By Jeremy Means
BANKS, Ore. (Jun. 7, 2025) – The Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds headlined the night at Sunset Speedway Park, and what a show it was. Both the reigning Oregon and Washington state champions were in the house, and the action lived up to the billing.
Oregon’s Carter Patterson set a torrid pace out front that could’ve gone unnoticed—if not for the war that broke out behind him for positions two through five. David Day, John Gaynor, Tyson Blood, and Devon Reed were locked in a relentless battle, often racing under a blanket and using multiple grooves across the Bullring.
By the time Tumwater, Washington’s Tyson Blood finally broke through to second, he faced a mountain: a four-second gap to the leader, lap traffic, and just 15 laps remaining.
But the driver of the no. 97TB wasn’t backing down. Lap after lap, Blood chipped away at the deficit. Catching the leader is one thing—passing is another. By the time he reached the rear bumper of Patterson’s no. 47 machine, the white flag was waving.
What followed was an unforgettable final lap. The two raced hard—but clean—right down to the finish line, crossing side-by-side and three-wide with a lap car to their outside. It was bumper-to-bumper at the stripe, but the timing system confirmed it: Tyson Blood edged Patterson by just 0.008 seconds.
The thrilling victory marked Blood’s second win of the season in the Shaw Race Cars Western Region. Patterson was second, and John Gaynor completed the podium in third.
