Seth Returns Home For National Tour Racing in the Pacific Northwest

Two weekends of racing in the Pacific Northwest has put Seth in drivers seat to have a great second half of the season on the ASCS Lucas Oil Sprint Car Tour.

The first weekend saw Seth back at the track where he captured his first ASCS win last year Grays Harbor Raceway. A field of 54 cars where in attendance for the two night Fred Brownfield Memorial Race weekend with the winner on Saturday to capture $10,000.

Night one started well for Seth as he was able to climb from Sixth to 3rd in his heat race only to have 2nd slip away on the last corner to Travis Rilat. Luckily Seth had accumulated a high enough points total which put in into the top eight after the heat races. Lady luck favored Seth at the draw as he drew the Two ball and started on the outside of local Pacific Northwest ace Roger Crockett.

The main event started well for Seth as he tucked in behind Crocket for the early going of the race. As both drives got into lapped traffic Seth was going the better of the two and he moved up onto the tail tank of Crocket before the breaks gave out on Seth’s car. Seth was forced to take his foot off the gas and Rilat who was in third was able to get by. As a Red Flag came out Seth found himself rolling and unable to stop due to the break failure. Seth did his best on the restart but it was evident that he could not turn the car and he was forced to pull off and a Maiden National Tour Victory had potentially slipped away.

Night two for Seth didn’t start well as he started his heat race back in eighth position. One lane racing made it difficult to pass but Seth managed to climb himself up to sixth position which put him in on the inside front row for the first B Main Event.

After finally uncovering the break problem which has plagued the team all season long on Saturday night the team was confident of returning back to the A Main for Saturday’s featuer. Seth got a great start and moved up to 2nd position on the opening lap as he tucked in behind National Tour hot shoe Shane Stewart. As the laps ticked over Seth had settled into second and looked set for a return to the A. On lap eight it all came undone as the right front steering rod broke coming into turn three and Seth had to pull the car to a stop on the turn four wall. It was a tough break but the positives out of the weekend where that the motor ran extremely well and Seth was in the top five all weekend long for lap times. “It was a frustrating weekend but there were a lot of postives” said Seth after the race. “We have fixed the break issue and the car is fast again. I full confident that we will be in the feature both nights at Cottage Grove.

Weekend two saw the team head to Cottage Grove Oregon on Friday for the opening the weekend of the ASCS National Tour weekend. The car count had dropped down to thirty five but the best of the ASCS National tour where still in attendance.

Seth’s luck with the pill draw continued to allude him as he started eight for his heat race and climbed up to sixth like the previous week which put him on the second row for the B Main event. Like the previous week Seth got a great start in the B Main and was able to navigate passed a wreck on the opening lap which included National Tour drive Tony Bruce Jr. Seth had moved up to second for the restart and was able to take the lead on the opening lap. From there he was never headed and he found himself into the A Main starting back in Seventeenth position.

As the green flag dropped for the A Main Seth got a great jump and after the first four laps had moved up into thirteenth position. As the laps ticked over it was evident that the car was getting better with each lap as he passed National drives Travis Rilat, Jesse Hockett, Jack Dover and prized scalp National Tour legend Gary Wright. Seth was charging through the field and got up to seventh with four laps remaining. By that stage the track had gone away and one lane was available on the top of the track. Seth was unable to get sixth position but it was a terrific run none the less. “Tonight was an amazing race the car stayed together and we were fast. I got more confident with each lap. It was a shame we didn’t start further up as I think we would have finished in the top four for sure.”

They say you should always be nice to your mother and Seth should be thanking his mom as Terri drew Seth a front row starting position for his heat race on night two. Seth started on the pole for heat race number six and was never headed as he ran away with a wire to wire win and he started Tenth for the Main Event.

Seth started the feature within striking distance of the leaders. The heat in Oregon was making figuring out the setup tricky before the race but the team was confident of a great finish. As the A started Seth struggled in the early going with his car being so tight and a mistake going into turn four saw him back in fifteenth position. As the race stayed under green the car began to become much more free as the track came in and Seth found himself able to ride the cushion on the top. His laps times were getting quicker each lap and he had moved back into tenth when he came undone on turn four. Seth was able to hang on and rejoin the race but he had been lapped by leaders Jason Johnson and Roger Crockett. Seth was still turning quick laps and this was evident as he got back around second place driver Roger Crockett and was following Jason Johnson back through the field. Seth was extremely fast on the top (almost too fast) and with eight laps to go he lost control of the car in turn two and parked the car into the wall.

“I couldn’t believe how fast the car was tonight it was crazy on the top of the track I was pushing it to the edge. Unfortunately I made a couple mistakes and lost it in the slick on turn two. I’m really happy with the car right now and I hope the mechanical problems we have had are behind us”.

Seth won a lot of admiration from the local fans on this Northwest trip and from his National Tour driver competitors who all came up to him giving him props over the weekend.

The team will stay in the Northwest for one more weekend as we had to Skagit Speedway for the 360 Nationals on July 31st and August 1st. From there we will be heading to Knoxville for the 360 Nationals and resuming the season with the tour.