Kevin Quesnell of Selah, Wash., took care of his tires and moved through the field as the leaders faded to claim the Frank's Chevrolet 125, his first win on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring. The 1992 Totem Travel Rookie of the Year beat Shane Biles and Bill Lawrence to the line for the win. Ken Kaltschmidt and Ed Watson rounded out the top five.
Quesnell, who started 23rd, made several of his passes as the front-runners ducked into the pits with cut tires or other mechanical problems. Defending series champion Pete Harding started on the pole as the result of a four-car invert. He jumped out to a quick lead. His night ended quickly as the rearend went out of the car. As Harding's car started to ade, Gary Lewis moved into the lead on lap 4. Lewis held onto the point with Chris Hart and Joe Benedetti in close pursuit. On lap 28, a tire on the Benedetti Pontiac began to go down. As he pitted, that brought Garrett Evans and Ron Eaton into the fray. On lap 46, a tire went down on the Hart Chevrolet, sending him to the pits.
On lap 59, John Zaretzke passed Eaton for second place. He moved into the lead on lap 106. Three laps later Quesnell overtook Lewis for second. On lap 117, Zaretzke and Quesnell, running nose to tail, came upon lapped traffic. When Zaretzke had to check up in turn one, he got tapped by Quesnell. By the time he recovered from the spin, he had fallen to third behind Lewis. On lap 122, Lewis and Zaretzke got together coming off turn four, ending the night for both drivers. That brought Biles and Lawrence into their podium positions. Quesnell was able to hold the duo at bay during the final two laps of green flag racing.
"I have to thank my crew," said Quesnell. "They did a marvelous job all day long. We exploded the clutch in qualifying and they did a great job getting a new one in before the race. We had a great car. I just kept working forward."
"We had our fair share of problems," said Biles. "We were a little off in practice. We burned the tires off in practice, so we made some changes before the main event. I have to thank Angel Racing who prepares this car. They did a great job."
"We did have a little bit of a push at the beginning of the race," said Lawrence. "But the car came around nicely during the race. This is a big lift for me and the team."
The next race for the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series is the Pepsi 125, at South Sound Speedway on May 20.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
There have been four first-time winners in the first four races on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series for the 2000 season. The number of first-time winners this season already equals the number the series saw in 1999.
The manufacturers' battle is all square between Ford and Chevrolet at 28 points and 2 wins apiece. Pontiac, which has dominated the series the past couple years, trails with 20 points.
