For the Late Model Championships Saturday night at Yakima Speedway, Jason Jefferson took home his sixth trophy. He had already sewn up the Yakima Speedway 2000 Late Model Championship, but you couldn’t tell that by the way he drove.
Tailing Chet Beaman for most of the race, and swapping paint with the leader on several occasions, on lap 65 of the 100-lap main event, Jefferson took his shot as Beaman went into turn one a little too hard and tangled with lap traffic bringing out one of many caution flags. Several cars came together, but Jefferson slid through the debris and moved into first place. From that point on it was smooth sailing for the Naches driver, even though several more caution flags were dropped.
But as easy as it seemed for Jefferson, the battle for position among the next few places was intense. As a result of Beaman’s mishap, Jeff Jefferson, John Zaretzke and Mike Longton ended up at the rear of the field, but within a few laps each of them were back in contention, except for Jeff Jefferson, who suffered handling problems and had to watch the rest of the race from the pits.
Terry Halverson, in his first race at the Speedway in 2000, drove a hard and intelligent race to place second. Starting the race in eighth place, he drove steady until he had moved into the top-ten midway through the race. Then, as a result of the multi-car incident on lap 65, Halverson slipped into third place, then moved into second a few laps later. Jim Dobbs, also in his first race of the year at the Speedway, and starting in last place, drove well to finish seventh.
With Jason Jefferson taking home the checkered flag, Halverson, Zaretzke, Longton, and Ron Bemis rounded out the top-five. Top qualifier Kevin Quesnell (19.235) suffered engine problems during Happy Minutes and had to withdraw from the starting line-up.
In the Hobby Stock 35-lap main event, current points leader and top qualifier (22.612), as well as track record-holder, Larry Couette spent the entire race trying to catch Ron Anderson, Jr., currently in second place in the season standings. Anderson took over the lead position from pole-sitter Tony Huffines on the backstretch of lap four and never looked back.
Couette, by this time, had moved into third place, then into second just a couple of laps later. Even though he reeled in and tagged Anderson a couple of times, he never had the power to catch the leader.
"I wonder where he got all that muscle," Couette said after the race. "I gave him all I had, and it just wasn’t enough tonight. It was a great race."
E.J. Trujillo ran a good, tough race to place fourth, and Bo Schultz continued his steady pace of top-ten finishes with an eighth place run.
Holding up its well-earned reputation of providing, arguably, the most excitement all season long, the Bomber 25-lap main event brought those in attendance to their feet on several occasions. At the conclusion of Saturday night’s race, and with the season-ending championship race only one-week away, the top four positions are separated by only 40-points.
Going into the race, Bobby A. Trujillo, who has been plagued by two breakouts, had the lead, and only had to finish in the top ten to hold onto that position. Don Klang, in second place, had to finish in the top three of the race to catch Trujillo. For Trujillo Saturday night, who began the race in fourteenth place as the result of a slow qualifying time, Lady Luck was not looking his way. Twenty-five laps later, he finished the race in the same place he started.
"The tires weren’t right," he said after the race. "They were mixed up and I never could gain any speed."
But for Klang, bad tires weren’t a problem. The top five of Jason Wilmoth, Ralph Smith, Klang, J.C. Wofford, and Mark Harrah remained in that group for the entire race, but their individual positions changed dramatically in the latter stages of the race.
Wilmoth, starting the race in second place, shot to the lead at the drop of the green flag, with pole-sitter Smith falling into second. Wilmoth, Smith and Klang in third place, held their positions for most of the race. But J.C. Wofford, who began the race in sixth place, and had moved into fourth place by lap 10, had his eye on the lead.
In one of the best finishes of the year, Wofford first moved past Klang, then Smith, before finally reeling in Wilmoth on the white flag lap, for his third win of the year. Wilmoth, Klang, Harrah, and Smith rounded out the top-five. As a result of Saturday night’s effort, Klang tied Trujillo for the points lead, setting the stage for an exciting championship race next week.
