CLASS CHAMPIONS CROWNED AT YAKIMA SPEEDWAY

Source: YAKIMA SPEEDWAY MEDIA RELATIONS
Date: 09/08/2002

YAKIMA, Wash. (September 7, 2002) – Jason Jefferson and Don Klang may not have won the battle, but each won the war as the pair were crowned champions at Yakima Speedway Saturday, September 7.

Klang, by simply taking the green flag in the 50-lap main event for the hobby stocks presented by OST, earned the title and finished sixth after starting on the pole. Jeremy Lenartz grabbed the feature win in the 16-car event.

Jefferson capped off an unbelievable week by earning his second track championship of the season in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge. Last weekend, the Naches, Wash. native captured his second consecutive Tri-City Raceway title on Saturday, the followed that up with his first career NASCAR Northwest series win on Sunday. The Yakima Speedway title and Tri-City crown have come in back-to-back season and give Jefferson five career late model championships.

Jefferson also pocketed $500 from Mike Olson Dodge by virtue of his win in the ‘King of the Speedway’ shootout. The No. 97 took the lead exiting turn No. 1 and never looked back in capturing the unique dash for cash, which pitted the fastest Dodge versus Chevrolet’s and Pontiac. Rick Hargrave’s Pontiac was second followed by the Chevrolet’s of Brad Rhodes and Tom Sweatman.

In the 100-lap main event for the late model stock cars, presented by OST, Travis Bennett jumped out to an early lead over Jefferson. By lap seven, Jefferson moved to the front of the field, passing Bennett off turn No.2 for the lead. Rookie of the Year BJ Tidrick jumped into third place by lap eight and the threesome pulled out to a two second lead on the pack.

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By lap 20, Tidrick moved to the rear bumper of Bennett and applied pressure for second place over the next four laps. Bennett, who hails from Ellensburg, Wash., showed no quarter, as Tidrick was never able to complete the pass.

Jefferson began to lap traffic by lap 24, as the Mike Olson Dodge was the class of the field in the early going of the season championship event.

At the halfway point, Bill Brock Jr. had moved to fourth place and was holding off Tom Sweatman, Mel Shenyer, and Rhodes. An incident in the late going collected Brock’s H&S Industrial Supply Chevrolet and the Union Gap native settled for 12th place in the final running order.

With the yellow flag out for Brock’s incident on lap 85, Jefferson came down pit road and relinquished the lead. His pit crew made a quick splash and go for fuel and Jefferson would rejoin the field on the tail end of the pack. As a result of Jefferson’s pit stop, Bennett moved into the top spot on the leader board with Tidrick second followed by Sweatman.

Over the next 15 laps, Bennett and his American Dream Motorsports Chevrolet moved out to a sizable lead on Tidrick as Jefferson put on a show stopping performance to get back to the front of the field. By lap 90, Jefferson had grabbed fifth place, then moved into fourth by lap 94. He was unable to climb any higher in the running order as Bennett, Tidrick, and Sweatman pulled away from the field.

Bennett earned his first career late model stock car victory as the checkered flag waved to complete the 100-lap event. Tidrick was second, followed by Sweatman, Jefferson, and Ken Kaltschmidt. An elated Bennett was full of emotion in victory lane as he met with the media.

“I had a good feeling all day,” he said. “I’ve wanted to win a race so bad and this is very special to me, winning here at Yakima Speedway where our family has done so much is just awesome.”

“This win is everything that I have always worked for since I started racing. We’ve had a ton of close calls, leading right there to just before the end, this one we’re going to hold onto for a long time.” Bennett said. “I didn’t have anything for Jason but that’s racing and the luck finally went our way.”

In the hobby stock season championship race, Klang led the first lap with Larry McCauley in second followed by Lenartz.

Lenartz moved by McCauley by the completion of lap three, and then blew by Klang for the lead off as lap number four came to a close. By lap 17, Lenartz had built a two second lead on the field as the action picked up behind him.

Buck Noel Jr. and Klang raced side-by-side for several laps contesting the second and third place positions. Klang was able to hold his car on the outside and Noel could never quite clear the champion exiting a turn. As lap 23 began, Noel finally made his move off the corner and grabbed second place. Klang fell all the way back to sixth place in the exchange.

The late going saw Ralph Smith move by Noel for second place in the 50-lap OST sponsored event. Thomas Benscoter made a late charge around Noel for third place as Dave Denton rounded out the top-5.

FINAL RESULTS

LATE MODEL 100-lap Main Event - (name & hometown)

1) Travis Bennett, Ellensburg, Wash. 2) BJ Tidrick, Yakima, Wash. 3) Tom Sweatman, Cosmopolis, Wash. 4) Jason Jefferson, Naches, Wash. 5) Ken Kaltschmidt, Marion, Mont. 6) Brad Rhodes, Kennewick, Wash. 7) Troy Trammell, Yakima, Wash. 8) Mel Shenyer, Ellensburg, Wash. 9) Christopher Kalsch, Hillsboro, Ore. 10) Bill Mills, Zillah, Wash. 11) Kenny Smith, Renton, Wash. 12) Bill Brock Jr., Union Gap, Wash. 13) Jack Mondor, Wapato, Wash. 14) Ron Bemis, Yakima, Wash. 15) Gary Morris, Boring, Ore. 16) Rick Hargraves, Toppenish, Wash. 17) Mike Zamora, Kennewick, Wash.

HOBBY STOCK 50-lap Main Event -

1) Jeremy Lenartz, Yakima, Wash. 2) Ralph Smith, Yakima 3) Thomas Benscoter, Yakima 4) Buck Noel Jr., Selah, Wash. 5) Dave Denton, Yakima 6) Don Klang, Yakima 7) Owen Berglund, Kennewick, Wash. 8) Ted Wilburn Jr., Yakima 9) Don Sowder, Yakima 10) Mike Mattox, Yakima 11) Steve Conduff, Yakima 12) Larry McCauley, Yakima 13) Neal Smith, Selah 14) Terry Morton, Yakima 15) Bill Girard, Ellensburg 16) Mark Harrah, Yakima

Late Model Trophy Dash Results -

A Dash 1) Jason Jefferson 2) Travis Bennett 3) BJ Tidrick 4) Mel Shenyer

Fast time: Jefferson, 18.698 seconds

B Dash 1) Gary Morris 2) Troy Trammell 3) Bill Brock Jr. 4) Ron Bemis

Hobby Stock Trophy Dash Results -

A Dash 1) Buck Noel Jr. 2) Thomas Benscoter 3) Ralph Smith 4) Neal Smith

Fast time: Smith, 24.744 seconds

B Dash 1) Don Klang 2) Mike Mattox 3) Mark Harrah 4) Don Sowder

Hobby Stock Heat Race Results -

Heat 1 1) Wilburn Jr. 2) Morton 3) Berglund 4) Mattox 5) Klang 6) Harrah 7) Girard 8) Sowder

Heat 2 1) Lenartz 2) Conduff 3) McCauley 4) Denton 5) N. Smith 6) Noel Jr. 7) Benscoter 8) R. Smith 9) Klang

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