Berkeley leads the lap that matters most at Willamette

By Ben Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. (Sept. 28, 2024) – Trevor Points, a force to be reckoned with, once again showcased his dominance Saturday at Willamette Speedway.  Taking the lead shortly after a restart in the early stages, the Salem standout led the field in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature. The race kicked off with Jacob Shandy taking the lead on the first lap. However, Nate Turnidge was not far behind, keeping Shandy within his sights. With an impressive move outside of Shandy in turn two, Turnidge seized the top spot on the next lap. Before Turnidge could build a significant lead, the race’s first stoppage occurred on lap five. On the ensuing restart, Points entered the fray by getting around Shandy on the high side of turn two, ran down Turnidge, and got under and around the leader to perform the overtake out of turn four. From there, Points seemed to be in firm control of the lead as he had to deal with several restarts but, on the same token, did not get [Read More]

By Ben Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. (Aug. 7) – Collen Winebarger proved the master of lapped traffic on night two of the Wild West IMCA Modified Shootout at Willamette Speedway on Saturday. When the action got started for the 40-lap IMCA Modified main event, Winebarger seized control of the top spot on the first lap. The race turned out to be one based on stamina as the lone caution was seen on lap seven. This presented heavy lapped traffic for the leaders to deal with and made things interesting from time to time.  Winebarger was briefly bottled up in traffic but managed to make a pivotal move to get through the tail end of the lead lap cars, then motored to win his ninth career Wild West Shootout event and record-setting fifth checkers at Lebanon. The win paid $1,000 to Winebarger, already Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligible. Jeffrey Hudson was second while Eston Whisler finished third. Jerry Schram and Brian Thompson completed the top five. Skyler Winebarger, Collen’s younger brother, was master of the class [Read More]

By Ben Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. (June 29) – Night number seven of the Wild West IMCA Modified Shootout be­longed to Bricen James. The Albany speedster gained the lead near midway and led to the $1,000 checkers Friday at Willamette Speedway, earning his tour career first victory and a berth on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. Rob Mayea made his first start with the series and got to the front on the initial green. Mayea was mighty fast while leading but unfortunately got caught up with a lapped car on the 13th circuit. Although Mayea retained the lead due to not stopping, his car was sustained enough damage to take him out of contention for the victory. On the restart, James blazed past Mayea and officially took over first place on lap 14. James tried to separate from the rest of the field but a handful of contenders gave chase. The race started intensified as lapped traffic came into the picture in the last laps. James kept all challengers in check to become the sixth [Read More]