Zach Fettinger bounced back from an early crash to win Saturday’s IMCA Modified feature at Southern Oregon Speedway. (Photo by Carole Bryan, Shadows of Light Photography)
By Don Martin II
WHITE CITY, Ore. (June 16) – Making a nice comeback from an early race crash, Zach Fettinger scored the 25-lap IMCA Modified main event victory Saturday night at Southern Oregon Speedway.
Fettinger held off C.J. Putnam down the stretch for what would be his first win of the season despite restarting at the back of the field following the lap eight fracas.
The frontrunners had come up on a slower car and while Andy Freeman got by, Mark Wauge and Fettinger both got caught up. Wauge suffered enough damage to end his race while Fettinger made a pit stop and was able to rejoin the back of the pack for the restart.
Fettinger quickly found the fastest line and charged to the lead, and eventual win ahead of Putnam and Albert Gill.
Braxton Possinger was flawless in leading start to finish of the 20-lap feature for Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods.
By Stephanie Deatherage WHITE CITY, Ore. (June 12) – An IMCA Modified driver who’s won a lot of big races in his career won one he described as “something special” Saturday night. Jon DeBenedetti was in and out of the lead before taking the $2,000 checkers at Southern Oregon Speedway’s eighth annual Roger Haudenshild Tribute. The new Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier had put an engine purchased out of a car that Haudenshild had sponsored into his own ride just the day before. “We put it in Friday and won with it on Saturday. That was pretty cool,” DeBenedetti said. “I told (the previous owner) I’d buy it and win with it and that’s exactly what I did.” He’d started third in the 30-lapper and fell back to fifth before running the inside line back to second, behind Zach Fettinger. DeBenedetti’s first pass to the front was negated by caution but he moved ahead following the next restart, on lap 13. Californian Darrell Hughes II saw his bold move rewarded with the front spot [Read More]
By Don Martin II WHITE CITY, Ore. (Sept. 22) – Holding off late pressure from C.J. Putnam, Preston Jones scored the victory in the 25-lap IMCA Modified main event Saturday at Southern Oregon Speedway. This was the first career win in the division for Jones. Jones passed Jentzen Knips for the lead and was pulling away before a lap 15 caution. After a lap 17 yellow, Putnam made a serious bid to take the lead on the restart and grabbed the spot with an inside pass exiting the fourth turn. The lead was short-lived, however, as Jones beat him back to the line to lead the 19th lap. The front two cars ran closely as Zack Fettinger had settled into the third position. A multi-car tangle brought out the final yellow flag on lap 21. Jones led the restart with Putnam giving him all the pressure he could handle. Putnam attempted to get by several times in the remaining four laps, but Jones held him off for the hard-earned victory. Fettinger finished third. Leading all [Read More]
By Don Martin II WHITE CITY, Ore. (May 4) – Jeffrey Hudson and Matt Sanders opened the 2019 season with IMCA feature wins Saturday at Southern Oregon Speedway. Hudson, the 2018 sprint car runner-up, landed a full-time ride in an IMCA Modified for this season. He took the lead from rookie Justin Foux early on and held off the rapidly approaching Mark Wauge for the win. The last 16 laps went without a yellow flag and Hudson had a good lead, but Wauge slowly began to chip away at the advantage. The laps ran out, however, before Wauge could get close enough to attempt a pass. Sanders beat race long leader Justin McCreadie back to the line in a photo finish to win the 20 lap Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod main, contested by 21 drivers. McCreadie led Sanders on a lap 16 restart as Jorddon Braaten raced past Rich McCoy for third. Sanders got a run on McCreadie on the final lap, they exited the fourth turn side by side and it was too close [Read More]