Mixed Results for Seth at ASCS Speedweek

It seems like it has been months since Seth and the team have stepped out on the track. At the conclusion of the Dirt Cup Seth decided to take an additional two weeks off to fully recover from the back injury he sustained on the opening night at Skagit Speedway.

Seth entered the week as the ASCS North West points leader after strong performances at Grays Harbor Raceway on Memorial weekend and was ready to continue his good form in the 360 as the team headed down the I-5 to Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford for the opening night of Speedweek 2008.

Seth started his heat race in eighth position, and as the green flag dropped he put on a tremendous pass on the top of the track to move up into fourth but to our disappointment the yellow came out for a false start. On the restart Seth tucked in behind the cars in front but it was difficult to pass as a result of the tight circuit. Seth scraped and battled and as the laps ticked over Seth was able to climb up into sixth position, but it wasn’t going to be enough to get to the A Main. As a result Seth started third on the grid for the first of two B-Main events with the top two transferring to the A-Main.

As the B-Main commenced Seth was hot on the heels of the leaders, but the power issues that plagued him in the heat race continued and he was unable to make any passes stick on the bottom or the top of the track. Seth tried everything he could to pass the leaders while fending off challenges from Travis Rutz behind, but it was to no avail and Seth finished the B-Main in third position.

Night two saw the team head to Cottage Grove Speedway and with the motor issues fixed from the night before he team was confident of a strong performance on one of Seth’s favorite tracks.

Seth was pitted in heat four against local Skagit drivers Jared Ridge and Jared Peterson. Seth started the race on the pole with Jared Ridge to his right. As the race commenced Seth got a bad start as Ridge slipped around him into turn one. Seth pushed hard to make up the deficit and as he entered turn three Seth lost traction going into the corner and crashed into the wall and fence on turn four. Thankfully Seth walked away from the wreck unscathed but the same could not be said for the car as it was destroyed, and the night and the week looked over.

With two nights completed Seth and the team decided to see if the car could be repaired so the week would not be a total loss. Steve Seth and Jeff stayed up all night and worked all day on Wednesday to put a brand new car together and managed to make it to Lebanon right before the entry deadline.

Seth drew the four ball for his heat race and was pitted against Mike Melwicks and Chad Groves. For those that have not been to Willamette Speedway it is a very small track and passing opportunities are limited. Seth started the race in great fashion as he put on a great pass on the bottom of turn one and moved into third. From that point it was pretty much single file racing as the moisture was on the bottom of the track. Seth finished the heat in third position but had accrued enough points to gain direct entry to the A-Main. It was a tremendous result for the team as less than 24 hours earlier the week looked lost.

The A-Main was set and Seth started the race in eleventh position. As racing commenced Seth stuck to the bottom of the track as he continued to look for the moisture that had been present in the earlier heat races. As laps passed a groove had formed on the top of the track and drivers began riding the top for better results. Seth battled hard in the middle of the pack but was not able to make any headway on those in front of him. To Seth’s credit he stayed out of trouble and finished the race where he started in eleventh. I was so proud of Seth and the team for the work they had done, and for me the eleventh position was as good as a top five finish.

With some confidence back Seth and the team headed up the I-5 to Sunset Speedway in Banks Oregon for night four. It was the first time most of the Northwest drivers had driven at this circuit and as I entered the track I turned to my family and said “Are you serious” as the track was no joke the size of running track. The track aside the Banks facility was great and it was a beautiful back drop with the rolling hills in the back ground.

Seth rolled out for heat one sitting in the fifth spot and with work to do. As the green dropped Seth ducked to the inside of the track and put on a great slide job and jumped from fifth up into third position and began the chase for Kyle Hirst from California who was in second. The drivers stuck to the bottom of the track and as I watched nine cars duke it out in the heat I asked myself how the hell were they going to fit 20 cars on this track. On lap five the caution came out and on the restart Seth put a slide job on Hirst to take second. From there he chased Chad Groves but was unable to get passed as he took home second place but picked up valuable passing points. At the conclusion of the heats Seth finished third in points and drew the four ball for the main event.

