Northwest auto-racing notebook: Northwest Series rivals bumped into match race

The bump healed long ago for Bothell's Gary Lewis.

But some folks, such as Northwest Legends promoter Bill Bailey, wouldn't drop the subject.

Kevin Hamlin, the Snohomish driver who leads the NASCAR Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series standings, won the season opener at Evergreen Speedway after bumping Lewis out of his way.

So the two, friends and co-workers at Longacre Racing in Woodinville, agreed to participate in a good-natured 10-lap match race before last Saturday night's Tour race at Tenino's South Sound Speedway.

Hamlin, who extended his series points lead with his second victory of the season in the Pepsi 125, drove a Legends car usually driven by Jason Dickoff of Kent. Lewis was behind the wheel of the car that Lake Stevens' Larry Best drives.

Hamlin called it a "just-for-fun" race and said, "Gary's cool with the little bump at Monroe. It's just racing. People are making a bigger deal out of it than it was. They think there's the big rivalry between me and him, but there's not. We're buddies, we hang out, we talk about life outside of work and racing — in fact, we're going to go ride our BMX bikes this Friday night after work."

Alluding to fellow driver John Zaretzke's comment that, "Racing needs a little WWF," Hamlin added, "That's what people are making out of us — Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant. I guess it adds excitement to the fans, so it's all good."

Northwest Legend cars are scaled-down versions of 1930s and 1940s American sedans that Hamlin said are "really darty and hard to drive."

"No power steering, and the car feels like it's all over the place, so you're on top of the wheel the whole time you're out there," he said. "I have a lot of respect for those drivers to be smooth in one of those cars. I really appreciate Bill setting that deal up and Jason and Larry for letting us run their cars."

Lewis won "after a bunch of side-by-side laps," Hamlin said. "The crowd really enjoyed it, which was the point."

Hamlin, driving the American Dream Chevrolet, beat Yakima driver Chris Hart by .37 second in the RBNWS race. Home-track favorite Wes Rhodes, of Lacey, was third. The Pontiacs of Joe Benedetti and Howard Ford rounded out the top five.

Hamlin will take a 60-point lead over Hart and a 78-point advantage over third-place Jeff Jefferson into the Cellular One 125 on May 25 at Wenatchee Valley's Super Oval.

Kahne tunes up in style

Enumclaw native Kasey Kahne, who has made an outstanding impression in his NASCAR Busch Series season, returned to his sprint-car roots in style last weekend.

Using the Northern Sprint Tour opener at Skagit Speedway as a tuneup for the Jim Raper Super memorial Dirt Cup, Kahne won Saturday's six-lap trophy dash, earned the A-Main pole and won the feature by half a car length over Roger Crockett.

Jason Solwold, Alan Munn and Barry Martinez completed the top five. Kahne took the pole position for Friday night's race as well, but Solwold and Chad Hillier slipped past him at the end.

Kahne, who began his sprint-car career on the clay oval at Alger, drove the 9K car for owner Dave DeWitt and the DIRT racing team.

Also on hand was longtime championship-car owner Jim Hayhoe, whose former Indianapolis 500 drivers included Jimmy Vasser, Roger McCluskey, Ronnie Duman, Art Pollard and Bruce Walkup. Hayhoe said he plans to settle in Burlington after he returns from the Indianapolis 500 later this month.

Notes

• The name is almost as long as the event at Monroe's Evergreen Speedway this Saturday. The ninth annual Jasper Engines Ed Ritchie Memorial 60 Minutes of FEAR Presented By Big O Tires will feature constant Figure-8 racing for one hour. Twenty cars will start the race, and during the hour, when a car leaves the track, another car may enter so that 20 cars are running the entire time. The driver completing the most laps will be declared the winner. Qualifying heats begin at 5 p.m., with racing at 7 p.m. Also on the schedule are the NASCAR Super Stocks, Bombers and Mini Stocks.

• Arlington's John Bender beat Tom Moriarity and top qualifier Robb Touchette in the Super Stock main event Saturday at Evergreen Speedway. Dave Lund won the Bombers A-Main.

• Kirkland's Bryan Willman and Team Bucknum partner Chris McMurry of Phoenix are among the LMP 675 entrants in this weekend's American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Sonoma. Willman and McMurry will be driving one of two Team Bucknum Pilbeam MP84-Nissans at Sears Point Raceway in California.

The two-hour, 45-minute timed event will be the first time since the March 12 season opener at Sebring, Fla., that the exotic race cars have raced in North America.

• Third-place Kevin Richards of Spokane is 54 points out of the NASCAR Winston West lead, as the series prepares for the June 1 100-lap race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. After that, the series will make its lone appearance at Evergreen Speedway, for the Coors Light 200 on June 29.

• With his 30th-place finish in the May 5 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis, Larry Gunselman remains 31st in points heading into Sunday's Rocky Mountain 200 at Pike's Peak International Raceway. The former Snohomish resident and his Waterloo Tool Storage Ford are 388 points behind leader David Starr. Portland's Mike Bliss has his Chevy in fourth place.