willamettespeedway Archives

String of seconds ends at Willamette as Berkeley wins $5,000 IMCA Stock special

LEBANON, Ore. (July 30, 2022) – Chase Berkeley put an end to his string of second-place finishes and put his IMCA Sunoco Stock Car in victory lane Saturday night at Willamette Speedway. Then he put $5,000 in the bank after his career-best payday. Berkeley raced from ninth starting and led the last 18 times around the track in the 50-lap marathon at Lebanon, holding Jesse Williamson at bay after a restart with six to go. “The best part about winning was that I’d had a streak of second place finishes coming into the night,” said the Colville, Wash., hotshoe, who’d clinched the Wild West Shootout crown with runner-up showings at Willamette and at Sunset Speedway Park, then ran second behind Collen Winebarger at Sunset’s 50-lap, $5,000 to win show on July 16. “It felt good to be back in the top spot.” Berkeley’s first win on the season, at Coos Bay Speedway, paved the way to the Wild West Shootout crown. His second earned him a guaranteed starting spot in the B & B Racing [Read More]

Wild West Shootout takes IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars, Northern SportMods to Oregon, Washington venues

WHITE CITY, Ore. (June 10, 2022) – Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds return to the top of the marquee for the June 17-25 Wild West Shootout. One thousand dollar top checks and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility go to Modified feature winners June 17 at Southern Oregon Speedway in White City; June 18 and June 21 at Cottage Grove Speedway; June 19 and 20 at Coos Bay Speedway; June 23 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon; and June 24 at Sunset Speedway in Banks. The June 25 finale doubles as the Modified Clash at Grays Harbor Raceway and pays $2,000 to win. Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods run for $400 to win each of those dates while IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars run for $400 each night June 17-23 and for $1,000 to win and B & B Racing Chassis All-Star qualifying eligibility in their finale at Sunset. All eight race programs will be broadcast by IMCA.TV and information about the Wild West Shootout will be updated on Facebook. Pit gates open at 1 p.m. with hot [Read More]

Penfold makes good on youthful vow to own, promote Oregon’s Willamette Speedway

LEBANON, Ore. (April 7, 2022) – As a 12-year-old, Cory Penfold made the bold statement that he’d someday own and promote Willamette Speedway. Thirty-six years later, he does. Penfold and wife Sandy have purchased the big 1/3-mile clay oval at Lebanon from Jerry Schram and Jimmy Schram. They’ll be in charge of Saturday night programs that feature four IMCA divisions starting with opening night on April 16. “I believe that hands down, this is the best facility on the West Coast,” said Penfold. “I grew up here and started saying when I was 12 years old, when it was still owned by Clair and Evelyn Arnold, that I was going to own it.” “I have two passions in life – racing and football. When I became owner of this track, I compared it to when a college player hears his name called in the NFL draft,” he continued. “We did a lot of work to get here. When your dream comes true, it’s an amazing feeling.” IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Northern SportMods and Mach-1 Sport Compacts [Read More]

Willamette IMCA Stock Car special sports $5,000 top prize

LEBANON, Ore. – IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars race for $5,000 to win and a starting spot on the B & B Chassis All-Star Invitational grid Saturday, Aug. 21 at Willamette Speedway. The inaugural special is sponsored by AAMCO and the $80 entry fee includes the driver’s pit pass. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region, KMJ Performance Oregon State and track points will be awarded. Also on the card that evening is a $1,500 to win, Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying event for IMCA Modifieds. Pit gates and the grandstand open at 2 p.m. Hot laps are at 4:30 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Pit passes are $40. Spectator admission is $14 for adults, $10 for seniors and kids, and free for youngsters ages five and under. The event will be broadcast by SPEED SPORT.TV affiliate Dirt Oval TV. Practice on Friday, Aug. 20 runs from 4 p.m. to dusk.

