IN 75 LAP A-MAIN EVENT ON THE BIG TRACK
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FIGURE EIGHT NATIONALS MALCOLM “THE MANIAC” LINDBERG TAKES THE CHECKERED FOR HIS 1ST WIN THE SEASON
Silver Dollar Casino Night, was witness to Lex Johnson in the #22 (a Monroe resident) taking his 2nd win of the 2001 season. Lex Johnson was season champion for the NASCAR Street Stock Bombers in the 2000 season, and was the Great West Region champion, as well. As of July 7th, Lex was running 7th in points within the division with a total of 368 points, only 94 points behind the leader, Tom Moriarity. I am certain this will move him up in the ranks this week.
As I walked through the pits tonight, I saw several cars I did not readily recognize. But this is not an unusual thing to happen when the track opens up the 5/8 oval for a race. Many cars tend to come just to run the ‘big track’. So I made a point of trying to find out who each of the drivers/teams were. Not only does this big track draw drivers from other tracks, it brings out drivers from our own area that are partial to the 5/8 track. So, although there were a number of drivers FROM here, I did not readily recognize them, but figured it out before I left the pit area.
One of our visitors was from South Sound and his name is Roger Drake in the #8 car. He was running in 3rd for sometime tonight and doing quite well. In the #6 car was Ken Olson out of Yakima, although he is actually from Naches. He said, ‘we run many tracks throughout the year, we like the diversity’. The #24 car was another I had to meet. This was Rick Hager from Mount Lake Terrace. He stated that he races all over and has raced for 21 years. He used to race Figure 8;s out here for 17 years and got his first Super Stock in 1996 One other car I did not readily recognize was the #54 car…this was being driven by Frank “Robo Cop” McCahill. I found out he is from here and is running a 1999 Monte Carlo. The Bothell Police Officer Guild and Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound sponsor him. He said he used to run the Bomber class out here in 1994 then went and worked with Ron Hornaday when he was running the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He is back here and just wanting to race again. These were a few of the drivers I had the pleasure to speak with today and we all want to welcome them here to Evergreen and hope they will return soon.
As I wandered through the pits, I noticed the #83 car of Darren Penner looking a bit ‘out of sorts’, putting it mildly. I found out that during practice Darren had gone into the wall on turn 2 pretty hard and done some substantial damage. His crew worked frantically the rest of the afternoon and miraculously managed to have it ready to go by race time….of course there was no front body on the car, but they made it and ran quite well. Good teamwork going on there to manage that!
John Pierce in the #47 got fast time tonight and spun an 8-car invert. This put Roger Habich (#76) on the pole with Jason Stowe (#05) on the inside. Once the green flag dropped, it was a Roger Habich show. Roger shot out in front and maintained a very strong lead, to the tune of at least 1/3 of the track ahead of the pack. Jason Stowe (#05) was holding the number 2 position behind Habich. Right behind Stowe was the #8 car of Roger Drake, then the 5 of Tom Moriarity (current points leader). Lex Johnson was maintaining 5th with John Pierce (#47) and John Zaretzke (#2) following. But very soon, Lex Johnson had moved up to 4th with Zaretzke and Pierce now following in that order behind Johnson. By lap 12, the running order was still Habich way out in 1st with Stowe in 2nd and now Johnson in 3rd, Zaretzke in 4th and Pierce in 5th. Moriartiy was still just biding his time running in 6th. He seems to work this way. Maybe not, but it seems that Moriarity likes to just lay back, stay close and just wait for that right moment when he can come in and take over.
With Roger Habich so far out in front, eyes were on what was going on in the pursuit of 2nd place. Stowe, Johnson and Zaretzke were running bumper to bumper in a 3-car train scenario. Zaretzke was soon running door-to-door with Johnson and trying gain the #2 spot. But Johnson was not letting up either. But by lap 18, Zaretzke had managed to finally overtake Johnson and was now running in 2nd, still a far cry from Habich who was still at least 1/3 of the track ahead of the whole pack.
John Pierce was now moving in on Johnson and managed to overtake him on lap 22. Now the running order was Habich, Zaretzke, Pierce, Johnson and Moriarity. Quite a change from the green, with the exception of Habich who looked as though no one would be able to catch him. But with all those powerhouses behind you, anything could happen.
Lap 24 brought out the first yellow when Scott Sarto in the #86 car spun on the backstretch and was crossways in the lanes. All managed to miss him by inches, with Zaretzke going in behind him. A heart stopper! No damage to any car and once Sarto got turned and was ‘on track’ again, the race restarted. But this gave all the 4 behind Habich a real break. This closed the gap. Pierce was quickly closing in on Zaretzke. As the pack was coming into the front stretch, the #12 car of Dean Brooke was being lapped and when Zaretzke made the attempt to pass on the outside and Pierce was heading on the inside, Pierce hit the back of Brooke and sent Brooke into Zaretzke which caused a major problem. Pierce spun to the inside and into the infield, but Zaretzke was on the outside and no ‘soft’ spot for him to go…Zaretzke wound up in the wall between turns 1 and 2. This took him out for the night. Yellow #2.
