Four classes of cars took to the 3/8-banked clay oval of Grays Harbor Raceway on Saturday night with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series, Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks and PHRA Dwarf Cars with a great field of cars.

Cut Rate Auto Parts Street Stocks

Jack Parshall of Hoquiam took the early lead in the 20 lap feature. Elma’s Ryen Haney and Ocean Shores driver Jeff Daniel battled for second. Daniel took over the runner-up spot looking to chase down Parshall for the lead. Haney saw a battle for third as Tom Hecker ran right at his back bumper early in the race. Aberdeen’s Cory Sweatman worked his way into the top three after battling with Hecker and set his sights on Daniel for second.

On lap 12 Taylor Miller made contact with the front stretch wall bringing out the caution. On the restart Daniel saw several opportunities to take the lead on the low side of the raceway, but couldn’t make the pass on Parshall.

At the end of the 20-lap feature, Parshall took the checkered flag. Daniel, Sweatman, Hecker and Haney rounded out the top five.

PHRA Dwarf Cars

Twenty-one PHRA Dwarf Cars signed in for their first appearance at Grays Harbor Raceway this season.

Jim Pavel took the early lead in the 30-lap feature until lap two but lost the top spot after spinning out in turn two. Brett Olney took advantage of Pavel’s miscue to take over the top spot with Jeremiah Hester running second. Hester eventually took over the lead on lap five and had tough company as Kelso’s Brandon Ross looked to the try and take the top spot.

Corey Esteban raced with Ross for second, and quickly found his way into the lead getting around Hester out of turn two.

A long green flag run saw Esteban, Ryan Martinez and Anthony Pope locked in a three-car battle for the lead. Esteban, Pope and Martinez swapped lead changes a few times until a late-race incident saw a lap car spin in front of the leaders in turn four, collecting the top three cars.

Jake VanOrtwick inherited the lead after the incident and went on to pick up the win over Hester, Ross, Mikie Clark of Vancouver, and Martinez.

Shipwreck Beads Modifieds

Cosmopolis driver Tom Sweatman took the early lead from the outside of row one in the 25th lap of the Shipwreck Beads Modified feature.

Sam Carlisle, also from Cosmopolis, sat in the second spot and looked to chase down Sweatman for the lead. Lap three saw Olympia’s Casey Smith sitting the wrong direction in turn four, bringing out the caution. Sweatman looked good on the restart as Aberdeen’s Zack Simpson moved into second.

A three-car battle for third between Carlisle, Oakville’s Brian Harding and Devan West of Shelton was the race to watch. Harding and West raced side-by-side for third for a handful of laps as Campbell River, BC driver Lane Zerbin joined into the mix.

Sweatman continued to stay out front, working the low side of the raceway and slowly pulling away from Simpson. Sweatman maneuvered his way through lap traffic and went on to pick up the win over Simpson, Zerbin, West and Shelton’s Scott Miller.

Summer Thunder Sprint Series

Central Point, Oregon’s Garen Linder and Quilcene’s JJ Hickle set the front row of the 30-lap Summer Thunder Sprint Series feature. Hickle took the early lead with Linder at his back bumper. Both drivers traded slide jobs until a lap-two caution set up a restart.

Linder saw another opportunity to throw a slide job at Hickle for the top spot, taking over the lead in turn four. Marysville driver Colton Heath looked to make it a battle for second with Hickle, taking over the position later on the same lap.

Linder ran the top side of the raceway as the track became very wide, with Heath chasing him down. Linder quickly found himself catching up and working his way through lap traffic to extend his lead on the rest of the field.

Linder looked dominate through lap traffic, keeping distance between himself and Heath and would go on to pick up the win. Heath, Buddy Kofoid, Jason Solwold and Hickle rounded out the top five.

Racing will resume on Saturday for Round 2 of the Wingless Sprint Series and the Wingless Sprint Shootout presented by Modern Machinery and Walker Racing Development. Also on hand will be the Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, Northwest Focus Midgets Series, and Outlaw Tuners. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. with racing scheduled to being at 7 p.m.

For more information, visit graysharborraceway.com.

Cosmopolis’ Tom Sweatman rides on three wheels as he turns a corner during his win in the Shipwreck Beads Modified feature on Saturday. (Photo by AR Racing Videos)