NASCAR Racing Returns To Coos Bay Speedway Saturday night

Coos Bay, Oregon...The Whelen All American Series is back at the dirt oval at Coos Bay Speedway this Saturday night. In addition to that, there will be bike and Hot Wheel giveaways to some lucky kids. Featured divisions include the Super Late Models, Winged Sprint Cars, Sportsman Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Outlaws and Hornets.

Last season, Brody Montgomery was a force in the Sportsman Late Model division. While he was winning that championship, Montgomery also started competing in the Super Late Model division. This year, the young charger has set his sights on the Super Late Model championship. After three events, he has two Main Event victories. This has put him 16 points ahead of the steady Chris Ray. We also have a good battle going on for third between Thor Kristensen and Richard Wallace. Kristensen is leading that race by just eight points. We saw the season debut of Kristy Grout last time out as well as two-time Sportsman Late Model champion Wayne Butler.

For the Sprint Car division, this is also the opening weekend for the Interstate Sprint Car Series, and word is that we will be seeing some competitors from Cottage Grove for this race. Actually, a Cottage Grove competitor won the first race this season as young gun Ian Bandy outran Steven Snawder that night. The most recent win went to reigning champion Lawrence Van Hoof. However, a look at the point sheet finds rookie Kayla Green leading Brett Hulsey by four points. Green and Hulsey are the only drivers with two Top 5 finishes. Mike Crawford is only 12 tallies out of the lead, and other local competitors to watch for this week include past champion Dave May and Donovan Prather.

Wayne Butler is a two-time Sportsman Late Model champion, but he's not the one leading the points so far this season. Despite winning two Main Events, a bad night has left Butler 46 points behind Dyllan Siewell in the championship chase. Siewell is also a Main Event winner this season. Patrick Nagel made his debut in the most recent event but was done after the heat races. Charlie Withers and longtime speedway competitor Tom Williams are other drivers to watch for this week.

Ken Fox couldn't buy a win last season despite having a Top 3 point effort. He opened this season with a Main Event win. A two division racer last season,  Fox has been focused on his Street Stock ride, and he is the only driver with three Top 5 finishes in three starts. His other two finishes ended in second place. The battle is behind him as he holds a 62 point lead over Troy Chamberlain, who is one of the other Main Event winners this season. Chamberlain leads David Smith by two points and Jeff Thurman by six tallies. 2016 champion Daniel Land is the other feature winner.

Though two-time reigning Mini Outlaw champion Sam Talon is a two-time feature winner, he still chases one time winner John Henry in the point battle. Due to a non start, Talon trails Henry by 44 points. The battle should continue between these two this week, and other racers to watch for include Dan Daniels, Jason Kellum and Carl Johnson. Still yet to race this season is the potent VW Beetle of Rob Lauver.

In the Hornet division, "Hurricane" Hannah Robison finally broke through to get her first career feature victory last time out. Robison was third in the standings last season and figured to be one of the drivers to beat this year. Despite two bad nights this season, she is fourth in the standings, 20 behind the consistent David Pellum. Rookie Kylea Krossman is only 12 points out of lead, while "Lady Venom" April Warmack is 16 points back in third. Braden Fugate is the third different winner this season, and other racers to watch this week include Tyler Tullos, Chris Parker and Andrew Grisham.

There's a lot of fan friendly things happening at Coos Bay Speedway on any given week. Promoter Drake Nelson and his crew endeavor to make Saturday night at the races fun for everybody. This week should be no different. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us.