Monday, August 22, 2016

Evans Wins Fourth NWSLMS Race in Shootout


Airway Heights, WA (August 22, 2016)–Some wins might come easier than others and on Saturday night at Spokane’s Super Oval it was a no easy task for Garrett Evans. The two-time defending series champion, Evans, had to work his way to the front and win the battle with young gun Zack Beaman en route to his fourth Northwest Super Late Model Series victory of the season.

Beaman took second followed by Tayler Riddle third with Blake Williams and Mitch Kleyn rounding out the Top-5 running order.

Saturday evening started with Riddle blistering the track qualifying record with a lap of 17.736-sec. on the fast half-mile oval to pick up the Wheel Chill Fast Time and additional $100 cash bonus. Riddle held the previous record at 17.771 that he set back in 2015. Evans was also very fast in qualifying, locking up the second fastest lap. Riddle would draw a six-car invert and put Braeden Havens on the pole with Joey Bird outside the front row.

Havens brought the 22-car field to green grabbing the hole shot into turn 1 to take the lead over Bird. Early portions of the race saw the top-10 cars race nose to tail for the first 40 laps. Havens would hold his lead fighting off battles from second-place Shane Mitchell. Havens continued his lead until Lap 52 when Evans was able to get by Mitchell and put pressure on Havens. Evans was able to get the inside lane in turn three and take the lead. Beaman would follow Evans and move into the second position.

One of the biggest delays on the night came at lap 60 when 2015 Rookie of the Year Glenn Knutson lost a motor down the backstretch, going up into a ball of fire. The car would come to a rest in the top of turn 3 with the fire extinguished but not after leaving a large trail of oil on the track. The red flag would bunch the field up as they headed into the second half of the race.

Evans would bring the cars back around for the green flag on lap 62 with Beaman to the outside of him. The veteran Evans tried to pull Beaman on the start but the young driver kept side by side to the outside. Evans eventually got the lead down the backstretch. The top two were able to pull away from the rest of the field putting pressure and navigating lap traffic. Evans had a lead as big as 1.223 seconds over Beaman. As Evans closed in on lapped traffic he had trouble getting around one car opening the door for Beaman to close the gap.

Beaman used the lap traffic to his advantage and was able to drive around Evans on the outside for the lead. Beaman was able to pull out to a half-second lead until Evans was able to pass the lapped car. Evans worked his way back to the bumper of Beaman with just 10 laps to go.

Evans would regain the lead over Beaman on lap 116 and never look back to capture his fourth win on the year and continue his points lead in the chase for the 2016 championship race. The “KRC Power Steering Power Move of the Race” went to Beaman who showcased his talents against Evans, who gave him praise during post-race interviews.

The JOES Racing Hard Charger was Mitch Kleyn who advanced 6 positions from 11th to a top-5 finish. The two-time series championship runner up has now placed inside the top-5 running order in two of the last three races.

Next up for the NWSLMS is the Neal Newberry 125 at Wenatchee Valley Super Oval September 10th.

The Northwest Super Late Model Series Inc. is the premier regional touring Super Late Model series in the Pacific Northwest. The series has many valued sponsors including Hoosier Racing Tire, McGunegill Engine Performance, Port City Race Cars, AR Bodies, Joes Racing Products, Accelerated Graphics, Five Star Bodies, Longacre Racing Products, Wheel Chill, KRC Power Steering, Racers Against Child Abuse, Atomic Screenprinting and Embroidery, Franks Racing Radio, BLP, Jefferson Pitts Racing and Racing Dynamics. For more information on the series visit www.nwslmseries.com or on Facebook or Twitter. To contact the series please email northwestsuperlatemodels@gmail.com


NORTHWEST SUPER LATE MODEL SERIES UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Park Model Homes 125 Presented by CAL
Spokane Super Oval
125 Laps 62.5 Miles

Unofficial Finishing position/Car No./Name/Hometown/Laps completed
1. 64 Garrett Evans East Wenatchee, WA 125
2. 25 Zack Beaman Yakima, WA 125
3. 15 Tayler Riddle Naches, WA 125
4. 16 Blake Williams Spokane, WA 125
5. 1 Mitch Kleyn Quincy, WA 125
6. 83 Braeden Havens Medical Lake, WA 125
7. 99 Shane Mitchell East Wenatchee, WA 124
8. 24 Joey Bird Spokane, WA 124
9. 3 Barry Shingar Cranbrook, BC 124
10. 52 Brittney Zamora Kennewick, WA 124
11. 93 Dave Garber Spokane, WA 124
12. 5 Ryan Wells Hingham, MT 123
13. 29 Jason O'Neil Spokane, WA 123
14. 33 Brooke Schimmel Woodland, WA 122
15. 88 Dirk Bennett Spokane, WA 121
16. 43 Joey Nelson Spokane, WA 120
17. 11 Ed Thomsen Pasco, WA 117
18. 09 Clint Habart Cranbrook, BC 93
19. 51 Glenn Knutson Quincy, WA 59
20. 44 Marv Schultz Spokane, WA 58
21. 0 Brent Harris East Wenatchee, WA 51
22. 98 Chris Kellogg Spokane, WA 5

Race Contingency Awards-
Wheel Chill Fast Time- No. 15 Tayler Riddle 17.736 ($200 award)
Wheel Chill Lucky “7” Award- No. 99 Shane Mitchell (7th place finisher $25 award)
Wheel Chill 11- No. 93 Dave Garber (11th place finisher $25 award)
Wheel Chill Early Exit- No. 98 Chris Kellogg (First car out of the race)
JOES Racing Products Hard Charger- No. 1 Mitch Kleyn (advanced from 11th to 5th)
JOES 12th Man Award- No. 5 Ryan Wells (finished in 12th place)
KRC Power Steering “Power Move Of the Race”-No. 25 Zack Beaman
Racers Against Child Abuse Hard Luck Award- No. 51 Glenn Knutson ($50 award)

2016 Top-10 NWSLMS Unofficial Points
Driver Total
1. Garrett Evans 297
2. Ryan Wells 242
3. Braeden Havens 238
4. Mitch Kleyn 231
5. Brittney Zamora 222
6. Ed Thomsen 205
7. Glenn Knutson 176
8. Clint Habart 169
9. Dave Garber 163
10. Blake Williams 161