YAKIMA, Washington -- Travis Bennett (Ellensburg, WA) now knows what it's like to celebrate in the winner's circle of an ASA Aero Exhaust Northwest Tour race. Since 2004 Bennett had finished second five times, even getting to within one point of a championship. Taking the lead on lap 91 and carrying it to the end of the 125-lap Bud Clary Toyota feature on Yakima Speedway’s .500-mile oval.
A relieved Bennett climbed out of the car in victory lane stating, “I was not counting on anything until I crossed the line, after some of the previous tour races we’ve had.” As he realized what had just happened Bennett said, “It’s been a long time coming. It’s so sweet to finally win one of these.”
Bennett had a four-car length lead at the end over Mike Longton (Moxee, WA) who finished in the runner-up position for the second time this season. “I came up on Travis a couple of times but just couldn’t get the push needed to pass him”, said Longton.
Kelly Tanner (Auburn, WA) made it to the podium for the second race in a row with a strong third place finish followed by Ron Eaton (Lakewood, WA) and BJ Tidrick (Yakima, WA) rounded out the top five.
It did not pay to lead the race early with initial leader Jeff Barkshire suffering a flat tire on lap 35 causing a suspension problem putting him behind pit wall. Taking over the lead at that point Brandon Riehl (Boring, OR) looked like he would win his second ASA Northwest Tour race in row. With a 15-car length lead over Bennett, Riehl also had a tire problem sending him sliding off turn 2 on lap 91 giving the lead to Bennett.
After four races this season for the ASANWT there has been a different winner each time.
The 2007 ASA Aero Exhaust Northwest Tour Championship points chase has tightened. With three races remaining there is a slim 2-point edge held by Jay Sauls (Puyallup, WA) over Tidrick. Both are aiming for their first championship. With back-to-back third place finishes, Tanner has closed to within 8 of the leader. This would make three championships if he overtakes the two in front of him. Riehl is very much in the chase picture with a 28-point deficit. Matt Hall (Spokane, WA) can not be counted out just yet. A 48-point margin is not impossible to make up by the time the Tour returns to Yakima Speedway on September 1st & 2nd for the final race.
Next up for the ASA Aero Exhaust Northwest Tour on July 28, 2007, is the Windmill Mills 250 Presented by KPIC-4. The event will feature 150-laps by the Tour and 100-laps by the Northstate Challenge Series on the 3/8-mile oval at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Oregon. The local ASA Late Models, J’cars, Mini Stocks and Hornets will join in to make this one of Southern Oregon’s biggest race nights of 2007.
| Bud Clary Toyota 125 |
|---|
| Fin Start Driver Laps Reason Out 1 4 Travis Bennett 125 Running 2 1 Mike Longton 125 Running 3 9 Kelly Tanner 125 Running 4 12 Ron Eaton 125 Running 5 3 BJ Tidrick 125 Running 6 5 Dan Obrist 125 Running 7 2 Jay Sauls 125 Running 8 7 Matt Hall 118 Running 9 10 Brandon Riehl 92 Suspension 10 8 Eric Richardson 81 Running 11 6 Jeff Barkshire 66 Suspension 12 11 Kevin Moland 52 Power Steering |
| ASA Aero Exhaust Northwest Tour 2007 Championship Points |
| Pos Driver Name Total 1 Jay Sauls 626 2 BJ Tidrick 624 3 Kelly Tanner 618 4 Brandon Riehl 598 5 Matt Hall 577 6 Ron Eaton 480 7 Travis Bennett 448 8 Jeff Barkshire 440 9 Mike Longton 340 10 Jason Frasier 287 11 Kevin Moland 277 12 Tom Sweatman 180 13 Gary Lewis 180 14 Dan Garber 155 15 Dan Obrist 150 16 Jeff Bird 146 17 Kevin Richards 142 18 Garrett Evans 138 19 Tony Berry 134 20 Eric Richardson 134 |