Willamette IMCA Stock Car special sports $5,000 top prize

LEBANON, Ore. – IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars race for $5,000 to win and a starting spot on the B & B Chassis All-Star Invitational grid Saturday, Aug. 21 at Willamette Speedway. The inaugural special is sponsored by AAMCO and the $80 entry fee includes the driver’s pit pass. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region, KMJ Performance Oregon State and track points will be awarded. Also on the card that evening is a $1,500 to win, Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying event for IMCA Modifieds. Pit gates and the grandstand open at 2 p.m. Hot laps are at 4:30 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Pit passes are $40. Spectator admission is $14 for adults, $10 for seniors and kids, and free for youngsters ages five and under. Practice on Friday, Aug. 20 runs from 4 p.m. to dusk.

Towns tops Sunday field at Willamette for first Wild West IMCA Modified Shootout win

By Ben Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. (Aug. 8) – The third night at Willamette Speedway was the Sunday night charm for Curtis Towns. Towns topped the third event in as many nights to start the Wild West IMCA Modified Shootout, earning $1,000 and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility. He’d taken advantage of his inside front row starting position in the 40-lap feature, hoping to bounce back after failing to make the feature on Friday night. Towns set a rapid pace but was eventually caught once he entered traffic. Collen Winebarger put the pass on Towns on lap 14. Dominant the previous evening and looking to make it two victories in a row, the new leader had no real issues whether on an open race track or in traffic. Unfortunately, Winebarger suffered a flat right rear tire with two laps to go. Towns was there to retake the lead and powered his way to his first career Wild West Modified Shootout checkered flag. Mark Carrell was second while Danny Lauer placed third. Eston Whisler and [Read More]

Winebarger dominates Wild West Shootout Round 2 for IMCA Modifieds at Willamette

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]

Wild West Modified Shootout returns, IMCA.TV to broadcast Aug. 6-14 series

By Ben Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. – After not being on the schedule in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Wild West IMCA Modified Shootout is back. Eight races will be run in nights at four race tracks in the Pacific Northwest. Not only will IMCA Modifieds be in attendance but the Karl Kustoms IMCA Northern Sport Mods will accompany the tour in the first seven legs. Modified feature winners earn $1,000 and become eligible to qualify for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. Lebanon’s Willamette Speedway will kick the whole party off on Friday, Aug. 6 and the tour will remain there for three straight nights. Monday, Aug. 9, and Tuesday, Aug. 10 will be reserved for Cottage Grove Speedway. Wednesday will be the only off day for the series however there will be a pit party at Sunset Speedway Park, in Banks. The Banks Bullring will host action for Thursday, Aug. 12 and Friday, Aug. 13. Everything will wrap up the next night at Grays Harbor Raceway, in Elma, Wash., for the lone stop [Read More]

Willamette to host $5,000 to win IMCA Stock Car event on Aug. 21

By Ben Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. – Willamette Speedway will be the place to be on Saturday, Aug. 21. The historic 1/3-mile clay oval will be hosting a $5,000 to win IMCA Sunoco Stock Car event along with a 100-lap, $1,500 to win IMCA Modified show. Both events will no doubt attract some top-tier talent to the Lebanon facility. The IMCA Modified 100-lapper was originally slated for July 24 but was pushed back to the August date. The winner of the Stock Car event becomes an automatic qualifier for the B & B Chassis All-Star Invitational while the Modified winner becomes eligible to qualify for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational at the upcoming IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s at Boone Speedway in September. More details regarding the payout structure and format of the Willamette show will be released as soon as possible. This is an event you surely do not want to miss out on. For more information, log on to the track website or Facebook pages.

Willamette Speedway completes first race of 2021

By Stephanie Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. (June 19) – After patiently waiting, fans and drivers alike were thrilled to see the return of racing at Willamette Speedway Saturday night. The last time the Lebanon facility was in action was for the Ice Cube Cup in October 2020. Bricen James tamed the field in IMCA Modified action. The Albany sensation has four wins on the current campaign across KMJ Performance Oregon State and Shaw Race Cars Western Region competition. James’ last win came on June 5 at Cottage Grove Speedway. Grey Ferrando was the runner-up while Jeremy Shank scored third. John Campos hit the line fourth with fifth going to Eston Whisler. Eugene’s Jack Vicari made history Saturday night. He became the first-ever Mach-1 Sport Compact winner in Willamette Speedway history. It is his first win of the season as well as KMJ Performance Oregon State action. Jeremiah Johnson was the runner-up.