By B.Z Zeller (stock23@aol.com)

July 24, 2010 Roseburg, Oregon: Matt Hein and Andy Alberding take turns being the fastest men qualifying as young Sierra Jackson grows more comfortable winning races. The 17-year old won the Art Pollard Memorial on Saturday at Douglas County Speedway as part of the Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association/American Speed Association Tour. Jackson recently graduated from Middleton High School in Idaho.

“I was waiting for him (Vern Scevers) to make a mistake because I knew I had a faster car,” Jackson said. “I didn’t want to do anything too risky. I had to get through some lapped cars but I knew I was pretty safe with just a few laps to go before the finish.”

Scevers, a former local sprinter who races out of Crescent, led the first 27 laps. Scevers never made a mistake but his florescent orange 15 overheated and on the same circuit that he yielded the lead, Vern exited the track.

“We knew before the race that we were still concerned about overheating,” Scevers said. “I looked down at the temperature gauge and it said 240. At the same time I looked at the gauge, Sierra got under me. I had oil all over my foot and the motor was just way too hot. So I just pulled it in.”

Alberding clocked the fastest lap (12.638) during time trials and nearly eclipsed his own DCS track record of 12.494. Hein was a close second at 12.837. Unfortunately for the two locals, the field was set at a ten-car invert, which equated too great a challenge. The two-time and defending NSRA champion Hein continued his season-long Top Five streak with third-place. “It was another great race and our car was good,” said Hein, a 2006 Roseburg High grad. “The car wasn’t real good up on the top of the track. But it was great on the bottom.”

Following the winner was Cory Lockwood from Nampa, Idaho; Hein, Rick Brown of Springfield and Alberding. Lockwood led every lap of the Don Hein Memorial at DCS last August and has finished second to Jackson in as many races.

“This is probably my favorite track. I just love it here,” Lockwood said. “We had a good run tonight, but by the time we got up to second, she was just so far ahead. All I could hope for was a yellow. She had a good car and we had a good car.”

Hein won the A-dash ahead of Alberding and Brown. Scevers won the B-dash with Scevers placing second. Jackson won the first heat while Randy DuBois of Poulsbo, Washington and Hein finished second and third. Todd Coleman of Lynwood, WA captured the second heat with Lockwood and Alberding close behind.

“We got a good start tonight, but the car was just too loose Alberding said. “We didn’t have any bite going into the corners so once we got strung out there, we couldn’t do much. We needed a caution so maybe the tires would have a chance to cool down.”

Alberding remained positive and optimistic as his team prepares for the tour’s second half. “We still have a lot of racing to go. Ephrata is such an equalizing race track because there is absolutely no grip. Its old asphalt and lapped traffic will come into play. Usually, everybody slides all over the place because the track’s so slippery. But usually Ephrata is one of our best races of the year.”

Art Pollard Memorial (40 laps) 1 Sierra Jackson 25, 2 Cory Lockwood, 3 Matt Hein, 4 Rick Brown, 5 Andy Alberding, 6 Greg Middendorf, 7 Todd Coleman, 8 Matt Mansell, 9 Chris Schmelzle, 10 Ray Douglas, 11 Mitch Holte, 12 J.R Calvert, 13 Vern Scevers, 14 Darren Spiers, 15 Randy DuBois. ASA-NSRA 360w