SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP TRIUMPHS FOR KRUISWYK AND LACROSS AT EVERGREEN SPEEDWAY

Source: Evergreen Public Relations
Date: 09/07/2003

The 50 lap NASCAR Randy’s Ring & Pinion Bomber A Main had championship point contenders and points leader Dirk Kruiswyk starting in the 12th position, with Naima Lang in second in the standing five points behind in 15th position and Mark Moulaison 13 points behind starting 11th. In one of the closest points battles ever at Evergreen five drivers had a chance to win the championship A lap 2 tangle between Steve Ptacek and Steve McElroy peeled off Mark Moulaison’s door and crunched the bumper of Steve Ptacek. John Burtsche got out front until Travis Blackwood pushed by on Lap 20. By lap 20 Kruiswyk had worked his way up to fourth. At the halfway mark Blackwood continued to lead with Burtsche in second followed by Bill Eddy, Kruiswyk and Jim Risher. Moulaison and Lang sat seventh and eleventh having a hard time moving up. Risher moved into third on lap 35 as Kruiswyk began to pressure Blackwood. Jason Fraser broke into the top five on lap 35 as the other points contenders were slugging it out in traffic. Blackwood held off Kruiswyk until lap 49, when Blackwood slipped high and Kruiswyk took the lead, Risher and Fraser followed him through. Blackwood fell back to fourth. As always, Naima Lang impressed fans by sliding up at the last minute, passing several cars and grabbing a fifth. The final results were Kruiswyk with the checkered flag and Risher, Fraser, Blackwood and Lang rounding out the field. The NASCAR Randy’s Ring & Pinion Bombers began with a B Main. Darin Stordahl of Marysville was first to pass the checkered flag followed by Charles Davis of Mountlake Terrace. The first two drivers of the B Main opted to move up to the A Main leaving the official win to Clark Casey of Bellingham.

The NASCAR Mini Stocks feature was a 50 Lap or 50 minute race. Bobby De Young had an early strong lead. Pete Jensen held onto second for a short while but Michael Johnston of Monroe was soon up, passing Jensen and challenging De Young. Johnston passed for the lead on turn three of Lap 15. Points leader Scott La Cross crept stealthily into fourth. He then eased past Jensen on Lap 25 and De Young on Lap 28. With Johnston in his sights, La Cross started to put the pressure on Johnston who follows him in the points standings. The two put on an aggressive show during the last laps. La Cross was pushing Johnston and Johnston gave a blatant nudge back. La Cross made a huge effort to get by Johnston on the last lap but could not. He caught the edge of the pavement and broke his wheel shortly after taking an official second place. Jensen took third and De Young fourth.

The honking Hertz Hornets had a fifteen lap feature on a specially designed course. Jim Simpson of Lynnwood made his usual strong showing, pushing well ahead of the swarm during the first laps. Tommy Fraser and Gus Uribe gave chase. Fraser pushed by for the lead on Lap 8 and Uribe soon got by Simpson as well. Simpson fought side by side with Uribe for a lap or two but could not get the pass. Fraser took the checkered flag. Uribe of Lynnwood was an official second. Simpson third and Greg Estes of Issaquah was fourth.

The 35 lap Legends feature held a special interest for Evergreen Speedway crowds. Local Super Stocks drivers and rivals Tom Moriarity and John Zaretzke were both entered in the race as class rookies. Twenty-three cars started the race. The checkered flag went up for Duane Swanson of Seattle. Billly Weber was second with Garrett Haxby third and Rick Mc Neill fourth. For the record, John “I’ll Drive Anything With a Steering Wheel” Zaretzke took sixth. Defending Super Stocks Champion Tom Moriarity came in near the back of the field.

The Bandolero drivers are all young and eager. No where was this more apparent than in the 10 lap Main feature on Saturday. Points leader Matt Lundstrom was unable to start the race. Rutledge Boykin, a two year Bandolero veteran from Richmond B.C. had a strong lead throughout the race and began lapping slower cars on Lap 6. He took the checkered flag with Justin Jackson of Arlington following. Third to finish was Patrick Ahlgren of Spokane while 10 year old Zachary O’Brien of Everett was fourth.

There were several trophy dashes at Evergreen on Sept. 6th. An exciting start to these events was the Bandolero Trophy Dash. Points leader Matt Lundstrom of Snohomish won that event. He was followed across the line by 13 year old Rutledge Boykin of Richmond B.C. Justin Jackson of Arlington took third in the dash and 8 year old Brandon Glave took fourth. The Legends class dashes started with the Semi Pro trophy feature. Andrew Caddell of Graham, WA took the checkered flag for that class. The next Legends dash was the Masters class which was won by Burien driver Rick McNeill. The Pro Legend dash winner was Billy Weber of Tacoma, WA. The Hertz Hornets dash was won by Bill Wade of Stanwood. NASCAR trophy dashes included a Randy’s Ring &Pinion Bomber dash. Frank Cowgill of Seattle took the checkered flag for that feature. The Mini Stocks dash was won by Michael Johnston of Monroe, WA.

Trophy Dash: Frank Cowgill, Dirk Kruiswyk, Jason Fraser, Jim Foti

Heat 1: Frank Cowgill, Mark Moulaison, Duane Schosboek, Steve Ptacek

Heat 2: Jim Foti, Naima Lang, Darrel Lutovsky, Bill Eddy

Heat 3: Jason Fraser, Travis Blackwood, Steve McElroy, John Burtsche

Heat 4: Dirk Kruiswyk, Jim Risher, Mike Ebeling, Gary Flammang

B-Main: Clark Casey, Joe Thomas, Geoff Harrington, Doug Poirier, David Lamb, Shawn Carlson, Nikki Bristol

A-Main: Dirk Kruiswyk, Jim Risher, Jason Fraser, Travis Blackwood, naima Lang, Bill Eddy, Duane Schosboek, Mark Moulaison, John Burtsche, Mike Ebeling, Steve McElroy, Steve Ptacek, Charles Davis, Darrel Lutovsky, Frank Cowgill

Trophy Dash; Michael Johnston, Scott LaCross, Jamie Richardson, Dave Ramey

Heat 1: Scott LaCross, Jamie Richardson, Tim Nerby, Bob Edwards

Heat 2: Dave Ramey, Michael Johnston, Stacey Alseth, Bobby DeYoung

Main: Michael Johnston, Scott LaCross, Pete Jensen, Bobby DeYoung, David Hull, Tim Nerby, Douglas Hinds, Tony Bunkleman, Joe Reed, Stacey Alseth, Bill Peterson, Jamie Richardson

See Also .:

• Evergreen Speedway Track Page

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