NEWS
October 31, 2008 Season End Recap
Sierra completed her 2008 season very well. September 13th Sierra competed against 32 sprinters at the 5/8th mile Monroe Speedway in the NSRA sanctioned Rory Price Memorial. Top speeds at Monroe often reach as high as 150 mph on the straights. The NSRA are the fastest form of motor sports racing that make their appearance at Monroe. The stands were packed as the NSRA put on a great show of amazing racing at amazing speeds. Sierra ran a consistent race and finished sixth. Following the race Sierra said, "I had a really fast car. No doubt I was as fast as anyone on the straights. I developed a push though and I couldn't really drive it into the entrance of the turns as hard as I would have liked. Still, I am very happy that we finished sixth. We put a lot of really great cars behind us." When asked if she liked the biggest track she had competed on with the NSRA this season Sierra broke out into a huge smile and said, "Oh yeah, that is just flat fun running at these kind of speeds." Watch this site for upcoming video of the entire Monroe race.
September 26th, and September 27th Sierra was at her home track, Meridian Speedway to contest the two day NSRA Championship season ending race. Twenty-seven sprinters were on hand, with both Davey Hamilton and Kenny Hamilton entered. Sierra wasted little time Friday night showing why she is already one of the finest Sprint Car racers in the nation finishing second. Saturday night, Sierra set fast time in qualifying and was poised for another strong run. The invert put her starting sixth in the 50 lap main. On Lap 15 Sierra passed Davey Hamilton for third. On Lap 18, challenging for second, contact occurred which sent Sierra spinning into the infield and bringing out the caution. Sierra was placed dead last on the restart. When the checkers flew Sierra had advanced through the field to claim the sixth place finish.
Following the season championship race, final points were tallied, and sixteen year old Sierra Jackson stood alone in second place for the overall season. Matt Hein took the championship. In typical Sierra style, when asked about her season, she said, "It was a great season, we had several wins, probably could have one or two more, and finishing second in overall points wasn't bad. But I have to tell you," as a sly grin crossed her face, "I plan on being champion next season."
August 23rd, 2008 Stateline, Idaho
The starting grid for the A Main
with an eight car invert had Sierra Jackson in the #25j on the pole, outside
pole to the #99d of Rick Brown, second row inside Cory Lockwood in the #99r,
outside the #4 of Greg Middendorf, third row inside Andy Alberding in the
#76, outside the #25z of R. J. Fronsman, inside fourth row, Kenny
Hamilton in the #01, outside the #98h of Matt Hein, fifth row inside Justin
Mack in the #17, outside the #23 of Wes Helgeson, sixth row inside Tony
Berry in the #53, outside Mark Jones in the #66, seventh row inside the #33j
of Jeff Montgomery, outside Kevin Burck in the #65, eighth row inside the
#19 of Justin Popple, outside Don Kudrna in the #65x, ninth row inside the
#43 of Ricky Nelson, outside Jake Mann in the #51, and Jerry Proper in the
#5. At the drop of the green Brown drove deep into turn one on the
outside taking the lead coming off turn two. Alberding and Hein bumped
wheels in turns one and two without any damage or loss of spots. Brown
led lap one with Mann working on the back of field moving up to seventeenth
by lap two. The top four were unchanged with Brown leading, Jackson
second, Lockwood third, and Middendorf fourth. Mann had taken away two
more spots by lap four moving to fifteenth. During the seventh lap the
#33j of Montgomery spun in turn four bringing out the caution. During
the caution the #5 of Proper left the track not to return. The #33j
was pushed off and refired to join the field at the tail end. On lap
fourteen the #65x of Don Kudrna left the track while the leaders were
starting to lap traffic. Mann was continuing his march forward keeping
him on the lead lap. At the half way point there was no change at the
front Brown continuing to lead over Jackson and Lockwood. On lap
thirty the #43 of Ricky Nelson spun in turn four bringing out the caution.
