THE AMAZING RACE

September 20, 2008 - The final points race of the 2008 racing season didn't disappoint anyone. Terry Hadley won his first A-Main of the season, while his wife Krista Hadley came in second. Not to be outdone, Preston Jones chalked up another top five finish by taking home fourth.

The first heat race was actually pretty uneventful as Terry would start third and Preston would begin in fifth. Neither driver would be able to make up ground, and would finish the race as they started.

The second heat race had Krista starting third. She put constant pressure on the leader, but just couldn't find a line that would allow her to get by him. As the race ended, Krista finished second, which meant she made the Trophy Dash.

Krista started the Trophy Dash fourth, and soon made her charge to the front. By the third lap, she made her way to third place, and at the white flag made it to second. Too bad the race was only four laps long, because she was catching the leader. She didn't mind however, as she took home second, and picked up valuable championship points.

The A-Main event was one the fans, and fellow racers, well most of them, have wanted to see for many years. It all started with Preston Jones in third, Krista Hadley fifth, and Terry Hadley in seventh. After the first lap, both Terry and Krista fell to the back of the pack, letting the competitors stretch out and open up racing lines. By the second lap, Preston was in third, Terry jumped up to fifth, and Krista fell to 9th.

The fifth lap was where the team made huge gains. Preston was in second, Terry worked his way to third, and Krista found her way to sixth, and would find herself stuck behind another racer. The seventh lap was where Terry would take the lead and never look back. Preston had fell to third, while Krista bid her time in sixth.

On the 10th lap, the caution flag would come out and bunch the drivers up. That was the break that Krista would need, as it would give her a chance to set up the car in front of her to finally get by him. At the restart, Krista made her push, and now had her sights set on the next car, while Preston tried to chase down and get by the second place car.

The next three laps saw teammates, Krista and Preston do battle as Krista was doing everything she could to get by him. Preston tried to hold off Krista, but she eventually did make the pass to take over third. Meanwhile, Terry was pulling away from the field as he maintained his lead on the pack.

By the 14th lap, you could see Krista was driving the wheels off her car. She was gaining on the second place car. The announcer was calling it as she was getting closer and closer. Fans were cheering her on as she got to his bumper on lap 18. Going in to turn one, he took the middle line as Krista made her car stick down low. Coming out of turn two, she was side by side with him, and when they got into turn four, she once again went low, and made the clean pass at the white flag.

As Terry came around on that final lap to take his first win of the season, Krista followed him in second and Preston took home fourth place. The victory lap was one the speedway and fans had hoped for. Terry and Krista both saluted the fans together, and you could hear almost every fan clapping for them. That was the first time in the speedways history that a husband and wife team took home first and second in the main event. A night that fans, and racers will remember for a long time to come.

On a side note, Terry and Krista broke the previous track record of 15.979 seconds, set by Rick Rapp, almost 2 years to the day. Terry ran a fast lap time of 15.724 seconds, and Krista ran a lap time of 15.973 seconds.

"OH YES, IT'S LADIES NIGHT"

July 26, 2008 - On most nights of racing, the men get all the recognition. Tonight was different. It belonged to a lady! Krista Hadley not only won her heat race, but she also got her first Trophy Dash win, that was a long time coming!

The first heat was a nail bitter for sure. Krista ran second for the first 4 laps, then finally took the lead in turn one as she took the high line, keeping up her momentum coming out of turn two to get by the leader. As if that wasn't enough, she then had to hold off the point leader for the rest of the race. On the last lap, Krista held the middle groove, as a competitor went low, and his tires wouldn't stick for him. He got loose, which gave Krista the break she needed to win her heat race.

The second heat race was a doozy for Terry Hadley. Starting fifth he knew he had his work cut out for him if he was going to win, or get into the Trophy Dash race. On the third lap, 3 cars, including Terry tried going for the same piece of real estate on the track, and only one made it through. Terry and another car got together hard, and cause major damage to Terry's car. He went on to finish the race in third, but the crew had a lot of repairs to take care of before the A-Main.

The Trophy Dash race was one for the ages. Krista started the race in second, but once again, used the high side of the track to take an early lead. As in the heat race, the point leader was nipping at her heels, or back bumper in racing terms, the whole race. Both drivers would run a little bit different line. One defensive, and the other offensive. For the last two laps, Krista found herself leading by half a car length. As the two drivers took the white flag, you could hear a lot of people in the pits, and the stands, cheering Krista on. Going into turn 3 the drivers were side by side, and as they came out of turn 4 to take the checkers, Krista's high line allowed her to maintain her momentum, and win by just .420 of a second.

Before the trophy presentations, anyone could tell the Krista very excited to finally get her first Trophy Dash win! She couldn't quit smiling, and her hands were trembling. All signs of a racer that was having fun, and someone that jumped over a major hurdle in racing.

After getting Terry's car ready for the A-Main, it was time to see if Krista could complete the sweep of racing action. As the race got underway, Terry started in third, while Krista started eighth.  It didn't take long for Terry to make his way to the lead by the second lap. Krista also made her moves and shot to fourth.

By the fourth lap, things would change as Terry struggled with a car that was pushing, and Krista was gaining ground on him. On the seventh lap, Krista took advantage of Terry's ill handling car, and would drive by on the outside to take the third position.

