The second race of the 2007 Washington State Fall Championship Series was held at the beautiful and fast Emerald City Speedway. Seventeen racers from the east and west side of the state as well as a couple from Oregon showed up for the hunt for series points after a great first race at Wilderness Hills Speedway.

The day started with open practice followed by 1-minute qualifiers. Three racers qualified in the 3.7's and backed up their fast times. Mike Neeley took top honors with a 3.755 with Gary Beedle just .001 behind him. Dean Tweeddale was third a few hundredths back showing how to get it done on his home course.

Once qualifying was completed it was on to the 2-minute heats of the Preliminary round. In HOPAC racing the Pros and Amateurs compete together based upon their qualifying times. Competing together in the Preliminary seems to have really benefited the Amateurs by improving their racing skills.

Up first in the D Prelim round robin was Walt Moon, Chris Norman, Larry Norman, Jim Trusty, and Chris Tucker. Walt Moon set the bar early with 100 laps while Father and Son racers Larry and Chris Norman battled for 2nd with son Chris barely edging out Dad on the same lap.

Bryan Henden, Glenn Shaw, Randy Chinn, and Darin Snow (L to R on right) were next up in the C Prelim. Bryan and Randy really battled it out in this one. This was yet another very close G-Jet race with Bryan winning it with 106 laps just getting in front of Randy at the very end. Close behind were Darin and Glenn with 105 and 104 laps respectively.

The B Prelim featured Marty Bauer, Joe Mendoza, Dave Rock, and Bryan Jacobsen (L to R on left). Marty took a one lap lead in the first heat, waned a little in blue lane, and then put it away with 28 laps in yellow to win with 105 laps. Dave followed closely with 103 laps and Bryan Jacobsen and Joe finished with 98 and 95 respectfully.

The A Prelim set the bar high for the rest with Gary Beedle, Mike Neeley, Dean Tweeddale, and Mike King. Gary took the win with 113 commanding laps with Mike Neeley edging out Dean by 4 inches with 111 laps for each of them. Mike King followed up with 108 laps, for the second highest lap count among the amateurs.

With the prelims finished, it was time to get busy and compete for the points and the trophies. But first there was a quick break for some vittles and there was a plenty. Gourmet Chili Dogs were on the menu with all the fixins' you could ask for. Dean had made 3 gallons of homemade chili and served it up with 1/4 pound gourmet polish dogs. Good and hearty for a cool fall day… and yet it didn't come back and haunt us until the Pro A-main. Lunch was followed by homemade pie and ice cream with special thanks to Scale Autos own Vickie Fisher. We don't quite know how Dean talked her into this treat but we gladly ate almost all of it up. We were all stuffed but it was time to get back to racing. The upcoming Mains were 5 minute heats so there was still a lot of racing to be had.

The Amateur E Main had Jim Trusty, Larry Norman, Chris Tucker, and Chris Norman (L to R above) fighting for a single move up spot. Jim and Chris diced it up in the first heat with Chris taking over in the blue lane for a 1 lap lead early on. After that it was all Jim Trusty with 64 laps in yellow and he never looked back winning the race with 251 laps. Chris Norman got the better of Dad one more time with 243 laps, followed by Chris Tucker with 234 laps and Larry with 232.

The D-Main consisted of 13 year-old Bryan Jacobsen, Dave Rock, Jim Trusty, and Walt Moon. There would be two move ups from this race to the C-main so the pressure was mounting. Bryan Jacobsen set the pace early with Dave staying right with him through the first 2 heats. Heat 3 saw Bryan take a 2 lap lead and he never looked back with Dave holding onto the second move up spot. We don't know exactly what the driver of Walt's car was gesturing out the window but maybe you'll see it in the picture.

Bryan Jacobsen and Dave Rock joined Glenn Shaw and Marty Bauer in the C-Main (below). Bryan and Glenn started off with 67 laps each. Marty had trouble in blue to go down by 7 laps and no one would give it back the rest of the race, we think he might be haunted by Dean's track. Again, there would only be 2 move ups to the B-Main and this race was all Bryans, with Glenn and Dave going at it for second and the final move up spot. When the final seconds went by it was Bryan and Glenn emerging from the race for the move up to the B-Main.

The B-main was the best race of the day with Randy Chinn, Bryan Jacobsen, Mike King, and Glenn Shaw in a 3 out of 4 shootout for move-ups to the A-Main. Glenn had a narrow lead for the first two heats. But at the end of the third heat, Randy, Bryan, and Glenn were all on the same lap with 204 completed, and Mike King down by 3 laps going into the blue gutter lane. In the 4th heat Randy Chinn was steady throughout and took the win with 272 laps, followed closely by Bryan with 271, and Mike King having a phenomenal finish in blue to take the final move-up spot over Glenn. Only two laps separated the field at the end of the B-Main!

The stage was set for the A-Main where we had Mike Neeley, Randy Chinn, Bryan Jacobsen, and Mike King racing for the wood. This was Mike Neeley's race from the start, taking the early lead in blue lane and then cranking it up with 72 laps in white. Mike finished with a 10 lap victory over his grandson Bryan. Bryan did some great running of his own with 269 laps to finish 1 lap ahead of 3rd place Randy Chinn. Mike King, finishing fourth, was just one lap back with 267.

Five Pros had again shown up for the day, which meant one racer was going to finish early. Gary Beedle, having won the Pro Preliminary was automatically seeded into the A-main. The B-Main was made up of Dean Tweeddale, Darin Snow, Bryan Henden, and Joe Mendoza to duke it out and see which 3 would move up to the A-Main. Darin jumped out to a 1 lap lead in the first 5-minute heat with both Bryan and Dean down by just a lap in the gutters. Dean got into the white lane and poured it on followed closely by Darin and Bryan. Joe had some trouble in the yellow lane and couldn't get back into it. At the end of the race Dean finished on top with 279 laps, followed by Darin and Bryan to fill out the move-up to the A-Main.

The pro main was set with "The Guru" taking a one-lap lead driving in the yellow lane with Dean and Darin in hot pursuit with 69 laps each. Gary and Dean blistered off laps in the 3.7's and 8's to pull away, but it was Gary Beedle lighting it up in the red lane with 76 laps and leaving the rest to fight for second place. Gary with a total of 291 laps overall. Dean came in second with 283 laps followed by Darin with 274 laps for third and Henden finished forth with 201 laps.

With the racing finished it was time for the awards and door prizes. The chili by now had kicked in and it was a fragrant affair. Special thanks to every one that brought donations for the raffle. We had a great selection of prizes to be won in the drawing including the much coveted Santa racing slot cars ornament.

It was another great day of racing with yet another phenomenal amateur turnout. The next race in the series will bring us to Steve Stauffer's Oasis Speedway on November 17th where we'll be racing on the brand new 4 x 16 six lane Brystal Scorpion track. This track had its debut at the G3 Championships in the polymer class but this will be its first G-Jet race. We hope to see you there!

More Images from the race are below:

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