During the caution the #01 of Hamilton left the track showering sparks.
The #01 had a flat tire allowing the chassis to drag on the track. The
pit crew quickly changed the tire in their pit stall and pushed Hamilton
back out. A push truck was at the ready to push off Hamilton but he
simply fired the car while being pushed out to the track with the team’s
quad! A hot engine makes it possible to do that. Hamilton
rejoined the field the last car on the lead lap. On the restart for
lap thirty Brown led followed by Jackson, Lockwood, Middendorf, Alberding,
Fronsman, Hein, and Mack. On lap thirty-one Alberding drove around
Middendorf taking away fourth. Hein moved around Fronsman a few laps
later to take over the sixth spot. Middendorf started experiencing
handling issues with his car losing another spot to Hein. Middendorf
spun down to the infield but kept the car going losing spots to Fronsman,
Mack and Mann. Jake Mann now found himself in eighth place in the
race! By lap thirty-eight Jackson had moved up to the back of Brown
and had started to mount a challenge to take the top spot. Over the
next two laps Jackson tried her best but traffic and a wily veteran kept her
in second giving the win and the title of Northwest Super Shoe to Rick Brown
in the #99d. Sierra Jackson finished second in her #25j, followed by
Cory Lockwood in the #99r. Fourth went to the #76 of Andy Alberding,
fifth to Matt Hein’s #98h, sixth R. J. Fronsman in the #25z, seventh to the
#17 of Justin Mack, eighth Jake Mann in the borrowed #51, ninth the #4 of
Greg Middendorf, tenth Kenny Hamilton in the #01, eleventh Wes Helgeson in
the #23, twelfth, and last car on the lead lap the #65 of Kevin Burck,
thirteenth Jeff Montgomery in the #33j, fourteenth to the #19 of Justin
Popple, fifteenth Ricky Nelson in the #43, sixteenth the #53 of Tony Berry,
seventeenth Mark Jones in the #66, eighteenth Don Kudrna in the #65x, and
nineteenth the #5 of Jerry Proper.
Sierra Jackson won't be 16 until mid-august. On 08-09-2008 at Ephrata
Raceway Park, Sierra Jackson lined up against 26 other Winged Asphalt
Sprinters. She qualified fourth quickest. Her Father and crew chief, Mike
Jackson, elected not to run the Trophy dash, preferring to save the tires.
In hindsight, a great call. Sierra, starting her heat last row inside used
all 7-3/4 laps before making the pass exiting turn 4 on the checker flag to
claim the third spot in her heat and the final transfer spot to the A main.
Starting 2nd row inside in the main Sierra settled into fourth and moved
into third within the opening laps. When the leaders caught traffic Sierra
patiently waited her opportunity. With lappers now involved, Sierra swung to
the outside and made the pass for second. At the same moment the leader
tangled with traffic and spun to the infield. On the restart Sierra was
placed back into the second place spot. Greg Middendorf the leader, quickly
ran out to a ten car length lead over Sierra, and as the laps ticked off,
slowly Sierra reeled Middendorf in. Lap 45, to the cheers of fans pumping
fists Sierra made an inside pass on Middendorf and never looked back. Taking
the checkers on lap 50. The youngest female driver to ever win the Rebel
Jackson Memorial, the youngest female driver to ever win a NSRA race.
July 19th - update: Sierra wins her first feature race of the year! At age 15 Sierra wins her second 360 Winged Sprint race, winning the Naylor Memorial on July 12th at Meridian Speedway. Visit her Journal - also just updated for all the details in Sierra's own words.
I.C. Murrell
Idaho Press-Tribune
MIDDLETON -- Sierra Jackson has been a winner in sprint cars, the most popular driver in Late Models at Meridian Speedway, and a "Woman of the New Millennium," her portrait part of an art gallery by New York painter Cathi Locati. And, she's only a 15-year-old rising junior at Middleton High School.
