Yakima Speedway
Saturday April 7th 2001 -Sponsored by State Transmission and Tanner Racing Products, the MidState Late Model and Limited Sportsman Series is comprised of 12 races between Yakima Speedway and Tri-City Raceway for a total of 24 races. The series champ will be decided from the best 16 overall finishes. With two races in the books, Brandon Riehl and Jason Jefferson are tied for the lead with 96 points each. Jeff Bailey, Richard Worley and Rod Schultz, Jr. round out the top five in that series.
Since his home track of Portland has been converted to dirt, Riehl has been blistering other tracks in the Northwest, most notably Yakima Speedway and Tri-City Raceway (TCR). Qualifying first, but finishing third behind Mike Nelson and Jason Jefferson at TCR the previous weekend, Riehl made up for lost time Saturday night at Yakima.
For Saturday night's race at Yakima, a record regular season field of 28 racers took to the quarter-mile oval. But in less than 10 laps, no less than six cars had to watch the race from the pits, as four red and seven yellow flags kept the pack tight throughout the evening. And by the time the checkered flag fell, less than 20 cars crossed the finish line, with less than 10 on the lead lap.
Riehl began the 75-lap main event in fifth place due to a six-car invert, but wasted little time in taking the point from pole-sitter Jason Stowe. Stowe, in his second year as a Late Model racer, and Luke Ledgerwood held off top guns Riehl and Jefferson, who was the top qualifier (19.279), through several cautions, but finally gave way on lap 13.
Even though the flags served to slow the race, they allowed Jefferson and Bailey, who finished second and third, respectively, several opportunities to catch Riehl, who took home a $2,000 paycheck. But the yellow and black Ford of Riehl had the power to outdistance the challengers each and every time. With each restart he would power out of turn four and into immediate leads of up to eight cars.
Stowe managed to race well enough to hold on to a fourth place finish and Schultz, who began the race in sixteenth place, managed to capture fifth. The MidState Series will move to Tri-City Raceway next week.
For the Limited Sportsman, it was B.J. Tidrick all the way. The talented young driver who has already won just about every event at Yakima Speedway, held off John Rose, repeatedly, throughout the 35-lap main event. Rose, who won last week's Series race at TCR, brought those in attendance to their feet on several occasions in the latter stages of the race.
While Rose put on his best move on lap 30 for the lead by going low into turn four, just below Tidrick, who was the top qualifier (21.285), he just couldn't close the door on the 2000 Yakima Speedway Limited Sportsman champ. Rod Schultz, Jr., Kriss Clark and Brian Lambert rounded out the top-five. John Rose is the leader in the MidState Series, with Tidrick, Schultz, and Lambert close behind.
In the Bomber 25-lap main event, Jeremy Lennartz, on the pole, set the initial pace. But it was Jody Crivit's move to first on lap three that served to reawaken Lennartz, who recaptured the lead only two laps later. But that lead would evaporate only one lap later.
Crivits sprinted to leads of four car-lengths, while Mark Hitchcock, who started the race in eighth place, began to close on the leaders in the middle stages of the race.
But on lap 14, both Crivits and Don Klang, who finished second in last year's standings, were black-flagged for breakouts, and had to go to the rear of the field. That left the door open for Lennartz, who answered the call and grabbed the checkered flag for the win. Jason Trujillo drove a good race to take second, even though he was losing air pressure on his left rear tire. Joe Luther, Art Prall and Crivits rounded out the top-five.
Next weekend the Friday Night Family Night races return to Yakima Speedway. Factory Stocks and Bombers will hold their first of 14 Friday main events. Saturday's racing events will include Hobby Stocks, Foreign Stocks and Northwest Super 4s. On both days, the pit gates will open at 1:00 p.m., main gate at 4:00 p.m., with qualifying scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. Racing will get underway at 6:00 p.m.
