Division 6 Summit ET Finals @ the Eagle Motorplex.

Photos highlights are here

Sept 8, 2003 (note, Mission Raceway Point standings are at the bottom of the page.)

Before the story, here is the results for all the guys I picked to do well this weekend in SpeedZone Magazine: I would say I did about average for the weekend.

Sportsman Sat. Sun.
Dave Copeland - 1st round, 1st round.
David Rastad - Same
Lorne Ridley - 2nd round, 3rd round
Jim Reddington - 3rd round, 2nd round
Martin Jackman - 3rd round, 7th round (Semis)

Pro
Chris Stone - 4th round, 4th round
Jamie Clerf - 1st round, 6th round (1/4's)
John Korfiatis - winner, 3rd round
Richard Lee, 3rd round, 4th round

Super Pro
Randy Johnson - 1st round, 2nd round
Mark Barnhart - 3rd round, 4th round
Mark Cavar - 3rd round, 4th round
Al Quigley - 1st round, ?
Dave Jung - 2nd round, 2nd round.

Bike/Sled -
Richard Pedraza - 2nd round, r/up
Al Omond - 1st round, 1st round
Mark Kosler - 3rd round, winner
Dave Copeland - 2nd round, ?
Stuart Kienas - 4th round (1/4's), 3rd round

490 competitors converged on the desert facility called the Eagle Motorplex in the interior of British Columbia. Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman and Sled/Bike racers competed for chance to represent Division 6 at Pomona in November for the World Championship Summit ET finals. JRs. and High School also competed for trophies and individual honors. The race would also determine the Division 6 team track championship. Thursday was a test n tune day, Friday was time trials and an optional gamblers race, Saturday was the (Race of Champions) ROC Pomona qualifier, and Sunday was the team event. This years race gave teams the opportunity to field two teams (two teams of 35) instead of one team of 64 in the past. The concept was done in hopes of increasing total car counts, which for Eagle, Mission, Woodburn and Bremerton it did, but it also pitted those tracks with two teams against each other that seems to me to be counterproductive, on the team concept. From the feedback I heard as well as the officials, I would be surprised if it was implemented again. The biggest problem is that tracks like Pacific (Seattle), Boise, Yakima and Portland that routinely field a full single team. Pacific brought a team of 35 plus only three for team #2, Portland brought seven competitors for their team #2. Boise did not field a complete team #1, nor did Yakima. I would bet that if the old way was in place those four teams above would have brought as bigger single team. Also of note, Medford this year did not field a team at all.

On to Saturday's race of champions. Last year division six representative at the World Champion and winner Martin Rachel just failed to qualify for this years race. He competed for Mission but finished just out of ROC. He concentrated on Super Street as well as competing at both Ashcroft and Mission for points and by the time he started to run well in Pro, he ran out of races to qualify. He has said all along it would be hard to compete and do as well as he did last year. His year was like a dream. Paul Nero (Super Pro) was not competing. Richard Pedraza (Bike/Sled world champion) as well as Lorne Ridley (sportsman) were here to defend their titles. After the first two rounds, many of the favorites were out including Pedraza, Ridley, Mark Barnhart, Al Omond, Al Quigley, Dave Jung and Randy Johnson and Randy Johnson to name a few.

The Super Pro final came down to Rod Langley in his low 7 second dragster and Gary Erickson in his 74 Pontiac wagon. Langley had to wait almost 4 seconds on the tree, but overcame the handicap and caught Erickson for the win.

In Pro, Mission's John Korfiatis made good on his statement after coming so close in the last two years that he would win one of these deals. In the final round John in his Nova defeated Pacific Raceway's John Schwaller driving his El Camino. John used consistent .520 lights or better to get the win.

In Sportsman bracket, two Woodburn competitors faced off for the chance at a world title. Jerry Webber in his Chevy S-10 defeated Joe Adams driving a Honda Accord. Joe is Track Manager Jonathan Adams' younger brother.

In the Bike final, Medicine Hat representative Greg Westling riding his '96 Kopijewski won his biggest race ever, as he defeated Team Eagle's Bill Bourdon driving an '02 Polaris Snowmobile. Here are the numbers from the final round of competition.

