WEST RICHLAND, Washington -- A surprising turn of events in the Budweiser 100 with 25-laps to go that sent the point leader to pit road and Steve Thompson regained the point lead and the 2003 season championship of the NASCAR Lithia Dodge Late Model Division. James Ewing took home the win of the Budweiser 30 and the Championship of the NASCAR Mini-Stocks. The NASCAR Street Stock battle for the championship ended early when the challenger met the turn one wall and Steve O’Neill raced to the championship. Matt Watkins hopes the election for Pasco City Council goes as well as his first year with the State Transmissions Hornets.
BJ Tidrick entered the 2003 Championship Budweiser 100 with a four-point edge in the season point standings for the NASCAR Lithia Dodge Late Models. Trailing Tidrick was Steve Thompson who lost the point lead to Tidrick two races back.
Tidrick looked like he was going to become the champion by grabbing the lead on the first lap and went unchallenged until there were 25-laps remaining when it all came apart. He spun in his own fluid in turn three. On pit road, his crew discovered that a $2 bolt broke on the pulley and had shot through the radiator. Nothing could be done to get him back in the race. “Man, it’s tough” a dejected Tidrick told the large crowd. “We had them covered. It wasn’t the best car we had all year but everything was great. After the tires got hot, everything was working great.”
Steve Thompson watched this happen in front of him as he avoided the fluid laid down by Tidrick. Thompson had trouble at the beginning of the race. ‘We were running a little tight so we were being a little conservative’ said Thompson. “That is the way we raced all year. Consistency won us the championship.” He knew when Tidrick exited that all he had to do was finish. Steve said Tidrick had the best car all season.
“By no means were we the fastest,” he said. “Some times we get lucky, but most of the time we were consistent. By far, BJ had the best car. But we were second or third.”
Thompson finished third in the season’s biggest race to go along with the other fourteen third or better finishes this year. Richard Worley took the checkered flag and the top prize and money. “If you want to win any race of the season it’s the last one,” said Worley, who took the lead from Brad Rhoads on lap 92.
James Ewing had to start the 30-lap Mini-Stock main to clinch the season title. He not only started, he took the lead on lap 24 and went on to win his seventh of the season. Second in points, Tyler Thomas finished third. Jason Brinkley had to go to a borrowed car to start the main to keep his third place standing. Jade Williams finished the race in second and fifth in season points.
The Street Stock 30-lap main began with one point between Steve O’Neill and David Gentzler.
The race for the championship ended on lap four when Gentzler tangled with Lee Evans in turn one with both ramming the wall. With a broken car, Gentzler had to sit on pit road as O’Neill ran a conservative race to win the championship.
O’Neill came back from a 53-point deficit at the mid-way point of the season. “At that point I did not think we had a shot,” said O’Neill. “We kept tweaking the car and we started to gain on point leader Gentzler.” O’Neill will sell his Street Stock and plans to run a Late Model next season.
State Transmissions Hornet driver Matt Watkins is running for a seat on the Pasco City Council. He will be crowned the first ever Hornet champion. Watkins finished second after working his way through the largest car count of the season. The Hornets started with ten cars in April and finished the year with thirty-four taking the green flag for their 30-lap main. Rob Zorich was the first to cross the line. Failing post race tech, he was DQ’ed, giving the win to Watkins.
The Desert Star Weekend of top-notch racing will be next up at TCR. A Saturday and Sunday event on September 20 and 21 will bring together, many of the top drivers in the Northwest for over $20,000 in prize money.
Saturday night’s action will include qualifying for the Hobby/Street Stocks, Northwest Late Model 4’s, Desert Star 125 Super Late Models and the Late Model Challenge series Late Models. In addition, all four classes will trophy dashes, qualifying heats and a 100-lap championship main for the Challenge Series cars.
Sunday afternoon the Late Model 4’s and Hobby/Street Stocks will challenge the ½-mile tri-oval for 50-laps each. The Super Late Models will end the Star Studded Weekend with 125-laps.
Saturday the gates will open at 5pm with qualifying getting under way at 5:30pm. All the racing action begins at 7pm. Sunday’s gates will open at 12:00 and all the mains start at 1pm.
Saturday: Adults $12; $10 Jr/Sr; Kids 6-13 $4; Under 6 Free. Sunday: Adults $18; Jr/Sr $16; Kids 6-12 $4; Under 6 Free. 2-Day Combination Adult $25;Family Pass (2-Adults, 3-Kids) Sat. $30; Sun. $40
Budweiser 100 Championship Main: Richard Worley; Brad Rhoads; Steve Thompson; Jack Mondor; Jesse Brown; Lon Weremeyer; Dan Nelson; Darrell Tidrick; Steve O’Neill; BJ Tidrick; Tom Polluck; Andy Savage; Mike Zamora; Mark Sundberg
Budweiser 30-lap Championship Main: James Ewing; Jade Williams; Tyler Thomas; Tony Delp; Brenda Sanford; Charles McDonald; Daniel Washam; Nicole Rice; Jason Brinkley
Budweiser 30-lap Championship Main: Mike Hill; Clark Beaver; Ashley Beamen; Steve O’Neill; Bruce Hoffman; Owen Berglund; Lee Evans; David Gentzler; Rick Christopherson
30-lap Championship Main: 34 cars started; Matt Watkins; Matt Berry; Steve Shields