A Trophy Dash: Beaman, Riehl, Jason Jefferson, Stowe
B Trophy Dash: Shenyer, Constance, Roeder, Jerry Jefferson
Limited Sportsman Main Event: 1. B.J. Tidrick (Yakima), 2. John Rose (Yakima), 3. Rod Schultz, Jr. (Woodland). 4. Kriss Clark (Yakima), 5. Brian Lambert (Kennewick), 6. Jack Mondor (Wapato), 7. Tim DeWeese (Selah), 8. Nathan Hudson (Yakima), 9. Rich Peters (Yakima), 10. Norb Barthel (Yakima), 11. J.C. Wofford (Wapato)
A Trophy Dash: Barthel, Schultz, Tidrick, Rose
B Trophy Dash: Peters, DeWeese, Clark, Mondor
Heat Race 1: Mondor, Clark, DeWeese, Peters, Lambert
Heat Race 2: Barthel, Rose, Schultz, Tidrick, Hudson
Bomber Main Event: 1. Jeremy Lennartz (Yakima), 2. Jason Trujillo (Union Gap), 3. Joe Luther (Outlook), 4. Art Prall (Yakima), 5. Jody Crivits (Yakima), 6. Erick Hargraves (Toppenish), 7. Mark Hitchcock (Yakima), 8. Dave Denton (Yakima), 9. Don Klang (Yakima), 10. Derrick Denton (Yakima), 11. Ashley Beaman (Yakima), 12. Ryan Williams (Toppenish), 13. Don Sowder (Yakima)
A Trophy Dash: Lennartz, Trujillo, Crivits, Hargraves
B Trophy Dash: Luther, Sowder, Dave Denton, Beaman
Heat Race 1: Prall, Klang, Williams, Beaman, Sowder, Luther, Derrick Denton
Heat Race 2: Hitchcock, Trujillo, Hargraves, Dave Denton, Lennartz, Crivits
The start of the 2001 Apple Cup Late Model 100 Lap Feature Race
Mike Hedges Photo- Bj Tidrick from Yakima, Wa wins the Street Stock division feature the 2001 Apple Cup at Yakima Speedway at 2:05pm
Many times we are reminded how time repeats itself. This fact was definitely in evidence at Sunday's Les Schwab Tire Centers' 35th annual Apple Cup as Garret Evans won his second straight Apple Cup at Yakima Speedway.
Picking up where he left off after winning last year's Fall Classic $55,000 payout at the Speedway and capturing the Raybestos Brakes NW Series (Series) title just a few weeks earlier, Evans is, again, on a roll.
For his third Apple Cup win in the last five years, the all time leading winner on the Series circuit won the pole position with a qualifying time of 19.086, barely edging out Brandon Riehl (19.180).
Under threatening skies, the one-two qualifying team took their starting positions all the way to the checkered flag in the 100-lap main event. Despite a stiff challenge from Riehl, who overtook Evans on lap 35, and held that position for more than 40 laps, Evans was unflappable in his pursuit of victory.
"I knew he was there and I knew he'd be pushing hard," Riehl said of Evans in a post-race interview with Yakima Herald reporter Scott Spruill. "We had a good car today, but they were just a little better."
Besides Riehl, the only other competition Ardenvoir's favorite son faced was in the form of yellow and red flags. More than five flags dropped, serving to tighten the pack, but once the green fell only Evans and Riehl appeared to be dialed in for the Speedway on Sunday.
"Our set-up was a little off in the first half of the race, and Brandon was running real fast," Evans pointed out to Spruill. "It's the first race of the season, and we had a lot of new parts on the car. It took a little while to settle in, but at the end the car was better."
Selah's Ron Dexter, who started seventh, was the only local racer to finish in the top-ten (third), as Both Chris Hart (19.318) and Jason Jefferson (19.213), despite qualifying well, suffered mechanical problems and had to watch the race from behind the pit wall. Dexter ran well and steady and avoided several collisions, but was unable to catch the leaders.
