JULY 4TH JOURNEY
COTTAGE GROVE, OR – After last weeks debut appearance at the Douglas County Dirtrack, Team NPP’s Lane Zerbin has found himself back in Oregon for the second week in a row. Cottage Grove Speedway held a special two night Freedom Cup event featuring Sprint Cars and IMCA Modifieds. This was Zerbins first visit to Cottage Grove since a fiery crash in June of 2022 which ended his racing season. Zerbin kicked off the July 4th night with a Heat race win in his Northern Provincial Pipelines/C-Force Marine #81 Modified. Zerbin started 7th in the Feature and just couldn’t gain any track position. The Victoria, British Columbia driver finished 8th in the 25-lap Feature.
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“The car is in one piece!” This was Zerbins best ever finish in five appearances at Cottage Grove Speedway. His previous best Feature finish was 11th on July 4th, 2016 which ironically was also his debut appearance in Cottage Grove. Night two of the Freedom Cup at Cottage Grove Speedway was Friday night July 5th. Zerbin couldn’t duplicate his Thursday night Heat win but was close. Zerbin finished 2nd in his Heat Race. In the Friday night Feature Zerbin started 10th. He ran as high as 8th but settled for 9th.
ELMA, WA – Zerbin wrapped up his three-day road trip Saturday night with a 5th place finish in the Feature at Grays Harbor Raceway. 29 IMCA Modifieds were in the pits. The Victoria, BC driver started his night with a Heat race victory which was the second of his road trip.
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After a disappointing start to the season (19th and 14th place Feature finishes) Zerbin has now registered four consecutive top-10 finishes including two top-5’s. This performance streak also includes two Heat race wins. This was only the 4th time that Zerbin has raced three consecutive nights. It’s the first time he’s grabbed three consecutive top-10 finishes. Ironically it was on his first three-race road trip, back in 2016, that Zerbin scored his first ever IMCA Modified Feature win. Zerbin drove to victory at Oregon’s Willamette Speedway on July 3, 2016.
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