Terry finally figured out his car by the 11th lap to pass Krista for the spot, and that's when disaster struck. Just as Krista passed the flag stand, flames shot from under the car, and she quickly came to a stop at the top of turn one. Not knowing if the car was on fire, she quickly got out to find it wasn't the case. Safety crews pushed her car back to the pits where it was discovered that the rotor in her distributor exploded. Bummed by what just happened, Krista quickly said, "Man! That car was fast! I was having fun!" Just shows her perspective on the whole situation.

Once the racing action finally continued, Terry finally got by a lapped car to make his way to second by lap 16. Tonight wasn't going to be the night he ran down the leader, but was happy to claim that spot at the checkers. His main concern was Krista and her car as he got to the pits. He soon found out that he was more worried about it than she was. After all, he is the support driver of the husband wife duo.

Krista did want to mention that she forgot to thank Les Schwab during the trophy presentation for their continued support, and Mikey in the shop, who puts in countless hours fixing the cars after each race.

PRESTON JONES DOES IT AGAIN

June 7, 2008 - Just when it looked like there might be a different car in winners circle, Preston Jones quietly made his way to the front, to capture his third A-Main win of the season.

The night began with heat races, and Terry Hadley showed he was gonna be strong for the night. Starting last, he picked off three cars in the first lap, then methodically picked off one car at a time, as he worked his way to a second place finish.

The second heat race had all the makings of a great battle between teammates, Krista Hadley, and Preston Jones. It turned out totally different. After the first lap, Krista drove into turn one, mashed the gas, and came out of turn two with the lead. After that, the rest of the field was playing catch-up as she cruised to her first heat race win of the season. Preston Jones seemed to struggle with the track, and wound up finishing fourth.

The A-Main was anything but typical for the Super-4 class. Lot's of caution flags, and swapping of paint was the theme of the night. Both Terry and Krista Hadley started almost dead last, which meant it was going to be a long night if they couldn't make their way through traffic. Preston Jones however found himself starting seventh, so his charge to the front would be a bit easier.

The first half of the race was filled with cars spinning, hitting Ute tires, running into other cars, and just a plain ol' hard racing. Both Terry and Krista found themselves having to dodge wrecks, on their way to the front, but each seemed to have racing luck on their side. At one point, Terry spun in turn three, and fell completely to the back of the field, just to have to come through the pack again. Meanwhile, Preston made his way to the lead and had to contend with lapped traffic, as he did with relative ease.

As the race was winding down, Krista had made her way to fourth place, but it was to be short lived as her husband, Terry, was charging up behind her. Within three laps, he finally got by her for the position.

By the time the checker flag dropped, Preston Jones held off the second place car to win by almost a full second, to capture his third A-Main win of the 2008 season. Both Terry and Krista were thrilled with their fourth and fifth place finishes respectively, considering where they started, and what they had to go through.

On a side note, Terry Hadley posted fast time of the main event, with a time of 16.842 seconds, which translates into 64.125 mph!

PRESTON JONES COMPLETES TRIFECTA

May 10, 2008 - Preston Jones had to show patience and skill if he was to pull off a trifecta for the night of racing action, and he did it in dramatic fashion.

The heat races went pretty good for the team. Preston started his night with a win in his heat, while Terry Hadley finished third, Krista Hadley struggled with a very loose race car to finish sixth.

Trophy Dash action saw Preston take an early lead which he would not relinquish, making it two races, and two wins so far on the night.

The A-Main would prove to be interesting to say the least. Terry started third, Preston started eighth, and Krista started 11th. At the green, Terry made a charge for the front but found himself blocked in by a slower car, but would eventually find an opening and make his way to second. Preston however fell to almost last place, but started to gather things up, and pick cars off one at a time.  Krista's car didn't have the right gear ratio, so she did what she could to keep her car dent free and be there incase a car in front of her broke or spun out.

A caution mid way through the race bunched the drivers back up, and put Terry right on the back bumper of the leader, while Preston had made his way up to fifth.  As the race got back under way, Terry tried everything he could to get by the leader, but his car kept sputtering in the corners, preventing him from gaining any ground. However, Preston made his way to Terry's bumper, and would eventually pass him for second coming out of turn 2. With the laps winding down, Preston had his sights on the leader. Just as the white flag came out, Preston took the lead. That was all he needed, as he went on to win all three races, completing a perfect night of racing.

PRESTON JONES DOMINATES

April 26, 2008 - Preston Jones kicked off the 2008 season in dominating fashion Saturday night, to begin the action at the Southern Oregon Speedway.

He started the night off by leading all 6 laps of his heat race, and had a margin of victory of just over three seconds. Then did the same thing in the trophy dash, this time winning by just over two seconds.

The A-Main would prove interesting as Preston had to start the field of 17 cars, 15th. That meant he would have to carefully pick his way through traffic if he was to get to the front.

As the main event began, Preston wasted no time by picking off five cars the first lap, and five cars on the second lap. That 10 positions in just two laps.

By the fourth lap, he made is way to second, and stayed there for nine agonizing laps. Then, on the next to the last lap, Preston finally took the lead. That was all he needed as he went on to win by more than four seconds. What a way to start the season, and build confidence in yourself, and crew.