Sports - Motor Sports

POSTED: Friday, Jun. 19, 2009

DIRT CUP: California driver returns with some good fortune on Day 1

ALGER - No matter how bad their luck, very few drivers will admit publicly that they feel a race track owes them.

Los Angeles driver Tyler Walker is one of the few.

"Everywhere we race owes us one," Walker exclaimed after winning the A Main on the first night of the 38th Annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup on Thursday, June 18, at Skagit Speedway.

If anywhere owed Walker a win more than the rest, it was certainly the 3/10-mile clay oval in Skagit County.

Nearly one year ago on the final night of Dirt Cup, Walker led the first 12 laps of the A Main and was starting to think about the $25,000 winner's share. But that's when eventual winner Jayme Barnes got into the rear of Walker's car. The two traded the lead a few times before Barnes managed to split some lapped cars and trap Walker behind them.

As Barnes pulled away, so did Walker's chances of winning, as he continued to slip back and eventually finished eighth.

On Thursday, Walker reversed his role and his fortunes, chasing down leader Jason Solwold and passing him on the low side of Turn 4 of the 24th lap after a restart.

"I got to him going into Turn 3, and I didn't know if I was going to be able to get around him going high," Walker said. "Then he got loose or something. I was trying to give him enough room, and then I saw I had an opening and I went for it. I just made the most of the opportunity that was presented to me."

Walker pulled away from there, as Solwold and the rest of the field couldn't mount a serious charge. Barnes moved up from 10th to third, but Peter Murphy was the biggest mover, going from 17th to fourth. Tommy Tarlton rounded out the top five.

"I have to give credit to my team and that Shark (Racing) motor we were using," Walker said. "The car had so much power tonight. We had the car, we had the engine, we had the team, and I took care of the rest. We just put it all together."

Walker, who also won the third heat race, leads the points after the first night of qualifying races with 555 points. Jonathan Allard, who finished sixth, is two points back, while Murphy is third at 552. Barnes (545) and Solwold (533) also finished in the top five.

Points, which are accumulated through qualifying, finishes in heat and main races and cars passed, are totaled from Thursday's and Friday's qualifying races to determine the starting order for Saturday's championship races.

Ferndale's Brock Lemley raced his way into the A Main after starting 11th in the B Main.

Lemley's progress was helped one spot when something appeared to break on pole sitter Travis Rutz's car during the warmup hot lap, sending him straight into the wall between Turns 1 and 2.

Lemley took care of the rest, passing three more cars before the end the midway point of the race to get into the transfer spot and then moving his way up to sixth.

Lemley continued to pile up the passing points in the A Main, working his way up to eighth by race's end. He enters Friday seventh in the points, 29 points back.

The news wasn't as good for one of the race's most notable entrants, though.

Sammy Swindell - winner of three World of Outlaws season championships, 267 World of Outlaws A Main Feature races and a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame - is done for the weekend, according to his crew.

Swindell struggled from the start on Thursday. He failed to post a qualifying time and had to change engines before the heat races.

In the second heat race, the Germantown, Tenn., resident worked his way up to fourth with two laps to go, but he couldn't work his way around Skagit regular Steve Kilcup to get into the top three and transfer into the A Main.

With no qualifying points, Swindell found himself in a hole too deep to dig himself out.

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.

DIRT CUP

At Skagit Speedway

Thursday's results

A Main: 1. (24) Tyler Walker; 2. (73) Jason Solwold; 3. (33B) Jayme Barnes; 4. (18M) Peter Murphy; 5. (21) Tommy Tarlton; 6. (0) Johnathan Allard; 7. (73H) Danielle Huson; 8. (40) Brock Lemley; 9. (1F) Rick Fauver; 10. (7K) Shane Stewart; 11. (11) Roger Crockett; 12. (38) Chadd Hillier; 13. Kyle Hirst (6); 14. (29) Bud Kaeding; 15. (18) Steve Kilcup; 16. (66) Barry Martinez; 17. (57C) Chris Scmelze; 18. (88) Jesse Whitney; 19. (98M) Mitch Olson; 20. (83) Tim Kaeding; 21. (5X) Colton Heath; 22. (11D) Marc Duperron.

B Main: 1. (6) Kyle Hirst; 2. (18M) Peter Murphy; 3. (83) Tim Kaeding; 4. (38) Chad Hillier; 5. (98M) Mitch Olson; 6. (40) Brock Lemley; 7. (29) Bud Kaeding; 8. (V8) Jeff Hodgson; 9. (4E) Nick Engberg; 10. (35A) Wayne Johnson; 11. (12) Jared Ridge; 12. (59) Eric Fisher; 13. (7N) Chadd Noland; 14. (69) Bret Kaeding; 15. (75) Cory Chamberlain; 16. (4X) Toni Lutar; 17. (83V) Kyle Larson; 18. (75) Kevin Smith.

C Main: 1. (69) Brent Kaeding; 2. (83V) Kyle Larson; 3. (4X) Toni Lutar; 4. (94) Zach Zimmerly; 5. (1FK) Glenn Borden; 6. (7B) Brent Bjork; 7. (23) Steve Parker; 8. (81) Kelleigh Johnson; 9. (25C) Chad Groves; 10. (20) Ryan Benoit.

Top qualifier: (0) Jonathan Allard 96.699 mph. Heat 1 winner: (11D) Marc Duperron. Heat 2 winner: (88) Jesse Whitney. Heat 3 winner: (24) Tyler Walker. Heat 4 winner: (73) Jason Solwold. Heat 5 winner: (1F) Rick Fauver.

Top 10 points: 1. (24) Tyler Walker 555; 2. (0) Jonathan Allard 553; 3. (18M) Peter Murphy 552; 4. (33B) Jayme Barnes 545; 5. (73) Jason Solwold 533; 6. (7K) Shane Stewart 526; 7. (40) Brock Lemley 526; 8. (38) Chad Hillier 520); 9. (6) Kyle Hirst 519; 10. (73H) Danielle Huson 513.