HART SCORES DEFINING WIN AT EVERGREEN SPEEDWAY

Source: NASCAR Public Relations
Date: 07/14/2003

DAYTONA BEACH, Fl. -- For the past 18 season, the champion of the NASCAR Elite Division, Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series has scored a win at the Super Speedway of the West, Evergreen Speedway. Chris Hart of Yakima, Wash. punctuated his bid for the series title by winning his second consecutive race and first career victory at Evergreen Speedway Saturday night by leading the final 33 laps of the Parts Plus "125". The victory increased Hart's point lead in the championship series to 72 points over rival Jason Jefferson. Jason Jefferson, who also hails from Yakima, Wash. finished second to record his fifth top five performance of the season, with two-time and defending series champion Kevin Hamlin of Snohomish, Wash. finishing third. Gary Lewis and Brandon Riehl rounded out the top five finishers.

Jason Jefferson topped the speed charts in qualifying to collect his second Bud Pole Award of the season with a quick lap of 22.954 seconds/101.316 mph. The Victory Circle Chassis Rookie-of-the-Year point leader would start in the sixth position after the invert draw. Following Jefferson in qualifying were 1999 series champion Gary Lewis, 2003 points leader Chris Hart, defending series champion Kevin Hamlin, and former Evergreen Speedway Bud Pole winner Zach Niessner making his first start of the season.

The field of 32 cars took the green flag under threatening skies, as a typical summer rain storm rolled over the speedway. The light showers did little to dampen the enthusiastic fans or the action on the race track. Brandon Riehl started the 125-lap race on the inside front row and quickly set the pace. Niessner, Hamlin, Hart, and Lewis were in tow. Pete Harding and John Bender got together on the front stretch on the second lap bringing out the first caution. Bender made contact with the wall which resulted in a cut right rear tire and spin in turn one. Bender returned to the action two laps down.

The second caution flew on lap 7 for rain. But as quickly as the shower came, it passed and the action resumed on lap 14. Riehl continued to lead the field followed by Hamlin, Niessner, Hart, and Lewis. Niessner made contact with the turn one wall cutting down a tire and bringing out the third caution. Hamlin was able to get by Riehl the lap before the caution and restarted the race upfront.

The action smoothed out over the next few laps with Hamlin at the point followed by Riehl, Jason Jefferson, Hart, Lewis, Jeff Bailey, Robb Touchette, Pete Harding, Joe Benedetti, and Jeff Jefferson rounding out the top ten in the running order. Hamlin, Riehl, Jefferson, and Hart waged a battle for the ages as each driver held nothing back thrilling the crowd with each passing lap. Hamlin had his car sideways on several occasion trying to take to lead from Riehl. Hamlin prevailed on lap 23.

By lap 70, Hamlin still held the point but faced a continual assault from Jefferson. Hart moved into the third position, with Lewis and Riehl fourth and fifth respectively. Benedetti jumped up to sixth in the running order, with Jeff Jefferson, Bailey, Touchette, and Rod Schultz Jr. rounding out the top ten. Jefferson was able to get around Hamlin to lead lap 76 and started to put some distance on the rest of the field. Hart moved around Hamlin on lap 77 and set his sights on Jefferson.

Jefferson encountered traffic by lap 80, but held Hart in check each lap. Hart took the lead on lap 94 as Jefferson's Dodge started to get lose in the corners. The sixth caution flag flew on lap 99 for Eddy McKean who cut down a right rear tire and came to rest outside of turn two. Jefferson hated to see the caution as it tightened up the field and his car was not as good on restarts and knew that Hart had better grip off the corners. Hart continued to lead at the lap 115 mark, with Jefferson holding on to second. Hamlin maintained third, followed by Lewis and Riehl.

The final caution came out on lap 121 setting up a green, white, and checkered finish. The Racecals Pontiac of Joe Benedetti, who was running ninth, cut a right rear tire sending the former rookie-of-the-year into the turn four wall. Benedetti made it back to the pits for repairs and finished in the 23rd position, seven laps down. The race would restart on lap 125 adding two extra laps. Hart got a great jump on Jefferson and held on for his second consecutive win of the season. Jefferson finished second, followed by Hamlin, Lewis, and Riehl. Jeff Jefferson finished sixth, followed by Jeff Bailey in the seventh position. Rod Schultz Jr. collected his second straight top ten performance and best career finish with an eighth place effort. Teammates Rick Suran and Jody Tanner rounded out the top ten in the running order.

"I am really excited about this victory," Hart said. "This is the race track that we all want to win on and today we were able to realize that goal. I have not had very good finishes here in the past, but tonight we had a real good car."

Hart thought he was going to settle for third about the midway point of the race. "Jason (Jefferson) had the best car," Hart continued. "He (Jefferson) is a real tough competitor and does not let them slip away, but my car did not fall off towards the end and I had a bit more than he did. My crew chief Eric Schmidt does a great job on the car and this win is something we can really celebrate."

Although disappointed finishing second, Jason Jefferson moves into second place in the standings behind Hart. "I got loose there at the end," Jefferson said. "Chris had a very good car when it counted and it was a lot of fun to race with him, Brandon, and Kevin tonight. I think the fans got there money's worth. I am happy finishing in the top five and look forward to next week where I know we'll be real strong."

Scoring his fourth top five finish of the season, Kevin Hamlin left the track satisfied. "We have had a lot of bad luck so far this season, but racing like we did tonight was a lot of fun," Hamlin said.

Finishing ninth and moving into the NASCAR Top 10 for the first time this season was Rick Suran. "We keep inching our way up each week," Suran said. "Finishing on the lead lap and running competitively in the top ten is important to us. I think we'll be real good over the second half of the season."

Rod Schultz Jr. who is just 18 years of age and only has a handful of starts in pavement Late Models is starting to enjoy the kind of success he has dreamed about. "I am starting to figure things out and it is a lot of fun to mix it up with these guys," Schultz said. "I am happy that I have been able to move up through the field during the race and stay out of trouble."

The race took one hour, 8 minutes, and 5 seconds to complete at an average speed of 71.233 mph. The action was slowed seven times for 26 laps of caution. There were three lead changes among four drivers with Kevin Hamlin leading the most laps (52). Hart's margin of victory over Jefferson was .197 seconds. Jason Jefferson won his second Bud Pole Award and the $325 bonus with a time of 22.954 seconds/101.3176 mph and was the only driver to 22 second bracket. Roger Habich collected the Powerade Power Move-of-the-Race Award and the $750 bonus for improving the most positions in the event. Habich started in the 30th position and finished twelfth. Jason Jefferson also won the Victory Circle Chassis' Rookie-of-the-Race Award for being the top finishing rookie in the race for the fifth time this season and increased his rookie point lead over Jeff Bailey to 17 points. Four of the top ten finishers are 2003 Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year contenders (Jefferson, Riehl, Bailey, and Schultz Jr.).

The new NASCAR Top 10 has Chris Hart increasing his point lead to 72 points over Jason Jefferson who moves into second place. Jeff Jefferson falls on position to third, with Gary Lewis improving to the fourth position. John Bender drops to fifth place after leading the point standings just three races ago. Joe Benedetti maintains the sixth spot followed by Kevin Hamlin, Steven Howard, Jeff Bailey, and Rick Suran.

The next race for the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series is this Saturday, July 19 at Yakima Speedway in Yakima, Wash. Then the series will take a couple of weeks off before returning action on Saturday, August 9 in Kalispell, Montana. For all the latest news and information, please log onto www.nascartouring.com/raybestosswseries .

See Also .:

• Chris Hart Driver Card
• Evergreen Speedway Track Page

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