It took Brandon Riehl six tries, but he finally came out on top at Yakima Speedway night. Riehl, who finished second in the standings at Portland Raceway, previously had four top-five finishes. The win in the 75-lap late Model event puts him in contention for the $55,000 bonus money for the 2000 Fall Classic, to be held September 29, 30 and October 1.
With Shane Mitchell on the pole and Riehl on the outside, the green flag was dropped by NASCAR starter, Jeff Benge for the start of the race, which saw drivers coming from all over the northwest. The 23-car field was one of the largest for a regular season event at the Speedway. A multi-car pile-up between turns one and two of the green flag lap led to a complete restart.
This time, Mitchell attempted to pull away from the pack, but Riehl and Rick Allison were right behind him. Within three laps, the field had settled into a shoestring formation around the half-mile oval, with only a half-second separating the top four cars of Mitchell, Allison, Riehl, Jason Jefferson, and Pete Harding.
On lap 10, Riehl began to move on Allison and Mitchell, successfully taking over the point on the backstretch of that lap. It was a position he would hold for almost 40 laps as he pulled to an immediate four-car lead on Mitchell. Shortly afterward, Jefferson moved into third, with his sights on the lead and his sixth win of the 2000 season.
As the leaders were jockeying for position, rookie Mike Longton was making his move as well. Beginning the race in twelfth place, he had moved to seventh place by lap 25. His pace was steady, and his advancements were calculated well.
On lap 43, however, the first caution came out as a result of a collision between Newport, Jason Stowe, Dennis Wurtz II and others. As a result of the melee, Riehl lost a tire and had to exit to the pits for a replacement, enabling Harding to move into first place. Mitchell also had to visit the pits for repairs. Both Riehl and Mitchell had to join the race without losing a lap, but at the rear of the pack.
At the restart, Harding and Jefferson raced side-by-side for several laps before Harding took the point and built a subsequent three-car lead on the current Speedway points-leader. Longton, who had moved as high as fifth place, went wide out of turn two on lap 48 and lost several positions. And Marty Rosler, a former tour champion, was using his time and third place position to begin swapping paint with Jefferson for position. Tom Sweatman, the top qualifier (19.317), who seemed to be biding his time, appeared to be stuck in traffic and couldn’t manage to move much higher than his sixth place start.
While the leaders were fighting for bragging rights, Longton had slipped into second on lap 52 and Riehl began to make his move toward the front as well. By lap 55 he had moved into fifth place, and into fourth shortly thereafter. A caution flag on the backstretch lap 55, when Jefferson was spun by Rosler, served to slow the pack, with Harding still clinging to a slim margin.
When the green flag for the restart fell, it was Harding, Longton, Sweatman, Riehl, and Jefferson making up the lead pack. For several laps Longton played tag with Harding, all to no avail, with Riehl moving into third place and closing fast by lap 67. On the next lap, Riehl went around Longton between turns three and four to take second place away from the rookie. Then, on lap 69, the caution flag was brought out once more, but not before Riehl had moved inside of Harding on the backstretch of that lap. With less than five laps to go it was sure to be a classic shootout.
On the restart, Riehl burst to an immediate four car lead and never looked back until he had gained his first win at the Speedway. Harding and Longton made it to the podium, with Jefferson and Rosler rounding out the top-five. Amber Cope drove the best race of her rookie season to move from her twenty-first starting position to finish in eighth place.
In the Limited Sportsman division, the 35-lap main event proved to be a flag-to-flag race for Don Martin, as he captured his second victory of the season, enabling B.J. Tidrick, Jr. to experience his third race in a row out of the Winner’s Circle, a position the young driver is not used to.
"I tried to get around the leaders, but the car just didn’t have it tonight," Tidrick said after the race. "We’ll be back strong next week, though."
A multi-car collision on the green flag lap caused top qualifier (21.543) Brent Harris to watch the race from the pits. On the restart it was clear that Martin was on a mission as even though he was pressured alternately by John Rose and Kriss Clark, he had a straight line to the checkered flag.
For more than five laps the lead pack of Martin, Rose, Darrell Hanson, Tidrick, and Clark remained tightly grouped, with Hanson slipping into second place on the backstretch of lap 10, but he had to back off immediately when his brakes caught on fire, causing him to be sent to the pits for inspection and repair.
