A near capacity crowd at the Wenatchee Valley Super Oval saw the Raybestos Brakes NASCAR Northwest Series and 2 local classes put on a display of short track racing unparalleled by any show before. The NW Series, making the first of 3 appearances at the high-banked ¼ mile brought 29 cars and started 22 in the main event.
The invert of four put Kevin Hamlin on the pole with defending series champ Garrett Evans on the outside. Hamlin got the jump on the green flag and led the first three laps before Evans put his high-powered Chevrolet inside of him coming out of corner four to take the lead. Hamlin would battle with Joe Benedetti shortly after and slip into 3rd place with a car that seemed to be losing ground to the front 2. However, come lap 40, Hamlin would begin his charge back to the front. Using lapped traffic to his advantage, Hamlin would take back 2nd position from Benedetti on lap 48 and set his sights to the front.
Methodically working his way through the backmarkers, Hamlin would catch up to Evans on lap 56 and retake the lead he lost 50 laps prior. Both Evans and Benedetti began to lose the handle on their cars, allowing Ron Eaton, who won the Bud Pole award on the night with a 12.425 second lap, to move up the field and into 2nd. Evans night would be done on lap 73 when he was saddled with a brake fire. Benedetti would continue to shuffle backwards as he lost his brakes. Eaton made a run up on Hamlin, but when he got close, the 33 just pulled away. "I kinda had to let off, I had no brakes", said Eaton after the race. The American Dream Motorsports Chevrolet pulled away from the rest of the field, crossing the finish line first after 125 laps to take the win in the Charter Communications 125. Eaton finished 2nd, Gary Lewis took 3rd, followed by John Bender and Troy Conrad in 4th and 5th.
Wilbur Bruce won the non-qualifiers race. Ray Wallace and Garrett Evans won the trophy dashes.
The Doc Rambo’s Big Ten Series Winged Modifieds brought 15 cars to WVSO, and they put on quite a show for the fans, with one driver in particular captivating the entire audience. Sherri Howard, the defending division champion and first ever-female champion in WVSO history, had been fighting a nasty push all night. Crediting her hard working crew, they figured out how to rid the car of its push and increase the horsepower at the same time, which propelled Sherri into the lead of the Winged Modified main event on lap three. Twenty-seven laps later, the crowd found out what the other drivers in the division have known for a long time: When the #15 car is hooked up, you cannot catch her. Howard won the main event in dominating fashion. Monte Zema Jr., J.R. Ray, Dave Hill, and Bill Cress rounded out the top 5.
Hill and Zema Jr. won the heat races and Howard won the trophy dash. Bill Cress set the fast time at 12.145.
The Jerry’s Auto Supply Limited Sportsmen brought a mixed field of rookies and seasoned veterans in their 22 car main event. Andy Stibal lead the first nine laps of the 40 lap main event before David Patty took over and took off. Patty would put some distance between himself and Stibal before Stibal had to exit due to overheating problems. That would give Patty a decent size gap between himself and fast timer Shane Brim. Brim would give chase and reel in Patty around lap 27 when the leaders got into heavy lapped traffic. Brim, a noted "rim-rider" and master of lapped traffic, took to the high groove to make the first of an exchange of passes on Patty. Brim held the lead for 2 laps when Patty strung him out behind slower traffic in the high groove and retook the lead on lap 32. But Brim wasn’t done. He drove right back up onto the rear bumper of Patty, swung the car high going into 3, and boxed David down low to retake the lead on lap 34. Overall, it was an awesome exchange between a grizzled veteran and a 2nd year driver with a very bright future. Brim would win the main event in the Jerry’s Auto Supply Limited Sportsmen with Patty close on his heels for 2nd, Shannon Mitchell in 3rd, Gary Bykoski 4th, and Terry Osborn taking 5th.
Brim was the quick time with a 15.651-second lap. Mitch Kleyn, Bart Hector, and Shem Patterson took heat race wins. David Patty won the trophy dash.
The next race is Saturday, June 2nd with the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Sportsmen, Jerry’s Auto Supply Limited Sportsmen, Pepsi Cola Mini Stocks and the Les Schwab Mini Sportsmen invading the red-hot quarter mile oval, at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval.
Results
Jerry’s Auto Supply Limited Sportsmen Fast Time- Shane Brim 15.651
Dash- David Patty, Terry Osborn, Shane Brim
Heat 1- Mitch Kleyn, Vawn Davis, Amanda Rowe
Heat 2- Bart Hector, Mark Spies, Mike Sims
Heat 3- Shem Patterson, Patty, Gary Bykoski
Main- Shane Brim, Patty, Shannon Mitchell, Bykoski, T. Osborn, Jeff Hector, Scott Jones, Patterson, Spies, Davis, Scott Armstrong
Doc Rambo’s Wing Modifieds Fast Time- Bill Cress 12.145
Dash- Sherri Howard, J.R. Ray, Cress
Heat 1- Dave Hill, Bo Swenson, Richard Hill
Heat 2- Monte Zema Jr., Howard, Ray
Main- Sherri Howard, Zema Jr., Ray, D. Hill, Cress, R.J. Fronsman, R. Hill, Todd Lolkus, Tim Parks, Dallas Massey
Raybestos Brakes NASCAR Northwest Series Fast Time- Ron Eaton 12.425
Dash 1- Ray Wallace, Rick Suran, Ed Watson
Dash 2- Garrett Evans, Kevin Hamlin, Joe Benedetti
Non Qualifier Main- Wilbur Bruce, Greg Bennett, Roger Habich
Charter Communications 125- Kevin Hamlin, Eaton, Gary Lewis, John Bender, Troy Conrad, Tom Sweatman, Benedetti, Wes Rhodes, Watson, Suran, Chris Hart, Ken Kaltschmidt, Shane Biles, Steven Howard, Bennett, Bill Lawrence, Wallace, Evans, Bruce, Pete Harding, Howard Ford, Zach Niessner
