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Bill Poehler
BANKS, Ore. (July 19) - Greg Biffle brought the crowd, but Greg Walters brought the show.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup star originally from Brush Prairie, Wash., made his second appearance at the Jon Miller Memorial Race sponsored by Irontech Saturday night at Sunset Speedway and won a 10-lap exhibition.
Walters, of Banks, won the main event for the Coors Light Crate Motor Class from the 12th starting position.
Biffle, whose older brother, Jeff, is a regular in the class, made his second appearance at the race, which is named for his former sponsor and one of the men who got his racing career going.
Biffle's helicopter touched down about 6 p.m. in the baseball fields adjacent to the 1/4-clay oval.
In the exhibition race, Greg Biffle started from the pole alongside his brother and took the lead on the first lap. But on the second lap, Biffle went into the tricky turn one too hot and slip up and hit the wall in turn two and banged up the rear of his car.
As not all of the cars had finished the lap, a full restart was in order and Biffle's crew fixed the damage and got him back out. As he roared back onto the track, the fans in the packed grandstands loudly cheered.
Biffle again took the lead from the pole, but had problems getting acclimated to the Jerry Schram-owned late model and late model shoes Eric Sayre and Greg Walters went by him for the lead. In the span of a few laps, Biffle got going and came back on the high side to retake the lead on the last lap and win the race.
In the first heat race, pole sitting Kevin "Porkchop" Rodgers led every lap and Scott Puncochar came forward from the fifth starting position to finish second.
In the second heat race, Billy "The Kid" Workman led every lap from the pole and won by a straightaway in front of Branden Lindberg.
Schram led all four laps from the pole position to win the trophy dash with Walters in second.
In the main event, Jeff Brookshire took the lead from the outside pole, but on the third lap, Malcolm Lindberg, Branden's father, spun in turn two, collecting Jeremy Schram, Steve Moore and Eric Sayre.
Lindberg, Schram, Moore and Sayre all left for the pits and Brookshire spun on his own at the same time as the Lindberg spin, giving the lead to Rodgers. Moore, Brookshire and Sayre returned to the race, but Sayre went a lap down.
On the restart, Puncochar went by Rodgers for the lead before the caution flag fell on lap four as Jeff Biffle came to a halt in turn three.
Five laps later, Rodgers and Biffle got together in turns three and four. Puncochar kept his lead with Jimmy Schram advancing to second and Walters moving up to third.
On the restart, the three leading cars diced back and fourth and briefly ran three wide before Walters took the lead for good shortly before the lap 15 restart.
Walters picked up $750 for the win along with the hard charger award with Schram in second, Workman in third, Jerry Schram in fourth and Moore came back from the early altercation to finish fifth.
Brookshire finished sixth with Lindberg in seventh, Rodgers in eighth, Jason Johnson in ninth and Malcolm Lindberg rounding out the top ten.
The Coors Light Late Models return June 26 on the night of the Jim's Thriftway 100.
RACE SUMMARY:
Coors Light Dirt Late Model Crate Motor Series
Sunset Speedway Park - Banks, OR.
Saturday July 19, 2008
Fast Time: Eric Sayre 14.770
Heat 1: 1) Rodgers 2) Puncochar 3) Johnson 4) Freeman 5) Jeremy Schram 6) M. Lindberg
Heat 2: 1) Workman Jr 2) B. Lindberg 3) Jerry Schram 4) Moore 5) Jimmy Schram 6) Sayre 7) Walters 8) J. Biffle
Dash: 1) Jerry Schram 2) Walters 3) Sayre 4) J. Biffle
Main Event: 40-laps: 1) Greg Walters 2) Jimmy Schram 3) Billy "the kid" Workman Jr 4) Jerry Schram 5) Steve Moore 6) Jeff Brokshire7) Branden Lindberg 8) Kevin "Porkchop" Rodgers 9) Jason Johnson 10) Malcolm Lindberg 11) Jesse Freeman 12) Eric Sayre 13) Scott Puncochar (DNF Mechanical) 14) Jeff Biffle (DNF Mechanical) 15) Jeremy Schram (DNF wreck)
Hard Charger Award: Greg Walters
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