YAKIMA, Washington -- Three divisions will hold their mid-season championships at Yakima Speedway on Saturday, June 28. While the focus has been on Scott Walker’s consistent run in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series late model division, plenty of action awaits Speedway fans as the Boomers Roadside Bar & Grill Streets and the Better-All Auto Sales Super Stocks will also be in action.
Walker holds an 18-point lead over Ken Olson at the season’s halfway mark. The Prosser, Wash. native has been a model of consistency throughout the early portions of the seasons. In his first full season of racing at Yakima Speedway, Walker has three wins and has not finished outside the top-10 running order during a main event.
Olson, who hails from Naches, Wash., has matched Walker's consistency, but has yet to reach victory lane in 2003. That may change this weekend.
Finishing the last two events solidly in the top-5, Olson could challenge Walker and the rest of the late model field for his first victory of the year.
Others to keep an eye on during the late main event include Troy Trammell, who has had two straight top-3 finishes to move into eighth place in the season standings. Trammell is less than 20 points behind fifth place Jack Eby, the rookie-of-the-year points leader for the late model division.
Late model driver, Mike Longton, has one victory this season and comes into the weekend in third place for the season championship standings. Longton had a solid run thwarted last weekend after an excursion of the backstretch damaged his master cylinder. With repairs made, the Moxee, Wash. native should be in top form for this weekends racing action.
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Fans can expect a tight battle for the Street Stock main event as three men have been consistently running near the front all season. Harold Seekins comes into the weekend with the points lead, only six over second place Jack Anderson, but the division is focused on stopping defending champion Erick Hargraves who has been the hottest driver at Yakima Speedway over the last month of the season.
Hargraves became the first driver in 2003 to capture the Speedway’s three-in-a-row bonus for winning three straight main events. The Toppenish, Wash. driver will ride that hot steak into the weekend’s event as he trails Seekins by eight points in his quest for a repeat of his championship season.
The Better-All Super Stock division will see a change in their points standings as leader Greg Kuhlmann has announced he will not be racing this weekend at Yakima Speedway. Look for Shawn Mathews to move into the points lead because of Kuhlmann’s decision. Mathews won the last main event for the Super Stock class and has finished every event this season in the top-5 running order.
Hargraves will also be a threat in this division. The rookie-of-the-year points leader for the Super Stock division has been surprising challenger for main event victories during the first-half of the season, and could break through for his first win in the class during the mid-season championship weekend.
For more information on this weekend’s exciting action at Yakima Speedway, call (509) 248-0647 or log onto the track’s website at www.yakimaspeedway.com
