Rough Racing for All at Gray’s Harbor

Elma, WA — After a shaky start for all of the contenders, the staff of Gray’s Harbor Raceway came to the pits. They announced that sprint cars would be first in heat races due to considerable track damage that only seemed to worsen as the night went on.

The night’s format included the Ford Focus Midgets, modifieds, cruisers, hornets, and 360 sprint cars. From the pits, the sounds of silence breaking up each set of races was deafening, as it was assumed considerable wreckage was occurring. Several sprint drivers hiked to the tracks edge on their ATV’s, returning to their crews with their heads shaking that things didn’t look good.

Riding the coat-tails of a 410 win in Skagit, Seth was back in the Corridor Electric 360 at Elma. His place in the evening began in the 2nd heat, starting 5th and moving up only to be overtaken by Henry Van Dam at the last moment of the heat race. Seth’s finish in his heat secured a 10th slot starting place for the main event. After the running of the heats, the team made several adjustments to the car, prepping it for the main event in hopes of compensating for track conditions.

Then the grater came out and did several laps around the track, with the push-cars making several rounds to pack the same. Drivers from all of the main events walked, rode, and drove around the track, checking the latest conditions.

From the view of the stands in the pit area, the midgets began and did not complete a full lap before a horrendous crash occurred. The driver of the yellow #92 midget car swerved and ended up doing what seemed like countless cartwheels in the air, ending upside down with a final thud. The driver did not emerge on his own. Staff and an ambulance rushed to the scene, taking the driver carefully out of his car, securing his neck, and placing him on a stretcher. The ambulance carefully pulled off of the track, and fans awaited an update anxiously until another ambulance arrived and racing recommenced. The ambulance never left the raceway, so it was assumed the driver was not terribly injured. The race continued with another wreck near the end of the race, but the driver emerged safely to great applause.

The 360s emerged for their main event with Seth starting 10th. Seth started well and was able to get by Roger Crocket early in the race before an early caution came out for local driver Jay Cole. As racing resumed Seth found himself stuck behind drivers that were all over the track looking for the fastest line possible. On lap nine TJ Hartman got by Seth on the bottom section of turn four, and the two began a battle to overtake one another, each passing and re-passing each other on the various turns. On lap fourteen Seth hit a large rut coming into turn three and was able to stop the car in time before the wall. Bergman slowed to a stop and went to the pits to ensure everything was OK. As a result of debris coming off another sprint car, the drivers had to circle for a few more laps, allowing Bergman the chance to re-emerge on the track, taking the last spot on the track.

On the ensuing restart Seth drove with all out aggression as he fought his way through the field and was able to quickly get back up into eleventh position with some terrific passes on the top of both ends of the track. Thankfully, in spite of the track conditions and numerous wrecks, no sprint car drivers were seriously injured.

Next week promises a flurry of events, as Seth Bergman travels to Montana for Friday and Saturday events, returning to Elma on Sunday for the ASCS series. Monday at Elma brings the much-anticipated World of Outlaws tour.

For final results of August 24th’s race, check out http://www.graysharborraceway.net/RaceResults.htm