COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. — Mitchell Faccinto won the 30-lap Western Sprint Tour Speedweeks finale at Cottage Grove Speedway on Saturday night.
By winning, Faccinto was also crowed Speedweeks Champion by virtue of his third win in the five-race series.
Seth Bergman came home in the second spot ahead of Kyle Hirst in a wild finish. Colby Copeland had led the majority of the feature after starting second. The last two laps of the race changed the entire outcome.
In a heartbreaking turn of events, Copeland for the second night in a row, would suffer from a flat right-rear tire while leading. Copeland continued to limp around the bottom of the track with the flat. Faccinto would take advantage of both Hirst and Bergman running the high line around the track and shot past both drivers coming out of the second turn on the white flag lap.
Twenty-two cars started the main event. Copeland took the lead going into the first turn and set a torrid pace leading Hirst and Tanner Holmes to battle to keep up. The race would remain green for eight laps until a car went over the third turn banking, hit the outside retaining wall.
Copeland would have to give up a huge lead as he had just caught the back markers and started to put cars a lap down.
With a single-file restart and lapped cars between the leader and Copeland, his white No. 5v would set sail again. The green-flag period was short lived as one of the back markers would slow going into the third turn. Cars would scamper low and high on the narrow race surface, but a log jam occurred, and Tyler Thompson would do a complete flip and land back on all four wheels and kept going.
With Copeland leading Kyle Miller and Hirst, the top two points contenders, Faccinto was running sixth while Sanders was in ninth spot.
Miller would bring out the next caution while running second. Faccinto was fourth at the time and Sanders was struggling back in seventh. Copeland would continue his fast pace while rim riding the high side of the track. The fast pace was costly as with just two laps to go, the right rear went flat. He continued around the track quickly losing positions.
Faccinto saw a big opportunity and shot under the two cars in front of him and took the checkered flag.