Race 4 at Mt. Si Speedway

by Steve Stauffer


The racers gathered for the fourth and final race of the 2007 Washington State Fall Championship series; the top spots in the Amateur and Pro divisions had already been determined; Mike Neeley and Gary Beedle had dominated the series in their respective divisions. The real race was for 2nd through 4th place. Only after the A mains in both divisions were done and the dust had settled were the final three positions determined, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.


The day started with one minute qualifying on a perfectly groomed Mt. Si Speedway. Mike Neeley had the hot lap of the day with a 3.990, the only racer to break the 4 second mark. With the qualifying done it was time to move on to the Prelims.

Steve Stauffer, Larry Norman and Glenn Shaw duked it out in the D Prelim. Steve took the top spot in the D Prelim with 4 heats of 24, for a total of 96 laps. Larry, a hair slower finished with 92 laps and Glenn Shaw rounded out the Prelim with 89 laps.

The C Prelim featured a knock down drag out between Dave Rock, Mike King, and Chris Tucker. Dave and Mike battled for 4 heats and both ended up with 95 laps; Dave just barely edged Mike out for the top spot. Chris would have been right in the thick of it but had a problem in the second heat and finished with 88 laps.

The B Prelim would end up determining the top qualifier for the Amateur division and tighten the race for who would end up in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place in the series. Bryan Jacobsen, Randy Chinn, Joe Mendoza and Jim Trusty were in store for an epic battle. Randy took off fast in the first two heats followed closely by Bryan. A tough yellow lane for Randy helped Bryan coast to a 104 lap finish and the top spot in the B Prelim and the top Amateur qualifier, which meant he got 2 extra points. Randy finished with 100 laps. Joe finished with 97 and Jim was close behind with 95 laps.

The A Prelim pitted Darin Snow, Dean Tweeddale and Marty Bauer. Mike Neeley missed the Prelim which relegated him to the bottom of the pack for D Main. Darin and Dean both started hot, but home field advantage went to track owner Darin when Dean could only get 23 laps in yellow. Darin made 26 laps and finished the Prelim with 105 laps and the top qualifier as Pro. Dean finished with 104 laps and Marty ended up with 101 laps.

With the Prelims done it was time to separate the Amateurs and Pros. The Pro A Main featured. Darin Snow, Dean Tweeddale, Steve Stauffer, and Joe Mendoza. How they finished in this race would determine how they finished in the series. Gary Beedle had already sewed up the top spot in the series, so he decided to sit out this race and watch the other racers battle it out. Mathematically; Snow, Tweeddale and Stauffer each had a shot at 2nd place, while Mendoza had an outside chance at breaking into fourth place and leaving one of the other three without series wood. The pace was fast. Tweeddale broke out to a 2 lap lead after the first heat with 67 laps. Stauffer and Snow both trailed with 65 laps. Mendoza finished the first heat with 62 laps. At the midway point of the race Dean still held a one lap lead with 131 laps. Darin was second with 130. Steve was third with 128 laps and Joe had fallen a bit of the pace with 119 laps. With home field advantage Darin made his move in the third heat, picking up the one lap and adding 4 more Darin moved into first with 195 laps. Dean had a difficult yellow lane and dropped 4 laps and ended the heat with 191 laps. Steve kept the pressure on Dean with a 62 lap heat in white lane and after 3 heats was only one behind Dean with 190 laps. After 3 heats Joe had 178 laps. With a 4 lap lead Darin coasted to a 258 lap victory. Dean kept Steve in his rear view mirror and took 2nd place. Steve finished 3 laps behind Dean with 250 laps and 3rd place, while Joe rounded out the field with 234 laps and fourth place. What does this all mean for the series, well you'll have to wait till after the Amateurs run their race.


The Amateur D Main featured; Mike Neeley, Larry Norman, Glenn Shaw and Chris Tucker. The top racers would advance to the C Main. Mike took off at a blistering pace that no one else could follow. The real race was for the second move up position. The racing was close through 3 heats. Going into the 4th heat Larry held a five lap lead over Glenn and Chris, who both had 162 laps. Larry kept the pressure on and Glenn and Chris had difficult heats. Mike won with 258 laps. Larry took second with 224 laps. Glenn finished third with 213 laps and Chris ended up with 196 laps.

Dave Rock and Mike King joined Mike and Larry in the Amateur C Main. Again it looked like Mike Neeley had been shot out of a rocket. No one else was even close. Again there were two move ups available and the race was on for the second coveted spot. This time the race was between Mike King and Dave Rock. Both racers had smooth steady races. The major difference was the white lane. Mike made 5 more laps in white than Dave, and that was the difference in the race. Mike King took 2nd place in the main with 240 laps. Dave Rock was third with 235 laps. Larry Norman was fourth with 219 laps. And the top spot went to Mike Neeley with 263 laps.

