Local Washington Hero, Jake Mann wins SuperMod Feature at WVSO August 11th

by Gerald Laurie

August 11th 2007(Wenatchee, WA)- The ASA/WSS Supers are versatile enough to run the half mile at Spokane on Friday and turn around the next night to run the wide quarter mile banks at WVSO. With three engine failures on Friday, there were but twelve Supers in the pits at Wenatchee. Practice times were in the low eleven second bracket with Troy Regier, Brian Warf, and Jim Birges among the fastest.

Time Trials for the Supermodifieds started at 6:35 PM after qualifications for two of the local stock car classes. Troy Regier(98 ) was the last to take the green and set a fast time of 11.071 seconds. Rick Veenstra(91) was next fastest at 11.194, followed by Jim Birges(32) at 11.358, Amy Barnes(67) at 11.418, and Dale Lamborn(48 ) at 11.462.

The Trophy Dash lined up with Jake Mann on the pole followed by Dale Lamborn, Amy Barnes and Jim Birges. Lamborn took the lead in turn two of the first lap over Mann, Birges and Barnes. Birges took second on lap two and Barnes snagged third at the lap four checkers.

Heat one lined up with Martin McKeefery on the pole followed by Kirk Wartman, Amy Barnes, Brian Warf, and Rick Veenstra. McKeefery took the initial lead followed by Wartman, Warf, Barnes and Veenstra. And that is how they finished.

Heat two featured Jake Mann, Eric Silsby, Jim Birges, Dale Lamborn, and Rick Cameron. At the green Mann led over Silsby, Lamborn, Birges, and Cameron. Although Birges made several runs at Lamborn, he was unable to complete the pass. The final lap order was identical to the first lap.

Regier and Hamilton both missed their heat race. After effecting repairs, both came out between the stock car features to check out repairs. Regier made about half a lap at speed and then rolled to a stop in turn one with fuel gushing from the car. A driveline failure damaged the fiting going into the fuel pump and other accessories driven off the back of the engine. The 98 was pushed back to the pits and the scramble for parts began. Hamilton’s test was more successful.

The line up for the feature inverted the top six putting Jake Mann on the pole followed by Brian Warf, Dale Lamborn, Amy Barnes, Jim Birges and Rick Veenstra. The remainder of the field consisted of Martin McKeefery, Eric Silsby, Kirk Wartman, Rick Cameron, and Ken Hamilton. The 98 car of Troy Regier was unable to answer the call.

Mann took the lead at the start with Warf, Barnes, Lamborn, and Birges in pursuit. Birges took fourth on lap two and the order remained static for several laps. Mann began to build a lead and Barnes began pushing hard to get around Warf. Cameron headed for the pits on lap nine after being lapped. At ten laps, the order was Mann, Warf, Barnes, Birges, and Lamborn.

There were no changes until lap twenty one when Birges made a bonzai move on the outside to move from fourth to second. He began reeling in Mann and Mann was quickly catching Ken Hamilton to lap him. Barnes was all over Warf for third place when they made contact in turn three on lap twenty five and ended up in the wall. During the red flag, Hamilton entered the pits(he was already the last car on the lead lap so he lost nothing when he came back after the red flag to clean up the mess).

Birges tried to pass high on the restart but the order at half way was Mann, Birges, Laamborn, Veenstra, and Silsby. The yellow flew again on lap twenty nine when McKeefery slowed dramatically on the backstretch. On the restart, Birges feinted high and then did a cross over to take the lead only to have the start recalled by the flagman (Things that make you go Hmmmmmm!!!!!). Of course Mann covered the bottom on the next restart and remained in the lead By lap forty, Birges was reeling in Mann again when Silsby spun off turn four on lap forty two to flash the caution again. This moved Wartman to fifth on the restart. Silsby charged back from the rear but could get back into the top five. Jake Mann was the winner over Birges, Lamborn, Veenstra and Wartman.

From a hotel adjacent to the mighty Columbia River, I am a thousand miles from home and I am The Racing Widow’s Husband.

Wenatchee Valley Super Oval – ASA – Western States Supermodifeds

Qualifications: 1. Troy Regier(9, 11.071; 2. Rick Veenstra(91), 11.194; 3. Jim Birges(32), 11.358; 4. Amy Barnes(67), 11.418; 5. Dale Lamborn(4, 11.462; 6. Brian Warf(19), 12.472; 7. Jake Mann(51), 11.513; 8. Martin McKeefery(27), 11.517; 9. Eric Silsby(66), 11.585; 10. Kirk Wartman(96), 11.610; 11. Rick Cameron(24), 12.625; 12. Ken Hamilton(01), N/T.


Dash: 1. Lamborn; 2. Birges; 3. Barnes; 4. Mann.

Heat 1: 1. McKeefery; 2. Wartman; 3. Warf; 4. Barnes; 5. Veenstra.

Heat 2: 1. Mann; 2. Silsby; 3. Lamborn; 4. Birges; 5. Cameron.

Feature: 1. Mann; 2. Birges; 3. Lamborn; 4. Veenstra; 5. Wartman; 6. Silsby; 7. McKeefery, 8. Hamilton; 9. Warf; 10. Barnes; 11. Cameron

http://www.supermodifiedscorecard.com/main/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=475