Racing trio gets first feature wins at Ephrata

EPHRATA — Saturday night at Ephrata Raceway Park, Whitney Nolan of Wenatchee had his best racing performance since joining the All State Electrical Inc., CROW sprint cars.

Nolan nearly pulled off a sweep in the winged open wheelers with a trophy dash and feature win. The main event victory was Nolan's first in the sprints.

Likewise, Ephrata's Jeff Hector earned his first main event victory in the Northwest Pro 4 Trucks, besting his uncle and defending Pro 4 truck champion, Bart Hector. Both Hectors pulled double duty as they competed in the Pepsi Cola street stocks also. The pair finished first and second, with Bart leading his nephew to the checkers.

Another first-time feature winner was Eddie Razey in the Pioneer Muffler II adult hornet division. Stuart Barger, who is no stranger to victory lane, took the main event win to add to his season points-leading effort in the Jerry's Auto Supply hobby stocks.

The Northwest Pro 4 Truck touring series paid the first of two visits to the Columbia Basin track with local racer Bart Hector leading the points championship. Doug Charles of Naches led the field of four-cylinder trucks to the green, leading the first lap of the 35-lap race.

But Ephrata's Jeff Hector, who started ninth on the grid, only needed one-and-a-half circuits around the high banks to take the lead from Charles. The mad dash to the front proved to be very advantageous for Jeff Hector as Bart Hector and 2005 series champion, Jason Majors of Puyallup, were bent on getting to the front in a hurry too.

At the midpoint of the race, Bart Hector was right on his nephew's rear bumper, trying the high groove to no avail. Once Majors maneuvered through the traffic and caught up with the Hectors, Bart tucked in behind Jeff, protecting his position.

With 10 laps remaining, Pete Brady of Tacoma joined the leaders to make a four-car chain. Jeff Hector remained cool and consistent, never leaving the door open for the others to scoot under him. Jeff Hector sped across the finish line for his first Pro-4 Truck main event victory with Bart Hector, Majors and Brady in tow. Mitch Jeske of Spokane rounded out the top five.

Nolan had a great night in the All State Electrical Inc., CROW sprint cars. The Wenatchee driver started on the outside of row one beside pole sitter Russell Root of Maltby.

Nolan shot down the backstretch to beat Root to turn 3 for the lead. Setting a blistering pace, Nolan began to pull away slightly. However, Kurt Myers of Wilson Creek and Robbie Patterson of Soap Lake began making up lost ground gradually.

Myers had his hands full during the late stages of the race as his winged sprinter seemed very loose. With four laps to go, Myers spun coming out of turn four, stopping just short of a berm set up in the infield for ERP's motocross series.

The ensuing caution flag bunched up the field, placing Patterson right behind Nolan. Nolan and Patterson both rocketed off of turn 4 for the restart with Nolan keeping the low groove. Patterson shot to the second groove, pitching his open wheel racer sideways, dirt track style.

However, Patterson could not keep up with Nolan's steady pace. Nolan flew under the flagstand to earn the checkered flag, taking his first CROW sprint car victory. Patterson was several car lengths behind and had to be content with a second-place finish.

Soap Lake's Paul Dart, who set the fast-lap time, seemed off his usual pace, yet salvaged a third-place finish. Kevin Hill, an Ephrata driver in his first season in sprint cars, had a strong performance and finished fourth. The winner of the last CROW meeting, Ephrata's Todd Lolkus, finished in the fifth position.

Ephrata drivers Jeff Hector and Jeremy Lodi led the Pepsi Cola street stocks to the green flag, with Hector gaining the advantage on the backstretch. With Hector in the lead, Lodi and Elvin Brincefield raced door to door with each other for the second spot until Brincefield completed the pass on lap four.

Meanwhile, Bart Hector was moving through the field quickly after starting at the back of the pack. Using the high groove, Bart Hector needed only nine laps to catch Jeff Hector and pass him for the lead. Both Hectors and Brincefield raced bumper to bumper while the battle for the fourth position was hotly contested by Lodi, Bill Rutherford of Moses Lake, Dan Martin of Ephrata, Ron Stewart of Moses Lake and Terri McCart of Ephrata.

The five-way battle for the fourth spot gave the fans close and exciting racing action. Martin and Stewart were able to use the second groove to work their way past the others. Then the pair closed the gap between them and the Hectors, but could not get past. The checkers waved for Bart Hector, as they have many times at the paved bullring. Jeff Hector, Martin, Stewart and Lodi all trailed right behind the winner.

The ERP fans needed limber necks to catch all the action in the Pioneer Muffler II adult hornets' main event. A large car count and daring driving tactics kept the ERP fans on the edge of the bleachers.

