BOTHELL, Washington -- On a day that the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Northwest Series race at Evergreen Speedway was threatened to be rained out for a second time, Gary Lewis had to cool his tires off after scoring a blistering qualifying to grab his second consecutive Bud Pole Award with a time of 17.207 on the 3/8th's oval.
The first stop at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe Washington was washed out due to weather. With the threat of it happening again, the race was delayed about two hours before the race began. The race started with an 8-car invert under a green/yellow flag, to test the tracks condition. As Lewis moved up to 6th position, he found himself with a good, fast car on the damp track.
When traffic backed up with an accident, Lewis had to quickly maneuver his car to miss the incident. This is where trouble started for the Sign Factory/Nutter Racing Engine Pontiac. The gearshift kept getting stuck in gear, making it impossible to keep up with the pace of the leaders. Along with a flat tire, Lewis was in and out of the pits 2 or 3 times trying to fix the linkage problem.
Once Lewis' crew was able to put the car back in gear for him, Gary was able to shadow the leader Jason Jefferson for the last 10 to 20 laps. With the success he has had in qualifying, Lewis and his crew are looking to put themselves back in victory lane for his 27th time in the series.
Lewis looks forward to taking his Sign Factory/Nutter Racing Engine/Sandblaster Inc. Pontiac at the series' next stop at Yakima Speedway on May 29th. Look for update information on www.thorgroup.us.