"I'm just amazed - none of us expected top three," he said while joining Evans and Riehl in the post-race winner's circle. "The car was strong all week and we qualified seventh, so I was thinking the top 10 would be pretty good. But we ran steady and consistent all the way." Ken Kaltschmidt (Auburn) and Portland's Dan Obrist rounded out the top-five.
Obrist, who qualified for the main event as a result of finishing second in Saturday's B-Main started the race in 28th place. The veteran racer drove through the many caution flags and around the scattered debris to move up close to the leaders in the latter stages of the race, but couldn't garner enough "car" to catch the lead pack.
In the Street Stock division, Yakima's BJ Tidrick should be answering to a new nickname, "The Dominator." Like Evans, the year 2000 was a banner one for the young Yakima Driver. He won 10 out of 19 races on his way to the Yakima Speedway championship in that division, and finished sixth in NASCAR Short-Track standings for the West Coast, in addition to winning last year's Fall Classic.
Starting in eighth place because of an invert, the top qualifier (21.304) paced himself for several laps before overtaking early leader John Rose. Hoping to win his first Apple Cup, Rose's chances for victory were short-lived when his car had to enter the pits on lap 20 due to mechanical problems.
With Rose out of the way, Tidrick established the lead, and never looked back, building leads of up to 10 car-lengths. Don Martin (Yakima) drove a hard race in the 50-lap main event, but was black-flagged in mid-race and sent to the rear of the pack. Despite weaving his way through the field and moving up to fifth place within a few laps, Martin ran out of laps and had to settle for that position.
Rounding out the Sunday's Main Events, the Northwest Late Model 4s brought those in attendance to their feet on several occasions with their speed and driving ability.
As in the other two races of the day, early leads evaporated as eventual winners captured the point and seldom looked back. Despite starting in eighth place, Kevin McKeehan, who was the top qualifier (21.237), overtook pole-sitter Steve Cone within five laps and held that position all the way to Victory Lane. Mark Jones, Chris Yochum, Don Walker, and Bob Winkler finished in the top-five.
Yakima Speedway will take a week off before beginning its 39th year of NASCAR sanctioned racing on April 7 with Late Models, Street Stocks and Bombers. But even though the Speedway will be quiet, many of its Late Model and Street Stock racers will be at Tri-City Raceway this weekend as the State Transmission MidState Series between those two divisions begins.
Visit www.yakimaspeedway.com or call 509-248-0647 for additional information.
A Trophy Dash: Kaltschmidt, Riehl, Evans, Schultz
B Trophy Dash: Olson, Roeder, Thomas, Doehling
Street Stocks (50 laps) - 1. B.J. Tidrick (Yakima), 2, Dan Riehl (Boring, Ore.), 3. Darrell Hanson (Portland), 4. Rod Schultz, Jr. (Woodland), 5. Don Martin (Yakima), 6. Ron Prejost (Hillsboro, Ore.), 7. Mike Gummus (Ridgefield), 8. Tim DeWeese (Selah), 9. Dave Lund (Everett), 10. Brian Lambert (Kennewick), 11. Jerry Markee (Kennewick), 12. Brad Tidrick (Yakima), 13. Paul Douglas (Princeton, B.C.), 14. Dan Schlatter (Bellevue), 15. Tom Kargman (Clackamas, Ore.), 16. John Rose (Yakima).
A Trophy Dash: Rose, Tidrick, Schlatter, Riehl
B Trophy Dash: Schlaht, Markee, Lambert, Douglas
Northwest Late Model 4s (50 laps) - 1. Kevin McKeehan, 2. Mark Jones, 3. Chris Yochum, 4. Don Walker, 5. Bob Winkler, 6. Cliff Campbell, 7. Jeff Smith, 8. Travis Ulrich, 9. Steve Cone, 10. Tim Corbett, 11. Patrick Norris, 12. Kathy Evans, 13. Joe Ruddach, 14. Larry Mikkelsen, 15. Kameron McKeehan.
A Trophy Dash: Kevin McKeehan, Jones, Walker, Kaufman
B Trophy Dash: Winkler, Cone, Kameron McKeehan, Ruddach