By lap 20, Clark had moved into second with Tidrick playing bumper tag with Rose for position. A caution flag on lap 27 enabled Clark to close the gap between he and Martin. On the restart, the two raced side-by-side for several laps, with Tidrick finally moving around Rose and into third place.
Martin held off Clark for the victory, with Tidrick, Rose, and Robert Eubanks, Jr. rounding out the top-five.
Proving, once again, that a beginner class in racing can be exciting, the Bomber division attracted 20 cars and the race for the 2000 season championship got even tighter than ever.
Top contender for Rookie-of-the-Year honors J.C. Wofford held his own over the field and drove away with the win, his second of the year in this highly competitive class. While Wofford enjoyed leads of up to eight cars over his nearest competitor, Don Klang, there was drama building in the middle of the pack.
Both Jason Wilmoth, the 1999 bomber champion, and current points-leader, Bobby A. Trujillo, were making their moves toward the front. Wilmoth, winless this year, moved into second place by lap 13, with Trujillo slipping into fourth. With less than five laps to go, Wofford and Wilmoth built an insurmountable 15-car lead with Klang holding a 12-car lead on Trujillo, and David Denton sitting alone in fifth place. And that is how they crossed the finish line.
His first place finish enabled Wofford to move into fifth place in the standings, only 12 points behind Denton. There is now less than 100-points separating the top five contenders for the 2000 Speedway Bomber championship.
Results: Late Model Main Event: 1. Branding Riehl (Boring, OR), 2. Pete Harding (Surrey, BC), 3. Mike Longton (Moxee), 4. Jason Jefferson (Naches), 5. Martin Rosler (Burien), 6. Tom Sweatman (Cosmopolis), 7. Rod Schultz (Woodland), 8. Amber Cope (Puyallup), 9. Dennis Wurtz II (Kuna, ID), 10. Greg Walden (Kennewick), 11. Rick Allison (Mesa), 12. Tim Sawyer (Spokane), 13. Shane Mitchell (Orondo), 14. Ron Bemis (Yakima), 15. Jarrod Crum (Pasco), 16. Dan Obrist (Portland), 17. Aaron Newport (Benton City), 18. Jason Stowe (Sumner), 19. Mike Obrist (Portland), 20. Derek Lusk (Kennewick), 21. Lon Werremeyer (Yakima), 22. John Williams (Raymond). A Trophy Dash: Allison, Jefferson, Sweatman, Harding B Trophy Dash: Crum, Stowe, Longton, Walden
Limited Sportsman Main Event: 1. Don Martin (Yakima), 2. Kriss Clark (Yakima), 3. B.J. Tidrick, Jr. (Yakima), 4. John Rose (Yakima), 5. Robert Eubanks, Jr. (Portland, OR) 6. Tom Kargman (Clackamas, OR), 7. Darrell Hanson (Portland, OR), 8. Rod Schultz, Jr. (La Center), 9. Jack Mondor (Wapato), 10. Brent Harris (E. Wenatchee). A Trophy Dash: Clark, Hanson, Tidrick, Harris B Trophy Dash: Rose, Eubanks, Schultz, Martin Heat Race: Hanson, Clark, Tidrick, Schultz, Rose, Harris, Kargman
Bomber Main Event: 1. J.C. Wofford (Wapato), 2. Jason Wilmoth (Naches), 3. Don Klang (Yakima), 4. Bobby A. Trujillo (Union Gap). 5. David Denton (Yakima), 6. John Raymond (Selah), 7. Mark Harrah (Yakima), 8. Mike Brown (Selah), 9. Bobby M. Trujillo (Yakima), 10. Vernon Margheim (Yakima), 11. Brian Bachmeier (Wapato), 12. Erick Hargraves (Toppenish), 13. Rodney Beeson (Yakima), 14. Art Prall (Yakima), 15. Darrell Layman (Yakima), 16. Don Sowder (Selah), 17. Buck Noel, Jr. (Selah), 18. Joe Luther (Outlook), 19. Ralph Smith (Yakima).
A Trophy Dash: Wilmoth, Wofford, Harrah, Prall
B Trophy Dash: Hargraves, Layman, Bobby A. Trujillo, David Denton
Heat Race 1: Smith, Mike Hill, Raymond, Margheim, Bobby M. Trujillo, Hargraves, Bobby M. Trujillo, Layman
Heat Race 2: Wofford, Noel, Harrah, Wilmoth, Luther, Klang, Brown, Bachmeier, Prall
