Veteran Ron Bemis and rookie Chet Beaman Jr. scored their first main event wins of their careers Saturday night at Yakima Speedway.
Bemis, a very successful local businessman, started his 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on the pole position for the 75 lap main event. Rookie Erick Hargraves started fourth on the field after setting fast time. Bemis had the car to beat in the early stages as he pulled out to a 10 car length lead over Joe Constance and A dash winner Amber Cope. Young Hargraves moved up through the field to take over the top spot on lap 41. Ten laps later, Mike Zamora moved up to the rear bumper cover of Hargraves Pontiac to challenge for the top spot. After a five lap spirited duel, hard contact between the two determined racers resulted in a flat tire for Hargraves, sending him to the pit are after receiving a black flag, for a right front tire change. After recovering from the spin, Zamora charged back to a fine third place finish. After the contact took out the leaders, Joe Constance was on the point, but under the caution, his car developed mechanical problems and the car owned by Matt Murphy was out for the night. Bemis took over the lead at this point, but his car was not handling as it had in the beginning. Christopher Kalsch was pressuring Bemis at every corner but had to settle for the runner up position as the race was in doubt until the last corner. At the victory celebration, both Bemis and Kalsch discovered that their right front tires were going down.
A very frightening crash happened on lap 13 when Vince Conwell and Angela Cope got together on the backstretch and both spun into the infield. Conwell flipped his car onto the roof. Both cars suffered major damage but both young racers were unhurt.
The Hobby class at Yakima has a breakout rule of 24.500 seconds. If a racer qualifies or races faster than the set time they will be penalized. The extremely competitive class of racers all try to get as close to the time as possible without going over. Such was not the case foe early leader Buck Noel Jr. Noel, 2003 champion, was going for his third win in a row and the bonus money that went with it. Noel was pressured hard by Jake Maggard for the first 34 laps of the event. The officials had the clock on the leader and after a few laps under the minimum time, the Nova of Noel’s received the black flag. This put Maggard into the lead, but he to was too fast and the officials sent him to the pits on lap 41. With only nine laps remaining, rookie Chet Beaman Jr. held on for the popular win. Noel battled back to finish second, with 2002 champ, Don Klang third and 2000 champ Bobby A. Trujillo rebounded from an earlier accident to finish fourth. Don Sowder had a great run to finish in the fifth position.
Also on the card were the Bump to Pass and the Hornet cars. Merle Stlitner won the Bump to Pass and A.J. Rose took home the top trophy in the exciting Hornet class.
Next race at the speedway is the Autozone Northwest Series and local street stocks, set for next Saturday July 24th.
Fast Time – Erick Hargraves – 18.999 sec.
A Dash – Amber Cope – Erick Hargraves – Joe Constance – Ron Bemis
B Dash – Vince Conwell – John Boyatt – Ross Ogan – Cale Streepy
Main Event – 75 Laps – Ron Bemis – Christopher Kalsch – Mike Zamora – Ross Ogan – Erick Hargraves – Amber Cope – Joe Constance – John Boyatt – Cale Streepy – Vince Conwell – Angela Cope
Fast Time – Chet Beaman Jr. – 24.637 sec.
A Dash – Bobby A. Trujillo – Chet Beaman Jr. – Bryan Moser – Bruce Benscoter
B Dash – Tom Moser Jr. – Dusty John – Don Sowder – Jeff Daughtry
Main Event –50 laps – Chet Beaman Jr. – buck Noel Jr. – Don Klang – Bobby A. Trujillo – Don Sowder – Dusty John – Jake Maggard – Jeff Daughtry – Tom Moser Jr. – Bruce Benscoter – Chad Pittman – Mark Tenney – Dave Denton – Jessie Vincent – Gearge Jankowics – Vance Fischer – Ron Morton – Ralph Smith – Ben St. Mary – Bryan Moser – Kevin Taylor – John Bishop
Fast Time – A.J. Rose – 15.548 sec.
A Dash – A.J. Rose – Erick Metcalf – Johnatan Ray – Jeff Moser
B Dash – Melissa Maggard – Jessica Rose – Kevin McGovern – Shane Johnson
Main Event – A.J. Rose – Johnatan Ray – Kevin McGovern – Shane Johnson – Jessica Rose – Brad Morrison – Melissa Maggard – Lester Bolster
Fast Time - William Keck – 16.965 sec.
A Dash – Jeff Burns – Shannon Davis – William Keck – Merle Stilner
Main Event – Merle Stilner – William Keck – Jeff Burns – Lester Bolster – Shannon Davis – Bobby Lee Zickafoose
NEXT EVENT YAKIMA SPEEDWAY – JULY 24, 2004
AUTOZONE NORTHWEST SERIES
GATES OPEN AT 5:00 – Time Trials 6:00 racing to follow