Results:
Late Model Main Event: 1. Jason Jefferson (Naches), 2. Terry Halverson (Wenatchee), 3. John Zaretzke (Yakima), 4. Mike Longton (Moxee), 5. Ron Bemis (Yakima), 6. Ted Mickelson (Amboy), 7. Jim Dobbs (Yakima), 8. Jason Stowe (Sumner), 9. Chet Beaman (Yakima), 10. Angela Cope (Puyallup), 11. Lon Werremeyer (Yakima), 12. Jeff Jefferson (Naches), 13. Darren Pritt (Burien), 14. Jerry Mullins (Naches), 15. Matt Daskalos (Roseburg, OR).
A Trophy Dash: Jason Jefferson, Jeff Jefferson, Zaretzke, Longton
B Trophy Dash: Stowe, Werremeyer, Halverson, Mullins
Hobby Stock Main Event: 1. Ron Anderson, Jr. (Yakima), 2. Larry couette (Yakima), 3. Kevin Washington (Yakima), 4. E.J. Trujillo (Yakima), 5. Tony Huffines (Yakima), 6. Harold Seekins (Yakima), 7. Terry Cook (Yakima), 8. Larry Norman (Yakima), 9. Bo Schultz (Ellensburg), 10. Nathan Hudson (Yakima), 11. Russ Allison (Zillah).
A Trophy Dash: Anderson, Couette, Hudson, Allison
B Trophy Dash: T. Cook, Seekins, Trujillo, C. Cook
Heat Race: Allison, Washington, Couette, Anderson, Huffines, C. Cook, Seekins, Schultz, Trujillo, T. Cook
Bomber Main Event: 1. J.C. Wofford (Wapato), 2. Jason Wilmoth (Naches), 3. Don Klang (Yakima), 4. Mark Harrah (Yakima), 5. Ralph Smith (Yakima), 6. Dave Denton (Yakima), 7. Art Prall (Yakima), 8. Buck Noel, Jr. (Selah), 9. Jeremy Lennartz (Yakima), 10. Bryan Bachmeier (Wapato), 11. Mike Brown (Selah), 12. Darrell Layman (Union Gap), 13. Joe Luther (Outlook), 14. Bobby A. Trujillo (Union Gap), 15. Johnny Raymond (Selah), 16. Bobby M. Trujillo (Yakima), 17. Rodney Beason (Yakima), 18. Erick Hargraves (Toppenish), 19. Don Sowder (Yakima), 20. Paul Marshall (Yakima), 21. Neal Smith (Selah), 22. Adam Little (Selah).
A Trophy Dash: Wofford, Denton, Prall, Sowder
B Trophy Dash: Luther, Layman, Beason, Brown
Heat Race 1: Hargraves, Little, B. A. trujjilo, B.M. Trujillo, Beason, Raymond, Marshall, Luther. N. Smith
Heat Race 2: R. Smith, Wofford, Bachmeier, Wilmoth, Lennartz, Noel, Harrah, Denton, Prall, Klang, Sowder
Bomber Main Event: 1. J.C. Wofford (Wapato) 2. Ralph Smith (Yakima), 3. Jason Wilmoth (Naches), 4. Mark Harrah (Yakima), 5. Johnny Raymond (Selah), 6. Don Klang (Yakima), 7. Darrell Layman (Yakima), 8. Erick Hargraves (Toppenish), 9. Art Prall (Yakima), 10. Vernon Margheim (Yakima), 11. Bobby A. Trujillo (Union Gap), 12. Bryan Bachmeier (Wapato), 13. Joe Luther (Outlook), 14. Buck Noel, Jr. (Selah), Mike Brown (Selah), 16. Dave Denton (Yakima), 17. Jason Trujillo (Yakima).
A Trophy Dash: R. Smith, Bachmeier, Wilmoth, Harrah
B Trophy Dash: Denton, Raymond, Noel, Hargraves
Heat Race 1: Neal Smith, Denton, Raymond, B. Trujillo, Hargraves, J. Trujillo, Prall, Margheim
Heat Race 2: Wofford, R. Smith, Luther, Bachmeier, Harrah, Klang, Brown, Noel,
