HART WELCOMES CHANCE TO CHALLENGE HAMLIN AT HOMETOWN YAKIMA SPEEDWAY ON THE RAYBESTOS BRAKES NORTHWEST SERIES

YAKIMA, Wash. (May 28, 2002) – Chris Hart has been a thorn in Kevin Hamlin’s side at the last two stops on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring schedule. Hamlin has two straight victories while Hart has finished second on both occasions. The Yakima, Wash. native hopes to move up one more position and claim his first series victory since 1999.

With four 2002 starts under his belt, Hart trails Hamlin by 70 points heading to the first stop of the season at Yakima Speedway. Baffled by the handling ability of Hamlin’s Chevrolet, Hart hopes for a hometown advantage this Saturday night.

"I don’t know what they (Hamlin’s crew) do to that thing but it’s staying under him all night long,” Hart said of Hamlin’s race car. “We have to keep working hard on our car and get the thing to stay under us a few more laps like his car is doing and we should be able to run with him.”

Hart finished third in the 1999 series final points standings, his highest position ever achieved on the Northwest Series. His early season run has caught the attention of the current titleholder.

“Chris Hart is having an awesome year so we have to keep doing what we’ve been doing to hold the lead in the points,” said Northwest Series champion, Kevin Hamlin.

After a disappointing 2001 season in which Hart finished outside the top-5 in the final points standings for the first time in his career, the new season could not be possible without the support if his sponsors Hart said.

“I have to thank Holtzinger Fruit, Yakima Implement, and Speck Chevrolet for helping get to this point.”

The Yakima Implement Racing Team made several changes over the winter to get back on track towards its first ever championship. Hart praises the tires Goodyear has produced as a key reason for the early season success he’s had on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series.

“It has been a combination of things but Goodyear has given us a tire that you can race hard on it all night long and I think that has helped out quite a bit,” he said.

Going back to a proven race car in the teams stable has also been a big boost to the season’s run he added.

“We switched back to an older car that we had run in the past and we’re being a lot more careful with our set-ups and thinking a little more about everything we’re doing.”

Hart hopes that a home track advantage will result in his second Frank’s Chevrolet 125 victory of his career. “We’re going to give it a shot and see what happens, it sure would be nice (to win in Yakima).”

The fifth stop on the 2002 schedule for the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series is June 1 at Yakima Speedway. For ticket information call (509) 248-0647 or visit the track online at www.yakimaspeedway.com.