July 9th Race Recap

Two Firsts and a Third!

Monroe WA- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) were the special guests in attendance this past Saturday night at Evergreen Speedway, as the track wrapped up a very busy week of bringing fans fireworks, demolition derbies, limousine flying, music, drifting and especially Figure 8 racing from July 4^th through the 9^th!

IBEW and Seattle’s Best Rock 99.9 KISW hosted a great crowd for the annual Figure 8 Nationals. Also putting on a great show for the crowd were members of Evergreen Drift and the return to the 3/8’s oval of the WESCO Sprints.

WESCO brought in 19 sprint cars to qualify for their 25-lap main event, with Todd Coleman claiming the top qualifying position with a run of 14.855 seconds. Heat race wins went to Tyler Muse and Thomas Richardson. In the main event, Randy Dubois came out on top with Levi Rose in 2^nd and Richardson in 3^rd. Levi commented on the Angel of the Winds Victory Platform that this was only his 2^nd race not only in a WESCO Sprinter, but in any kind of race vehicle at all! A special thanks to all the great WESCO Fans that made it out to the track on Saturday. You are a passionate bunch of race fans!

Before we get into the Figure 8 portion of the night, special mention needs to be made with regard to the presentation that Figure Eight Auto Racing (FEAR) historian Tom Claiborn displayed under the grandstands in celebration of 50 years of the incorporation of FEAR. Tom had an incredible diorama of model cars painted up to look like notable racers complete with sponsors that drew a ton of attention, along with programs and scrapbooks and mementos from the early days of FEAR and Evergreen Speedway. I went down to check it out and ran into Cody Hoopes and Matt Somerville taking time out to check out the incredible work and passion that Claiborn put into his historical preservation.

The three Figure 8 divisions ran extended main events at the National. First up were the Buzz Inn Steakhouse Stinger 8’s. In afternoon qualifying, 13 cars lined up, and it was Cody Hoopes taking the top spot. Heat race winners were Nicole Pollard and Tyler Draper. In the 50-lap main event, Nicole Pollard led from the drop of the green, and leading the race until a white flag lap pass just before the checkered flag by Matt Somerville knocked Pollard back to 2^nd and Bryce Kolar taking 3^rd. The first person to congratulate and/or console Nicole was Somerville. A class move by a class competitor. This was Somerville’s first win at the Figure 8 Nationals.

The Monroe Grocery Outlet Super Stock Figure 8 class ran a spectacular race in the rain soaked track. Qualifying was led by “Mr. Excitement” Steve Cox behind the wheel of the Tommy Gapp owned #32 car. Cox agreed to run the car if Gapp couldn’t make it for the Nationals. Heat race wins went to Quenton Borresson and Brandon Florer. In the 75-lap main, the early lead went to Bill Fleischacer, then went to Steve Cox, then to Borresson, then back to Cox until finally Borreson got the lead and held off a furious charge by Cox to get his first Figure 8 Nationals win in his long career. Cox finished 2^nd and Brandon Florer continues his awesome season with his 3^rd place finish.

Finishing out the night was the 75-lap Outlaw Figure 8 main event. 13 cars took qualifying laps with Nick Gunderson leading the pack over season points leader Seth Funden and Jake Repin. Gunderson also won his heat race, and Chris Curtis fresh off a huge win on the 4^th of July won his heat race as well. In the main. Gunderson rolled to his 3^rd straight F8 Nationals win. Gunderson showed his gratitude to his fans and crew on his post-race interview. “I couldn’t do this without the help of my Gunderson Speed Shop guys. They are the best and really bust their cans all season long.”

Coming up this weekend will mark the return of the Speedway Chevrolet Super Late Models with twin 50 lap main events presented by Frontier Communications. This will be quite a test for a few of the top running teams in the division, as they haven’t been behind the wheel since last month’s Summer Showdown. Points leader Naima Lang will have a completely rebuilt Northsound Racing/FOXSPORTS 1380 car on the track, while second place driver and Rookie of the Year contender Trenton Moriarty will be in a rebuilt car as well. Jeff Knight returns from a 3^rd place finish in the Showdown looking to move up in the season championship standings.

Also on the schedule will be the Les Schwab Street Stocks, Foster Press Mini Stocks, Interstate Battery Hornets and the Northwest Pro 4 Trucks. Whelen Engineering and Foster Press will be featured presenting sponsors as well. Check out www.evergreenspeedway.com for all the information.