Submitted by Kaleb Hart
Deming, WA – Four division veterans came away with main event wins on the opening night of 2011 at Deming Speedway sponsored by Diehl Ford. Kyle Johnson, Eric Turner, Jacob Brown and Isaac Abenroth were victorious on a cold but clear night in the Pacific NW.
Kyle Johnson pulled off the elusive clean sweep in the Speedmart / Hoosier Tire 600 division. After setting quick time and winning his heat, Johnson rapidly raced his way forward from his fourth place starting position in the feature, working up to second place following a caution on lap six. On the ensuing restart, Johnson dove low underneath race leader JR Thomas in turn two to take the point, then held off a late race charge by O’Brien to finish off the clean sweep. O’Brien made up a ton of ground to claim second and Thomas was third. Heat race wins went to Johnson, Derek Holmwood, Larry Jenne and Phil Schemenauer. Hayden Schmidt won the B Main.
Eric Turner found pay dirt on night one in the 1200 division, using lapped traffic to his advantage in making a mid race pass for the win. After trailing Brad Davison the first thirteen laps, Turner found a hole in traffic on the high side of the track in turn three and burst through it to take the lead. Eric ran virtually unchallenged over the final eleven laps to take the win. Aaron Fell finished second and Brock Lemley took third after an early incident sent him to the pack of the pack. Turner set quick time. Erik Drake, Kyle Statema and Steven Hendrickson won the heats.
One of them racin’ deals marred the finish of a physical yet entertaining 600 Restricted main event. With numerous cautions and red flags in the early going, the race was shortened to 14 laps, with Nate Vaughn leading the way on a lap 12, green-white-checkered restart. After coming to the white flag, Vaughn, who had lost his nosewing in an earlier incident, pushed up the track coming into turn three. Second place runner Jacob Brown saw his opportunity, diving hard to the inside of Vaughn as the two cars were wheel to wheel through the middle of the turn. As Vaughn went to hammer the gas, his fuel pump shorted out on him. Brown, expecting Vaughn to power through the high side of the track, let his car drift up a bit. Vaughn, without the power to run the high side, tried coming downward to shorten the corner and protect his lead. Physics dictates that only one car would be able to occupy the one spot on the track both were going for, and the resulting collision gave Brown the lead and the win and left Vaughn limping to the finish line for 11th. Brown, classy in victory lane, apologized for the incident and both drivers agreed post race that “it was just one of them deals”. Hannah Lindquist was credited with a second place finish and Robie Price took third. Vaughn was quick time. Brown won his heat race, as did Austin Sheridan and Derrick Moss.
Isaac Abenroth debuted a brand new motor in his Kasey Kahne Junior Sprint and the power was evident as he not only set quick time but won the A Feature as well by a large margin. Eli Schmidt took a career best second, with Sawyer Sorgenfrie taking third. Schmidt and Ashleigh Johnson won the heats.
All four classes are in action next Friday night at Deming Speedway, with Yeager’s Sporting Goods sponsoring race action. Gates open at 5p with opening ceremonies slated for 7p. Ticket information and driving directions are available online at www.demingspeedway.com