EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. (August 16, 2008)–Jason Jefferson shook off a sub-par start to his 2008 racing season with a commanding victory at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval in the WVSO Invitational 125 presented by Bay Cities Motorsports for the ARCA West Circle K Late Model Challenge Series.

Wes Rhodes gave a valiant effort to chase down the Naches, Wash. star but settled for second place in the finishing order.

Jared Vorse, Erick Hargraves and Josh Roberts rounded out the top-5.

The race was slowed by just two caution periods including a lap one incident that forced Mechanix Wear Pole Award winner, Garrett Evans, to the pits with right-front suspension damage.

Local hero Todd Walters led the field to the green flag with Roberts to his right. Each battled side-by-side around the tight .250-mile oval and as lap two began made contact on the front stretch. Both drivers checked up but the field bunched tightly behind them heading into turn No. 1. Roberts cleared Walters on the backstretch as the top-6 drivers ran door to door for the first eight circuits.

Action picked up on lap 8 as Jefferson pressured Roberts entering turn No. 3 and made a bold pass for the lead on the inside of the frontstretch. By lap 16 Rhodes and his teammate Vorse had cleared Roberts and settled in as they tried to chase down Jefferson.

Roberts held fourth place through lap 25, as Hargraves was able to finally clear for the position with 100 laps to go.

Over the final 100 laps of the race Jefferson moved through traffic without issue while Rhodes managed to stay close to the former NASCAR Northwest Series Rookie of the Year. As the race entered the final 30 laps, Rhodes stepped up the pressure and was able to close on Jefferson’s bumper in lapped traffic.

Once Jefferson cleared he extended his lead to three car lengths on Rhodes for the final 15 laps and would not be denied his first ARCA West LMCS victory.

While Jefferson and Rhodes thrilled the Wenatchee Valley crowd with their close racing, Vorse and Hargraves also showed their talents in close competition.

Vorse built a sizable lead on Hargraves over the first 100 laps of the event but by lap 101 had a mirror full of Hargraves who had won the series last stop at Wenatchee Valley in July.

Hargraves looked to Vorse’s inside on several occasions exiting the corners but could never get past the door numbers and was forced to settle back in behind the 2008 rookie’s back bumper. Using patience in an effort to keep his tires cool, Hargraves made one final run at Vorse with 15 laps to go but spun exiting turn No. 2 and was forced to re-start at the tail end of the field.

The 2007 Port City Racecars Rookie of the Year managed to drive his Pontiac back up to within a second of Vorse but was unable to close the gap at the checkered flag.

Rhodes used his consistency and added to his series points lead with his runner-up finish as Vorse has just two events left in the season to move back atop the championship standings after leading for much of the season.

The WVSO 125 marks the sixth consecutive top-5 finish for Rhodes this season including back-to-back second place finishes at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval.

The ARCA West Circle K Late Model Challenge Series returns to action on August 31 at Yakima Speedway for their annual Labor Day Spectacular. Drivers expected to challenge local stars Mike Longton and Owen Riddle include Wes Rhodes, Jared Vorse, Gary Lewis, Jason Jefferson and former track champion Erick Hargraves.

For more information log onto www.latemodelchallenge.com

NEWS/NOTES/QUOTES

No. 97 Jason Jefferson, Leonard Evans Hyundai & Used Car Superstore Chevrolet: “I have to thank Garrett Evans for the honor of driving his race cars. This is an unbelievable feeling to win in his car at his hometrack. We’ve been off all year so it’s nice to finally get things turned around here in front of these great fans. We plan to run a few more times in this car and it’s good to know that after all the work my crew has put in that it’s finally starting to pay off.”

No. 6 Wes Rhodes, Knight Fire Protection/Larry’s Shock Shop Chevrolet Impala: “I don’t know if Jason was playing possum or what but I know that every time we’d get close to him he’d just get out there a little farther. I was really digging there in turn 2 but I had been getting loose off and it happened again there late when I was close to him. The points are nice for the championship but I really want to win one of these things.

No. 21 Jared Vorse, Knight Fire Protection/Heritage Meats Chevrolet Impala: “The car just didn’t handle as well as it did in the 10-minute practice session we had right before the main. I had a great battle with (Erick) Hargraves there at the end of the race and was surprised he was able to get that close. I saw that he’d gotten some damage early in the race and thought he’d just hang back there and ride but my spotter came on the radio and told me he was coming and I was trying to hold him off when he spun all by himself there entering the backstretch which was to bad.”

–Hargraves, who picked up the Mechanix Wear Pole Award at the series last stop in Wenatchee just missed the top spot this week. The Toppenish, Wash. driver trailed pole winner Garrett Evans by .007-seconds.

–Vorse and Todd Walters picked up wins in the evenings two trophy dashes.

–Despite an early exit from competition, Evans was all smiles after the event as Jefferson’s victory brought Evans Racing Enterprises its first checkered flag by a driver other than Garrett Evans.

–Brad Tidrick Sr. has run just about every type of race car there is on nearly every track up and down the West Coast. From the days of racing on the former Winston West series to late model racing across the Northwest there are only a handful of cities he has not taken a green flag. Saturday marked the first time the Yakima, Wash. native had ever competed on the Late Model Challenge Series or at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval.

–Paul Buttkus earned the long tow honor of the weekend as the field’s only Canadian driver made the trek south from his home in Kelowna, BC. The former CASCAR star plans to return to the series next stop in Wenatchee in mid-September with a new motor package from famed Cope Brothers Engines.

–With teammate Dan Rhodes moving into a recently completed new home and unable to attend the weekend’s race, Vorse locked up the Port City Racecars Rookie of the Year title with his top-3 finish.

–Saturday’s race marked the 88th event in ARCA West Late Model Challenge Series history. To date over 300 drivers have participated in the program in its nine-year history with 56 drivers earning points in 2008.

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