HARDING’S CHASE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GETS BOOST

Source: Evergreen Speedway
Date: 09/05/2005

MONROE, Washington -- On Saturday night September 3, at Evergreen Speedway, Shane Harding won for the 9th time this season and is only one race away from a Speedway Chevrolet NASCAR Super Stock Championship. Other winners on Rairdon’s Dodge Chrysler Jeep of Monroe Night at the Races are Frank Cowgill in the Les Schwab NASCAR bomber Division, Mark Weedin in The NASCAR Mini-Stock Division, Marshal Perkins in the Hertz Equipment Rental Hornet Class and Steve Baumgartner is the winner of the first annual Great Northern Stinger 8 Championship Race.

The points for the Super Stock Division Championship are in favor of Shane Harding winning a first title. In another race that needed patience, Harding was the master. Taking the lead on lap 23, Harding used the knowledge he has gained from driving and watching his father Pete for so many years to an advantage. In traffic this knowledge paid off as Harding came out of a five car pack to the lead that he would not relinquish for the remaining laps of the 50-lap main. Jason Fraser started the night only 16-points behind Harding in the Championship chase. After the nights racing concluded Fraser’s chance for a championship may have diminished. Finishing in 14th and a first of the season DNF has put Fraser over 40-points behind Harding. With the final race scheduled for Saturday September 17th on the Super Big 5/8-mile oval, Fraser will need a lot of luck to win the Championship. Harding tied his father Pete’s single season wins at nine and will be using the final race to win a division championship and also a chance for a family precedent setting ten wins in one season.

The 2005 Bomber Division Championship will not be decided until the final lap of their season on Saturday September 10. Not in the championship picture Frank Cowgill took an early race lead and went on to his first win of the year. The point differential between leader Travis Blackwood and Steve McElroy stayed at 11-points. McElroy had closed the differential to 9-points after the qualifying heat races. Blackwood gained back the 2-points lost, by finishing two positions ahead of McElroy in the main event. The top eight drivers have a chance at the championship with the tightest point chase in years.

The Mini-Stock main was won by Mark Weedin. An uneventful race had the point leader Jamie Richardson finishing third behind Pete Jensen. Richardson needs to take the green flag on Championship night Saturday September 10 to win his first title.

The Great Northern Stinger 8 Championship race drew 20-cars to the inaugural event. Steve Baumgartner will always remember he was the first to win this event. The drivers had a blind draw for their starting position and Baumgartner drew a six. With 20-cars it was only a few laps into the 30-lap race that a there was a lot of traffic at the intersection of the speedway’s figure eight. The drivers were dodging a bobbing their way through the maze. Baumgartner used this traffic to his advantage as he did not slow while others did and he went on to a dominating win.

The Hornet main event started with 26-cars on a make shift road course. After the 20-laps were completed, Marshal Perkins took the checkers first. John Hales was second and Tom Bunkleman was third.

Next up at the Super Speedway of the West, Evergreen Speedway is the Snohomish County Center for Battered Women Season Championship Night at the Races. The night will decide the season titlists in the Les Schwab NASCAR Bomber, NASCAR Mini-Stocks, Northwest Legends, Super and Extreme Contact Figure Eight Divisions. The Championship action gets under way at 7pm, with front gates opening at 3:30pm and for those that wish to view the heat races they start at 5pm. Tickets are available on the web at www.evergreenspeedway.com, call the Speedway’s office 360-805-6100 and on race night at the front gate.

Evergreen Speedway Saturday September 3 Results:

Speedway Chevrolet NASCAR Super Stocks:

Gem Star Homes Dash for Cash: Shane Harding

50-Lap Main: 1-Harding; 2-Naima Lang; 3-Kelly Mann; 4-Billy Coates; 5-John Burtsche; 6-Tom Hughs; 7-Joey Decker; 8-Gaylon Stewart; 9-Joe Constance; 10-Richard Harriman; 11-Tom Mathew; 12-Shane Landry; 13-Michael Counihan; 14-Jason Fraser; 15-Doug Davidson; 16-Travis Powell; 17-Scott Sarto

Les Schwab NASCAR Bombers:

20-Lap Transfer Main: 1-Travis Ross (transferred); 2-Eric Shover (transferred); 3-Merlin Cook (trophy); 4-Marv Monty; 5-Mike Miller; 6-Jeff Harrington; 7-Mark Trail; 8-Diamond Young; 9-Dwayne Humenny; 10-Bill Mann; 11-Nikki Bristol

30-Lap Main: 1-Frank Cowgill; 2-Jill Lang; 3-Naima Lang; 4-Craig Rowalt; 5-Steve Ptacek; 6-Travis Blackwood; 7-Duane Schosboek; 8-Steve McElroy; 9-James Mugge; 10-Clark Casey; 11-Russ Hales; 12-Brian Cottrell; 13-Shover; 14-Jim Foti; 15-Ross; 16-Darin Stordahl; 17-Darrell Lutovsky; 18-Brad Sweeney

NASCAR Mini-Stocks:

15-Lap Main: 1-Mark Weedin; 2-Pete Jensen; 3-Jamie Richardson; 4-Chad Chase; 5-Dave Ramey; 6-Tony Bunkleman; 7-Clint Lang; 8-Stacy Alseth; 9-Douglas Hinds; 10-Joe Hobbs

Stinger 8’s:

Trophy Dash: Ben Chandler

30-Lap Great Northern Championship: 1-Steve Baumgartner; 2-Dan Koester; 3-Bobby Shukar; 4-Mike O’Dell; 5-Erik VanDerHoff; 6-Josh Latilla; 7-Lance Ograin; 8-Kody Koroshes; 9-Rod Helmuth; 10-Brian Estes; 11-Kenny Shukar; 12-Gary Estes; 13-Chandler; 14-Brianna Stotler; 15-Steve Getchell; 16-Ty Bingisser; 17-Renny Marose; 18-Greg Estes; 19-JJ Edwards; 20-Craig Jantz

Hertz Hornets:

20-Lap Main: (26-Cars only top three receive trophies): 1-Marshal Perkins; 2-John Hales; 3-Tom Bunkleman

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