ELMA, WA –Lane Zerbin finished 6th Saturday night in the biggest Modified show of the year in the Pacific Northwest.  More than 40 Modified teams were in the pits at Grays Harbor Raceway for the 19th annual Shipwreck Beads Modified Nationals. Zerbins run to a top 10 Finish in Elma, Washington began on Friday night.  The driver of the Northern Provincial Pipelines Ltd./C Force Marine #81 Modified started off his evening with a Heat race victory.  A 5th place finish in the second Heat automatically locked Zerbin into the 24 car starting spot of Saturday nights Feature.  This was the second consecutive Modified Nationals that Zerbin did not have to run any Saturday transfer races.

“The way I ran Friday was definitely a confidence booster,” exclaims the Victoria, British Columbia driver, “I ran good Saturday night, its just too bad I couldn’t crack the podium.”  Early in the Saturday night Feature any opportunity to build momentum was stifled due to the frequency of yellow flags.  Eight caution flags flew before the race was even nine laps in.  “It took almost a half hour to run the first ten laps.”  Zerbin started the Feature in the number nine spot.  The frequency of yellow flags did allow Zerbin to brush up on his restart skills.  “Made it up to fourth by lap 8,” says Zerbin, “but the yellow flags also cost us some spots.”  Zerbin dropped to 6th after a restart on Lap 12 and would fall another spot to 7th after yet another restart on Lap 14.  Drivers finally settled down after the marathon of yellow flags and put together almost 20 continuous laps under green flag conditions.

With just seven laps to go Zerbin moved himself up to fourth for the second time in the Saturday night Feature.  A caution flag however would negate the position gained.  On the white flag lap Zerbin narrowly avoided the biggest crash of the night.  “I had just cleared one of the cars that was involved in the big wreck at the end.”  Seven cars were involved as the white flag was flying.  With the track partially blocked the red flag flew.  Track officials determined that this would also be a refueling stop for teams during the cleanup.  “We put 5 gallons of fuel into the car.  If we didn’t, we probably wouldn’t have made the last couple of laps.”  The race would be a green, white, checker finish.  “The car was a bit of a handful at the end,” admits Zerbin, “had a broken spring and no shock.  The track was a bit rough in spots but I also slapped the outside wall a few times too.”  Zerbins 6th place finish was his third top-10 finish of the season at Grays Harbor Raceway.  “A podium finish would have been good especially in this race but it is what it is.  We’ll try again next time.”  That next time might come sooner than later for Zerbin.  “We are thinking of heading down to Cottage Grove (Oregon) next Friday and then head back north and catch the race in Skagit or Elma (Washington) on Saturday night.  It would be a kind of a two for one race weekend for us.  We’ll see what happens.”  Zerbin won’t be alone if he does head south.  Fellow British Columbia driver Graham Cooke will join Zerbin and Team NPP on the possible two State racing journey in August.

19th annual SHIPWRECK BEADS MODIFIED NATIONALS
GRAYS HARBOR RACEWAY – Elma, Washington
>Saturday, July 28, 2018

1. #54 Nick Trenchard – Klamath Falls, Oregon
2. # 5 Collen Winebarger – Corbett, Oregon
3. #21 Matthew Drager – Albany, Oregon
4. #27 Lawrence O’Connor – Port Hardy, British Columbia
5. #26 Scott Miller – Shelton, Washington
6.. #81 Lane Zerbin – Victoria, British Columbia
7. #11 Tom Sweatman – Cosmopolis, Washington
8. #97 Tyson Blood – Olympia, Washington
9. #44 Nick Bessette – Battle Ground, Washington
10. #47 Shane Kerrigan – Aberdeen, Washington
11. #47 Austin Kerrigan – Aberdeen, Washington
12. # 7 Kevin Smith – Sedro Woolley, Washington
13. #75 Graham Cooke – Parksville, British Columbia**
14.#12 BJ Wild – Redmond, Oregon
15. #14 Kyler Moore – Seabeck, Washington
16.#89 Albert Gill – Medford, Oregon
17.#90 Stephen Kaptur – Banks – Oregon
18.#45 Aaron Scheeler – Elma, Washington
19.#51 Craig Moore -Seabeck, Washington
20.#17 Brian Izzi – Hoquiam, Washington
21. #12 Zack Simpson – Hoquiam, Washington
22.#41 Tim Phillips – Spanaway, Washington
23. #36 John Campos – Keizer, Oregon
24. #15 Jeremy Richey – Elma, Washington

** Graham Cooke raced in the NPP Late Model Series more than a decade ago. In 11 NPP Series starts (2004 – 2008), Cooke had 3 Top 5 Finishes and 1 Feature win.