Thursday, October 10, 2019

Marshall Jr. Posts Breakthrough Victory in Fall Classic


Via NWSLMS Media

Yakima, WA (October 8, 2019)–For Randy Marshall Jr. the will has always been there to race and beat the very best the Northwest has to offer. From quarter midget days, hobby stock racer then moving to Pro Late Models, the Moxee, Wash. native has been strong at every level he’s competed at in his career. However, Marshall Jr. has yearned to put it all together and compete at the highest level, Northwest Super Late Model Series racing.

Over the last month Marshall sold his Pro Late Model team and invested in one car, with one motor and all the parts needed to challenge the elite drivers he’d watched win races at his home track of Yakima Speedway.

On Saturday night everything fell into place for the 29-year old, as he beat Jason Jefferson to the line en route to picking up the 32nd Annual Yakima Speedway Fall Classic 200.

Trenton Moriarty, Mike Longton and Robert Presley rounded out the top-5 finishing order.

Garrett Evans, the most recent NWSLMS winner at Yakima Speedway (May’s Apple Cup) scored the top spot in qualifying and battled inside the top-5 throughout the first 100-lap segment of the Fall Classic 200, ended up sidelined late in the going with overheating issues.

Longton led for the first 20 laps before giving way to Doni Wanat on the night’s first restart after a caution. Marshall Jr. also cleared Longton in the then moved past Wanat one lap later to take a lead he would never relinquish. Wanat was forced out of the race at lap 24 with rear suspension issues.

Behind Marshall was some of the night’s best racing as the blistering pace set in the early going put several cars a lap down with drivers inside the top-10 jockeying for position to stay ahead of the leader.

In addition to Marshall’s mastery of the Fall Classic, the driver that showed he also had a strong car on the night was Jefferson. The Naches, Wash. native and past NASCAR race winner flew through the field after a subpar run in qualifying to get inside the top-5 by lap 53. From there, the veteran’s patience worked to his advantage as drivers fell out due to attrition, giving Jefferson plenty of chances to run a pace that best suited his Chevrolet.

Moriarity was one driver that kept close tabs on the leaders throughout the night as he, Evans and Jefferson were able to stay within two seconds of the Marshall’s pace, but a late race pit stop to address a loose deck lid put the Evergreen Speedway star to the rear of the field where he had to mount a charge to get back to his eventual third-place finishing position.

Another driver that looked to have a car capable of battling Marshall and Jefferson was two-time Fall Classic winner, Naima Lang, who could get close to top-3 in the late going, but often found that Longton was lurking just off the back bumper ready to make a pass if he left the low groove open. With positions three-sixth battling late in the 200, Marshall built a lead of nearly four seconds over his closest pursuers.

At lap 182, Lang’s night would come to a close as he bought out the final caution of the evening with motor issues.

On the restart, Marshall dealt with the hard charging Jefferson in quick fashion and never looked back in scoring his Fall Classic victory and first win on the Northwest Super Late Model Series. The win netted Marshall a payday of nearly $8,000 and will go down as a fan favorite for the young gun.

WINNER HAD NO DOUBTS ABOUT HIS POTENTIAL IN THE FALL CLASSIC:

“I’ve always said that if we could ever get the chance to have a great race car, I never doubted we could win races like this. We finally made that happen, when we purchased this car from Garrett a few weeks ago. In years past, we’ve had good cars but with this one Garrett and his team provided a car and set-up that has worked at Yakima and my crew fine-tuned it to give me some things that fit my driving style. Once I settled into a groove for the weekend, we went out and showed them what we could do in excellent equipment.”

JEFFERSON RALLY FALLS ONE SPOT SHORT:

“We didn’t qualify all that well (18th) and so it put us in the position to have to work the car hard to get up through the field. Once I got to the top 5 in the first half, I figured we’d have a chance (in the second 100 laps), but I have to give it up to Randy, they had a great car and we just didn’t have enough to get him over the last few laps.”

MORIARITY LOOKS TO BIGGER PICTURE WITH HIS TOP-3 RUN:

“This has been a good year for us whether we’re running here on the (Northwest Super Late Model) Series, making our first start on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and the races we ran at (home track) Evergreen Speedway. This gives us a boost as were putting together a deal to run the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race in Phoenix with Jefferson Racing and hopefully put together a deal to run with them full-time in 2020.”

NOTES OF INTEREST:

• Marshall Jr. drove a Chevrolet, powered by a Hamner engine bolted into a Hamke chassis. Sponsors include Better All Auto Sales, Kustom Fab and Boydstun.
• 2019 NWSLMS Rookie of the Year, Tristan Haider, posted his best finish at Yakima Speedway with a seventh-place run.
• Marshall, Jefferson, David Garber and Andy Beaman all wheeled cars once owned and maintained by Evans Racing Enterprises.
• Jefferson, who on most race days serves as Evans spotter, scored his second top-3 finish in his last four starts including a win in 2016.
• Cristiani posted his lowest finish of the season with an 18th place run. The NWSLSM points leader fell out at lap 72 with the rear-end housing broke.
• Moriarity was the highest finishing Toyota. Longton was the lone Ford to finish inside the top-10 running order with the top-2 drivers both in Chevrolets.
• Four Western US states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana) along with the Canadian Province of British Columbia were represented in the 25-car field.

NORTHWEST SUPER LATE MODEL SERIES UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Fall Classic 200
Yakima Speedway
200 Laps/100 Miles

Official Finishing Pos./No./Driver/Laps Completed
1) 25 Randy Marshall Jr. 200
2) 97 Jason Jefferson 200
3) 12 Trenton Moriarity 200
4) 17l Mike Longton 200
5) 17 Robert Presley 200
6) 91 Alan Cress 200
7) 24 Tristan Haider 200
8) 10 Wes Mader 195
9) 00 Naima Lang 183
10) 1s Rod Schultz Jr. 160
11) 64 Garrett Evans 133
12) 14 Brandon Carlson 112
13) 3 Andy Beaman 101
14) 1 Agni Howell 101
15) 7 Bryce Bezanson 100
16) 100 Scott Walker 99
17) 77 CJ Hawley 72
18) 90 Trevor Cristiani 72
19) 31 Jason Fraser 70
20) 24b Tim Babcock 57
21) 20 Shelby Thompson 38
22) 93 Dave Garber 38
23) 93t Austin Thom 37
24) 89 Doni Wanat 24
25) 33 Christopher Kalsch 17

ABOUT THE NORTHWEST SUPER LATE MODEL SERIES
The Northwest Super Late Model Series is the premier regional touring Super Late Model series in the Northwest. The series has many valued sponsors including Hoosier Racing Tire, McGunegill Engine Performance, Port City Race Cars, AR Bodies, Joes Racing Products, Penske Racing Shocks, Jostens, Accelerated Graphics, Five Star Bodies, Longacre Racing Products, Wheel Chill, KRC Power Steering, Atomic Screenprinting and Embroidery, Franks Racing Radio, BLP, Jefferson Pitts Racing, Leonard Evans Used Car Super Store, The Ti Company and Pacific Steel Structures LLC. For more information on the series visit www.nwslms.com on Facebook or Twitter. To contact the series please email northwestsuperlatemodels@gmail.com.