TENINO, Wash. (August 12, 2000) - Gary Lewis, the 1998 series champion
from Bothell, Wash., roared from his sixth starting position in the Pepsi 125
to claim his third win of the season on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest
Series. The win came on the 1/3-mile oval at South Sound Speedway. Lewis
held off three-time series champion Ron Eaton and Chris Hart for the victory.
Totem Travel Rookie of the Year candidate John Zaretzke finished fourth
while series points leader Ken Kaltschmidt finished fifth.
Kenny Rich, on the pole as a result of a six-car invert, jumped out to
the lead on the first lap. Rich continued into the lead until lap 23 when
flames came out from under the hood of his Chevrolet. The burning rubber was
quickly extinguished on pit road. Rich lost two laps due to the pit stop,
costing him a chance at his first series win. Kevin Hamlin took the point
after Rich's misfortune. Hamlin held the point until lap 69 when Lewis drove
by. Hamlin's tires began to fade, sending him to an eighth place finish.
Rich finished in 14th.
Eaton and Hart started deep in the pack and worked their way through the
field to catch Lewis. But they needed the help of lapped traffic to do it.
Lewis was slowed numerous times by slower traffic battling side-by-side for
position. About the time Eaton and Hart would reach Lewis, the former
champion would find a hole through the traffic and be off and running again.
In the end, Lewis would claim the victory with a 1.56-second margin of
victory.
"I owe it to Goodyear, Raybestos, and the Sign Factory," said Lewis in
victory lane. "Goodyear had just an awesome tire here tonight. I was just
following Hamlin there for a while, letting him set the pace. We started to
get into lapped traffic and I decided it was time to go before someone else
caught us."
"The Goodyear tires started to back up," said Eaton. "It took these
Hoosier tires a long time to come in. They started to come in and I made a
move for it. I wasn't paying attention and I hit the wall coming right out
of turn four. I bent a shock. It was all I could do to keep Chris Hart
behind me. I was just hanging on for dear life."
I gave him (Eaton) everything I could without flat hitting him," said
Hart after the race. "We try to run clean. We're happy with third. We just
didn't have the track position tonight."
Gary Lewis claimed his sixth Bud Pole award of the season and the
Gatorade Frontrunner Award. John Zaretzke was the Totem Travel Rookie of the
Race. The race was slowed by just three caution flags for 14 laps. The
average speed was 64.286 mph.
The Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series travels next to Magic Valley
Speedway in Twin Falls, Idaho, for the NAPA 150 on August 19.
