Van Dam And Crockett To Battle For Title In Central Washington

By Ben Deatherage

Yakima, Washington- With the championship weekend only days away the Yakima Dirt Track anticipates the arrival of the American Sprint Car Series-Northwest Region to settle the battle for the title. A struggle for the crown will come down to the final laps of the last race of the night. Twenty-three points is the interval between leader in the standings Henry Van Dam and runner-up Roger Crockett.

Both drivers have managed to put some rather consistent finishing records. Crockett is the only one among the two to have won an ASCS race at Yakima that one coming back in 2010. The Rocket also has five victories with the Northern Sprint Tour earning wins between the years 2002-06. Van Dam to his credit has only finished outside the top ten once in eight races since under the ASCS banner back in 2008.

“Yakima is always a fun place to race a lot of my family make the trip over and the track itself is a racy joint,” explained current standings leader Henry Van Dam, “Our team has got to treat the weekend just like any other and keep it in that aspect and just do the best we can and hopefully end the weekend as the points leader.”

We mentioned the consistent finishing records of the pair but something interesting is their average finishes over the course of the ASCS-Northwest Region paying visit to the central Washington facility. Crockett has an average finish of sixth place according to the data collected and Henry Van Dam, seventh.

“Our team is going into the weekend with a deficit and we know we must win both days to have a shot and if we can do that we can put the necessary pressure on him,” commented defending series champion Roger Crockett, “the task is by no means going to be an easy one to accomplish but we’ve had success at that place several times and have won quite a few events too.”

Both drivers have a little of momentum in favor of them with each of them earning a win respectively last weekend as Van Dam earned his third win of the year at Gray Harbor Raceway in Elma. Crockett captured his fifth triumph of the campaign with Interstate Sprint Car Series at the recently reopened Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon.

Mitch Olson is third in points and the 2012 Seedweek Northwest winner is the only other driver within one-hundred points behind Henry Van Dam, in fact seventy-four points behind to be exact. Reece Goetz and Cam Smith complete the top five in the points table going in the final weekend.

Will Van Dam earn his first title and hoist the crown come Saturday night? Will Crockett repeat and become a three-time ASCS-Northwest Region champion? All eyes will be on Yakima.

The race will be held in conjunction with the annual Central Washington State Fair. Racing will start around six o’clock on each night. Tires and fuel will be sold on both days at the race track.

The American Sprint Car Series-Northwest Region is the westernmost arm of the American Sprint Car Series sanctioning body located in the Pacific Northwest the series hosts 360 Sprint Car racing on dirt tracks throughout Oregon and Washington from May to September. For more information on the latest news and stories about the series log onto their website at www.ascsnorthwest.com or www.ascsracing.com.

Additional Information:

Track: Yakima Dirt Track

Date(s):

Saturday September 21st, 2012

Sunday September 22nd, 2012

Location: 1301 S. Fair Avenue, Yakima, WA, 98901

Past ASCS-Northwest Region Winners At Yakima Dirt Track:

2011- Jason Solwold on September 23rd, Jayme Barnes on September 24th

2010- Jason Solwold on September 24th, Roger Crockett on September 25th

2009- Jason Solwold on September 25th, Stephen Allard on September 26th

2008- Jason Solwold on September 26th, Brock Lemley on September 27th

2012 ASCS-Northwest Region (Tentative) Schedule (Winner):

5/26 Grays Harbor Raceway Elma, WA (Spring Showdown) Roger Crockett

5/27 Grays Harbor Raceway Elma, WA (Spring Showdown) Brock Lemley

6/22 Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR Rained Out

6/23 Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR Rained Out

7/13* Willamette Speedway Lebanon, OR (Speedweek) Wayne Johnson

7/14* Willamette Speedway Lebanon, OR (Speedweek) Wayne Johnson

7/16 Southern Oregon Speedway White City, OR (Speedweek) Shane Stewart

7/17 Coos Bay Speedway Coos Bay, OR (Speedweek) Travis Rilat

7/18 Cottage Grove Speedway Cottage Grove, OR (Speedweek) Shane Stewart

7/19* Sunset Speedway Park Banks, OR (Speedweek) Rained Out

7/20* Grays Harbor Raceway Elma, WA (Speedweek) Shane Stewart

7/21* Grays Harbor Raceway Elma, WA (Speedweek) Wayne Johnson

9/2# Willamette Speedway Lebanon, OR Roger Crockett

9/21 Yakima Dirt Track Yakima, WA

9/22 Yakima Dirt Track Yakima, WA

*- Denotes ASCS-National Tour vs. Northwest Region events

#- Denotes event where show up points only given

2012 Top Ten ASCS-Northwest Region Points (After 10 of 12 Events)

1. Henry Van Dam

2. Roger Crockett -23

3. Mitch Olson -74

4. Reece Goetz -134

5. Cam Smith -195

6. Jesse Whitney -245

7. Cody Ridge -351

8. Luke Didiuk -359

9. Sammy Wright -443

10. Travis Rilat -468