The Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, a NASCAR touring division, made its second appearance at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval Saturday Night and thrilled the large and sunbaked crowd. Temperatures at the track were close to 100 degrees, with surface temperatures reaching 151 at the peak of the afternoon. The series drivers had a tough challenge, not being able to set up their cars to perform at their maximum potential due to the intense heat. Garrett Evans rose to the top during time trials, taking fast time at 12.542. An invert of six put Gary Lewis on the pole, and Lewis would shoot out to the lead on lap 1 of the Budweiser 125. The race was halted on lap 4, when Ken Kaltschmidt put his car into the wall, collecting local driver Shane Mitchell and fast time Garrett Evans in the process. This effectively ended Evans night, as he made it around a few more laps, but exited on lap 8 due to the extensive damage to his car. On the restart, Lewis again took off, with Joe Benedetti and Ron Eaton close behind. Lewis held Benedetti at bay till lap 16, when the driver of the RaceCals #2 drove underneath him out of corner 2, powered down the back straight, and took the lead. Benedetti appeared to have found the perfect line, holding off Eaton lap after lap. Benedetti had a strong run going, but began losing air in his left rear tire, and couldn’t keep his Pontiac glued to white line like he needed, and Eaton took advantage. Eaton maneuvered his Lake’s Body Shop Chevrolet inside of Benedetti in corner 2 on lap 90 to take the lead. Series points leader Kevin Hamlin followed Eaton through, and began applying pressure. Hamlin took a few runs at Eaton coming out of 4, but didn’t have enough to make the pass, giving Ron Eaton the victory, his 3rd of the race season. Hamlin retains his points lead with a 2nd place finish, and Joe Benedetti gets his 3rd straight podium finish with a 3rd place. Stephen Howard and Shane Mitchell won the trophy dashes.
The Doc Rambo’s Big 10 Series Wing Modifieds ran in race #5 on the season, with the series tied at 2 apiece between Sherri Howard and JR Ray. Ray would hold serve for the start of the Wing Modified feature, shooting around Monte Zema Jr. at the start of the feature, and opening up a full straightaway lead on Zema Jr. and Howard. Howard and Zema duked it out for 2nd, with Howard finally clearing Zema Jr. on lap 16. She set sail for Ray, and a full straightaway lead was quickly decimated. Ray managed to hold off the defending division champion for 5 laps, weaving through traffic and putting many obstacles in Howard’s path, but in the end, Sherri’s horsepower and awesome cornering put her ahead of Ray, and in winner’s circle. She also won one of the heat races, with Mike Roberts taking the other. Zema Jr. won the trophy dash.
The NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Sportsmen began the night rather auspiciously with both Ed Myers and Tim Crandall losing motors before the main. Without those 2 competitors, the rest of the field had an easier go of it. Steve Floyd, back after missing a week due to motor woes, sat on the pole and took off, leading the first 23 laps of the 50-lap feature. A little déjà vu came into play, with motor woes again befalling Floyd. He dropped a cylinder on lap 23, and subsequently dropped from the field. Brent Harris was once again the benefactor of Floyd’s misfortune, taking over the lead. Harris, who set fast time at 14.107, took off with Shane Mitchell peddling as fast as he could to keep up. The now legendary Harris v. Mitchell battle ensued, with Shane mounting a challenge in the corners. But Harris just had too much under the hood, and took his 3rd Sportsmen win in a row. Floyd won the trophy dash and Tom Wentz won the heat race.
During opening ceremonies, A brown mid 90’s Chevy Push Truck wheeled around the front straightaway with the Cascade Push Truck Association. The Passenger side door opened, and John Krause walked out onto the surface of Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval for the first time since his accident some 4 months ago. The crowd gave a load ovation to John, who hopes to be back working again within 3 months. Good Luck, and Welcome Back John!
Results
Raybestos Brakes NW Series Fast Time- Garrett Evans 12.542
Dash 1- Steven Howard, Ed Watson, Troy Conrad
Dash 2- Shane Mitchell, Garrett Evans, Ron Eaton
Main- Ron Eaton, Kevin Hamlin, Joe Benedetti, Shane Biles, Pete Harding, Wes Rhodes, Ed Watson, Howard Ford, Matt Hall, Steven Howard, Chris Rothfus, Chris Hart, Ray Wallace, Bill Lawrence, Ralph Hubbert, John Bender, Gary Lewis, Troy Conrad, Rick Suran, Greg Bennett, Kristi Schmitt, Garrett Evans, Shane Mitchell, Ken Kaltschmidt, Jerry Fink
Doc Rambo’s Big 10 Wing Modifieds Fast Time- Sherri Howard 11.817
Dash- Monte Zema Jr., Sherri Howard, JR Ray
Heat 1- Mike Roberts, Dave Hill, Todd Lolkus
Heat 2- Howard, Bill Cress, Ray
Main- Sherri Howard, JR Ray, Monte Zema Jr., Mark Falstad, Bill Cress, Mike Roberts, Dave Hill, Tim Parks, Bo Swenson, Todd Lolkus, Brian Andruss, Richard Hill, Marc Lund, RJ Fronsman
Nascar Weekly Racing Series Sportsmen Fast Time- Brent Harris 14.107
Dash- Steve Floyd, Shane Mitchell, Brent Harris
Heat- Tom Wentz, Ben Reid, Josh Jones
Main- Brent Harris, Shane Mitchell, Ben Reid, Josh Jones, Tom Wentz, Gary Shales, Christian Roeder, Sam Boyce, Steve Floyd, Shawn Wood
