Page 22
The INDEPENDENT, May 18, 2006
Columbia County Racing Association started season on May 6
By Mike Weber
The 20th year of Columbia
County Racing Association mo-
torsports started Saturday, May
6, with just one defending divi-
sion winner, Vancouver’s Joe
Cherington, returning to com-
pete at River City Speedway.
There are certain to be four
new champions out of the five
auto racing classifications.
Many local competitors record-
ed top-three main event finish-
es in their class to establish
themselves as top contenders,
such as Tim Williams of Scap-
poose and St. Helens drivers
Herb Thomas, Adam Beehler,
Jeremy Martin and Celeste
Hardesty.
The father/son duo of Scott
and Shawn Dorie, of St. He-
lens, put on a fabulous show in
the Reser’s Fine Foods modi-
fied main as they had a 1-2 fin-
ish, with Scott taking the check-
ered flag by one car length over
Shawn, and Martin taking third.
Cherington, a four-time mini
stock champ, showed that he’ll
likely be favored to win another
title as he captured the 30-lap
main with his Circle H Enter-
prises/Dusty’s Machine Shop
sponsored Datsun. Finishing a
close second in a Honda was
Beehler, just two car-lengths
behind.
Shawn Dorie led most of the
modified race, until Scott
moved by on the inside lane of
the back straightaway on lap
34. Their two open-wheel style
modified racers were bumper-
to-bumper or side-by-side on
the quarter-mile clay oval track
for most of the 50-lap race.
Scott’s victory in the Superior
Building Maintenance/Colum-
bia Tavern racer earned him a
$1000 purse – $500 of which
was donated by Marty and Lori
Holmason of St. Helens.
“It sure was lots of fun racing
with Shawn and it was probably
the most enjoyable race that
we've ever had together,” said
Dorie, 48. “Shawn has to earn
the win though, because that’s
the only way he’ll improve and
become a better driver. What a
great race, I couldn’t be any
happier and I would even be
just as happy if Shawn won.”
Williams took fourth in the
2005 sportsman standings, but
since the top two (Corey Cook,
Randy Allen) won’t return, he’s
undoubtedly a top contender
for the title along with Tricia
“Great” Brittain of St. Helens,
who was third in 2005. Driving
his Alliance Automotive Ca-
maro, Williams led the sports-
man main from start-to-finish to
notch his second career win.
Brittain was second for most of
the race as her Chevy Monte
Carlo was bumper-to-bumper
with the Camaro. Brittain’s ag-
gressive attempt for an inside
pass of Williams in turn two
failed though when she lost
control and collided with one of
the large infield tractor tires on
lap 23. Despite the mishap,
Brittain finished eighth. Doug
Hurley of Castle Rock, maneu-
vered quite impressively from a
last place position in the 19-car
field to take second with the
RSG Forest Products Monte
Carlo.
“I came here well prepared,
everything went pretty well, the
car was running good and it
was just a fabulous race,” said
Williams, the co-owner with
Dan Smith of Alliance Automo-
tive in Scappoose. “I like racing
with Tricia, she’s a good driver
and we always seem to be
close in every race. I had a
great day, it’s an awesome way
to start the season and if I can
keep the car running as well as
it is now, then I think I’ll have a
good chance to win the sports-
man title.”
Washougal’s Brett Eakins
led all the way in the street
stock main to capture his first
ever feature win with his Ca-
mas Auto Parts Chevrolet
Access Lost Lake via Spruce Run now
Visitors to Lost Lake in
southeast Clatsop County will
need to access the lake from
Henry Rierson Spruce Run
Campground until
approxi-
mately June 15.
Public access to Lost Lake
from Highway 26, near the
summit on Quartz Basin Road,
is temporarily closed due to
continuing road work to im-
prove vehicle access and safe-
ty in the area, according to the
Oregon
Department
of
Forestry. Closure signs have
been posted.
Lost Lake is still accessible
from Henry Rierson Spruce
Run Campground. The camp-
ground is on Lower Nehalem
Road.
For more information about
the road closure and its re-
opening, call Larry Sprouse at
the ODF Astoria District office,
(503) 325-5451.
503-429-0280
Basic Auto Repair
Rotor and drum
machine
on site
Monte Carlo. Gresham’s Curt
Nusom was runnerup and
Thomas took third. Portland’s
Susan Nelson took advantage
of a mishap involving top two
frontrunners Jacki Graham and
Brenda Hurley. Nelson avoided
the altercation and maneu-
vered into the lead to capture
the women’s race with her All
About
Towing/Jim
Estes
Garage Pontiac Firebird and
Hardesty took second.
