WALKER NETS FOURTH LATE MODEL VICTORY, NOEL CAPTURES HOBBY STOCK WIN

Source: Pace/Yakima Speedway
Date: 06/08/2003

Buck Noel Jr. won the 25-lap main event for the Yakima Speedway Hobby Stock division with Don Klang and Neal Smith rounding out the top-3. Shawn Mathews denied Greg Kuhlmann a chance at the $500 three-in-a-row bonus by capturing his first main event in over two years in the Better-All Auto Sales Super Stock main event.

Olson and the Northwestern Auto Glass Chevrolet took the lead on the completion of lap one for the late model main event and set out to a quick pace in the early stages of the race. By lap five, Bennett had moved to second place on the field and began to chase Olson down.

Bennett’s Zeb’s Truck Stop Chevrolet was third quickest in qualifying and the Ellensburg, Wash. native used all the horsepower his car could muster to battle Olson on the outside for the lead as lap eight came to a close.

Olson gave Bennett the high side of the track on lap nine and Bennett made a strong pass off turn No. 4 for the lead at the completion of lap 10.

With the strong battle for the lead in front, Walker and the Hall’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo moved from his eighth starting position on the grid to third place by lap 12. The Prosser, Wash. college student picked up fast time earlier in the day and motored his way to second place from his eight place starting position by lap 14 with Olson shuffled back to third.

On the lap 48, Kevin Quesnell found himself in the top-5 after starting in 16th place and began to apply pressure to Josh Jones and Troy Trammell for third place. Jones would drop back late in the race, but Trammell was able to hold the veteran Quesnell off and maintain his first top-3 career finish at Yakima Speedway.

The action behind Bennett and Walker was exciting, but the front-runners would bring some excitement of their own as lap 64 began. Bennett rode up the track in turn No. 4, opening the inside groove for Walker. Walker was able to get along side Bennett racing down the front stretch. Contact between the leaders sent Walker spinning across the track off turn No. 1.

Bennett received a stop and go penalty for contact with Walker and re-started on the tail end of the lead lap. Walker was able to return to the track just in front of Olson and the resulting Bennett penalty moved the current late model points leader into the top spot and he rode out to his fourth victory of the season.

“We raced hard into turn one there and Bennett made contact with us which sent me spinning. Luckily I was able to get out in front of Ken and with everything that happened we picked up the win,” Walker said. “The car was fast all night and we used some patience to get to the front after the inverted start. I have to thank Shy’s Pizza and Hall’s Chevrolet for their support and we’ll get after it again on June 21.”

“Man this kid is fast. They really have it figured out,” Olson said of Walker and his race car. “We picked up a push in the middle of the corners about 30 laps into the race so I just had to hold on and ride it. I have been racing for 13 years and you have to know how hard to push the car and when to back out of it. I could run the hell out of the car and end up last but tonight we used some experience and I guess the guys behind us didn’t figure that out.”

In the Yakima Speedway Hobby Stock main event, Buck Noel Jr. kept the pressure on points leader and defending champion Don Klang with his victory.

Jesse Vincent picked up the lead on the backstretch then battled Jeff Mullins through turn No. 3 only to yield to the rookie at the completion of lap one. With a complete invert of the field, Noel came up to second by lap two with Klang moving to third by lap three. The two drivers were among the top-4 qualifiers and started at the rear of the field.

Noel grabbed the lead over Mullins in turn No. 1 on lap five. Klang would get by Mullins exiting turn No. 4 at the end of lap five. Klang and Noel would battle for the lead over several laps, with Klang able to make a strong run off turn No. 4 with lap 20 coming to a close. Noel held the veteran off to pick up the win and gain valuable points towards the Hobby Stock championship.

Mathews took the lead from Jack Mondor at the completion of lap one for the Better-All Auto Sales Super Stock 25-lap main event, and then held off a hard charging Greg Kuhlmann for the win.

The victory is Mathews first main event win of 2003 and his first visit to victory lane in over two years. With the win, Mathews denied Kuhlman a chance at the $500 bonus for winning three straight main events, and gained points in the chase for the Super Stock season championship. Mathews came into the evening trailing Kuhlmann for the points lead and came out with a two-point gain to trail by ten points heading in the next event.

Main

1) Scott Walker 2) Ken Olson 3) Troy Trammell 4) Kevin Quesnell 5) Travis Bennett 6) Christopher Kalsch 7) Josh Jones 8) Bryan Weiner 9) Jack Eby 10) Ben Reid 11) Ron Dexter 12) Mike Longton 13) Bill Mills 14) Lenard Barthel 15) Mike Kenyon 16) Ed Thomsen 17) Ron Bemis DNS-) Bob Dexter

Fast Time

Scott Walker, 18.950 seconds

A-Dash Winner

Bennett B-Dash Winner: Weiner

Finishing Order

1) Buck Noel Jr. 2) Don Klang 3) Neal Smith 4) Dave Denton 5) Joel Olson 6) Don Sowder 7) Chad Pittman 8) Jeff Mullins 9) Mark Allen 10) Jesse Vincent 11) Ron Morton 12) Thomas Benscoter 13) Bobby Trujillo

Fast Time Winner

Don Klang, 24.717 seconds

A-Dash Winner

Noel Jr. B-Dash Winner: Morton

Finishing Order

1) Shawn Mathews 2) Greg Kuhlmann 3) Kriss Clark 4) Jack Mondor 5) Tom Pollock DNS-) Erick Hargraves

Fast Time

Erick Hargraves, 20.592 seconds

A-Dash Winner

Kriss Clark

See Also .:

• Yakima Speedway Track Page

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