"HOLLYWOOD" WINS FIRECRACKER 150 AT SUNSET:
Pacific Coast Fastrak DirtCar Series by Bill Poehler/ Saturday July 7, 2007 at Sunset Speedway- Banks, Oregon - Standing by his car, awaiting the second half of the Firecracker 150, Greg Walters told those around him that if the rest of the race would go green, white checkered he would be a happy man.
He didn't get his first wish, but he got his second.
The driver out of Banks won the longest race in series history, going from last to first in the first 75 laps and running a near-flawless second 75 to win the $1,500 first-place check and his fourth Pacific Coast Fastrak DirtCar Series win of the year.
Eric Sayre of Vancouver, Washington recorded his best finish of the season with a $900 second place. Terry Ferrando of Salem, Oregon led 13 laps early from his 14th starting position and recorded his best result of the season in third. Hillsboro, Oregon's Scott Puncochar placed fourth after a late-race battle with Ferrando and Sayre. Steve Suckow of Hillsboro, Oregon came back from a late spin to round out the top five.
Jason Wines of Lebanon, Oregon set fast time with a 14.598-second lap around the ¼ mile oval and went on to win the first heat race from the pole position followed Robby Ireland of Banks, Sayre, Jerry Schram of Vancouver, Washington and Dwayne Potter of Condon, Oregon.
In the second heat race, Puncochar took the lead from his outside pole position and checked out to win. Branden Lindberg of Monroe, Washington finished second followed by Jason Johnson of Gresham, Oregon, Jeff Biffle of Vancouver, Washington and J.P. Pagel of Brightwood, Oregon.
In the third heat, Walters won from his pole position followed by third-starting Ferrando, Kevin "Porkchop" Rodgers of Banks, Mark Thompson of Tigard, Oregon and John Ireland of Banks.
In the trophy dash, Walters won from the pole position by mere inches in front of fast-charging Puncochar and Wines with Suckow finishing fourth.
For the main event, the entire 20-car field was inverted based on heat race and trophy dash. The event would be run in two 75-lap segments with a 15-minute halfway break where two pit members per car would be allowed to the infield where the cars would be parked to work on the machines. During the break, it would allow a mid-way watering of the clay. Caution flags counted into the lap counts in the first 125 laps with the final 25 being run green flag only.
For the main, Jim Clair of Portland, Oregon was the polesitter with Bob Trout of Banks starting on the outside pole. On the initial start, Clair took the lead down the backstretch, but washed up in turn three and Trout, Ron Prevost and John Ireland spun in turn four with Biffle spinning to avoid the melee. Clair would be sent to the back on the restart.
On the restart, Trout took the lead followed by Prevost and Jesse Freeman of Wilsonville, Oregon. On the fourth lap, Prevost went by Trout and Ireland followed through coming out of turn one with Pagel moving up to third.
While all the action was happening up front, the fast cars were making their way up from the back of the pack. By the ninth lap, Ferrando moved up from 14th to eighth by the ninth lap, Puncochar from 19th to eighth Sayre from 13th to 10th and Walters from 10th to 11th.
Ferrando moved into the top five on lap 18, went past Biffle for fourth one lap later and on the next lap went by Pagel and Ireland to move into second behind leading Prevost. On lap 21, John Ireland hit the backstretch wall hard and got up in the air to bring out the caution. Ireland's crew tried to make repairs by the halfway break, but couldn't complete fix the broken front end.
On lap 32 restart, Ferrando went inside of Trout for the lead coming out of two, but in turn three Biffle, Trout, Lindberg, Freeman, Johnson and Rodgers were involved in a wreck in turn four to bring out the caution and nullify Ferrando's pass for the lead. Wines pulled off the track under caution with right rear damage and after losing three laps returned. He came back into the pits under caution and lost a total of five laps. Throughout the remainder of the race, he was able to stay with the leaders, but only improved four positions over the final 100 plus laps.
After the lap 44 restart, it took two revolutions for Ferrando to go by Trout for the lead, going low out of turn four. One lap later Walters went by Trout for second and hounded Ferrando for the lead. On lap 50, Clair hit the front stretch wall and retired. The caution allowed Walters to close up to the back bumper of Ferrando. On the lap 56 restart, Walters went low under Ferrando coming out of turn one. Ferrando was able to hold off Walters off for the lead for three laps. But on the 59th Walters was ahead at the flag stand and Walters cleared Ferrando for the lead by the 61st lap. By that time, Sayre, Puncochar and Jerry Schram had moved in to fill out the top five.