The next event at the Co-
lumbia County Fairgrounds fa-
cility is May 20 and the Pacific
Hardtop Racing Association
dwarf cars will be included with
the regular scheduled events
RIVER CITY SPEEDWAY
MAY 6 RESULTS
Sportsman – Fast Time: Rodney
Cook, Rainier, 14.97. Trophy Dash:
Cook. Heat 1: Kirk Brissett, Scap-
poose; John Fordyce, Vancouver;
Jesse Freeman, Sherwood. Heat 2: Tri-
cia Brittain, St. Helens; Rob Duncan,
Scappoose; Doug Hurley, Castle Rock.
Heat 3: Chris West, St. Helens; Steven
Kanham, Portland; Dave Ford, Port-
land. Main: Tim Williams, Scappoose;
Hurley; Freeman; Chris Schlacht, Port-
land; Larry Lemons, Toledo; Dave Pfaff,
Portland; Todd Newton, Portland; Brit-
tain; Fordyce; Aaron Chappell, St. He-
lens.
Modified – Fast Time: Jeremy Mar-
tin, St. Helens 13.97. Trophy Dash: Ray
Elwess, Portland. Heat 1: Curt Nusom,
Gresham; Sam Jeffers, Scappoose;
Jim Midwood, Portland. Heat 2: Marc
Sayre, Portland; Mike Graham, Port-
land; Greg Greer, Rainier. Heat 3: Mar-
tin; Scott Dorie, St. Helens; Elwess.
Main: Scott Dorie; Shawn Dorie, St.
Helens; Martin; Graham; Greg Greer;
Sayre; Rudy Chappelle, St. Helens;
Ron Greer, Rainier; Elwess; Stephen
Kaptur, Deer Island.
Street Stock – Fast Time: John Nu-
som, Gresham 15.97. Trophy Dash:
John Nusom. Heat 1: Paul Liner,
Olympia; John Haagenson, Portland;
Jacki Graham, Portland. Heat 2: Aaron
Prettyman, St. Helens; Herb Thomas,
St. Helens; Brett Eakins, Washougal.
Heat 3: Rick Rehanek, Vancouver; Curt
Nusom; Chris Hallberg, Portland.
Main: Eakins; Curt Nusom; Thomas;
Hallberg; John Nusom; Haagenson;
Prettyman; Rehanek; Charley Culpep-
per, Portland.
Mini Stock – Fast Time: Eric
Lindquist, St. Helens 16.92. Trophy
Dash: Joe Cherington, Vancouver.
Heat 1: Ron Benish, Portland; Mike
Thompson, Portland; Joshua Kelsey,
Portland. Heat 2: Marie Sayre, Port-
land; Jared Hanson, Portland; Daniel
Beaudoin, Portland. Heat 3: Richard
Dubois, Portland; Scott McMullen, Deer
Island; Brad Ruth, Washougal. B Main:
Scott Beaudoin,Portland; Hanson;
Sayre; Kelsey; Justin Russell, Portland.
A Main: Cherington; Adam Beehler, St.
Helens; Lindquist; Hanson; Brad
Beehler; Ruth; Tony Kanies, Portland;
McMullen; Ben Palmer, Gladstone.
Women’s Division – Fast Time:
Kathy Griffin, Scappoose 16.92. Trophy
Dash: Jacki Graham. Heat 1: Tria Pret-
tyman, St. Helens; Brenda Hurley, Cas-
tle Rock; Freya Smith, St. Helens. Heat
2: Susan Nelson, Portland; Graham;
Stacey Fordyce, Vancouver. Main: Nel-
son; Celeste Hardesty, St. Helens; Gra-
ham; Fordyce; Griffin; Prettyman;
Janell Schlaght, Portland; Smith; Hur-
ley; Teia Thomas, St. Helens.
New horse camp in Clatsop County
The Oregon Department of
Forestry (ODF) invites the pub-
lic to celebrate the grand open-
ing of Clatsop County’s first
campground designed for
equestrian use.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony
and dedication at Northrup
Creek Horse Camp will be held
Saturday, May 20, at 11 a.m.
The campground is on
Northrup Creek Road, between
Birkenfeld and Jewell, four
miles north of Highway 202 at
mile post 35.
Hotdogs and beverages will
be served at the dedication cer-
emony.
The new campground offers
vault toilets, hand-pumped
drinking water and eight camp-
sites with horse corrals, picnic
tables and fire rings. Three ad-
ditional tent sites are available
for non-equestrian use. All
campsites are $10 a night and
additional vehicles are $2 each
per night.
The North Coast Chapter of
Oregon Equestrian Trails, a
statewide organization of vol-
unteers who advocate for horse
camping, helped ODF with the
Please see page 23
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