RAYBESTOS BRAKES NORTHWEST SERIES

EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. (September 28, 2002) – Chris Hart, a native of Yakima, Wash., passed Garrett Evans late in the Northwest Racing Enterprises 150 on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring division for his first victory on the series in over three years. Hart’s last triumph came in June of 1999 at Tri-Cities Raceway.

above: Chris Hart all smiles in the winners circle at Wenatchee Valley's Super Oval

(photo courtesy of NASCAR)

Evans came home second followed by Ed Watson in third place. Watson’s finish was a career best on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series. Pete Harding and Jeff Jefferson rounded out the top-5. Evans led the first 107 laps of the event to collect the Gatorade Front Runner Award. Troy Conrad grabbed his second Bud Pole Award of the season with a lap 12.766 seconds at 70.500 mph.

Northwest veteran Evans and newly crowned 2002 series champion Kevin Hamlin led a full 22-car field to the green flag in front of a capacity crowd at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval.

Hart moved to second place on the field by lap 50 and began to chase Evans down in lapped traffic as lap 86 came to a close. As Evans exited turn No. 4 on lap 95, Hart made a strong run to the inside racing down the front stretch but, Evans was able to move back in front entering turn No. 1.

Evans maintained the lead over Hart until lap 103. Hart again chased down the series only four-time champion on lap 104 and almost cleared Evans for the lead but drove just deep enough through the middle of turns No. 1 and 2 to get into the edge of the infield grass. Settling back in behind Evans, Hart laid back until lap 108.

As lap 108 began, Hart and Evans raced door to door on the .250-mile Wenatchee Valley backstretch. The crowd roared when Hart was finally able to clear Evans exiting turn No. 4 as lap 109 came to a close.

With exciting action between Hart and Evans for the lead keeping the crowd occupied, Watson and Harding made their way through the field to join the battle for the top-3 running order. Watson, who started the evening in the seventh position, moved into the top-5 by lap 45. By lap 77 he had caught Ron Eaton and began to apply pressure for third place.

Over the next 12 laps, Watson and Eaton battled for the position allowing Harding to catch up to the pair. On lap 88, Watson cleared Eaton and brought Harding through in the process.

Watson tried in vain to catch Hart and Evans as Harding followed closely behind. Jefferson was able to get behind Harding late for his fifth place finish but all three were unable to chase down Evans or Hart.

Once Hart got to the lead, he just tried to keep the Goodyear Eagle racing tires from going away late he said. “At the beginning it was not the fastest thing on the track but at the end the tires were still there and I had been thinking the whole time that I needed to keep the tires under me.”

“Garrett got a little loose in the apex and I was just working it until I could get down underneath him. It’s nice racing with someone like Garrett because you can trust him and run side by side. It was a good race,” Hart exclaimed.

After an up and down season, Hart will take the victory into the offseason and prepare for the 2003 campaign. “This is a capper, we were starting to get a little discouraged after Monroe (where Hart endured a wild end over end tumble) and a couple of other races, at least we’ve got something to think about over the winter.”

Evans ended 2001 saying his team would make its way back to the front of the pack and over the last month of the 2002 season he was one of the hottest drivers with one win, two top-3 and three top-10 finishes. With the strong finishes, Evans left no doubt what his plans are for 2003. “I think we can go for that fifth championship.”

“I really would like to work towards that and we’re on to some things here and we’re much more competitive so I’m just looking forward to next year,” he added.

With so much more success this season than last, Evans has enjoyed racing again he said. “We have had the car pretty good and we are kind of on the road to where we can be running up front again I hope.”

Watson also served notice that he will be heard from in 2003 with his career best third place finish. Making improvements to his race car, the gelling of a solid race team, and the addition of legendary Northwest car owner and set-up man George Jefferson all have made Watson’s second half of the 2002 season very successful he said.

(photo courtesy of NASCAR)

“We took care of a few little things (with the race car) but George has actually helped me to drive different lines and getting me a good enough car so I can focus on where we need to be on the track. These guys that run up front every week, you cannot believe what that takes,” Watson said.

“It is unbelievable the preparation and the skill and we are just finally getting there. People have to remember I’ve only drove 50 or 60 touring races in my life. This is a huge team sport and every single one of these guys on my crew has added to this. Third place is not a win yet but it is to us.”

(photo courtesy of Denny Strimple)

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