Evergreen Speedway Super Speedway of the West! – Northwest's Destination for Motorsports!
It was Driver Reunion night presented by Seattle Suntan at Evergreen Speedway last Saturday night along with an Evergreen Speedway Hall of Fame celebration attended by many surviving members of this prestigious group. There was also a Memorial presentation honoring the members of the 5 Hall of Famers that have passed on in the past year, including remembrances of Mick Tomlin, Don Perry, Gordy Stewart, Ron Daggett and Donnie Scriver.
Five classes took to the track on a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon. Qualifying started off the day, with Aaron Green setting fast time in the Northwest Pro 4 Trucks, Quenton Borreson in the Monroe Grocery Outlet Super Stock Figure 8’s, Mike Holden in the Speedway Chevrolet Super Late Model Series, and Trenton Moriarty qualified first in the 27 car field for the Outlaw Compact Super Series. Moriarty set the fast time on his first of two qualifying laps, and as he was coming out of turn two on his second lap, suspension issues halted his progress and was towed back to his pit stall. The Les Schwab Street Stock division set their heat race and main event line-ups based on points.
In the first main event of the night, the Northwest Pro 4 Trucks took to the 3/8’s oval, with eleven trucks making up the field. Rick Shaver took the early lead, and managed to keep it for the first 2/3rds of the race. Doug Wilkenson experienced issues on restarts, and it seemed like his truck couldn’t get out of its own shadow until it finally came to life all the while losing positions. When his truck finally got wound back up, he was flying. An incident later in the race brought out a caution, and leader Rick Shaver left the track. On the restart, Wilkenson had the same results, but his truck roared to life and on the white flag lap, he made a thrilling move out of turn 4 to get his first win of 2015 over Pete Brady and Aaron Green.
The Monroe Grocery Outlet Super Stock Figure 8’s were up next for their 25 lap main event. 10 cars took to the track in a relatively “tame” race. As expected, the “One Armed Bandit” continued on his way to his second consecutive championship in this division with a start at the back of the field and precision driving to the front for the win. Doug Delfel in a new car that he described on the Angel of the Winds victory stage as “Not so much fun to drive….yet” finished 2nd and Devin Jenkins took 3rd.
In the Les Schwab Street Stock’s, 18 cars showed up to battle it out on the 3/8’s. Current point’s leader Chad Fitzpatrick had a busy week, what with graduation from high school and all. After the thrilling victory he pulled off last Saturday, the 12 team were looking to make it 3 wins in a row, but while Chad was feeling fine, the car wasn’t. Chad got mired in traffic in the 30 lap main, and just couldn’t get the wick turned up resulting in a 6th place finish. Duane Schoesbeck returned to Evergreen Speedway to pick up the win going away, with Carl Davidson putting in his best effort of the season placing 2nd with Roger Drake following in 3rd.
The feature race of the night was the 50 lap “Mini Mania” race for the Outlaw Compact Series. It was awesome to see racers from the Wenatchee Valley Super Oval, Yakima Speedway and most of the regulars of the Foster Press Mini Stock division run this race. To add to the diversity of compact cars, several Northwest Pro 4 Trucks entered the race, including earlier main event winner Doug Wilkenson. As mentioned above, Trenton Moriarty, current points leader at Evergreen and undefeated in main events this season set fast time for this race. Evergreen regular Scott Burby burst to the lead and held it through several caution flags. Long time racer in the Outlaw Compacts Nat Barber, racing at his home track found himself hitting the inside wall coming into turn 3 halting the race while making sure that Barber was okay. The crowd gave Nat a nice round of applause upon hearing that Nat was unharmed. His race car however is a way different story. Another one of those flags involved the NWP4T of Wilkenson, hitting the front stretch wall hard, retiring him from the race. Trenton Moriarty shucked and jived his way through traffic to take the lead and win going away. Scott Burby held off a furious charge by NWP4T driver Jason Majors to finish 2nd and Majors took home the 3rd place trophy.
The Speedway Chevrolet Super Late Models made their final appearance at Evergreen Speedway until the 4th Annual Summer Showdown with a 75 lap main on the 3/8’s oval. 15 cars timed in earlier in the day. Rookie of the Year contender Luke Selliken, driving for Mike Barrett Motorports comes up from Portland Oregon to race with the best in the Northwest, started up front and was never seriously threatened on his way to his first victory in a Super Late Model. Luke had his restarts down to a science, holding off last year’s champion Mike Holden for 3-4 times. “I can’t believe what just happened” Selliken said from the Angel of the Winds Casino Hotel victory stage, “I was getting kind of tired towards the end, but it’s an amazing feeling to get a win on this class. Can’t wait for the Showdown!” Holden finished 2nd and Shane Sawin made his first podium finish this season with his 3rd place finish.
In a night filled with a lot of memories, both from the past and present, a highlight was the individual selected to give the command to start the engines for the Super Late Model main event. Mickey Beadle was the promoter/operator of Evergreen Speedway for 25+ years, and after being introduced commented on the outstanding effort put in by the staff of High Roads Promotions in resurrecting Evergreen Speedway to its former glory. Mickey and the Beadle family for years poured their heart and soul into one of the most unique race tracks in the country, and many in the grandstand and the returning racers from the past were happy to see the Beadles back at the track they had so much passion for.
Up next Saturday will be Walmart Community Night at the Races. Kids 10 and under get in free, and adults are only $10.00. We’ll have Figure 8 racing, the West Coast Vintage Modifieds return, the Interstate Battery Hornets and Buzz Inn Steakhouse Stinger 8’s will see action. The Foreign Stock Car Racing Association will celebrate 50 years of racing this Saturday at Evergreen Speedway. Check outwww.frcsasuper4s.net for more information on this historical event. Tony Deegan will be on this week’s edition of Northsound Racingthis Thursday from 5:00 to 6:30 PM to talk about the FSCRA. Tune in FOXSPORTS 1380 KRKO Radio, or listen online atwww.northsoundracing.com
The Rusty Wallace Racing Experience is back at Evergreen Speedway on June 19th and the morning of the 20th. More information on how you can drive a Super Late Model at Evergreen Speedway can be had on www.racewithrusty.com. They have great packages available, so check it out soon. You won’t be sorry you did.
Tickets still available for the Summer Showdown and Budweiser Speedweeks at the end of this month. Reserve your favorite seats onwww.evergeenspeedway.com, or call the office at 360-805-6100. This is a huge event with an incredible payout. Drivers from all across the country are loading up and heading to the Super Speedway of the West for this prestigious event.