Ephrata's Chris McCart held the early lead until Jeremy Lodi caught up with him. Lodi, who seems to have an affinity for keeping the gas pedal on the floor and driving sideways in the fourth groove, wowed the crowd after moving from the back to the front in four laps. On lap eight, the rear of Lodi's car swung around too far and he looped it coming out of turn four. He was quick to get the car going again, and the flag man kept the yellow furled.

Eddie Razey inherited the lead and ran a great line. Meanwhile, Lodi was on a monstrous charge trying to get back to the front before the 20-lap event concluded. With less than six laps to go, Lodi was tapped in the rear and sent spinning in turn four, ending his bid for a great comeback. Razey earned his first hornet main event win. McCart took the second spot, while Royal City's Sid White took third.

This season, Stuart Barger has won all but one main event. However, the other drivers in the Jerry's Auto Supply hobby stocks are doing their best to end Barger's dominance.

Chris Costlow, a newcomer from Odessa, led the field to the stripe for the 20-lap main event. Costlow and Ephrata driver Patrick Canady battled briefly before Costlow assumed the lead.

On lap four, Derrick Kapalo of Ephrata ducked under Canady and then Costlow to take over the lead. While Kapalo extended his lead, Barger picked off the others one by one and then set his sights on Kapalo.

On lap 12, Barger was able to pull inside of Kapalo while they raced down the back chute. Barger won the drag race to turn three to take over as race leader. Barger took the victory easily with Kapalo getting the second spot. Billy Smith, Justin Winningham, and Costlow filled out the top five finishing positions, respectively.

Northwest Pro 4 Trucks

Fast Time: Jason Majors, 15.44 seconds

A Dash: 1. Pete Brady

B Dash: 1. Kevin Bell

A Heat: 1. Pete Brady 2. Jeff Hector 3. Bart Hector 4. Jason Majors

B Heat: 1. Denny Chain 2. Phil Lord 3. Doug Charles 4. Jerry Buell

Main Event: 1. Jeff Hector 2. Bart Hector 3. Jason Majors 4. Pete Brady 5. Mitch Jeske 6. Doug Charles 7. Jerry Buell 8. Mike Wiley 9. Phil Lord 10. Larry Hyde 11. Denny Chain DNS: Carl Scheffler and Kevin Bell

All State Electrical Inc. Columbia River

Sprint Cars (CROW)

Fast Time: Paul Dart, 12.93 seconds

B Dash: 1. Whitney Nolan

A Dash: 1. Todd Lolkus

Heat: 1. Kevin Hill 2. Whitney Nolan 3. Kurt Myers 4. Robbie Patterson

Main Event: 1. Whitney Nolan 2. Robbie Patterson 3. Paul Dart 4. Kevin Hill 5. Todd Lolkus 6. Kurt Myers 7. Russell Root DNS: Rally Root

Pepsi Cola Street Stocks

Fast Time: Dan Martin, 15.94 seconds

B Dash: 1. Nick Sieg

A Dash: 1. Ron Stewart

B Heat: 1. Jeff Hector 2. Elvin Brincefield 3. Nick Sieg 4. Terri McCart

A Heat: 1. Bill Rutherford 2. Bart Hector 3. Ron Stewart 4. Amanda MacDonald

Main Event: 1. Bart Hector 2. Jeff Hector 3. Dan Martin 4. Ron Stewart 5. Jeremy Lodi 6. Nick Sieg 7. Bill Rutherford 8. Terri McCart 9. Mike Wall 10. Brad Morrison 11. Elvin Brincefield 12. Amanda MacDonald

Jerry's Auto Supply

Hobby Stocks

Fast Time: Stuart Barger, 16.41 seconds

Dash: 1. Billy Smith

Heat: 1. Patrick Canady 2. Stuart Barger 3. Billy Smith 4. Justin Winningham

Main Event: 1. Stuart Barger 2. Derrick Kapalo 3. Billy Smith 4. Justin Winningham 5. Chris Costlow 6. Patrick Canady

Ephrata Pioneer II

Muffler Hornets

Dash 1: 1. Jeremy Lodi

Dash 2: 1. Fred Moore

Heat 1: 1. Jeremy Block 2. John Olsick 3. Brian Hahne 4. LaMar Dana

Heat 2: 1. Fred Moore 2. Rod Julian 3. Dustin Kapalo 4. Sid White

Main Event: 1. Eddie Razey 2. Chris McCart 3. Sid White 4. Fred Moore 5. Rod Julian 6. Dustin Kapalo 7. Jeremy Lodi 8. Jeremy Block 9. John Olsick 10. Josh Hector 11. Andrew Sonnenberg 12. Nathan Schell 13. Mike Beck 14. Brian Hahne 15. Jonathan Snider 16. LaMar Dana 17. Vern Hector 18. Evan Evans