By Ben Deatherage
ROSEBURG, Ore. (July 26, 2024) – Douglas County Dirtrack roared to life Friday night and Collen Winebarger and Jordan Henry roared to feature wins in their respective IMCA divisions.
Carter Patterson led the first lap of the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main, then bolted away from Brett Muth and Tyler Smith and the rest of the pack after an early caution.
Justin McCreadie rose to the occasion following the next restart and powered his way to second. McCreadie tried to thread the needle under Patterson for the lead but was denied access on the inside channel.
McCreadie attacked again via the inside, beating Patterson out of the fourth corner on lap three. Winebarger obtained second the next time around. Winebarger went after the leader by working the high line, while McCreadie kept his faith on the inside. Winebarger got around McCreadie at the wire on the fifth circuit, but a debris caution came out, giving the lead back to McCreadie.
Winebarger blitzed underneath McCreadie to lead the fifth lap, this time for good. Patterson had his hands full with the brothers Whisler, both from Otis, with the older of the pair, Eston, moving into third.
Eston Whisler was not content with third and began battling McCreadie for second. The two exchanged the position multiple times on multiple laps.
The tussle war for second was interrupted by a red flag incident just past the halfway mark after Muth got upside down; he was not injured.
More drama unfolded when the green light lit up for the last time. Bricen James, who had been caught up in a multi-car crash early in the race, motored his way to second and ran down Winebarger with 10 laps left.
The competition reached a fever pitch on the 20th circuit when James worked the bottom while Winebarger remained up top. The two drag raced down the backstretch and James won the battle at the line to become the new trailblazer.
James took off, created a ton of space between himself and his closest challenger, and looked to be on his way to victory lane.
However, on the final set of corners on the final lap, he got crossed up, nearly lost control, lost most of his momentum and slowed almost to a halt. This allowed Winebarger to rip around the upper portion of the race track for the lead and the win.
managed to hold on to second, with Ian Whisler completing the podium in third. Eston Whisler was fourth, followed by Kevin Williamson.
The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod main event saw a multi-car crash before a lap could be completed.
On the second attempt, Jacob Shandy seized the point from Mark Pothoff, who would lose the second spot to Henry on the third lap.
The race for first position intensified when Henry ran down Shandy, and on lap five, Henry became the new trailblazer. Things would cool down after a caution came out, bunching everyone up.
On the restart, Sanders, Shandy and Ethan Killingsworth, fought a three-car battle for second. Sanders managed to win the battle, but on the seventh circuit, Killingsworth, who recovered from a broken oil filter on the initial start, launched his mount into second.
On lap 12, Henry briefly got a taste of traffic, only for another yellow to come out. When things got back to green, Sanders threatened Henry for the lead, only for Killingsworth and Sanders to briefly get together. This resulted in Sanders coming to a halt in the second corner, which would be the final stoppage of the race.
The race for third was entertaining as Landyn Philpott, and Shandy went after it. Philpott powered his way underneath Shandy to grab third, but after a few more laps around the 3/10-mile clay oval, Shandy was able to resecure the position.
While the melee for the final step on the podium played out the seventh starting, Henry was magnificent on the restart, would cruise to the victory, and his first of 2024. Killingsworth and Shandy were second and third, respectively.
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