Hector edges Ogle in stock car battle

Fought, White and Barger also get wins at Ephrata

Ephrata Raceway Park played host Saturday night to the Pepsi Challenge Series, which combines ERP's Pepsi Cola Street Stocks and Wenatchee Valley Super Oval's Grand National stock cars.

ERP's Bart Hector and WVSO's Jason Ogle came into the event battling for the series point lead. Both drivers are dominant forces at their home tracks.

Although it was close at the end, Hector earned the victory with Ogle finishing third. Paul Dart of Soap Lake edged out Othello's Mike Fought, who took the checkers in the CROW sprint cars. Sid White of Royal City dominated the adult hornets while Stuart Barger added another hobby stock victory to his win streak.

Nick Sieg of Hartline led the large field of stock cars to the stripe to take the green flag. Sieg jumped out to an early lead in the 40-lap feature event and began to pull away from the pack. John Marthini of Soap Lake held on to the second position and was hard to pass.

The first caution flag flew early in the event. On the third lap, Ephrata's Terri McCart hit her brakes in turn three to avoid smacking a car that got sideways in front of her. Bart Hector, closely following McCart, did the same but made contact with McCart's purple Camaro. McCart's car spun to the infield.

When green-flag racing resumed with Sieg holding on to first, Ephrata's Jeff Lodi made a charge. Lodi powered under Chirs Gooch and Marthini to move into the second spot. While Lodi tracked down Sieg, Ron Stewart of Moses Lake, Jason Ogle, and Hector were weaving through traffic in a bid to get to the front. On lap 18, Hector had a shot at getting past Sieg and didn't waste it. Hector bolted under Sieg going into turn three for the lead.

Lap 26 saw another yellow flag waving after contact between Bill Rutherford and Paul Dart. With 16 laps to go, Hector had Stewart and Ogle in his rearview mirror for the restart. The trio stayed close to each other, having to negotiate through lapped cars.

A four-lap shootout was the result of a late-race caution flag. However, Hector had the luxury of having two lapped cars between him and Stewart, who was running second at the time. After taking two laps to get around the lapped cars, Stewart had little chance of catching Hector. Hector dashed across the finish line in first. He was followed by Stewart and Ogle. Paul Dart and Ephrata's Dan Martin took fourth and fifth.

The All State Electrical CROW sprint cars took to the asphalt for a 25-lap main event. Tom Beierman of Ephrata set the pace to the green. Beierman took the early lead, holding on to the point for four circuits around the high-banked track. Soap Lake's Paul Dart started fifth and took the lead on lap five by passing Beierman on the high side as the pair raced down the backstretch.

Two laps later, Mike Fought of Othello ducked under Beierman for the second spot. Fought reeled in Dart and passed him for the lead on lap 13. But Dart wasn't content to be the first loser. He returned the favor to Fought, regaining the lead three laps later. Fought stayed close, but didn't have enough to get by Dart again.

Dart earned the victory with Fought on his tail. Kevin Hill of Ephrata had a great run and took the third spot. Wilson Creek's Kurt Myers finished fourth with Beierman in tow for a fifth-place finish.

The Ephrata Pioneer Muffler II hornets had a large number of cars for the 20-lap main event. Soap Lake's Nathan Schell took the lead and held it for the first four laps. Othello's Sid White scooted into the lead on lap five after starting the race in the ninth position.

White would go unchallenged to easily take the checkered flag. Ephrata's Jeremy Lodi had to fight through traffic to earn the second spot in the finishing order. Third went to Chris McCart of Moses Lake. Fourth and fifth were taken by Rod Julian and Schell.

Stuart Barger continued to dominate the Jerry's Auto Supply hobby stocks. After Josh MacKensie took the early lead in the 20-lap main event, Barger quickly moved into second place behind MacKensie. The pair was nose to tail for several laps. When MacKensie drifted high coming out of turn two, Barger seized the opportunity and drove under MacKensie for the lead on lap eight.

Meanwhile, another battle was being waged between Patrick Canady and Derrick Kapalo, both of Ephrata. Canady was able to keep the third spot until lap 11. Barger was the first to drive under the checkered flag; something he is getting used to this season. MacKensie was second with Kapalo a distant third. Canady and Glen Hector finished fourth and fifth.

Pepsi Challenge Series

Fast Time: Jason Ogle, 15.70 seconds

B Dash: 1. Ron Stewart

A Dash: 1. Bart Hector

B Heat: 1. Nick Sieg 2. Bill Rutherford 3. Chris Gooch 4. Brad Morrison

A Heat: 1. Ron Stewart 2. Bart Hector 3. Jason Ogle 4. Tom Wentz

Main Event: 1. Bart Hector 2. Ron Stewart 3. Jason Ogle 4. Paul Dart 5. Dan Martin 6. Nick Sieg 7. Jeff Lodi 8. Bill Rutherford 9. Tom Wentz 10. Chris Gooch 11. John Marthini 12. Glen Hastings 13. Rick Bretches 14. Terri McCart 15. Brad Morrison 16. JR Miner

AllState Electrical Inc. Columbia River Sprint Cars (CROW)

Fast Time: Whitney Nolan, 12.94 seconds

B Dash: 1. Robbie Patterson

A Dash: 1. Mike Fought

Heat: 1. Robbie Patterson 2. Mike Fought 3. Paul Dart 4. Tom Beierman

Main Event: 1. Paul Dart 2. Mike Fought 3. Kevin Hill 4. Kurt Myers 5. Tom Beierman 6. Adam Roduner 7. Robbie Patterson 8. Whitney Nolan 9. Justin Winningham

Jerry's Auto Supply Hobby Stocks

Fast Time: Stuart Barger, 16.50 seconds

Dash: 1. Derrick Kapalo

Heat: 1. Stuart Barger 2. Patrick Canady 3. Glen Hector 4. Josh MacKensie

Main Event: 1. Stuart Barger 2. Josh MacKensie 3. Derrick Kapalo 4. Patrick Canady 5. Glen Hector 6. Jason Ray

Ephrata Pioneer II Muffler Hornets

Fast Time: Chris McCart, 17.80 seconds

B Dash: 1. Fred Moore

A Dash: 1. Sid White

B Heat: 1. Dustin Kapalo 2. Nathan Schell 3. Jeremy Block 4. Jonathan Snider

A Heat: 1. Josh Hector 2. Fred Moore 3. Sid White 4. Rod Julian

Main Event: 1. Sid White 2. Jeremy Lodi 3. Chris McCart 4. Rod Julian 5. Nathan Schell 6. Josh Hector 7. Dustin Kapalo 8. Fred Moore 9. Eddie Razey 10. John Olsick 11. Jeremy Block 12. David Wallace 13. Jonathan Snider 14. #9 15. Kenny Brown