John Pierce was not out for the night, but he had done enough damage that he had to go into the pits for a ‘fix’ to the front end. Once he returned to the track, he was sent to the back of the pack because of his involvement in the incident. With these two strong contenders out, Lex Johnson was back in 2nd place once the race resumed. Tom Moriarity was now in 3rd with Jason Stowe in 4th and Ken Olson running 5th. Kelly Mann in the #9 car was now in 6th. By lap 54, Lex is breathing down Habich’s back and threatening his lead. On lap 60, Johnson managed to overtake Habich and now had the lead and took off to assure his position.
The 3rd yellow came on lap 67 when the #16 car of Wade Archer went sideways between turns 3 and 4. The #7 car of Steve Cox got clipped, but no damage to report. Moriarity took Habich on lap 65 with the #4 car of Gary Anderson also overtaking Habich. The 4th yellow came on lap 67 when the #12 of Dean Brooke had slowed way down and when the #83 car of Darren Penner came around the corner, he could not miss him and actually ran up and over his front end!.. To say the least, Brooke had to be towed off the track and was out for the night.
Once the restart came after this incident, it was Johnson, Moriarity and now Habich was again in 3rd and the Ken Olson right behind him. This would see the end of the race and Lex Johnson taking the checkered, making this his 2nd win of the 2001 season. Tom Moriarity came in 2nd, Roger Habich 3rd, Kelly Mann placed 4th and Ken Olson rounded out the top 5. Roger Habich also took the Trophy Dash tonight. Happy to see you here with us Roger!
As a recap of the past two weeks I missed. John Zaretzke (#2) won the Super Stocks mid season championships on June 30th. Heard it was a great race and one I am sorry I missed. Then on July 7th, Kelly Mann (#9) took his first win for the 2001 season. This was a special win, as he had just come from his nephew’s funeral that day and had said he would win for him and give the money to the family. And that is just what he did. What more can be said. I wished I had been there. Great job and wonderful heart Kelly!
2001 FIGURE EIGHT NATIONALS
Although this race actually was the final race of the night, it was more than exciting! There were 26 cars in the lineup ready to go that 100 laps to victory. Now if you can’t imagine what 26 cars going in and out of the most dangerous intersection in the world is like, all I can say is you need to get out here and just see for yourself. It is literally ‘edge of your seat’ racing at its best.
Jason Fortney in the #93 car had the inside pole with Malcom Lindberg on the outside in his #88 car. Tim Kramer in the #18 car was right behind Fortney and Steve Cox (current points leader and also 2000 Figure 8 Season Champion) in the #1 behind Lindberg. Once the green flag dropped, the race was one and it was a heart stopper from lap 1 to lap 100. The Silver Dollar Casino Group that attended for their night, were all novices to this sport. They were literally on the edge and screaming all the way. They could not believe how all these cars managed to cross SO closely going through that intersection, but timing is so crucial in this race and these are experienced drivers. Makes for a real ‘edge of your seat’ night. They are already making plans to come back with more of their crew.
After a couple of yellows by lap 25, there were 19 cars left to maneuver their way to victory lane in the next 75 laps. Steve Cox was in the lead with Lindberg right on his bumper. The #14 car of Rich Groshong from Everett, WA was in 3rd and the #01 of Doug Delfel in 4th. Ricky Deitz in the #76 car was running in 5th. Steve Peters in his famous Battlewagon #30 had started at the back of the pack and was in 7th position by lap 30. This gentleman is current points leader in the Extreme Contact Figure 8 division. At this same point in time, Lindberg took the lead from Cox, but never got too far away. Cox kept up the battle and took the lead once again by lap 54. Lindberg took lead once again on lap 69. By this time, they are both getting hung up in lap traffic, which was not an advantage for Cox. Peter is in 3rd place by lap 83. Harry Clements in the #34 car is running in 4th at this point and it was hard for me to tell who was in 5th. Steve Cox seemed to be having tire problems by this time as he was doing some fishtailing coming out of the turns, which will slow you down. But even with those issues, he was a very huge threat to Lindberg and his lead. As the 100 lap mark and checkered flag came closer, the two were running side by side, Cox would go ahead then Lindberg would go ahead…it was a neck-n-neck race across the finish line. Once the white flag dropped signifying the ‘one lap to go’, it was really exciting as the two were going at it all the way, but in the end it was Malcolm Lindberg taking his first win of the 2001 season. Once in the winner’s circle, Steve Cox got out of his car and went up to Malcolm and shook his hand and congratulated him on a great race. It was a great race! The remaining 8 positions were held as follows: In 3rd was Steve Peters, Harry Clements took 4th, Mic Brown in 5th, Shane Sawin 6th, Bobby Schukar 7th, Doug Delfel in 8th, Teresa Houghtaling placed 9th and in the 10th spot was Cliff Funden.
