Smith
DASH: Thomas, Mayden, Trent,
McDonnell
MAIN: Cope, Winsley, Smith, Hin
kle, Rick Dewar, Thomas, Mayden,
Trent, McDonnell, Weishan Jr., Tresser
SUMMARY, JULY 29
Bomber:
HEAT 1: Doug Younkin, Mike Mas
trangelo, John Mayfield, Rick Fors,
Kendall Lee
HEAT 2: Arnie Case, Greg Long,
Brian Staley, Carolyn Nordby, Brian
Clark
HEAT 3: Jay Silas Jr, Doug Trout, Tim
Gilman, Walter Wollman, Stan Asanovic
HEAT 4: Jeff Brookshire, Terry Tal
bot, Kirk Krause
DASH: Younkin, Silas Jr., Long Talbot
MAIN: Youkin, Case, Brookshire,
Long, Mastrangelo, Talbot, Fors, Asa
novic, Clint Meyer, Lee, Mayfield, Brian
O'Rear, Wollman, Gilman, Staley, Sti-
las Jr., Trout, Krause, Nordby, Clark,
Steve Anderson
Street Stocks:
HEAT 1: Dustin Wilkenson, Charlie
Weaver, John Nuson, Bob Trout, Mike
Fitzpatrick
HEAT 2: Brent Porter, Don Grentz,
Sonny Sayre, Pet Kelley, James
Simeroth
HEAT 3: Jay Silas, Jeff Gilman,
Jimmy Masure, Derek Vorseth, Gary
Meyer
. HEAT 4: A.J. Tipton, Rich Kelley,
Rhett Daly, Tony Catalano, David
Johnson
DASH: Meyer, Tipton, R. Kelley,
Trout
B MAIN: Meyer, Simeroth, Fitz
patrick, Nathan Morton, Susan Nelson
A MAIN: Tipton, Sayre, Porter, Silas,
Weaver, Daly, Trout, Meyer, Nuson, Ma
sure, W ilkenson, Catalano, Grentz,
Fitzpatrick, Gilman, P. Kelley, Morton,
R. Kelley, Vorseth, Simeroth
Cascade Hardtops:
HEAT 1: Steve Webb, Mark Bell,
Dan Shaw, Jim Beardley, Bob Taube
HEAT 2: Tom Willie, Gerry Grossen,
Greg Ray, Stanley Garboden, Steve
Lemley
DASH: Bell, Webb, Grossen, Shaw
MAIN: Grossen, Bell, Dave Bax,
W illie, Shaw, Lemley, Taube, Dale
bake, Ray, Garboden, Richard Nordby,
Beardley, Webb, Robert Lavorico
360 Sprint Cars:
HEAT 1: Tony Thomas, Vince Mc
Donnell, Bill W insley, C arlT resser,
Rick Dewar
HEAT 2: Ty Mayden, Mark Hinkle,
Kenny Cope, Jim Skinner, C.J. Whis-
tledech
DASH: McDonnell, Thomas, W ins
ley, Mayden
MAIN: Thomas, Mayden, McDonnell,
Hinkle, Cope, Winsley, Dewar, Tresser,
Skinner, Whistledech
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from his early spin to finish
fourth, and Power did likewise
to round out the top five.
A dozen Street Stocks took
the green flag, with neophyte
Don Jenner leading Brent
Porter, A.J. Tipton, John Nu
som, and Jeff Gilman. Within a
couple of rotations however,
the top three Camaros had dis
tanced themselves from the
rest of the pack. The experi
enced Porter attempted a gut
sy outside pass for the lead
and made it stick. Jenner tried
to retaliate, but spun instead.
Next, point leader Tipton T-
boned the Ford Maverick of Ed
Hayes, and a yellow flag was
thrown. With his two main chal
lengers out of the hunt, Porter
cruised the balance of the Fea
ture without breaking a sweat.
Nusom’s skill at adapting to dirt
tracks showed with a re
spectable second, Gilman was
third in his crowd-pleasing
Chevelle. For this night, car
owner Dan Buker replaced
hired gun Mark Bell in his Ca
mara and came home fourth,
ahead of Dash winner Tipton.
A season high number of
Bombers showed up to do bat
tle and Greg Long, Craig
Loomis, Kendall Lee, and Clint
Meyer won heats. The Trophy
Dash was claimed by past Fea
ture winner Brian Staley, and
Jay Silas Jr. took the B Main
ahead of Jeff Brookshire and
Terry Talbot. Long brought
them down to take the green in
the A Main, followed by Loo
mis, Lee and Danny O’Neil.
Point leader Shawn Thomson
was forced to start deep in the
pack but was on the move im
mediately. Long, a Feature win
ner this season, began to dis
tance himself from the field as
another high points man, Mike
Mastrangelo, was forced to
pit. A yellow waved just as
Thomson broke into the top
five, and Long was reeled back
in. When racing resumed,
Thomson continued to move for
ward utilizing the high groove.
Finally, with a single lap to
spare, Thomson seized the
point. Long, smelling victory
himself, charged back under
neath and led into the final turn.
Thomson pointed his Camara
toward the fence at that point
and buried his foot. The result
was another win by a whisker,
Long was second. Newcomers
to Sunset, Loomis and O’Neil
were third and fourth respec
tively, and Doug Younkin, back
after several weeks absence,
was fifth.