New winners and new champions were the order of the night at Yakima Speedway Saturday night. With Mother Nature cooperating, a large crowd saw exciting racing and new champions decided. Erick Hargraves took home the Late Model championship and garnered the Rookie of the Year award. Jack Anderson is the 2004 Street Stock chanp with Darrell Tidrick winning both the Sportsman race and the Championship. Jonathan Ray had to borrow a car to compete in the Hornet race but his 12th place finish in the main event was good enough for the rookie racer to be crowned the 2004 Hornet champ.
The air was cold and the track slick during qualifying, but Erick Hargraves led the Late Model field with a clocking of 18.816 seconds around the ½ mile paved oval. Due to an invert of the field for the 100 lap main, Wenatchees Brent Harris started the event from the pole position. Harris led the entire event, but he was pressured every single lap. The veteran racer had his hands full with Mike Zamora on his bumper for the first 24 laps. Zamora had car trouble on lap 25 and young Mike Longton took over second with Ken Olson, and Erick Hargraves in hot pursuit. Zamora continued to have car troubles and had to retire on lap 75. Hargraves, the points leader going into the event, pressured the top duo each lap until lap 97. After repeated tries, the young charger was able to make an outside pass on Longton. Time ran out for Hargraves to pass the winner Harris. Ken Olson, Ron Bemis, and Longton rounded out the top five.
The Sportsman class also had a new champion in Darrell Tidrick. Tidrick won the main in impressive fashion and also took home the A dash for a near clean sweep. Kris Cark had fast time honors with a time of 20.438 seconds. Erick Hargraves, Kris Clark, Dean Owens and Tom Pollock made up the top five positions.
The 50 lap Street Stock event was as exciting as it could get for the racers and fans. A smaller field of cars than normal took the flag for the season championship event. Andy Beaman started on the point and did a great job of maintaining a good line for the first 33 circuits. Rich Peters, Andys cousin Ashley Beaman, Rookie Jason Enfield, Jack Anderson and Bob Van Amburg were locked in a tight battle that had the crowd on their feet. On lap 34 Peters made a strong move to take over the point. The lead did not change for the final laps, but the action behind the leader was a great example of what street stock racing is all about. Position changes and good driving was the order of the day. Jack Anderson came home with a 5th place finish and captured the season long title over the best street stock racers around. And Beaman was second with Ashley Beaman third and Bob Van Amburg coming home in fourth.
For the first year Hornet division, the crowd pleasing small cars put on another great show. Fourteen cars took the green for 20 laps of tight racing around the 1/5 mile oval. Jonathan Ray, points leader going into the event had a hard week of work as he built a new car for the championship only to have an engine problem early in the night. Ray had to borrow a car to run the main. He raced the car to a disappointing 12th place finish but was able to get enough points to win the championship. Mark Bolster won the event with Shane Johnson, Jamie Murphy, Stephanie Owens and AJ Rose in the top five.
The final event at the Speedway will be the 17th annual Fall Classic. Practice will be open on Thursday September 30th. Followed by practice all day Friday the first of October and first round of qualifying on Friday night and the Race Of Champions. Saturday will be qualifying, dashes, Main Event for the Hobbies and the Late Models. Sunday the activity starts at 1:00 with the Sportsman main, followed by the Street Stock event and the grand finale, the 200 lap Super Late Model Fall Classic. Over 85 thousand dollars are up for grabs. The best on the West coast will be here to try and take home the top available prize of $21,000.00.
On Friday night of the Fall Classic, the crowd will be treated to a Hornet race between the race sponsors. Representatives from Mike Olson Dodge, Bob Hall’s Chevrolet, Bud Clary Toyota of Yakima and Bob Hall’s Honda will join Yakima Speedway owner Ted Pollock in a Hornet race on the smaller oval.
SUMMARY
LATE MODELS
Fast Time – Erick Hargraves – 18.816 sec.
A Dash – Mike Zamora – Mike Longton – Erick Hargraves – Ken Olson
B Dash – Brent Harris – Christopher Kalsch – Billy Benge – Tony Deskin
Main Event – 100 laps – Brent Harris – Erick Hargraves – Ken Olson – Ron Bemis – Mike Longton – Mark Sunburg – Tony Deskin – Mike Zamora – Christopher Kalsch – Bill Mills (dns)
SPORTSMAN
Fast Time – Kris Clark – 20.438 sec.
A Dash – Darrell Tidrick – Kris Clark – Erick Hargraves – Dean Owens
B Dash – Tony Deskin – Tom Pollock – Chance Overholt
Main Event – Darrel Tidrick – Erick Hargraves – Kris Clark – Dean Owens – Tom Pollock – Tony Deskin – Chance Overholt – Mike Saylors
STREET STOCKS
Fast Time –Jeff Mullins – 23.353 sec.
A Dash – Rich Peters – Ashley Beaman – Jack Anderson – Jeff Mullins
B Dash – Andy Beaman – Richard Cagle – Jason Enfield – Tony Huffines
Main Event – Rich Peters – Andy Beaman – Ashley Beaman – Bob Van Amburg – Jack Anderson – Jason Enfield – Richard Cagle – Gene Wachtel – Jeff Mullins – Tony Huffines – John Rose
HORNETS
Fast Time – AJ Rose – 15.088 sec.
A Dash – AJ Rose – Cory Bratten – Mark Bolster – Stephanie Owens
B Dash – Jamie Murphy – Jack Chapman – Jeff Moser – Brice Carter
Main Event – Mark Bolster – Shane Johnson – Jamie Murphy – Stephanie Owens – AJ Rose – Jessica Rose – Brice Carter – Mellissa Maggard – Reece Kastle – Jeff Moser – Kevin McGovern – Jonathan Ray – Steve Hall – Cory Bratten
Contact
Ron Bennett
509 248-0647