RACE OF CHAMPIONS 2001 DOUG DELFEL TAKES THE TROPHY
The race of champions in the Figure 8 division is a race between past champions that goes 10 laps for ‘old times sake’. The entrants tonight were Steve Peters, Steve Cox, Kenny Schukar, Gary Lee and Doug Delfel. Doug Delfel took the win tonight.
Bump to Pass A-Main
Another event on tonight’s agenda was the Friday Nights Bump-to-Pass division. This is a fun group to watch as they maneuver the 1/5-mile oval in pursuit of the checkered flag and trophy. Unless someone gets me a driver’s list and/or names before print, I have to apologize for the lack of info on this group. It was fun to watch as I stated earlier, but I do not know any of the drivers, I am sorry to say.
This is a very fast paced race because it is on the 1/5 mile oval and with all the cars out there, it can get very exciting as they bump and push there way around the track. One driver I do know is Steve Peters in the #30 car and he and the #79 were battling it out from the get-go. In the end it was the #79 car taking the checkered with Steve Peters in 2nd, the #95 in 3rd and the #38 in 4th.
I would encourage any race fan to come out on Friday night and watch these guys, (I think I should as well, then I would KNOW who the drivers were!!). These guys are really fun to watch.
EXTREME CONTACT FIGURE 8 A-MAIN TROY SIMIANER TAKE HIS 3RD WIN THIS SEASON
Troy Simianer takes 3rd win for season, but this will be 1st win for the second half of the season. The Figure 8 division tally points and they are finalized at mid-season. For the 2nd half of the season, the points start all over. (FYI)
Simianer had the pole position and held the lead for all 20 laps. Coming in 2nd at the checkered was Steve Peters in the #30 car, with the #21 of Geoffrey Chandler in 3rd, Jason Britton came in 4th, and in 5th was the Tim Kramer in the #18 car. Steve Woehl (#69) took the Trophy Dash tonight. And for the Figure 8 Nationals, the #85 of Mike Buse took the Trophy Dash.
HORNETS DIVISION
The Hornet division had a 15 car lineup for their A-Main tonight with the 29 car on the pole position The final outcome was in the following order: #29 took the checkered and trophy, with the #99 of Ben Chandler in 2nd, the #91 of Jeannine Lavery in 3rd, and 4th position was that of Tim Russell in the #43 car.
One of the fans from the Silver Dollar Casino stated, ‘this looks like Midget Wrestling”….very accurate comparison. It also sometimes look like a mini demo derby out there as these all yellow cars run door to door and sometimes 4 wide on the 1/5 mile oval. Hard to track, but fun to watch. John Zaretzke in the #51 took the Trophy Dash tonight in this division.
Tonight the speedway held a memorial lap for two very wonderful long-time ‘helpers’ at the track. It is difficult to not see these two around as they have been like fixtures for 15 years here at Evergreen Speedway. They were the parents of long time employee of the speedway, Carol Ruddell. They were simply known to all as ‘Clayton’ and ‘Eleanor’. Eleanor was a ticket seller out in front and Clayton just did ‘what ever needed to be done’. They (the whole family) were inducted into the Hall of Fame last year because of their long time commitment to the speedway and were well liked by all. They passed away only 38 days apart, and will be missed by all.
Mike Buse in the #85 figure 8 car, the #1 Figure 8 car of Steve Cox, Ben Chandler carried out the memorial lap in the #99 hornet, the #53 car of Doug Wilkinson driven by their grandson Charlie Ruddell and the #10 car of Joel Cox from the Super Stock division. “Wind Beneath my Wings’ by Bette Midler was played as the cars drove the big track with checkered flags being held up in honor of these two very wonderful people.
We at Evergreen Speedway want to thank you again drivers and fans for your continued support. You are some very special people and we appreciate you very much. Thank you drivers for continuing to come out and entertain the fans and all of us alike. You are truly appreciated!!!
Coming Next week:
LOWE’S NIGHT AT THE RACES Presents NASCAR WEEKLY RACING SERIES SUPER STOCKS, NASCAR STREET STOCK BOMBERS, SUPER EIGHTS, AND EXTREME CONTACT FIGURE EIGHTS Plus HARLEY NIGHT ‘RUN TO WIN’ OUTREACH
Gates open at 3:30 pm, qualifying at 4:30 pm, and racing at 7:00 pm.
For Tickets, prices or For further information please call the speedway office at (360) 805-6110
Have a great week and we will see you next week. Thank you again from all the Evergreen Speedway and … Have a great week!
