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CLEAR Temp: 67 °F Wind: NW at 7 mph Sunday, June 2, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend June 2, 2002 Walker’s dominance at speedway takes a hit By DON HUNT Mail Tribune WHITE CITY — The nature of stock car racing dictates that no one is unbeatable, but Jim Walker, Jr. has been as close to a sure thing as you’ll ever see at the Southern Oregon Speedway the past two years. The pro stock standout registered three victories and two seconds over the first five races this season. And dating back to last year, the Talent resident has top-two finishes in 21 of 28 races and top-five showings in 25 of 28 events. In a word, that’s dominance. But Walker’s lengthy stay in the fast lane came to a crashing halt last week. On the second lap of the A main, he was spun out by one car and then plowed into by another. The collision destroyed the left side of Walker’s car and gave him a mild concussion. He was through for the night, posting a DNF (did not finish) for the first time in more than two years. Walker’s luck improved only slightly on Saturday night when he suffered a flat tire late in the race and wound up seventh. He was in third place and charging toward the lead when he got the flat. "That’s the hardest I’ve been hit in a long time," said Walker of the collision with Bo Shields on May 25. "I got hit earlier in the night during hot laps and was a little dingy from that. It was just a bad night." Walker’s car was so badly damaged — the control arms, spindle, hub, shock, tire and wheel were all destroyed — that he didn’t know if it could be repaired for this week’s race. But, thanks to chief mechanic Randy Dodd, Walker was back on the track Saturday night. "The good thing was there was no damage to the frame," said Walker, who has 142 career victories during his career and continues to lead this season’s point standings. Frank Word III, who had some troubles of his own two weeks ago when he blew a motor, won Saturday’s main event. Word scooted past Scott Martin along the backstretch on the 10th lap and led the rest of the say. With the victory, Word moved into second place in the point standings, ahead of Tony Walker. In other main events Saturday, Cale Carder held off hard-charging Todd Zeitler to win his first-ever sprint race at the Southern Oregon Speedway; Dennis Silva outdueled Bruce Rayburn in the modified division; and Tom Lanigan was rewarded the victory in the mini stock main after a lapped car took him out 300 feet from the finish line. Modified points leader Jon DeBenedetti showed why he’s one of the top drivers at the track when he charged from dead last seven laps into the main event to take fourth. DeBenedetti got into a five-car pileup with Silva, Rayburn, pole-sitter Scott Weldon, Brian Poppa and Markey James and was sent to the back. Silva took the lead from Weldon following a restart. In a special figure-eight event, promoter John Skinner showed that he still has the racing touch by outdueling 12 other drivers for the win. Dave Duste, Sr. is no longer among the elite drivers in the modified division, partly because younger talent has surfaced and partly because he no longer runs a full schedule. But for one glorious moment on May 18, Duste was back on top, winning the annual Art Pollard Memorial. At the age of 50, Duste became the oldest driver ever to win the event, which dates back to 1974 at the old Medford Raceway. "The really pleasing