She’s got youth, she’s being a girl, she’s fast and skilled, and she’s not one of those people who just runs into other cars,” father and mechanic Mike Jackson said. “That makes her popular among the drivers. Just your results and your presentation to the drivers makes you popular with the fans.”
That would be presentation on and off the track.
“It’s funny how many of the parents are as big of fans as the little kids are,” Mike Jackson said. “Not just girls. It’s really funny how many 10-year-old boys you see with crushes.”
They cheer on a driver with 10 years of experience and a winner of two Non-Winged Sprint events in 2006 and a Winged Sprint race last year. She has yet to win this year, but she’s finished as high as fourth at Meridian this year.
She also set the fastest qualifying time for a June 14 Late Model race at 13.867 seconds on the quarter-mile track.
“My goals are to finish in the top three or top five every race, and finish top three both in NSRA (Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association) and at Meridian Speedway,” Sierra said. She’s fifth in Meridian Winged Sprints points standings and sixth in the NSRA.
She said she doesn’t really concentrate on trying to become a driver in the major circuits like the Indy Racing League or NASCAR. Meridian Speedway owner Kenny Hamilton, whose son Davey has raced in eight Indianapolis 500s, said Sierra has the potential to race in the World of Outlaws.
“No doubt about that,” he said.
Asked what her plans are after high school, Sierra said: “Racing is really unpredictable. Hopefully still racing, but after high school I definitely want to go to college.”
Sierra has a 3.4 grade-point average and wants to attend college in California or New York to become an anesthesiologist. Being a student of books and racing is a quality of hers that Kenny Hamilton often mentions.
“I think because she’s a very good learner in school, that helps her learn the racing well, and she’s able to tell her dad what’s going on in the vehicle,” Hamilton said. “She’s just very studious.”
At her age, Sierra hasn’t developed an attitude of a know-it-all for a driver, Hamilton added.
After all, she says she reads a lot of books on racing and has even played video games on racing to prepare for events.
June 21, 2008 - Douglas County Speedway, Roseburg, Oregon. Sierra brought out the back up car, sort of. Swapping out the new engine plant into last years frame, Top Wing and Tail Tank the old, new number 25 provided a familiar racing platform for Sierra. Sierra drove to a fourth place finish in her heat, and in the main, had made the pass for third just before one of the few cautions flew. The caution meant Sierra had to return back to the fourth position for the restart. Although she tried, she wasn't able to make the pass for third in the remaining laps and took a nice top five finish with taking fourth.
May 30th and 31st, Diamond Cup Meridian Speedway, Idaho. Twenty six cars contested the two day NSRA Diamond Cup. Sierra won heat races on both evenings, and took 8th in the main on Friday, coming back to take 3rd in the main on Saturday evening. The next NSRA event for Sierra is the June 21st race at Douglas County Speedway, Roseburg, Oregon. Sierra will race in late model action and another sprint race at Meridian leading up to the NSRA race on the 21st.
May 17th, 2008 - Wenatchee Valley Super Oval was the best race of the young season for Sierra. Sierra Qualified 11th, finished 2nd in her heat and finished 5th in the 22 car main. Next up for Sierra is the two NSRA Diamond Cup at Meridian Speedway, Idaho. Sierra's personal account of her day can be found in her Journal found in the media tab.
May 3rd, Meridian Speedway. Finally getting the tight condition out of the Sprinter in the early laps of the main Sierra and a competitor had side to side wheel impact that triggered a seven car wreck, severely damaging Sierra's car. See Sierra's own account of the day and wreck in her personal Journal found in media tab.April 26th, Sierra raced her 360 Sprint Car at Douglas County Speedway Roseburg, Oregon in the first NSRA race of the Season. Running a very strong third in the initial stages of the race a faulty right front tire bleeder value caused a slow leak in air pressure. Eventually causing Sierra to fall back through the field taking an 11th place finish.