RACE FACTS & NOTES OF INTEREST

WHAT: Napa 150 Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series Race No. 12 of 14

WHERE: Magic Valley Speedway, Twin Falls, Idaho .333-Mile Paved Speedway

WHEN: Saturday, September 14, 2002 – 9:00 p.m. MST

DISTANCE: 150 Laps/49.9 Miles

POSTED AWARDS: $41,200

FIELD: 24 cars possible. Fastest 16 cars through time trials with two provisional starting positions available to the top 30 drivers based on the current 2002 Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring Championship point standings, two starting positions from the current top 30 car owners in the 2002 Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring Championship point standings, one position for a former champion of the series who has not qualified in the original 16 positions, one position for a Featherlite Southwest Series driver who has not qualified for one of the original 16 starting positions, the final two positions will be filled by the top two finishers in the Qualifying Race.

SANCTION: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR)

PROMOTER: Magic Valley Speedway, Inc.

CONTACTS: Doug Pace, NASCAR, 509/469-4401

Steve York, Magic Valley Speedway, 208/734-3700

SCHEDULE:
Sunday, September 1
10:30 a.m. Haulers Enter
Noon Registration & Inspection begin
2:15 p.m. Draw for qualifying order
2:30 to
3:00 p.m. First Practice Session
3:30 to
4:00 p.m. Second Practice Session
4:30 to
5:00 p.m. Final Practice Session
5:15 p.m. Mandatory Driver’s Meeting
5:30 p.m. Mandatory Rookie Meeting
6:00 p.m. Time Trials (2 laps)
7:05 p.m. 15-lap Qualifying Race
9:00 p.m. Napa150

THE RACETRACK: Magic Valley Speedway is a slightly banked .333-mile paved oval.

RECORDS:         Driver              Date       Speed                 Time
QUALIFYING: Gary Lewis     8/19/00    87.901 mph     13.638 seconds
RACE:              Garrett Evans  9/18/99    68.897 mph      43 min 30 sec

2000 TOP 10 IN THE EVENT
1. Gary Lewis

2. Joe Benedetti

3. Shane Biles

4. Kevin Hamlin

5. Kenny Rich

6. Rick Suran

7. Howard Ford

8. Garrett Evans

9. Brett Thompson

10. Ray Wallace

PAST 4 RESULTS OF THIS EVENT
          Winner

2000 Gary Lewis

1999 Garrett Evans

1998 Garrett Evans

1997 Greg Biffle

2000 RACE STATISTICS

Bud Pole: Gary Lewis
Time of Race: 44 min. 25 sec.
Average Speed: 67.475 mph
Margin of Victory: 1.91 seconds
Caution Flags: 3 for 18 laps
Lap Leaders: Hamlin (1-5), Dillon (6-50) Hart (51-53), Benedetti (54-118), Lewis (119-150)

NOTES OF INTEREST:

· The Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring division returns to Magic Valley for the first time since 2000. Last season, the Napa 150 was canceled as a result of the events of September 11.

· Kevin Hamlin is the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series points leader heading into the Napa 150. He holds a 42-point lead on Gary Lewis with three races left in the 2002 season. At the series last event in West Richland, Wash., Hamlin suffered through only his second finish outside the top-10 in the 2002 campaign. Going into the July 6 event, Lewis trailed Hamlin by 187 points. In the last eight weeks, Lewis has collected three wins, four top-5, and five top-10 finishes to narrow the points gap.

· With his first top-10 finish of the season, Travis Powell has closed to within four points of Rookie of the Year points leader, Kelly Mann. For Powell to win the title, he must finish in front of Mann in each of the three remaining races.

· With several Featherlite Southwest Series drivers expected to participate in the Napa 150, including points leader Eddy McKean, this will be a true Northwest versus Southwest duel. During the 18-year history of the Northwest series, only a handful of events have pitted the Southwest points leader against the best NASCAR driver’s in the Northwest. In McKean’s last start on the Northwest series, at the 2000 Napa 150, he qualified 14th and finished 21st.

· Brett Thompson, a top-flight rookie driver on the Winston West Series, has also entered the Napa 150 along with local hero, Scott Lynch. Lynch has been running selected Southwest series and Winston West races in 2002. Thompson sits in tenth place on the West points ladder and is third in the rookie of the year points race.

STAT OF THE WEEK:

· Gary Lewis holds three of the four Bud Poles contested at Magic Valley Speedway. Lewis also holds the track record in qualifying. The Bothell, Wash. native has one win and two top-5 finishes in his last three starts in Twin Falls. Lewis could tie Garrett Evans as the only back-to-back winners of the Napa 150. Current NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division and former Northwest star, Greg Biffle, is the only other driver to claim a win at Magic Valley.

2000 IN REVIEW:

· Gary Lewis passed Joe Benedetti with 31 laps to go and raced to a 1.91 second margin of victory in route to a $5,233 payday. Rick Suran was the biggest mover of the race. Suran started in 21st place and advanced to sixth in the running order after 150 laps. Kenny Rich was the highest local finisher with a fifth place run after starting eighth.

RBNWS Race Winners in 2002:                              Bud Pole Award Standings:
                         Kevin Hamlin 4                                          Jeff Jefferson 4

                         Gary Lewis 3                                             Kevin Hamlin 1

                         Jeff Jefferson 2                                           Troy Conrad 1

                         Pete Harding 1                                           Garrett Evans 1

                         Jason Jefferson 1                                        Pete Harding 1
                                                                                           Zach Niessner 1
                                                                                           Ron Eaton 1
                                                                                           Gary Lewis 1


Gatorade Front Runner Award Standings:
Jeff Jefferson 9
Gary Lewis 8
Kevin Hamlin 8
Chris Hart 5
Shane Biles 5
Jason Jefferson 3
Garrett Evans 3
Pete Harding 2
Wes Rhodes 1

Top-10 Driver Standings:                     Rookie-of-the-Year Standings:

1. Kevin Hamlin                                          1. Kelly Mann

2. Gary Lewis                                             2. Travis Powell

3. Pete Harding                                           3. Aaron Young

4. Troy Conrad

5. Chris Hart

6. Jeff Jefferson

7. Joe Benedetti

8. Shane Biles

9. Rick Suran

10.Garrett Evans

2001 RBNWS Manufacturers’ Championship
                        Points                Wins

1. Chevrolet       87                      7

2. Pontiac          73                      3

3. Ford             49                       1

View the Northwest Series on NASCAR.com with Results - Standings & Driver Profiles