LONGTON WINS AT YAKIMA SPEEDWAY

YAKIMA, Washington – Mike Longton returned to Yakima Speedway on Saturday night and made the day an eventful one. The young driver from Moxee, Washington, set second fast time and won the main event over a field of 16 ASA Late Models.

Dan Obrist, from Portland, set a blistering fast time with a clocking of 18.931 sec on the ½ mile oval. Owen Riddle, the defending Late Model champ started on the pole in the feature. Riddle, was passed by Mike Zamora with a spirited battle taking place behind him. Zamora held the point until lap 45 of the 75 lap event when Longton made an outside pass for the lead. Several drivers changed positions many times during the event. Position swapping was the norm for the entire race. The final talley showed Longton the leader, Zamora in second with Christopher Kalsch, Steve Thompson and Ken Olson rounding out the top five.

The Super Stock class was low in numbers but high in excitement. The very large crowd were on their feet during the entire 35 lap event. Andy Beaman was to the finish line first but a post race inpection cost him the victory. Beaman was forced to the pits on the initial start with a flat left front tire. The crew installed a Goodyear tire on the car instead of the Hoosier tire that is used this year. That left no choice after the event to take the win away. The mistake was an inadvertent one, but against the rules. Mike Pepper was declared the winner, making it two in a row for him. Jim Zorrozua was second with Tony Huffines third and Ben St. Mary fourth.

The Hobby Sportsman division started 16 cars for their 30 lap event. The entire event was undecided until the checkers flew. Ten of the racers were in a position to take over the point at any time. Mel Patnode did a wonderful job of running a good line and keeping the howling pack behind him. Randy Marshall Jr. started at the back of the pack and moved all the way up to challenge for the lead but came up one spot short. Jerry walker Jr. Jeff Stevenson and Don Klang finished in the top five positions.

The Hornet main was won by Terry Cook over a huge 19 car field. Jocob Liitle won the first ever youth hornet main. Donnie Stevens was victorious in the Bump to pass and Tyson Richter won the Hobby race.

Next event set for the ASA track will be a Super Stock event with four support classes. The speedway will have the extremely popular “Early Fan special”. Any fan entering the facility between 4 and 5 P.M. will be admitted for the low price of $5.00. On May 24th the ASA Aero Exhaust Northwest Tour will host their first event of the year.

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