thing was that it was a competitive run — I beat some good drivers," said Duste, noting that Rayburn and Silva each broke the track record earlier in the night. Duste shot past Poppa on the 15th lap of the 75-lap event and led the rest of the way. Duste, who has more than 120 victories in a career that dates to 1973, only raced about a dozen times last season and plans a similar schedule for 2002. "My wife (Jennifer) has M.S. and I’m doing things with her while she’s still healthy," Duste says. "We’ve got a motorhome and a Harley and we like to travel around." Duste isn’t ready to retire from racing, however. A chatty sort, he likes nothing better than to socialize with his friends at the track and then jump into his car and race. Duste’s older son, Dave Jr., also competes. "I’m still going to keep doing this — just not as often and not as intensely," Duste says. MINI STOCKS FIRST HEAT — 1, Mike Higbee. 2, Bryan Barnes. 3, Jason Watkins. 4, Dave Bishop. SECOND HEAT — 1, Mike Johnson. 2, Randy Tharp. 3, Eddie Farley. 4, Cody Russell. THIRD HEAT — 1, Pat Akins. 2, Travis Chisum. 3, Belinda Duste. 4, Ike Landreth. FOURTH HEAT — 1, Tom Lanigan. 2, Rocky Bass. 3, Jared Morrill. 4, Vicki MacCormick. TROPHY DASH — 1, Mike Higbee. 2, Tom Lanigan. 3, Pat Akins. MAIN — 1, Tom Lanigan. 2, Belinda Duste. 3, Rocky Bass. 4, Vicki MacCormick. 5, Dave Bishop. 6, Bryan Barnes. 7, Pat Akins. 8, Jason Watkins. 9, Eddie Farley. 10, Travis Chisum. 11, Mike Goldsrand. 12, Eric Evenson. 13, Mike Johnson. 14, Cody Russell. 15, Bill Lux. PRO STOCKS FIRST HEAT — 1, Tony Walker. 2, Scott Martin. 3, Berry Hunt. 4, Ken Irving. SECOND HEAT — 1, Tracy Bradley. 2, Jim Walker, Jr. 3, Butch Poppa. 4, Wally Watkins. THIRD HEAT — 1, Dan Thomas. 2, Dave Everson. 3, Seth Carder. 4, Jerry Severson. FOURTH HEAT — 1, Frank Word III. 2, Albert Gill. 3, Jeff Seal. 4, Donnie Hale. TROPHY DASH — 1, Dan Thomas. 2, Tracy Bradley. 3, Tony Walker. B MAIN — 1, Chris Charlton. 2, John Duffie. 3, Darren Provost. 4, Bob Dees. 5, Joe Guider. 6, Dan Randall. 7, John Wayne Cahill. 8, Steve Kilmer. 9, Bill Geyer. 10, Jerry Flud. A MAIN — 1, Frank Word III. 2, Butch Poppa. 3, Ken Irving. 4, Jerry Severson. 5, Wally Watkins. 6, Bob Dees. 7, Jim Walker, Jr. 8, Albert Gill. 9, Jeff Seal. 10, Darren Provost. 11, Donnie Hale. 12, Dan Thomas. 13, Chris Charlton. 14, Dave Everson. 15, Seth Carder. MODIFIEDS FIRST HEAT — 1, Jon DeBenedetti. 2, Brian Poppa. 3, Roger Lorenzini. 4, Skipper Klemcheck. SECOND HEAT — 1, Dennis Silva. 2, Mark Wauge. 3, Ron Possinger. 4, Justin Holt. THIRD HEAT — 1, Markey James. 2, Bruce Rayburn. 3, Scott Weldon. 4, Jeremy Richey. FOURTH HEAT — 1, Brad Alfrey. 2, Jay Hinton, Jr.; 3, Bruce Rayburn, Jr.; 4, Jon Ireland. TROPHY DASH — 1, Jon DeBenedetti. 2, Dennis Silva. 3, Brad Alfrey. MAIN — 1, Dennis Silva. 2, Bruce Rayburn. 3, Markey James. 4, Jon DeBenedetti. 5, Roger Lorenzini. 6, Jeremy Richey. 7, Tom Glover. 8, Brian Poppa. 9, Dane Smith. 10, Bobby Pierce. 11, Dan Estremado. 12, Skipper Klimcheck. 13, Todd Whipple. 14, Mark Wauge. 15, Mike Linder. SPRINTS FIRST HEAT — 1, Todd Zeitler. 2, Cale Carder. 3, Anthony Nunes. 4, Kevin Cory. SECOND HEAT — 1, Jason Finley. 2, Dan Menne. 3, Ron Smith. 4, Randy Campbell. TROPHY DASH — 1, Dan Menne. 2, Cale Carder. 3, Todd Zeitler. MAIN — 1, Cale Carder. 2, Todd Zeitler. 3, Dan Menne. 4, Jason Finley. 5, Kevin Cory. 6, Anthony Nunes. 7, Ron Smith. 8, Randy Campbell. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S