As the caution flag few for the halfway break at lap 75, the cars pulled into the infield on the front stretch in order and the crews came out to the cars. Most competitors chose to add fuel and change rear tires. Lindberg cut away his front coverings. Freeman got out of his car and surrendered it to A.J. Tipton of Aloha, a midget driver who is the defending NOMA champion and current NOMA points leader. At the break, 15 cars were still on the lead lap with three one lap down and two in the pits.
On the restart, Ferrando got inside of Walters for the lead, but got sideways coming out of turn four, allowing Walters to check out. Within seven laps, Walters was into to lap traffic. Ferrando took another shot at Walters on lap 86, but got out of shape again and the race went caution free until lap 97 when Clair spun on the backstretch. By that time, there were eight cars on the lead lap as the leaders had to work hard to get around the traffic. On lap 96, Puncochar went by Sayre and Ferrando for second and the three set out on a fierce battle for the second spot that would wage until the checkered flag fell. Puncochar got inside of Walters on lap 114, but couldn't make the pass. Sayre went by on lap 127 and did the same to Walters on lap 133, but he couldn't make the pass.
Walters would go on to lead the final 91 laps to win.
After swapping positions, Sayre got into second for good on lap 142 and on that same lap, Ferrando went by Puncochar in traffic for fourth and that's where they would finish. Suckow, winner of the series' first race of the season, spun out on laps 97 and 120, but came forward to finish fifth. Schram finished sixth and Robby Ireland came in seventh, the last of the lead-lap cars. Biffle finished eighth, two laps down with Rodgers in ninth and Pagel completing the top 10. Johnson finished three laps down in 11th with Trout in 12th, Potter four laps down in 13th with Lindberg in 14th and the Freeman/Tipton car in 15th.
The series returns to Sunset July 21 for the John Miller Memorial sponsored by Iron Tech. The group then takes off Aug. 3 for Rattlesnake Raceway in Fallon, Nevada to kick off its six-race, nine-day Speedweek that wraps up Aug. 11 at Sunset.

RACE SUMMARY:

Fast time - Jason Wines (Lebanon, Oregon) 14.598.
Heat 1 - 1, Wines, 2, Robby Ireland (Banks, Oregon), 3, Eric Sayre, (Vancouver, Washington); 4, Jerry Schram (Vancouver, Washington); 5, Dwayne Potter (Condon, Oregon); 6, Jesse Freeman (Wilsonville, Oregon); 7, Bob Trout (Banks, (Oregon.
Heat 2 - 1, Scott Puncochar (Hillsboro, Oregon); 2, Branden Lindberg (Monroe, Washington); 3, Jason Johnson (Gresham, Oregon); 4, Jeff Biffle (Vancouver, Washington); 5, J. P. Pagel (Brightwood, Oreg on); 6, Steve Suckow (Hillsboro, Oregon); 7, Jim Clair (Portland, Oregon).
Heat 3 - 1, Walters; 2, Terry Ferrando (Salem, Oregon); 3, Kevin Rodgers (Banks, Oregon); 4, Mark Thompson (Tigard, Oregon); 5, John Ireland (Banks, Oregon); 6, Ron Prevost (Banks, Oregon).
Trophy Dash- 1, Walters; 2, Puncochar; 3, Wines; 4, Suckow.
Firecracker 150 - 1, Walters, 2, Sayre; 3, Ferrando; 4, Puncochar; 5, Suckow; 6, Schram; 7, R. Ireland; 8, Biffle -2; 9, Rodgers -2; 10, Pagel -2; 11, Johnson -3; 12, Trout -3; 13, Potter -4; 14, Lindberg -4; 15, Freeman/A.J. Tipton (Aloha, Oregon); 16, Wines -5; 17, Prevost; 18, Thompson -10; 19, J. Ireland -84; 20, Clair -102.
Greg Walters and family celebrate Greg's Pacific Coast Fastrak DirtCar Series Firecracker 150 win at Sunset Speedway Park.
Top 3 finishers from Saturday nights Pacific Coast Fastrak DirtCar Series Firecracker 150 - Terry Ferrando (left) finished 3rd, first place points leader Greg Walters (center) and 2nd place finisher Eric Sayre (right).
Pacific Coast Fastrak Series
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