Even though Jason Jefferson holds a significant lead over Brandon Riehl in the MidState Series race for the championship, he never stops looking over his shoulder for Riehl’s shadow. Saturday night’s race at Yakima Speedway was no different.
Pole-sitter Alden Hamilton set the early pace with an eight-car lead that held for more than 10-laps in the MidState Late Model Series’ 75-lap main event. But with Jefferson and Riehl hot on his bumper all he could was hold his line and hope for the best.
After a caution on lap 13, Hamilton was reeled in with the rest of the field and Jefferson and Riehl were poised to make their collective move. Within three laps, they had taken the lead and moved to an immediate 12-car lead.
For almost five laps Jefferson held Riehl at bay until another yellow flag served to slow the leaders and tighten the pack. At the drop of the green flag on the restart it took Riehl only one lap to pass Jefferson on the frontstretch of lap 21. By lap 31 Riehl built a commanding lead of eight-cars on Jefferson and the twosome had almost a quarter lap on the rest of the field.
Riehl held the lead until lap 48 when he had go to the pits as the result of a low tire, enabling Jefferson to take the point once again. Once his tire was replaced he was hot on Jefferson’s trail. But destiny was not looking upon Riehl with good favor.
On lap 57 another caution came out. After the restart at lap-59, just as Riehl was beginning to move through the pack, he and Ted Mickleson came together on turn two, sending both to the pits for the remainder of the race.
Jefferson took command of the race on the restart and soon afterward claimed his fifth victory of the season. Mel Shenyer ran a steady race to grab second, with Brad Rhoads, Bill Brock, Jr., and Rod Schultz rounding out the top five.
Saturday night’s main event marked the first appearance of Amber and Angela Cope in their own cars. Both ran a good race with Amber driving through several multi-collision incidences to enjoy her first top-ten finish (seventh). Angela experienced a couple of pit stops but managed to regain enough ground to capture twelfth place. Brock came from a thirteenth place start for his second top-five finish of the season.
Also on hand were the MidState Limited Sportsmen with B.J. Tidrick having to drive a back-up car because of mechanical problems with his main ride. Winning three of the first four races of the season, John Rose served notice in the 50-lap main event that the season is not over yet. After suffering several finishes out of the top-ten Rose was ready to visit Victory Circle once again.
On lap 10 Chuck Roberts muscled into the lead when he went under four cars between turns one and two. But his lead would be short-lived.
Beginning the race in sixth place, Rose had moved into second place by lap 19, and had set his sights on the lead, which was now held by Roberts. Prior to that point, there had been no less than three lap changes between Randy Marshall, Tim DeWeese and Roberts, now it was time for Rose to make his move.
On lap 22 Rose shoe-horned his way around Roberts for the lead and built an immediate four-car lead. From that point on and through several cautions, Rose held off challenges by Roberts, Shawn Mathews and Rod Schultz, Jr., to claim his fourth victory of the season.
Division leader and top-qualifier Schultz began the race in tenth place as the result of an invert, but skillfully made his way through the largest Limited Sportsman class of the season. After coming together with Roberts on lap 32, Schultz fell in at the back of the pack. He steadily improved his position until lap 43 when took control of second place for good. Jeff Estabrook ran his best race of the season to grab third, with Norb Barthel and Tidrick claiming fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Filling out the schedule for Saturday night was the very popular Bomber class. On the pole for the 25-lap main event was Gary Haley. He only had three laps in which to enjoy that position though as Ralph Smith took the lead from him on lap three.
Smith, who began the race in tenth place, quickly moved through the field to take the point and a commanding ten-car lead. After ten laps had elapsed, however, top qualifier Jeremy Lennartz was knocking on his bumper and challenging for the lead. And at this time, Ashley Beaman, who was in third place, was vying for the top spot as well.
Beaman’s challenge was only momentary but Lennartz and Smith would battle for position throughout the latter stages of the race. On many occasions, to the delight of those in attendance they ran several laps side-by-side.
But when the checkered flag fell, it was Smith, Lennartz, Erick Hargraves, Buck Noel, Jr., and David Denton across the line in that order. As a result of his podium finish, Hargraves took over first place in this division. Smith, with two wins in a row, is steadily climbing up the standings ladder and now sits in eighth place.
Results: MidState Late Models: 1. Jason Jefferson (Naches), 2. Mel Shenyer (Ellensburg), 3. Brad Rhoads (Kennewick), 4. Bill Brock, Jr. (Union Gap), 5. Rod Schultz (Woodland), 6. Mike Zamora (Kennewick), 7. Amber Cope (Puyallup), 8. Christopher Kalsch (Hillsboro, OR), 9. Lenard Barthel (Yakima), 10. Jim Dobbs (Yakima), 11. Derek Lusk (Kennewick), 12. Angela Cope (Puyallup), 13. Jody Tanner (Portland, OR), 14. Ron Bemis (Yakima), 15. Alden Hamilton (Kennewick), 16. Ted Mickleson (Amboy), 17. Brandon Riehl (Boring, OR), 18. Ed Thomsen (Richland). Top Qualifier: Brandon Riehl (18.959) A Trophy Dash: Schultz, Riehl, Jefferson, Rhoads B Trophy Dash: Brock, Dobbs, Zamora, Mickleson
MidState Limited Sportsman: 1. John Rose (Yakima), 2. Rod Schultz, Jr. (Woodland), 3. Jeff Estabrook (Maple Valley), 4. Norb Barthel (Yakima), 5. B.J. Tidrick (Yakima), 6. Darrell Hanson (Portland, OR), 7. Tim DeWeese (Selah), 8. J.C. Wofford (Wapato), 9. Jack Anderson (Yakima), 10. Chuck Roberts (Yakima), 11. Ted Wilburn (Yakima), 12. Tom Kargman (Portland, OR), 13. Todd Connell (Yakima), 14. Shawn Mathews (Selah), 15. Rich Peters (Yakima), 16. Jack Mondor (Wapato), 17. Randy Marshall (Selah), 18. Kriss Clark (Yakima). Top Qualifier: Rod Schultz, Jr. (21.539) A Trophy Dash: Mathews, Rose, Schultz, Clark B Trophy Dash: Hanson, Estabrook, DeWeese, Mondor Heat Race 1: Anderson, Estabrook, Hanson, Wofford, DeWeese, Wilburn, Mondor, Kargman, Connell Heat Race 2: Barthel, Mathews, Peters, Marshall, Clark, Tidrick, Roberts, Schultz, Rose
Bombers: 1. Ralph Smith (Yakima), 2. Jeremy Lennartz (Yakima), 3. Erick Hargraves (Toppenish), 4. Buck Noel, Jr. (Selah), 5. David Denton (Yakima), 6. Don Klang (Yakima), 7. Ryan Williams (Toppenish), 8. Gary Haley (Yakima), 9. Paul Marshall (Yakima), 10. Ashley Beaman (Yakima), 11. Derrick Denton (Yakima), 12. Don Sowder (Yakima), 13. Jason Trujillo (Union Gap).
Top Qualifier: Jeremy Lennartz (24.849)
A Trophy Dash: Trujillo, Noel, Lennartz, Beaman
B Trophy Dash: Smith, David Denton, Derrick Denton, Williams
Heat Race 1: Smith, Klang, David Denton, Derrick Denton, Haley, Marshall, Williams
Heat Race 2: Trujillo, Beaman, Hargraves, Noel, Lennartz, Sowder
