Penny Gold Rush, NASCAR Racing On Tap This Saturday
At Coos Bay Speedway

Coos Bay, Oregon...One thing about Coos Bay Speedway is it's all about bringing families together for some great racing action. This Sunday night, First Community Credit Union is sponsoring Kids Penny Gold Rush. Kids grab as many pennies as they can, and the one who collects the most wins a $25 gift card. Plus, they get all the free money they can grab as there will be $300 worth of pennies.

Action on the track will include the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late Models, Sportsman Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Outlaws, Hornets and the new Junior Stingers division for competitors 7 to 14 years old.

The NASCAR prize offered at the end of the season is $3,000 to the track champion and $2,000 to the state champion for the Super Late Model division. This means a driver can win $5,000 by season's end. After three events, last season's Sportsman Late Model champion Brody Montgomery leads Chris Ray by 16 points. Montgomery has two feature victories. Since he made seven starts and ranked sixth in the Super Late Model standings last year, Montgomery isn't available for the $1,000 prize to the top rookie in the field. At the moment, fourth ranked Richard Wallace is the top driver in the group who has never had a NASCAR license before. That puts him in line for the rookie bonus, and he is only eight points behind Thor Kristensen in a close race for third in the standings.

With Montgomery making a clean break from the Sportsman Late Model class, it's Dyllan Siewell doing his best to keep two-time champion Wayne Butler out of the lead. Siewell is the only driver with four Top 5 finishes, including one win. Because three-time winner Wayne Butler had a bad night, he finds himself trailing by 44 points. Just four points behind Butler is the steady Charlie Withers. Tom Williams has competed in several different classes at the speedway and he is only two points behind Withers in a closer battle for third.

Ken Fox is off to a great start with his win in the season opener and three seconds. He has a commanding lead in the championship chase. Troy Chamberlain is a one-time winner so far this season, and he leads David Smith by two points and Jeff Thurman by six in the race for second. 2016 champion Daniel Land and Steve Dubisar are the other winners so far this year, and both are anticipated this week. Land competed in The Iron Giant Series last week and picked up a fifth place finish in a very competitive 21 car field.

Sam Talon has three Mini Outlaw wins, but he still only leads one time winner John Henry by 16 points. Talon won last week. Meanwhile, Jason Kellum leads longtime racer Carl Johnson by six points in a good race for third in the standings.

April Warmack took advantage of a bad night by David Pellam to gain the Hornet point lead by just two points. This close battle finds rookie Kylea Krossman just four points out of the lead, while one time winner Hannah Robison is six points back. Braden Fugate picked up his second win of the season last week and will be looking for number three this week. Other drivers to watch for include Tyler Tullos, Chris Parker, Tanner Johnson and Andrew Grisham.

The track is always looking for ways to get new drivers into the field, and the Jr Stinger division was created during the offseason for just that purpose. It puts drivers from the age 7 to 14 into their own Hornet division. Griff Smith made the first event, all by himself, and he made some good laps. He is hoping for some competition this week.

Saturday night will offer an opportunity for kids to win some money and will offer the fans a great variety of NASCAR racing once again. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us.


Barraza Unstoppable In interstate Sprint Car Series Race
At Coos Bay Speedway

Coos Bay, Oregon...May 19 ..Kyler Barraza won the 25 lap Interstate Sprint Car Series Main Event Saturday night at Coos Bay Speedway. Barraza is a past Coos Bay Speedway champion and the reigning champion in Medford. Coos Bay has always been one of his favorite tracks to race, and he was fast all night. Barraza won the race by nearly a straight away over Tyler Thompson. Tyrell Mead was a strong third ahead of David Hibbard, Kinzer Cox, Camden Robustelli, Mike Crawford, Bailey Hibbard, Hedge Carter and Shane Forte.

There might have been some question as to how many competitors would be at the speedway for the newly revived series, but visitors from the Medford, Cottage Grove and Roseburg areas swelled the Sprint Car count to 22 cars. Barraza was the only driver to qualify in the 13 second bracket with a fast lap 13.787. He won his eight lap heat race ahead of Thompson. Tyrell Mead won his heat by a comfortable margin ahead of Bailey Hibbard and the final heat race win went to two-time champion Dave May ahead of Brett McGhie.

Wayne Butler battled point leader Dyllan Siewell to win the 20 lap Sportsman Late Model feature. Tom Williams settled for third ahead of Charlie Withers. However, Williams won the five lap Trophy Dash. Siewell picked up the victory in the 10 lap heat race.

Two-time reigning champion Sam Talon swept the five lap Trophy Dash, ten lap heat race and 15 lap Main Event for the Mini Outlaw class. Talon had some pressure from Carl Johnson, who settled for a very close second. John Carpenter finished third ahead of Jason Kellum.

Steve Dubisar made his first Street Stock start of the season and won the five lap Trophy Dash, 10 lap heat race and 10 lap Main Event. Point leader Ken Fox finished second in all three races.

Braden Fugate became the fourth different 20 lap Hornets Main Event winner in as many races. Fugate took full advantage of his pole position start to lead all the way and win by a straightaway in front of Steven Crawford. Chuck Peck made his debut with a third place finish, followed by April Warmack, Hannah Robison, Tyler Tullos, Tanner Johnson, Kylea Krossman, Chris Parker and Andy Austin. Robison won the five lap Trophy Dash, while Crawford and Fugate were the 10 lap heat race winners.

The track continues to put smiles on the faces of the children. On Saturday night, several bikes were given away to lucky winners. The track also gave out Hot Wheels to the first 100 kids through the gates.

Racing returns next Saturday night, and it's Kids Night Penny Gold Rush. A full lineup of divisions includes the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Super Late Models, Sportsman Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Outlaws, Hornets and Junior Stingers. For further information, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us.