RACE FACTS & NOTES OF INTEREST -SOUTH SOUND SPEEDWAY

Source: NASCAR Media Relations
Date: 05/06/2001

WHAT: Pepsi 125

Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series Race No. 2 of 14

WHERE: South Sound Speedway, Tenino, Wash.

0.333-Mile Paved Speedway

WHEN: Saturday, May 12, 2001 -- 9:00 p.m. PDT

DISTANCE: 125 Laps/46.875 Miles

POSTED AWARDS: $26,050

FIELD: 22 cars possible. Fastest 17 cars through time trials with two provisional starting positions available to the top 20 drivers based on the final 2000 Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series point standings, two starting positions from the top two finishers in the non-qualifiers race, and one additional starting position for a former Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series champion who participated as a driver in 2000 and did not qualify in one of the original 17 starting positions.

SCHEDULE:

Saturday, September 23 12:00 noon Registration and inspection

1:00 p.m. Drawing to determine order of qualifying

2:00 p.m. Mandatory Driver’s and Crew Chief’s Meeting

TBA Mandatory Rookie Drivers Meeting

2:30 to

4:45 p.m. Alternating practice

6:00 p.m. Time Trials (2 laps.) (Fastest 17 cars earn starting positions 1 thru 17)

TBA Trophy Dash

7:30 p.m. 15-Lap Qualifying Race (Top two finishers advance to starting positions 21st and 22nd.)

9 p.m. Pepsi 125

THE RACETRACK: South Sound Speedway is a slightly-banked .333-mile paved oval.

RECORDS: Driver Date Speed Time

QUALIFYING: Dan Press 6/25/94 94.537mph 14.28 seconds

RACE: Ron Eaton 5/20/00 67.167mph 37 min 11 sec

2000 TOP 10 IN THE EVENT

1. Ron Eaton

2. Pete Harding

3. Gary Lewis

4. Gaylon Stewart

5. Kevin Hamlin

6. Matt Kelley

7. Zach Niessner

8. Garrett Evans

9. Ken Kaltschmidt

10. Chris Hart

PAST 10 RESULTS OF THIS EVENT
Winner

2000 Ron Eaton

1999 Joe Benedetti

1998 Garrett Evans

1997 Event not held

1996 Kelly Tanner

1995 Monte English

1994 Dan Press

1993 Garrett Evans

1992 Dirk Stephens

1991 Ron Eaton

2000 RACE STATISTICS

Bud Pole: Garrett Evans

Time of Race: 37 min. 11 sec. (Record)

Average Speed: 67.167 mph (Record)

Margin of Victory: 2 seconds

Caution Flags: 3 for 13 laps

Lap Leaders: Bennedetti (1-14), Harding (15-69, Eaton (70-125)

NOTES OF INTEREST:

• Gary Lewis moved into a tie with Tobey Butler for third place on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring career victories list, with his 20th win coming at Evergreen Speedway in the season opener. It will take Lewis some time to reach second place Ron Eaton who has 38. Garrett Evans leads with 47 career victories since the series began in 1985.

• Dating back to last season, Lewis has won 8 of the last 9 Bud Pole Awards. Only Totem Travel Rookie of the Year contender, John Bender, has broken that streak with the pole award at the season opening Sno-Country 125 held at Evergreen Speedway. Lewis is third in Bud Pole Awards for a career on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring, with 21. Eaton has 29 pole awards while Evans has 59, including the Bud Pole Award for this race in 2000.

• South Sound Speedway has undergone a repaving project that has altered the backstretch. This change should bring an opportunity for a new record speed and time in Bud Pole qualifying. Dan Press holds both records with a lap of 14.28 seconds at 94.537 mph.

• The track is home to one of the closest finishes in Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring history. In 1999, Shane Biles beat Ron Eaton by a nose to capture his first career win on the series. Biles win was the last by a Ford at the .333 paved oval.

STAT OF THE WEEK:

• Since the start of the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring in 1985, Chevrolet has dominated the racing action at South Sound Speedway. Eaton’s win last spring gave the manufacturer a total of 21 victories on the .333 mile paved oval. Pontiac and Ford are tied with 14 wins while Buick has two victories. The numbers translate to a 41 percent winning margin for the Chevrolet teams over the competition in the 15-year history of the series. Pontiac claimed one victory in 2000 as Gary Lewis won the August race at the Tenino, Wash. facility.

2000 IN REVIEW:

• Ron Eaton overtook Pete Harding on lap 70, and then holding him off over the last 55 laps to claim the victory. The race was run in a record time of 37 minutes 11 seconds. The average speed of 67.167 mph was also a record for this event.

2001 RBNWS Manufacturers’ Championship Points/Wins

1. Pontiac 9/1

2. Chevrolet 6/0

3. Ford 4/0

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