AUBURN, Washington -- After finishing second in his last two NASCAR NW Elite Division starts, Jeff Barkshire finally broke through and grabbed his first win of the season at the rain-delayed 2005 Yakima Speedway Fall Classic.
Immediately following the last Elite Division race on September 25th, the team turned their efforts towards preparing the #46 Mike Olsen Dodge/SPE Racing Engines Dodge for the Fall Classic. During qualifying on October 1st, their decisions on setup proved to be successful as Barkshire clocked the second-fastest time to earn a position on the outside pole for Sunday’s main event. This was bittersweet considering it was the third straight race that the team narrowly missed the elusive pole position.
“Of course we’re pleased to get second in qualifying or a second place finish in a race, but it makes the passion to win burn even more,” said Barkshire of his second-place jinx. “It’s almost more frustrating than finishing further back in the pack because you know that you were that close.”
Nevertheless, qualifying second was a major accomplishment in a large field full of talent, and his good starting position was crucial for success. “The fall classic tends to be a very physical race so starting on the first row helps ensure that you’ll have a clean first part of the race,” explained Barkshire.
Heavy rains fell upon Yakima Speedway on Sunday, October 2nd forcing track promoters to reschedule the main event for Sunday, October 9th. This posed a slight inconvenience for Barkshire and several other teams that were planning on attending the NASCAR NW Elite Division awards banquet the night before.
“It didn’t bother me that it was a late night because we have spent a lot of nights working on the car that lasted much longer. At least we had a great time without a lot of stress Saturday night,” said Barkshire.
On race day, the field started in the order that they had qualified the previous weekend with the #46 Dodge on the outside pole. Once the green flag dropped it didn’t take long for Barkshire to maneuver around the #44 of Mark Owens for the lead. Barkshire maintained the lead when the field was stopped for the scheduled refueling on lap 92. At this point the team began preparing for its pit strategy of taking four tires during the first caution following the fuel break.
Shortly after the restart of the second half, a caution lined the field up behind the pace car as Barkshire dove into the pits to take four tires and a minor sway bar adjustment. While the changes took longer than those teams that took only two tires, the #46 was able to keep decent track position for the restart.
“I knew I had the car to get back to the front, but I was also frustrated because it was going to take a lot of patience to not get caught up in traffic,” said Barkshire about his position after the pit stop. “It also meant I would have to be harder on my equipment than I would have liked.”
Barkshire put on an impressive show during the second half of the race as he climbed through lapped traffic in pursuit of the lead. After an unfortunate spin in turn one shortly after the restart of the second half, Barkshire regained his composure and went back to work on the field. With 25 laps to go, he reached second behind the #37 of Jason Frasier.
“When Sam [Roebuck] came on the radio and told me that I was running a tenth and a half faster than the leader even though the leader was a full straight away ahead, I knew we were going to be able to catch him.”
Soon after, another caution regrouped the field making it easy for Barkshire to pass Frasier on the inside of turn 3 for the lead. After cruising the final laps of the race, the #46 Dodge was hidden behind a plum of smoke as Barkshire celebrated the victory with an impressive burnout on the front stretch.
“I appreciate the support that Mike Olsen Dodge has given us at all the Yakima Tour and late model races this year and I’m very proud to get him his first Fall Classic win,” said Barkshire of his race sponsor. “I also want to thank the crew for their help and evolvement throughout the weekend.”
The team looks to continue its successful momentum into the Toyota All Star Shootout in Irwindale, California on Sunday, November 12th. The race will feature the ten best teams from all four NW Elite Division tours and will be broadcasted live on the SPEED Channel at 8:00pm.
Notes: This was Barkshire’s first victory since the 2004 Miller 200 at South Sound Speedway. Mike Olsen Dodge, located in Yakima, WA, was the primary sponsor of the #46 Dodge in addition to being one of the primary race sponsors of the Fall Classic.
