7/24/2021
Southern Oregon Speedway
Ryan Peery Wins PSM Showdown Preliminary Night; Wheeler And A. Hedges Also Score Victories
Ryan Peery Wins PSM Showdown Preliminary Night; Wheeler And A. Hedges Also Score Victories
By Stephanie Deatherage
White City, Oregon- Southern Oregon Speedway hosted the first of two nights of the Pacific Sport Mod Showdown on Friday, July 23rd. It was a big night for the Dusty's Transmissions IMCA Northern Sport Mods which attracted forty-three entries to the White City facility. Also in action were the World Famous Autos Sprint Cars and Mini Stocks.
Ryan Peery took care of business in the Dusty's Transmissions IMCA Northern Sport Mod main event. The only thing to slow him down was four stoppages throughout the feature. It emphasized perfection on the restarts with all the yellows but not on lapped traffic due to the stop-and-go nature of the race. On the final green flag, the young Peery was kept company by Tanner Thomas, of Atwater, California, with six laps remaining.
The Yreka, California teenager of Peery, kept a steady course as he went on to score his seventh main event victory of the season but his first at Southern Oregon Speedway and in KMJ Performance Oregon State competition. It is his first triumph since sweeping the Independence Day doubleheader at Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville, California. He is the third winner in five races at Southern Oregon in 2021.
Tanner Thomas was a respectable second with the third-place position credited to Brian Cooper, from Yuba City, California. Travis Peery, also of Yreka, California and the winner's father, earned fourth, followed by fifth finishing Atwater, California native Chase Thomas. Two consolation features were run with wins going to Brentwood, California veteran Fred Ryland, and Daniel Ray from Springfield.
In the World Famous Autos Sprint Car feature, Jake Wheeler was on rails. The Central Point standout seized control of the top spot on the opening start. The race went relatively incident-free throughout the course of the main event, but Wheeler did experience a brief scare.
On lap nineteen, Jake got a little out of shape in the final set of turns and nearly got into the wall and upside down. He managed to force his mount back under control but, in the process, sacrificed the top place position. As Wheeler tried to get back up to speed, Bailey Hibbard, also from Central Point, motored his way by, in the lead.
The two drivers would battle it out fiercely, with Hibbard and Wheeler getting in close proximity to each other in the first set of corners on lap twenty. Unfortunately, Hibbard got into the wall ending his bid for the win. Wheeler would be put back into the coveted top spot. There he would remain to win for the first time in 2021 at SOS and became the third different winner in as many races in the division.
Camden Robustelli, from Medford and in the T.J. Winningham owned mount, and Grants Pass' R.J. McGahney were second and third in the finishing order. Enrique Jamie, of Medford, placed fourth while fifth at the wire was fellow Medford motorist Johnny Burke.
The Mini Stocks made their 2021 debut at Southern Oregon Speedway. Talent's David Steele obtained the lead on the initial start. A total of three stoppages took place, all within the first ten circuits. Steele would be hunted down and overtaken by lap five by Ashtin Hedges. Hedges, from White City, did not have any issues from there on out and was the first to the checkered flag.
David Steele was a respectable second with Hunter Magnen, from Klamath Falls scoring third. Tim Hedges and Medford's Garrett Fredrickson placed fourth and fifth.
Southern Oregon Speedway returns to racing on Saturday, July 24th, for Dusty's Transmission Night and the concluding round of the Pacific Sport Mod Showdown. Classes on the card include the Dusty's Transmission IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars, and Rapp Racing Late Mod 4's. For more information, check out the track website or Facebook page
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage