Evergreen Speedway Super Speedway of the West! – Northwest's Destination for Motorsports!
There were high expectations and palatable anticipation for both drivers and fans heading into the 2018 season at Evergreen Speedway. On Saturday night the fans showed up for a packed house and big car counts along with some thrilling racing action. The track saw it’s biggest season opener in many years with fans and drivers from across the West Coast coming to witness the brand new repaved 3/8th mile track in action.
One of the longest hauls of the event was made by Upper Lake, CA driver Jeremy Doss, but the 13-hour trip paid off as the West Coast hot shot drove his way to victory lane to become the first winner on the new surface during the 100 lap feature.
Twenty-five Super Late Models were on hand to try and take home the victory of the first of six Bud Crown Series races in 2018. The night started off with Garret Archer taking home fast time and a new track record of 15.468 and destroying the old track record of 16.308. Archer would draw a “0” invert putting him on the pole with veteran Garrett Evans starting on the outside.
Archer took the field to green and lead for the first 76 laps until a late race caution came out following contact between Evans and Doni Wanat while battling for third; the incident would collect multiple drivers. The late race restart gave Doss a chance to start on the outside of Archer, Doss would use the advantage to power his way to the outside and take the lead. Doss never gave up the lead as he captured his first career win at Evergreen Speedway.
Archer went on to finish second launching his 2018 Championship campaign. Canadian driver Shane Harding would take home third with Lex Johnson and Trenton Moriarity rounding out the top five.
The Super Stock Figure 8 division featured some of the biggest names in Figure 8 history. In the end it was Steve Peters taking home his first win in 2018. Defending champion and new track record holder Quenton Borreson finished second, followed by Steve Cox in third place.
One of the most exciting finishes of the evening came in the Hornet division as 44 cars showed up for the season opener. It was Jaime Corbett using a last lap bump to get around Brandon Nordmeyer for the win. Dawson Cox would finish second and young gun Tyson Lang finishes third.
The final division in action was the Stinger 8 Class as veteran Gary Rarden took an early lead on lap 3 and never looked back to take his first checkered flag of 2018. Cody Hoopes finished second on the podium and Robert Smith rounded out the top three.
Evergreen Speedway will be back in action next Saturday April 7th as the Outlaw Figure 8, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Youth Hornets, WESCO Sprint Cars and Pro 4 Trucks take to the track for the first time in 2018. For more information or tickets visit www.evergreenspeedway.com