By Ben Deatherage
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (June 26, 2024) – Cottage Grove Speedway hosted its first of six Midweek Madness shows with Wednesday night IMCA feature wins going to Jake Mayden, Jacob Shandy and Michael Kennerly
In the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main, Braedon Hand and Curtis Towns battled for the top spot with Towns grabbing the early lead as Mayden got into the mix.
Mayden tried unsuccessfully to slip underneath Towns on laps two and three. Lapped traffic came into play on the eighth circuit and Mayden saw his persistence pay dividends with a sweeping move to the front on lap 11.
As the race progressed without any interruptions, the field began to spread out. Mayden drove to a dominating win, his first of the season, by a margin of 6.826 seconds.
Kevin Williamson caught Towns for second on lap 19.
Shandy led the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods into the first set of turns but Matt Brown was the leader when the opening circuit was scored.
The first of three cautions came out on lap five. Shandy ran down Brown after a couple of laps into the new run and managed to get to the front on the eighth trip past the flag stand.
Around lap 10, the race for third became interesting between Mitchell Jamison and Jim Wulfenstein. Jamison stayed ahead of the challenger and began to threaten Brown for second. Before Jamison could complete a pass, Wulfenstein threaded the needle underneath him for third.
But the race didn’t cool down as Wulfenstein was overtaken the next time around.
The two drivers went at it for third, which allowed Brown to create some distance. Wulfentstein got back around Jamison with three to go just before the caution came out. Unfortunately, the stoppage was for second-running Brown.
On the final restart, a three-car melee for the runner-up spot erupted. Brown tried to recover second but Wulfenstein kept him in check, only for Jamison to get the position when the white flag waved.
Shandy cruised uncontested for his first win of the season. Jamison wound up second while Wulfenstein earned third.
For the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts, Melissa Bryant put the pedal to the metal on the initial start to lead the opening lap. She built a healthy lead in the early goings as a four-car race for third emerged.
Roger Bell did his best to stay ahead of Burnie Bryant while Michael Kennerly and Tiffany Towns were behind them.
With four circuits completed, Burnie Bryant moved into third. The race for second was entertaining; Springfield teenager Charles Trissell defended his position valiantly against Burnie, and before too long, it became a three-car tussle with Kennerly involved.
Kennerly got around Burnie Bryant with seven to go and finally got around Trissell on the 16th circuit. As the race remained stoppage-free, Kennerly quickly reeled in Melissa Bryant and seized the coveted position coming to the white flag.
Kennerly held on to win his first race of 2024 in exciting fashion after starting dead last. Melissa and Burnie Bryant would be the daughter-father combination, finishing second and third. Trissell wound up fourth, followed by Towns in fifth.
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