The following article is used with permission granted to Tim Anderson/Yakima Speedway:
For those who know Garrett Evans, they would certainly agree it would take something sensational for the mild-mannered driver to spin his coveted blue racer through its own cloud of tire smoke, jump out of his car, hop on the roof and pump his fist in the air with a yell.
Something truly unbelieveable.
Like winning $55,000.
Earning the largest winner's purse in Northwest auto-racing history, Evans pounced into the lead with nine laps left and tore away to a commanding victory Sunday night in the 150-lap Late Model finale, the featured event in the 13th annual Fall Classic at Yakima Speedway.
"You work real hard all your life for a chance like this. It's just unbelievable," Evans said while getting swarmed by his overjoyed family and crew. "To run for money like this is great for racing in the Northwest. It was a great time to have a car in great shape."
Yakima's season-ending event drew over 250 cars, and in addition to Evans the big winners were Yakima's B.J. Tidrick and Portland's Brandon Riehl. Tidrick captured the 50-lap Street Stocks main and Riehl, who doubled back in the Late Model race, won the 75-lap Super Stocks final.
But this was a day -- and a week -- that belonged to Evans.
The week before on the same track, Evans won the NASCAR Northwest Tour season championship by one point with a victory over Gary Lewis. Then on Saturday he qualified for the Fall Classic's pole with a 19.120-second lap.
But the big money didn't enter the picture until just before Sunday's green flag dropped.
Traditionally worth $10,000 to the winner, the Fall Classic had two huge bonuses this year. Any driver who qualified in the top two could opt to start in the back and go for $30,000, as second-qualifier Tom Sweatman did. But as one of nine regular-season winners at Yakima Speedway this season, Evans was eligible for $55,000 if he went to the back and won.
On the final warm-up lap, Evans put on the brakes and let the field go by.
"Yesterday my dad said don't do it," Evans said. "But the car felt so good in practice. I felt like something good was there."
But to start at the back of a 31-car field that included the best drivers in the region was a major risk. The key break for Evans was having the length of the race changed from 125 laps to 150.
At 125 laps, Evans trailed Tacoma's Ron Eaton, who inherited the pole when the top two moved back, and Yakima's Chris Hart. Evans caught Hart on lap 133 and then overtook Eaton with a gutsy outside move on lap 141.
With the Speedway's myriad bonuses, Hart was chasing a big payday as well. Even without qualifying in the top two, Hart could've earned $35,000 since he was one of the nine regular-season winners.
The 1990 Fall Classic winner, Hart led from lap 101 to 124 before Eaton battled back to front. Eaton was second at the finish and Hart held off Naches' Jason Jefferson for third.
"We just didn't have as good a car as Garrett," Hart said. "We were up there for a while and gave it a good run."
Sweatman actually led Evans in the rally from the back, getting as high as second before falling to sixth at the end.
After winning the Speedway's Limited Sportsman season title with 10 victories, Tidrick put a perfect cap on his career year with a runaway in Street Stocks.
In open racing, Tidrick's car was no match for even his closest pursuers. Even with a bunched-up restart from a caution flag with four laps remaining, Tidrick bolted to a quarter-lap lead at the finish.
"Eleven wins in this car -- that's just awesome," Tidrick said. "My crew told me on the radio I was running good and had a good lead. They said to take it easy, but the car ran so fast and so easy."
Tidrick led an all-local finish with Yakima's Randy Hitchcock second followed by Yakima's Don Martin and Wapato's John Rose.
Like Tidrick, Riehl was a start-to-finish leader in the Super Stocks final. He also finished fifth in the Late Model feature.
Sweatman was another all-day driver, preceeding his Late Model race with a runner-up finish in Super Stocks. Selah's Ron Dexter was third.
"This is my best finish in a big race," Dexter said. "We lost a little at the end, but we're real excited with this."
