TENINO, Washington -- A changing of the guard continues on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring, as sophomore driver Shane Biles, Woodinville, Wash., nipped three-time series champion Ron Eaton at the line to claim his first ever series win in the Pepsi 125 at South Sound Speedway. The two drivers ran the last two laps side-by-side with Biles taking the point, by the length of a bumper, at the start finish line as the two took the checkered flag. Rookie Ken Kaltschmidt followed up his strong performance at Wenatchee to finish third. Defending series champion Gary Lewis took fourth while Jerry Fink finished fifth.
Kevin Quesnell took the lead on the green flag, starting from the pole. On lap 20, the caution flag came out for debris on the tight 1/3-mile track. On the restart, Eaton was able to jump to the inside of Quesnell on the backstretch. When Quesnell tried to get back in line, his Chevrolet and the Pontiac of Joe Benedetti tangled, sending both cars to the pits for repairs. That moved Tom Sweatman into second place. Sweatman entered the race trailing series points leader Pete Harding by 17 points. Harding was mired back in the pack with a 22nd starting position.
Sweatman harassed Eaton on every lap before finally moving into the lead on lap 47. Sweatman continued to lead until lap 63. Youngster Zach Niessner got into the Chevrolet of Damon Lusk, sending him into a spin in turn one. Lusk then collected Ray Wallace. Sweatman was forced to go high and stop his car to avoid the wreck. The rest of the field went low to miss the pile-up, dropping Sweatman to 15th. Eaton retook the lead. Sweatman and points leader Harding found themselves nose-to-tail in the field.
Sweatman started working his way through the field on the restart, leaving Harding behind him. On lap 96, Harding and Kenny Rich tangled on the front stretch, sending Harding's car hard into the wall. When the field went back to green, Sweatman attempted a charge to take advantage of the opportunity for a big move in the points race. But Sweatman's foot was a bit heavy as he spun at the start-finish line on the restart, relegating him to the last position on the lead lap. When it was all said and done, Sweatman left the Pepsi 125 with a four point lead in the standings over Harding. Chris Hart, who finished sixth, remains in third place, just 64 points out of the lead with two races remaining.
"This is great," said a smiling Biles in victory lane. "Ron Eaton is such a great teacher. I've learned so much from him. To beat him on the last lap like that with a pass on the outside was a thrill. I have to thank all the people standing around this car. They are the ones who work hard all week to make this happen. We didn't make the show last week at Wenatchee. I guess this is a classic case of worst to first."
"We just ran out of brakes there at the end," said Eaton. "I could not hold him off. He made a great run."
Hart, Rick Suran, Wes Rhodes, Kevin Hamlin, and Wilbur Bruce rounded out the top-ten. The race was slowed by three cautions for 29 laps. The race distance was covered at an average speed of 56.654 mph. Eaton picked up the Gatorade Front Runner Award and the Bud Pole Award. Kaltschmidt was the Totem Travel Rookie of the Race for the second week in a row.
The Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series travels next to Tri-City Raceway in West Richland, Wash., for the Ranch and Home 125, on Sunday, September 5.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
The win moved Shane Biles from 10th to 6th in the points race.
The Totem Travel Rookie of the Year chase has tightened considerably. Joe
Benedetti's lead is down to one point over Wes Rhodes, 106 to 105. Ken
Kaltschmidt still has an outside shot with 100 points.
The series has tied the record for most different Bud Pole Winners in a season with 11. The record was originally set in 1995.
Shane Biles is the ninth different winner on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series in 1999. That breaks the old series record of eight. The old record was established in 1987, and tied in 1994, 1995, and 1996.
