ELMA, Wash. – Trey Starks continues to build momentum as the biggest sprint car race of the year in the Pacific Northwest approaches.
With less than a week until someone is earning $50,000 at the 50th Annual Super Dirt Cup hosted by Alger, Wash.’s Skagit Speedway, Trey Starks put together another masterful drive Sunday night at Grays Harbor Raceway on his way to victory.
Starks led all 30 laps of the Hall of Fame Tribute race, completing a weekend sweep of the two night event in which he led every lap of both features.
The Puyallup, Wash. native now owns six wins in seven starts this season. A pair have come at Skagit Speedway, and he’s won all four winged sprint car races Grays Harbor Raceway has hosted this year.
Jason Solwold led the field to green from the pole position and nearly took the top spot out of turn two, but Starks rocketed through a tight gap between Solwold and the wall the take the lead and pace the opening circuit.
A few yellow flags slowed the action within the first 10 laps, but when the race was green in the early stretch Starks was untouchable, building up to a full straightaway advantage at times. Solwold made a bid for the lead on one of the early restarts but couldn’t make it stick as Starks continued to be nearly flawless running the top.
The race saw a scary moment with 20 laps remaining when Lane Taylor and Jay Cole made heavy contact on the front stretch, sending Cole on a violent flip and bringing out the red flag. Fortunately, both drivers walked away from the crash.
When racing resumed after the red, Justin Sanders began to throw his name in as a potential challenger to Starks. The Aromas, Calif. native had already worked his way to fourth from eighth by the time the lap 11 stoppage occurred, and he began to work on Colton Heath for third right away.
Sanders fell back slightly and had to fend off the battle brewing behind him as D.J. Netto were slicing it up for the fifth spot.
Sanders held off a challenge from Netto and quickly caught back up to Solwold as Sanders found the rubber developing in turn four prior to Solwold. Using a big run out of turn four Sanders slid Solwold in turns one and two, but the two made contact as they exited the corner. They both managed to hang on with Solwold reclaiming the position and a caution coming out on that circuit.
On the restart Starks darted ahead as D.J. Netto rose into the fight for the top-three, slipping by Sanders and pressuring Solwold. Netto made one final move for the runner-up spot in the final turn but couldn’t make it work. Ahead of them, Starks cruised to the victory, his second in as many nights.
Starks’ focus along with nearly all of the Northwest drivers will now shift to Monday’s Dirt Cup tune up at Skagit Speedway as teams look to get their cars dialed in before the Dirt Cup kicks off this Thursday.
The Finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. Trey Starks 2. Jason Solwold. 3. D.J. Netto 4. Justin Sanders 5. Seth Bergman 6. Mitchell Faccinto 7. Colton Heath 8. Dominic Scelzi 9. Jesse Schlotfeldt 10. Colby Thornhill 11. Tyler Thompson 12. Tanner Holmes 13. Logan Forler 14. Tyler Driever 15. Jeff Dunlap 16. Jordi Meese 17. Andy Randall 18. Lance Sargent 19. Erik Rocki 20. Jay Cole 21. Lane Taylor 22. Chase Goetz