LEBANON, Ore. -- It didn’t matter if he broke an upper control arm or the fact that five laps into the feature he had no brakes. What did matter is that Kyle Yeack, the twenty-two-year-old kid from Crawfordsville, did it again at the Willamette Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 25, for the USRA Modified Tribute To Clair. Earning his fifth USRA Modified win of the season Yeack and his third in a row the driver of the Mountainview Woodworking Inc./Crawfordsville Engineering and Construction #47 Pro.

The night featured a different format then what is normally utilized at the historic 1/3-mile oval regularly. The evening’s trophy dash, which was sponsored by Skinner Autoplex, set the starting order for the first four rows in the feature based off of the finishes in that race. Kyle Yeack didn’t earn the win to start on the pole but he did finish second to start outside of the front row.

A large crash occurred in turns three and four on the opening circuit to bring the field back to a double file restart but once the race got back underway it went pretty smoothly. Yeack would seize the lead on the second attempt to get a lap in. Original pole sitter Mark Wauge was up to the challenge to attempt to overtake the young driver for the lead but was utilizing his patience.

The drivers approached lapped traffic a couple of laps before the halfway mark and it looked like Wauge would get the lead. By then Yeack had suffered damage to the left front control arm and was handicapped by braking issues. The two would touch in the backstretch with Wauge getting into the wall, but he would gather it up and again charge towards Yeack. Before he could get to him though the Jacksonville driver got caught up with a lapped car and suffered enough damage to end the night for the Skinner Autoplex/Meineke Car Care Center #1M Loose Gruff.

That incident would occur on lap twenty-two leaving a good amount of laps left in the forty-lap affair. With Wauge out Yeack still had tough competition behind him, including Jeffrey Rivers of Lebanon and Ft. Jones, California’s Travis Peery. Rivers, the hometown driver in his first year in a USRA Modified, was able to stay in stride with Yeack but was unable to get in a position to make a pass.

A caution came out lap thirty-two bunching the field up for one final time. The late race restart proved to not be a scare for Yeack as he motored his way out in front for the rest of the way. However, he did about get collected with a slowing car he was passing on the last lap and nearly brought about tragedy for his fantastic run.

Yeack would earn the win but in the post-race interview he mentioned that the motor may have suffered some serious damage. The damage ended up being a broken header which brought relief to the team and will allow them to compete in further USRA Modified action. The motor he has been using was a lent engine from his father Tom after Kyle lost his primary power plant at the Shipwreck Beads Northwest Modified Nationals.

Jeffrey Rivers would post his best finish of the season earning the runner-up spot once the checkered flags flew in the Scott Byram owned Western Metal Fabrication/Newport Candy Shoppe #45 Shaw entry. Cody Sell of Shedd motored his way to a third-place finisher after coming through the consolation race in his brother-in-law Jeremy Shank’s Left Coast Motorsport/South Pacific Auto Sales and Service Center #30 Swartz.

The Esterlee Motel/Mid-Valley Farms #25 Rocket of Craig Cassell from Albany was fourth after winning the consolation main followed by Gresham’s Trent Croy in the John’s Frame Shop/Perfection Automotive #4 Pro Built to complete the top five finishers.

Fast time of the night would be Mark Wauge at 15.676, which would be a new track record breaking Rob Mayea’s previous record set back in 2008. Winners in heat race action included Mark Wauge, Kyle Yeack, John Campos of Keizer in the Glen Hackney owned Wirth Wireless/Hubler Racing Engines #2 Pierce, and Trent Croy.

Mark Wauge earned the Skinner Autoplex Trophy Dash victory which would allow him start from the pole position for the forty lap feature. Craig Cassell won the twenty-lap consolation feature which saw the top four transferring to the main event.

The USRA Modifieds will take the next few weeks off as the Willamette Speedway will host the two-day Bill Workman Memorial on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend will conclude with Monday’s visit by the World of Outlaw Sprint Series. The USRA Modifieds will return on Saturday September 15th as the season is winding down very quickly. More information regarding the Willamette Speedway logon to www.trophymotorsports.com.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series
Willamette Speedway, Lebanon, Ore.
Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012

USRA MODIFIEDS

Fast Time: Mark Wauge, 15.676 seconds (new track record).

Heat Race Winners: Mark Wauge (1), Kyle Yeack (2), John Campos (3), Trent Croy (4).

Trophy Dash Winner: Mark Wauge.

B-Feature: 1. Craig Cassell, 2. Cody Sell, 3. Dustin Dittman, 4. Matt Mitchell, 5. Kevin Keeney, 6. Jesse Williamson, 7. Steve Moore, 8. Lester Free, 9. Nate Sim, 10. Aaron Sheeler, 11. Gus Cooper.

A-Feature: 1. Kyle Yeack, 2. Jeffrey Rivers, 3. Cody Sell, 4. Craig Cassell, 5. Trent Croy, 6. Sam Potter, 7. John Campos, 8. Travis Peery, 9. Monte Bischoff, 10. Justin Holt, 11. Dave Duste Jr., 12. Matt Mitchell, 13. Sandy Sanders, 14. Robert Hoefs, 15. Ron Wilson, 16. Jonathan Lewis, 17. Mark Wauge, 18. Scott Byram, 19. Dustin Dittman, 20. Justin Evans.