The two Mikes moved up and joined Randy Chinn and Jim Trusty in the Amateur B Main. And once again the real race was for second place and the second move up. This time the race for second was between Mike King and Randy Chinn. Randy held a 4 lap lead over Mike King as they headed into the 4th and final heat. Randy had an unfortunate turn of events that led Mike King to a 4 lap victory over Randy for the final move up to the Amateur A Main. Mike Neeley won the B Main with 258 laps. Mike King was second with 241 laps. Randy was third with 237 laps, and Jim Trusty was fourth with 218 laps.

Once again the two Mikes moved up and they joined Bryan Jacobsen and Marty Bauer in the Amateur A Main. Mike Neeley had already sealed the deal on the top spot for the series so the real race was for the next 3 positions. As the race started Mike Neeley did the same thing he had done in the first 3 mains; he put a whole lot of distance between him and the rest of the field. Marty, Bryan and Mike battled it out. After the first heat Mike King held a 2 lap lead over Bryan, who held a 1 lap lead over Marty. At the half way mark Mike King held a slim 1 lap lead over Bryan and Bryan had stretched his lead over Marty by 3 laps. In the 3rd heat Mike King dropped a little off the pace and Marty and Bryan took advantage. Bryan posted 66 laps and after 3 heats was leading with 194 laps. Marty picked up a lap on Bryan and had a total of 192 after 3 heats. Mike King was still in it, being only 1 lap down at 191. The fourth and final heat is what legends are made from. After 4 and a half minutes Marty had picked up two laps. Marty and Bryan were on the same lap, dicing back and forth. There was a flurry of offs, but still both drivers were neck and neck. When the track power went off the cars slid to a stop with Marty just nosing out Bryan for 2nd place by less than an eighth of an inch. In the end Mike Neeley finished with 267 laps for first. Marty took second with 255 laps. Bryan, an eighth inch back took third with 255 laps and Mike King took 4th with 249 laps.

Now that the racing was done it was time for the race directors get out their calculators and figure out who took 2nd through 4th in the series.

In the Amateur division; Mike Neeley took first place in the series with a total of 79 points. Based upon his eighth inch victory Marty Bauer took second place in the series with a total of 67 points. With Bryan Jacobsen getting 2 extra points for his Top Qualifier for the day he edged Randy Chinn for the third place honors in the series with 65 points. Randy Chinn ended up taking home the fourth place in the series with 63 points.

In the Pro division; Gary Beedle took the top honors for the series with a total of 79 points. Dean Tweeddale took second place in the series with his second place finish for the day. Dean finished the series with 71 points. Darin Snow sealed up third place in the series with his first place finish and top qualifier points. Darin had 69 points for the series. Steve Stauffer took home fourth place for the series with 63 points.

Larry Norman won the Best Appearing Race Car competition for the series. Larry's two wins were enough to edge out Dean Tweeddale for the top spot. Dave Rock was a close third in the series.

The series is over, but the racing continues. Don't miss out on the local racing taking place January through April and the Oregon HOPAC taking place on the third Saturdays of January, February and March. See you at the track


More Images from the race and Series Awards are below:



Being that this was a NASCAR race even James Brown showed up



Darin invited the Hooters girl and we think she found Mike's ticklish spot



If you go to Mt. Si Speedway there is no doubt that it's NASCAR time



Randy Chinn preparing for the race



Jim and Chris watching the Hooters girl walk in



Gary and Dean figuring out which body to race



Dave "The Rockinator" Rock ready for the racing to begin



We had tons of race prizes for the raffle





1st Place Amateur - Mike Neeley (left)



2nd Place Amateur - Marty Bauer (left)



3rd Place Amateur - Bryan Jacobsen (left)



4th Place Amateur - Mike King (right)





1st Place Pro - Darin Snow (right)



2nd Place Pro - Dean Tweeddale (left)



3rd Place Pro - Steve Stauffer (left)



4th Place Pro - Joe Mendoza (left)






Four Race Series Awards



1st Place Amateur - Mike Neeley (left)



2nd Place Amateur - Marty Bauer (left)



3rd Place Amateur - Bryan Jacobsen (left)



4th Place Amateur - Randy Chinn (left)





1st Place Best Appearing Race Car - Larry Norman (left)



2nd Place Best Appearing Race Car - Dean Tweeddale (left)



3rd Place Best Appearing Race Car - Dave Rock (left)





1st Place Pro - Gary Beedle (left)



2nd Place Pro - Dean Tweeddale (left)



3rd Place Pro - Darin Snow (left)



4th Place Pro - Steve Stauffer (right)


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