For 24-weeks, the Late Model & Limited Sportsman drivers have been alternating between Yakima Speedway & Tri-City Raceway. This last weekend, it all came down to one race for bragging rights.
Going into Saturday night’s race at Yakima Speedway, and counting the 16 best finishes, Jason Jefferson led runner-up Brandon Riehl by only 12-points. And for the majority of the season, those two drivers have finished one-two in each race they ran. But the difference has been Jefferson’s consistency. Prior to Saturday’s race, he had only finished out of the top ten once, while Riehl has had several finishes out of the top-ten.
But in the 100-lap season-ender, it was Riehl almost all the way. With Rod Schultz on the pole and Mike Longton sitting on the outside of row one, at the drop of the green flag on the start Schultz shot into the lead. But his position was short-lived as the result of no less than four caution flags being dropped within 15-laps that served to slow the pack and allow Riehl and Jefferson to remain in shouting distance of the lead.
When the green flag fell on the restart at lap-15, Riehl slipped under Jefferson for second place. The Boring, OR, driver then set his sights on Schultz, who was still in the lead.
On lap-19, Riehl took the lead at the start/finish line with Shultz falling to second, and Jefferson and Longton in third and fourth places, respectively. And that is how it remained for almost 30-laps before Longton began to fall of the pace, allowing Ted Mickelson to replace him. By lap 72, and through several more cautions, Riehl managed to build a lead of more than five-seconds, with Schultz and Jefferson maintaining their podium positions.
For the remainder of the race, kept up a blistering pace, never allowing Schultz to progress any further. Mickelson, Mike Zamora, who began the race in 17th place, and Shawn Mathews (who started the race in last place in his first late model race of the year) rounded out the top-five. And, even though he ran the majority of the race in the top-three, points-leader Jefferson’s car died on lap-88, and sent him to the pits for the evening.
As a result of his season-long efforts, however, Jefferson emerged as the Yakima Speedway champion, and also walked away with the Tri-City Raceway championship the week before at Tri-City Raceway. The MidState championship for both the Late Models and Limited Sportsman divisions will not be decided until an official tabulation of the points occurs later in the week.
In the Limited Sportsman Class, B.J. Tidrick won the race, but Rod Schultz captured the Yakima Speedway championship(he won the Tri-City Raceway championship the previous weekend) even though he finished second in Satruday’s race. Going into the race, Schultz held a 16-point lead over Tidrick, who has had 11 wins this season.
It was a race that was reminiscent of how the season has gone for the two drivers. They both began in the middle of the pack due to an invert, but managed to advance to the front within a very few laps.
On lap seven, Tidrick took the lead from pole-sitter Brian Lambert, with Schultz grabbing second shortly thereafter. For almost forty laps, Tidrick and Schultz held their position, until they came together on lap 50 when Tidrick went sideways going into turn one, gathering up Schultz as well, who was black-flagged and sent to the rear of the pack.
That left Tidrick in the lead with John Rose assuming second-place. But within five-laps Schultz regained his former place. Rose, Jack Mondor and Lambert rounded out the top-five.
For the Bombers and Factory Stocks, who will have their championship races next week, it was another great night of racing.
Buck Noel, Jr., started the 35-lap bomber main event on the pole and held that position all the way to the checkered flag, but not without a serious threat by runner-up Ryan Williams. For the majority of the race, the two front-runners battled for position as they built up multi-second leads, with Zach Hovorka running his best race of the year to finish third, behind Noel and Williams. Erick Hargraves and Mike Hill finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.
For the Factory Stocks, points-leader Jake Maggard grabbed the lead from Paul Manka, on lap-seven. But he could only hold onto the lead for a few laps before Jeff Sisk would grab the lead on lap-24, at the start/finish line. Sisk took the point and that momentum all the way to the checkered flag. It was Sisk’s third win of the year, and gave him a solid top-ten finish for the season. Maggard, Steve Kastl, Manka, and Brad Tidrick rounded out the top-five.
Weekend Results: MidState Late Model Main Event: 1. Brandon Riehl, 2. Rod Schultz, 3. Ted Mickelson, 4. Mike Zamora, 5. Shawm Mathews, 6. Rick Hargraves, 7. Amber Cope, 8. Brian Olson, 9. Angela Cope, 10. Christopher Kalsch, 11. Jerry Jefferson, 12. Jason Jefferson, 13. Mike Longton, 14. Bill Brock, Jr., 15. Alden Hamilton, 16. Rick Thompson, 17. Steve Thompson, 18. Lon Werremeyer, 19. Mike Obrist, 20. Jody Tanner, 21. Ken Kaltschmidt, 22. Dan Obrist, 23. Dean Owens, 24. Jim Dobbs, 15. Ed Thomsen Top Qaulifier:Riehl (19.046) A Trophy Dash: Mathews, Riehl, Longton, Jason Jefferson B Trophy Dash: M. Obrist, Tanner, Owens, Zamora
Limited Sportsman Main Event: 1. B.J. Tidrick, 2. Rod Schultz, Jr., 3. John Rose, 4. Jack Mondor, 5. Brian Lambert, 6. Kriss Clark, 7. Chuck Roberts, 8. Randy Marshall, 9. Jesse Brown, 10. Tim DeWeese, 11. Tom Kargman, 12. Bill Jones, 13. Norb Barthel, 14. Don Martin, 15. Shawn Mathews, 16. Greg Kuhlman, 17. Bill Nelson, 18. J.C. Wofford, 19. Rich Peters, 20. Darrel Hanson Top Qualifier: Rod Schultz, Jr. (21.385) A Trophy Dash: Kuhlman, Tidrick, Martin, Schultz B Trophy Dash: Mondor, Hanson, Peters, Lambert Heat Race 1: Hanson, Roberts, DeWeese, Marshall, Wofford, Nelson, Peters, Clark, Mondor, Kargman. Heat Race 2: Lambert, Mathews, Kuhlman, Martin, Tidrick, Brown, Schultz, Rose
Bombers Main Event: 1. Buck Noel, Jr., 2. Ryan Williams, 3. Zach Hovorka, 4. Erick Hargraves, 5. Mike Hill, 6. Jason Trujillo, 7. Don Klang, 8. David Denton, 9. Don Sowder, 10. Rodeny Beeson, 11. Neal Smith, 12. Jeremy Lennartz, Ralph Smith. Top Qualifier: Ryan Williams (24.652) A Trophy Dash: Hovorka, R. Smith, Williams, Hargraves B Trophy dash: Denton, Klang, Trujillo, Noel Heat Race 1: Lennartz, Klang, Noel, Denton, N. Smith, Beeson, Trujillo Heat Race 2: Hargraves, Williams, Sowder, Hovorka, R. Smith, Hill
Factory Stocks Main Event: 1. Jeff Sisk, 2. Jake Maggard, 3. Steve Kastl, 4. Paul Manka, 5. Brad Tidrick, 6. Darrell Tidrick, 7. Bill Cuellar, 8. Tom Wilson, 9. Dan Monroe, 10. Don Klang, 11. Mike Mallula, 12. John Rose, 13. Mark Tenney. Top Qualifier: Jeff Sisk (24.540) A Trophy Dash: Maggard, Kastl, D. Tidrick, Sisk B Trophy Dash: Manka, Tenney, Cuellar, Mallula
