WINSTON WEST NOTES OF INTEREST - EVERGREEN SPEEDWAY

Source: NASCAR Media Relations
Date: 06/25/2001

2000 REVIEW:
Series rookie Jeff Jefferson won the Bud Pole Award and initially led the race, but was challenged early by John Metcalf. Bill Sedgwick and Steve Portenga also made their way to the front of the pack before the midway point. Brendan Gaughan led laps 71 to 126 and then took charge again on the 1.5 mile circuit. Although Gaughan lapped many contenders and appeared headed to his second victory of the season, he had a stiff challenge in the closing stages that made far a wild finish. Metcalf and Sammy Potashnick quickly closed in on Gaughan. The trio waged a fierce battle, running three-wide at one point through turn one. Dan Obrist joined the fray to make it a four-way mile for first. Contact between Potashnick and Metcalf in the closing laps moved Potashnick to second, followed by Obrist. Gaughan held on to win by .19 of a second over Potashnick and Obrist, with Metcalf recovering for fourth. Jefferson was fifth.

RECAPPING KANSAS CITY:

• The results of the Kansas City race shuffled the championship standings in the NASCAR Winston West Series, with 13 of the top 20 drivers changing positions. Six drivers moved up in the standings. Eric Norris made the biggest move, gaining two positions to fourth. Sean Woodside, Bill Sedgwick, Troy Cline, Jack Sellers and Mike Duncan each moved up one spot, meanwhile.
• Jon Woods, competing in his third series race this season, collected his first career Bud Pole Award at Kansas City. The 19 year-old established 3 track record of 168.534 mph on the 1.5-mile superspeedway. With his win at Kansas City,
• Frank Kimmel became the seventh different driver to claim victory in eight NASCAR Winston West Series races this season. Brendan Gaughan is the only driver with more then one win.
• Brendan Gaughan is on a hot streak. His fourth-place finish at Kansas City was his fifth consecutive top-five finish, which tops the string of four straight top-five finishes he accomplished twice in his championship run of a year ago.
• Sean Woodside and Team Walker Motorsports have quickly turned their season around with three straight top-five finishes. Woodside, who was 16th in the standings after five races, is up to seventh in the championship chase.

• The Coors Light 200 is the ninth race on the NWWS schedule and the only visit by the series to the Pacific Northwest and Evergreen Speedway this season.
• A total of 289 different drivers have competed in the 33 NASCAR Winston West Series events held at the .646-mila oval in the modern era of the series, 1971-present.
• The Monroe race was one of two events that Gaughan won last season en route to claiming the series championship.
• Twenty different drivers have won a NWWS race at Evergreen Speedway since 1971. Four of those drivers - Gaughan, Sedgwick, Woodside and Kevin Richards are expected to enter this event.
• Ray Elder has the most wins, with five. He visited victory lane in 1971, twice in 1972 and twice in 1975.
• Bill Elliott holds the record for the most Bud Pole Awards at the Monroe facility, with four. Those came in 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1990..
• Roy Smith leads the lists for most top-five finishes (nine) and top-10 finishes (14) in series competition at the track since 1971
• Chad Little was the most recent driver with back-to-back NWWS wins at Evergreen Speedway. He won in 1988 and 1985. Little also had a victory at the track in 1986.
• Little has led the most laps of NWWS competition around the Monroe track since 1971, staying out front for 1,183 circuits.
• Hershel McGriff has taken the green flag in 20 NWWS races at the .646mile track since 1971, more than any other active driver in the series. His last start was in 1993 and his best finish there in the modern Era was second, which he accomplished three times.
• Bill Sedgwick leads in terms of money won in NWWS events at Evergreen Speedway in the modern era. He has winnings of $103,426 in nine races.
• NASCAR Winston West Series events at Evergreen Speedway have varied in length. Since 1971, they have included distances of 100 laps, 150 laps, 200 laps, 250 laps, 300 laps and 500 laps.
• Ford tops the list of manufacturer wins at Evergreen Speedway, with nine. A Chevrolet has been in victory lane following each of the last two, however.

• Series rookie Mark Reed continues to lead the championship standings. Prior to Reed's campaign this year, the last time a rookie led the chase for the title was in July of 1997 when Gary Smith topped the standings midway through his freshman season. In 1996, Lance Hooper became the first driver in the history of the Series to win the championship in his rookie year.
• Reed leads in terms of having the best average finish so far this season. His average finish after the first eight races is 5.5.
• Twenty-five different drivers have led a lap of competition in the eight NWWS events so far. Gaughan has led the most, being on the point for 293 laps in five races he has led.
• Reed has run the most laps so far in the 2001 season. He has completed 1,421 of the 1,425 possible in the eight races. Scott Gaylord is second on the list with 1,412, followed by Austin Cameron with 1,410.
• Norris has passed the $300,000 mark for career winnings in the series. He moved to 14th on the Career Money Leaders list with $302,250.
• Johnny Borneman has two special reasons to hope for a win at Evergreen Speedway. It was the site of his father's victory in the series in 1978 and the race will be on his 24th birthday.
• Woodside has 40 top-10 finishes in the 57 series events that he has raced since joining the NASCAR Winston West Series as B rookie in 1997.

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend