ELMA, Wash. -- For the first time in recent memory the Grays Harbor Raceway hosted an event in the month of October and what a fine one it turned out to be. The 3/8-mile venue witnessed some simply gorgeous weather as well as nail biting action to close the 2012 campaign. When the racing was all over Scott Miller would be the feature winner and Joe German again would be proclaimed champion. The road to the celebrations was a wild one as the thirty-lap feature witnessed several laps of side-by-side racing in breathtaking fashion.

Point leader Joe German of Wishkah earned the lead on the initial start and was being hunted down in the early stages. The predator just so happened to be none other than Scott Miller the multi-time GHR Modified champ hailing from Shelton. As the two drivers worked the low line of the racetrack Miller briefly overtook German for the lead before a caution would come out.

German would be reinstated as the race lead and on the restart Miller found his hands full. Scott Miller now had to deal with Tom Sweatman the chauffer from Cosmopolis who was looking for second. The struggle would last for a few laps and Miller would secure the position and eventually reengage German for the battle for the top place position.

Again before Miller could take the lead from German another caution would come out. On this particular restart a new player in the game took a seat at the table. Canadian sensation Lawrence O’Conner of Port Hardy, British Columbia came into the evening as the winner of the two previous races and once the restart took place found him obtaining third place from Sweatman.

O’Conner would have the position on lap twelve and Sweatman would try and preserve the fourth position in a battle with Seabeck’s Craig Moore. As those two drivers competed for fourth Miller and German were at it again for the lead. And for the third time as a race for the lead by Miller started to take place a yellow flag would occur.

The now third place Lawrence O’Conner managed to find the high side to be rather advantageous and just like the two races before worked the highline with impressive results. Now Miller and O’Conner were in a pitched battle for second but both were moving about the track so fast that the leader Joe German was absorbed into the melee to make it a three-car race for the lead.

O’Conner’s mastery of the high side paid off by the twenty-fifth circuit when he would seize the lead after a multi-lap contest between Joe German, Scott Miller, and himself was briefly brought to an end. For O’Conner just when it looked like he would reign as the leader until the very end a caution would come out with a few laps to go.

On the restart O’Conner, in his Q.I.D. Limited/Q.N.P.C. Limited #27EH! Harris, decided to block any threats on the inside of the racetrack. Miller though was able to get a few inches lower and avoided the inside berm to make it side-by-side once again.

Miller would be the leader on lap twenty-eight by a slim margin. O’Conner would take the lead back and cross the stripe half a car length ahead of Miller for the white flag. On the final lap Miller got the necessary run on O’Conner on the inside of turn three as well as a well executed exit from the final turn to edge him out for the win.

It would mark the fourth time in 2012 that the driver of the Blue Bear Park/Blondie’s Restaurant #26 Dirtworks found himself in victory lane at the end of the night. O’Conner would finish a respectable second place with the Sweatman Trucking/D&D Dyno #11 Rayburn entry of Tom Sweatman in third. The balance of the top five consisted of Hoquiam’s Zack Simpson in his Jacknut Apparel/CNK Machine #12 Shaw finishing in fourth and the DNC Competition Engines/Highway Specialties #14 Dirtworks of Craig Moore in fifth.

Current track record holder Graham Cook of Port Hardy, British Columbia was fast time at 16.504 seconds in his #75CDN machine. Victors in the heat races were Lawrence O’Conner and the #50K entry of Shelton’s Kris Asche. A trophy dash was ran in which Joe German was the winner to earn him the pole starting position for the feature.

And speaking of Joe German when the racing was over and the night was coming to a close he would be announced the 2012 USRA Modified champion of Grays Harbor Raceway. It would mark for the second consecutive season that the driver of the Wishkah Iron Works/Ozman Services Inc. #75X Skyrocket has won the title in the division. To keep up to date on all the latest news and information regarding GHR log on to www.graysharborraceway.com.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

OFFICIAL RESULTS
American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series
Grays Harbor Raceway, Elma, Wash.
Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012

USRA MODIFIEDS

Fast Time: Graham Cook, 16.504 seconds.

Heat Race Winners: Lawrence O’Conner (1), Kris Asche (2).

Trophy Dash Winner: Joe German.

Feature: 1. Scott Miller, 2. Lawrence O’Conner, 3. Tom Sweatman, 4. Zack Simpson, 5. Craig Moore, 6. Del Schnitzer, 7. Graham Cook, 8. Kyler Moore, 9. Shawn Fox, 10. Victor Miller, 11. David Burns, 12. Steve Signal, 13. Scott Westley, 14. Carl Larson, 15. Joe German, 16. Alan Munchoew, 17. Will Taylor, 18. Brent Townley, 19. Kenny Miller, 20. Kris Asche.