JEFFERSON MAKES SECOND START IN ONE DAY COUNT TOWARDS WIN ON RAYBESTOS BRAKES NORTHWEST SERIES

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. (April 27, 2002) – Jeff Jefferson logged over one thousand miles of travel in one day just to reach the pinnacle of success in the NASCAR Touring divisions, his first career victory on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series in the Costco 125.

Early in the day, Jefferson ran a Winston West race at California Speedway, making up over a dozen positions before a blown motor ended his day.

The Naches, Wash. native boarded a flight from Ontario, Calif. to Pasco, Wash. and arrived to Tri-City Raceway just in time to qualify his D&G Bodyworks Chevrolet on the pole. It was Jefferson’s second consecutive Bud Pole Award on the series.

Starting fourth based on a four-car invert; Jefferson chased Chris Hart for 18 laps before moving past the Yakima, Wash. native on the backstretch of the tri-oval. Jefferson led the remaining 107 laps to capture the Gatorade Front Runner Award and over $4,000 in prize money.

Hart would hang tough in second place as Garrett Evans and Pete Harding battled for third place in the running order. By lap 55, Harding had moved past the four-time series champion and set his sights on second place.

Jefferson would build a lead of over three seconds as the pair of Chevrolet’s raced for the runner-up position. Harding and Hart made contact exiting turn No.1 and both cars would lose ground to Evans and defending series champion Kevin Hamlin.

Hamlin put on a wonderful display of driving talent, starting 15th on the grid before moving to fifth place by lap 79. The 22-year old Snohomish, Wash. resident climbed to third place in the final running order and maintains a ten-point lead on Jefferson in the series points standings.

Jeff Jefferson was not the only family member to have a great day in the Costco 125. Younger brother Jason, the defending Tri-City Raceway late model champion, made his fourth career start on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series a good one.

Jason qualified 16th on the grid and moved to eighth place in the final running order in his Better-All Auto Sales/Valley Power Sports Ford.

Older brother Jeff was elated to find himself in victory lane after a grueling travel day to make the race in West Richland.

“It’s good to get a win on the series, it’s so tough,” Jefferson said. “Some great drivers have come out of this series like Garrett Evans, Pete Harding, Derrick (Cope) and Chad (Little) all of them are great guys who have won on this series and it’s an honor to join that list.”

With Hart and Harding falling back, Jefferson found concern in having Evans behind him with only a handful of laps to go to the checkers he said.

“I’ll tell you what, I hadn’t had him behind me all day, I had Chris back there. You had to be on your toes,” Jefferson said. “Garrett has been around a long time and knows his stuff so I just tried to get a good clean re-start and got away from just a bit.”

Jefferson said the main key to victory in the Costco 125 was the Goodyear tires underneath his Chevrolet.

“The tire was awesome. Goodyear could not have brought a better tire, they never gave up and stuck real good,” Jefferson said.

NOTES OF INTEREST:

Ted Mikelson, making his second career start on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, led the field to the green flag. When the day began, Mikelson was scheduled to race in a late model event in Yakima, Wash. but a rainout brought him to Tri-City Raceway. He ran up front for over 70 laps before falling out due to a broken trailing arm. Mikelson drove a Chevrolet sporting the No. 65 sponsored by Action Paving.

Kelly Mann maintained his Rookie of the Year points lead over Travis Powel with his 10th place effort. Making his first series start on the tri-oval, Mann moved from his 26th starting position to capture his second straight top-10 finish on the Northwest Series.

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