Winebarger wows Cottage Grove crowd 

Modified, Northern SportMod, Results, Sport Compact

Collen Winebarger wowed the midweek crowd at Cottage Grove Speedway with his dramatic Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature win. (Photo Courtesy of Cottage Grove Speedway)

By Ben Deatherage

COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (Aug. 14, 2024) – Collen Winebarger brought a thrilling finish to the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main event, to win on the last lap in the latest round of the Midweek Mayhem Series at Cottage Grove Speedway.

The outside pole starter seized the initial race lead in the 25-lap finale but that reign was short-lived as reigning track champion Jake Mayden powered around him the next time around the 1/4-mile clay oval.

When things slowed down due to a caution, things heated right back up on the restart as Winebarger was back into the trailblazing role and scored the leader on lap 12. The race stayed green for a couple more trips past the flag stand before the final yellow flag came out with six to go.

This restart would set up an exciting finish.

When the race resumed, Winebarger was under threat from Carter Patterson. The competition was intense, with Patterson making several attempts to overtake the leader. After several laps, Patterson finally got in an excellent rhythm on the upper reaches of the racing surface and made a thrilling pass on Winebarger to lead the field to the wire on lap 19.

Lapped traffic came into the mix in the closing stages.

A lapped car occupied the high side, right where the leader operated, while Winebarger simultaneously tried to lunge underneath Patterson to challenge and bottling things up for the front runner. Simultaneously, Curtis Towns threw his hat into the ring to make it a three-car tussle for the win.

Using the lapped car as a pick, Winebarger got the lead with Towns and Patterson were all over him. The two challengers made brief contact coming to the checker, allowing Winebarger to hold on.

Towns was the runner-up, followed by Patterson.

Two other IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing divisions were on the card.

The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature saw Kasi Comer briefly hold the top spot. A lap one caution set up a restart, which Jacob Shandy mastered. Shandy performed the overtake and dominated the rest of the distance.

Despite two additional cautions, the original inside polesitter took care of business. Matt Brown and Comer were the rest of the podium, finishing second and third.

The stoppage-free Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact main event had a late race thriller, too. Randy Kuhl started things off by taking a big lead. However, slowly but methodically, Burnie Bryant, got closer and closer to the front.  

Bryant, who began the race seventh, maneuvered his way around traffic, reeling in Kuhl with a handful of circuits remaining and getting around him with two laps to go.

Bryant then motored away to collect the checkers. Kuhl was second followed by Bryant’s daughter Melissa in third.

The event was broadcast by IMCA.TV affiliate Dirt Oval TV.

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