Motor Sports
Northwest auto racing: Evans hopes to add to Evergreen mark

By Jim Riley
Special to The Seattle Times

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Garrett Evans won his first NASCAR touring race more than 20 years ago at Evergreen Speedway. His latest victory came Saturday in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Evans, the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division points leader, returns to Evergreen Speedway in Monroe on Saturday for the Evergreen 125.

No one has won more regional races than Evans, who has 50 career victories and season series championships in 1985, 1989 and 1994.

After a couple of slow years, Evans, 48, is back to full speed and accelerating.

"We've really turned our program around this year," he said. "The race car has a good feel, and we have confidence with what the car is doing. The secret to my success is crew chief John Vickery. He's put in a lot of long hours on the car."

Evans, who has finished in the top five in all four races this season, has won a record 13 feature races at Evergreen Speedway.

"The momentum is going our way and we're looking forward to winning at Evergreen," the Ardenvoir (Chelan County) driver said. "We feel we have a good chance to win every time we go to a race. The last couple of years we were just happy for a top-five finish. Having an opportunity to win keeps your enthusiasm up."

Evans admits he is a different driver than he was two decades ago.

"Your ability and eyesight might be better when you're a younger guy," Evans said. "But you also have a tendency to get in more wrecks. When you get older, you get wiser. It all evens out."

Evans isn't sure how long he will continue racing, but the finish line isn't in sight.
 
"I still feel like I've got a long way to go yet," Evans said. "As long as it's fun, I'll keep going."

Also scheduled Saturday in Monroe is the Speedway Chevrolet 75 midseason super stock championship.

Monroe driver John Zaretzke is out to win both races.

"I don't know if I've ever raced that many laps in back-to-back races," Zaretzke said. "My goal is to finish a couple of hundred laps."

Nothing was hotter than Zaretzke's By Design Rockeries Ford last weekend when he won the super-stock competition by about half a lap.

"That was as close to a perfect race as you can get," Zaretzke said. "Other than not setting the track record, it was a perfect night."

Zaretzke and his volunteer crew didn't celebrate for long. They have two cars to prepare for Saturday's races.

"We're out to win both races," Zaretzke said, "but our focus remains on our super stock program."

Also entered are former track champions John Bender of Snohomish and Gary Lewis of Bothell.

Another favorite is Jason Jefferson of Yakima. Jefferson, who is second in points, won on the 3.8-mile track at Evergreen on May 8 and also won at Tri-City Raceway on April 24.

Stewart dominates Dirt Cup

Kasey Kahne, Nextel Cup rookie sensation, missed the chance to defend his back-to-back Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup titles last weekend at Skagit Speedway because he was busy finishing second at the DHL 400 at Michigan Speedway. But as dominating as Shane Stewart's performance was in winning the 33rd Dirt Cup, it might not have mattered.

Stewart, who is from Bixby, Okla., worked through some electrical problems before the finale and led all 40 laps to win $20,000.

Brent Kaeding of Campbell, Calif., might have been able to make a run at Stewart, but the former champion ran out of gas while running second and wound up fourth.

Former champion Steve Kent of Fresno, Calif., won Thursday night, and Trevor Green of Australia won Friday before Bixby captured the title Saturday.

About 20,000 witnessed the racing over the three nights.

Kahne, in Sonoma, Calif., preparing for Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350, tried to find a way to be in Alger to race last weekend.

"I really wish I could have been there and had a shot to win it for the third time," Kahne said by phone. "It ended up being a good weekend for me, but that's the first time in a long time I haven't won on that weekend."

The regular sprint-car racing program is scheduled at Skagit on Saturday night.

DeBenedetti moves up two spots

After two straight third-place finishes in the race, Jon DeBenedetti of Rogue River, Ore., finally got the checkered flag at the Northwest Modified Nationals at Grays Harbor Raceway last Saturday.

DeBenedetti, who earned $7,200 over the weekend in the $30,000 event, led for 39 laps after starting from the pole position to outdistance Jess Williamson of Coburg, Ore.

Ron Jones of Zimmerman, Minn., who led all 25 laps to win the preliminary event Friday in his racing debut in the Northwest, was third Saturday.

Grays Harbor regular Josh Muller of Elma was 12th and Don Jenner of Vancouver was 13th.

State team sweeps sprint events

NayKid Racing of Puyallup swept the top two places of the Road American Sports Car Club sprint events in Elkhart, Wis.

Racing in a Corvette Z06, Cindi Lux of Aloha, Ore., became only the second woman in the 49-year history of the Sports Car Club of America to win the event.