As twenty cars entered onto the track I was lost for words as the field stretched to the end of the back straight away at the commencement of the race. Seth ducked in behind the leaders early in the race and stuck to the bottom of the track. Like the previous night the middle and top of the circuit begun to get more hooked up but Jay Cole put a great pass to get by Seth into turn one on the bottom of the track on lap eight. As the race progressed Seth was able to get by Rob Held and moved back into fourth has the laps ticked over. With Seth pushing as hard as he could he was able to get up onto the bumper of Cole but laps ran out and the number twenty three finished the race in fourth.

It was hard to believe that we were nearly down and out after Tuesday night and just fourty eight hours later we had clawed our way back up the list in the overall points standings. With the disappointments behind the team Seth and the crew headed back up the I-5 to Elma in Washington for the closing two nights of Speedweek at Grays Harbor Raceway.Seth and the team were full of confidence after two strong performances and the good run continued as Seth drew the two ball for heat number three which saw him up against Travis Rutz, new ASCS points leader Jared Ridge and local driver Glen Borden Jnr. As the green dropped Seth tucked in behind leader John Tharp as the drivers raced away. It was long before Seth caught up to Tharp and was able to pass him easily on the bottom of turns one and two and from that point on he was never headed as he raced away from the field to take home a comfortable heat race victory.

With Seth’s second straight top eight finish after the heats we were hopeful for a favorable pill draw, and the team was smiling as Seth drew the two ball for the main event and started on the outside of former World of Outlaws champion Danny Lasoski.

The stage was set for the main event and as the green flag dropped Seth began the chase after Lasoski. As the car slid into turn one it was clear from the stands that there was a problem as those behind him were passing him at will. I have been to enough races to know that passing Seth is not an easy task so there was clearly a problem. Seth was all over the track looking for bite off the turns but it was clear he had no power, and as the laps ticked over he drifted back into the middle of the field. To Seth’s credit he fought as best as he could and he held on to finish the race in eleventh position.

Thankfully for Seth the points from Friday night carried over for Saturday so no matter what happened in the heats the team was pretty much guaranteed a spot in the main event.

As the final night of racing rolled around there were concerns from the fans in the stand that there was not enough water on the track as racing commenced. As drivers came out for hot laps there was a ridiculous amount of dust flying into the stands, but as hot laps finished drivers rolled out for the heat races with no water put down on the track.

Seth rolled out for heat one having drawn the one ball and the stage was set for the final night of Speedweek. As the green flag dropped Seth raced away for an early lead as Mike Melwicks chased close behind. On lap two slipped around Seth on turn one and took the lead. Seth continued to have power issues on the restarts and out of the corners as drivers were hot on his heels. The track was extremely dusty and was proving difficult to pass as a result of the one lane track. The caution came out on lap five and on the restart Henry Van Dam was able to go around Seth. Racing under green was proving difficult as two additional cautions came out and on each restart cars were able to get around the twenty three as power issues were clearly a problem as he finished the heat in sixth place..

As the heat races concluded Seth finished in ninth position in points, but the team was left with little time to figure out the problem that was causing the car to have very little power out of the corners.

The cars rolled out for the main event, and the fans in the stands were clearly frustrated with the fact no additional water had been put down on the track in an attempt to widen the track. The heats had been single file racing and it was clear that the main event would be no different. Roger Crocket started on the pole as the points leader and having already won three races for the week the field was going to have it’s work cut out to stop him from taking home his fourth victory.

As the green dropped the cars raced into turn one, Seth seemed to be still struggling with power issues as his car struggled for power coming out of the corners. The race was an extremely boring spectacle as drivers were forced to single file racing due to the conditions of the track. Seth battled hard and moved to the top to see if he could find grooves to for additional speed but cars were able to slip underneath him each time he tried this as there was clearly no moisture on the top of the track. With the laps ticking and the race gone Seth saved the car from any damage and when the checkered came out he finished the race back in fourteenth. The race was taken out by Roger Crockett and he took home the prize of Speedweek champion.

It was a frustrating end to the week for Seth and the team after the disappointments of Monday and Tuesday had been erased by great performances on Wednesday and Thursday night.

A major positive at the end of the week was the fact that Seth had clawed himself back to sixth position in the ASCS points standings after falling back to tenth at the end of Tuesday nights races. The team will have some time to regroup as the next round of the ACSS takes place on August 31st at Elma.

We will keep you posted with updates as we move forward with local racing over the coming weeks.