EVANS GETS WIN, HARDING CLAIMS NW TOUR TITLE

Source: NASCAR Public Relations
Date: 09/18/1999

He didn't win the battle, but Surrey, BC's Pete Harding won the war. The veteran rallied from his 11th starting position to take second in the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Magic Valley Speedway in Twin Falls, Idaho. More importantly, Harding caught and passed Tom Sweatman of Cosmopolis, Wash., for the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring, 1999 season championship. Three-time series champion Garrett Evans of Ardenvoir, Wash., led every lap of the race to take the checkered flag.

Sweatman began the night with a narrow 14-point lead over Harding. Sweatman started the race right in front of his challenger, Harding. The two ran nose to tail, working their way through the field. On lap 51, Harding was able to get by Sweatman for sixth. Sweatman stayed on Harding's tail as they continued through the field. By lap 109, Sweatman's Pontiac began to fade with a tire going flat. Just behind him, the cars of Gaylon Stewart and Greg Bennett got together. As they tried to collect their racecars, they made contact with Sweatman, sending the Pontiac into a spin. Sweatman remained on the lead lap, but his championship hopes ended when the tire gave up completely on lap 120.

At the same time Sweatman was having his problems, Kevin Hamlin was experiencing his own difficulties. After hounding leader Evans since lap 5, Hamlin's Chevrolet began to sputter. Both John Dillon and Harding made it past Hamlin on lap 117. By lap 135, Harding had made it past Dillon for second and had his eyes set on leader Evans. The two would come off the final turn side-by-side, with Evans beating Harding to the line by half a car length.

"I want to thank all of my crew for sticking with me," said Evans. "It's been a really tough year this year. We have broken nine motors this year. To come in here and win this race will give us some momentum going into this fall and hopefully next season. I think Pete won the championship, he really deserves the championship. He's done a good job all season. All of the guys on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series are really tough. A couple tenths of a second separate fast time from the end of the field. This is one of the best field of tour drivers I have ever seen in the last 15 years. With all of the talented young guys coming up, this sport has a really bright future."

"The car was just awesome," said Harding. "About half way through the race in came in really nice. We just drove her straight to the front. Tom had a bit of bad luck there. It kind of goes in cycles. We all get a little bad luck once in a while. I thank the Lord here tonight that I didn't have the bad luck tonight and won the Northwest Tour championship after 11 hard years. I've been working hard with my crew up in Canada, especially with my son Shane. I want to thank everyone for supporting me out of Canada. It is a real tough deal out of Canada and I had "

John Dillon, Wes Rhodes, and Gaylon Stewart completed the top-five. Kevin Quesnell, Bill Lawrence, Joe Constance, Chris Hart and Joe Benedetti rounded out the top-ten. The race was slowed by four cautions for 21 laps. The race distance was covered at a record average speed of 68.897 mph. Evans picked up the Gatorade Front Runner Award. Gary Lewis set a new track record of 13.778 in collecting the Bud Pole Award. Rhodes was the Totem Travel Rookie of the Race.

This was the final race for Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series in 1999. The series will start the 2000 season in late March.

NOTES OF INTEREST:
With the win, Chevrolet narrowly edged Pontiac for the Manufacturer's Championship. Chevrolet ended the season with seven wins and 109 points. Pontiac had seven wins and 107 points. Ford trailed with one win and 67 points.
Joe Benedetti won the Totem Travel Rookie of the Year award. Benedetti held off a talented group of rookies to take the award. Benedetti held off Wes Rhodes 124 to 122. Ken Kaltschmidt has a strong second half of the season to finish third with 117 points.
Chris Hart and Gary Lewis both had two Bud Poles in 1999. Hart claims the season Bud Pole title on the tiebreaker. Both drivers had two wins, but Hart's lone second place finish clinched the award for him.
Hart also collected the Gatorade Frontrunner Award. Hart beat Ron Eaton 24 to 21.

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