Results: Late Model/Tour A Main: 1. Garrett Evans (Ardenvoir), 2. Ron Eaton (Tacoma), 3. Chris Hart (Yakima), 4. Jason Jefferson (Naches), 5. Brandon Riehl (Portland), 6. Tom Sweatman (Cosmopolis), 7. Kelly Mann (Monroe), 8. Jeff Zimmerman (Spokane), 9. John Dillon (Boise, Id.), 10. Jesse Jensen (Snohomish), 11. Mike Olson (Puyallup), 12. John Zaretzke (Yakima), 13. Ken Olson (Naches), 14. John Bender (Snohomish), 15. Martin Rosler (Burien), 16. John Hoff (Fairbanks, Ak.), 17. Tom Moriarity (Monroe), 18. Kurt Meyer (Puyallup), 19. Mike Longton (Moxee), 20. Jody Tanner (Portland), 21. Steve Cox (Arlington), 22. John Nesmith (Meridian, Id.), 23. Pete Harding (Surrey, B.C.), 24. Jeff Jefferson (Naches), 25. Gary Lewis (Bothell), 26. Chet Beaman (Yakima), 27. Rod Schultz (Woodland), 28. Mike Obrist (Portland), 29. Jeff Bird (Yakima), 30. Cory Lacosta (Anchorage, Ak.), 31. Luke Ledgerwood
B Main: 1. Ken Olson, 2. Luke Ledgerwood, 3. Dennis Wurtz II, 4. Steve Cox, 5. Rick Hager, 6. David Brodigan, 7. Jon Fugitt, 8. Jerry Mullins, 9. Bill Scott, 10. Ted Mickelson, 11. Ken Jackshaw, 12. Cory Wolf, 13. Jim Wilcox, 14. Dan Beecher, 15. Jimmy McVey, 16. Cory Lacosta, 17. Tom Matthew, 18. John Hoff, 19. Brad Tanner, 20. John Bender, 21. Craig Doehling, 22. Kim Wennerberg, 23. Lon Werremeyer, 24. Rick Schultz, 25. Dan Obrist, 26. Greg Waldon, 27. Don Waterman, 28. Cary Auguston, 29. Jim Dobbs, 30. J.P. Hawley.
Super Stocks A Main: 1. Brandon Riehl (Portland), 2. Tom Sweatman (Cosmopolis), 3. Ron Dexter (Selah), 4. Dan Obrist (Portland), 5. Jody Tanner (Portland), 6. Chet Beaman (Yakima), 7. Terry Halverson (Wenatchee), 8. Mike Obrist (Portland), 9. Kendall Thomas (Williams Lake, B.C.), 10. Lane Collier (Spokane), 11. Tim Elliott, 12. Ron Wolf, 13. Chris Kalsch, 14. Dave Garber, 15. Cory Wolfe, 16. Mike Nelson, 17. Matt Tarr, 18. Mike Olson, 19. Don Waterman, 20. Brad Rhodes, 21. Bob Schweigert, 22. Dan Garber, 23. Rich Johnson, 24. Mike Sauls, 25. Paul Field, Jr., 26. Brian McCoy, 27. Mike Sproule, 28. Dan Kundrna, 29. Ron Turner, 30. Rocky Erickson, 31. Eric Tibbetts, 32. Richard Worley, 33. Tim Sawyer.
B Main: 1. Matt Tarr, 2. Mike Sproule, 3. Dan Garber, 4. Rich Johnson, 5. Don Kudrna, 6. Bob Schweigert, 7. Kirk Phillips, 8. Jeri Tipton, 9. Kirk Hennefer, 10. Marty Wason, 11. Adam Nelson, 12. Lane Collier, 13. Mike Lyons, 14. Ken DeFoe.
Street Stocks A Main: 1. B.J. Tidrick (Yakima), 2. Randy Hitchcock (Yakima), 3. Don Martin (Yakima), 4. John Rose (Wapato), 5. Brent Harris (Wenatchee), 6. Dan Schlatter (Bellevue), 7. Bob Dexter (Selah), 8. Chris Schloht (Gresham, Ore.), 9. Darrell Hansen (Portland), 10. Rick Larson (Monroe), 11. Glenn Mollett, 12. Kriss Clark, 13. Mike Gummas, 14. Gary Homad, 15. Craig Bell, 16. John Gamble, 17. Duane Schosboek, 18. Jeff Estabrook, 19. Mark Berriau, 20. Paul Douglas, 21. Craig Doehling, 22. Shawn Wood, 23. Bob Greiner, 24. Don Tolsma, 25. Rod Schultz, Jr., 26. Chuck Conwell, 27. Ben Reid, 28. Rich Peters, 29. Dave Lund.