SUPER PRO
Rod Langley, Boise, Idaho, Dragster, 7.354 seconds, 167.50 mph def.
Gary Ericksen, Portland, Ore., ’74 Pontiac, 11.222, 120.96

PRO
John Korfiatis, Richmond, B.C., ’70 Nova, 11.670, 109.44 def.
John Schwaller, North Bend, Wash., ’70 El Camino, 11.116, 116.08

SPORTSMAN
Jerry Weber, Albany, Ore., ’82 S-10, 14.959, 88.14 def.
Joe Adams, Woodburn, Ore., ’99 Accord, 18.159, 76.21

MOTORCYCLE/SNOWMOBILE
Greg Westling, Calgary, Alta., ’96 Kopijewski, 10.007, 127.35 def.
Bill Bourdon, Chilliwack, B.C., ’02 Polaris, 9.966, 126.40

JR. THUNDER
Mike George, Portland, Ore., 11.209, 55.46 def.
Courtney Alley, Eagle, Idaho, 12.072, 33.33

JR. LIGHNING
Benjamin Hilton, Vancouver, Wash., 8.973, 71.82 def.
Chad Bratt, Olympia, Wash., 9.092, 71.20

HIGH SCHOOL
Adam Durham, Tacoma, Wash., ’72 Chevelle, 14.095, 85.68 def.
Traci Merritt, Oregon City, Ore., ’66 Nova, 13.071, 103.06

In the Sunday team competition, eliminations started off at 9:00am with the 120+ sportsman field, then the 145 Pro field. The 105 Super Pro class was next followed by the 50 Bike/Sled field. After the first couple rounds, team Mission #1 and Team WoodBurn #1 were neck and neck with Pacific and Bremerton just behind. After four rounds, Mission had edged ahead of Woodburn by six points. Pacific, Bremerton and team Eagle #1 were just back in 3rd to 5th. By the 1/4's it was clear it was a two team race with Woodburn trailing Mission by 4 points. And then the tide turned for Mission. They had 2 of 5 in the 1/4 in Sportsman and one left in Bike, and Pro they were shut out in Super Pro. They had other competitors from Mission #2 in the field, but the points were not going to help them. Plus the two Sportsman guys had to face off in the 1/4's. By the semis, Mission had only pick up one out of a possible three points to sit with 50 points. In Pro SpeedZone Magazine writer Jamie Clerf was defeated by Team Woodburn competitor Lavonne Goodman, Martin Jackman from Mission made it to the semis where he had to face off against Mission team #2 hitter Don Elgin and Stuart Kienas lsot in the 1/4's. Team Woodburn had picked up 3points to sit one back. In the semi finals, Mission #1 and #2 faced off and #2 Elgin defeated Jackman ending Mission #1's point run. Woodburn picked up two more to take the lead for good by one. The final rounds saw Woodburn pick up one more point to end up with 52 to Mission's 50. Here are all the winners from the Sunday finals.

SUPER PRO
Gary Hostetler, Vancouver, Wash., ’71 Chevelle, 9.885 seconds, 133.37 mph def.
Cheryl Wentz, Toppenish, Wash., ’80 Mazda RX7, 10.529 seconds, 135.56 mph

PRO
Zack Craig, Olympia, Wash., ’79 Malibu, 12.43, 106.93 def.
Kyle Saucy, Beavercreek, Ore., ’68 Valiant, 10.873, 122.13

SPORTSMAN
Don Elgin, Desmoines, Wash., ’74 Pontiac, 12.891, 98.41 def.
LaVonne Goodman, Canby, Ore., ’75 Corvette, 14.097, 95.74

MOTORCYCLE/SNOWMOBILE
Mark Kosler, Keizer, Ore.,’84 Suzuki, 9.893, 130.71 def.
Rich Pedroza, Boise, Idaho, ’03 Polaris, 9.173, 135.25

The final point standings for the top 8 are.

Woodburn #1 52
Mission #1 50
Pacific #1 42
Eagle #1 37
Bremerton #1 34
Woodburn #2 32
Mission #2 30
Portland #1 29

Complete point results tomorrow. Photos are here