RAYBESTOS BRAKES NORTHWEST SERIES, NASCAR TOURING, POINTS RACE TIGHTENS FOLLOWING EATON’S VICTORY

EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. (July 7, 2001) – Ron Eaton extended his own record on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring, by becoming the oldest driver to capture a main event on the series. The Lakewood, Wash. native won the Budweiser 125 at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval, and moved to second place in the season standings for the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series championship. Kevin Hamlin was second, followed by Joe Benedetti. Shane Biles and Pete Harding rounded out the top-5.

Gary Lewis and The Sign Factory USA Pontiac took the lead on the opening lap and stayed on the point through 15 laps. Benedetti guided the RaceCals Pontiac around Lewis in turn No. 4, taking the lead on lap 16. The Auburn, Wash. driver led the next 73 laps to collect the Gatorade Front Runner Award.

     Local favorite, Garrett Evans, earned the Bud Pole Award with a lap of 12.542 seconds at 71.759 mph around the .250-mile paved oval at Wenatchee Valley. To the disappointment of the capacity crowd, Evans was forced to pit on lap nine with suspension problems ending his evening.

     Eaton stayed within striking distance of Benedetti as the pair weaved their way through lapped traffic. The cagey veteran was strong on restarts following several caution periods, but Benedetti was able to hold the point until lap 89.

     Hamlin reeled the leaders in as lap 89 began. All three cars ran nose-to-tail entering turn No. 1, with Eaton able to overtake Benedetti exiting turn No. 2. Hamlin found an opening around Benedetti in turn No. 3 and moved to second at the completion of lap 90. Benedetti fell back to third and battled a slow leak in the right rear tire for the remainder of the race, but held on for his fourth consecutive top-5 finish.

     Eaton captured the 41^st victory of his career on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring. He moved up to second place in the season long chase for the series points championship. Despite his top-5 performance, Benedetti trails Eaton by one point heading to Yakima Speedway for the running of the Sun City 250. Following his second place finish, Hamlin maintains the points lead with a 54-point gap between he and Eaton.

     Eaton made contact with Bendetti’s rear bumper early in the race, bowing the hood of Eaton’s Lake’s Body Shop Chevrolet. The raised hood created a challenge to see according to Eaton.

     “I couldn’t see the corners there at the end because the hood was way up in the air and I’m so short,” Eaton said. “The motor started getting real hot and then Kevin got behind me so I just tried to keep it on the bottom.”

     Eaton is the series master at knowing tire wear and the Budweiser 125 was no different. He praised the Goodyear Eagle’s on his machine for keeping him in front down the stretch.

     “This tire here you could lean on, the more you leaned on it, the faster it got,” Eaton said.

     Hamlin notched his fifth top-5 finish of the season as he continues his quest to become the youngest driver to win a championship on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series.

     “We kept all the doors on it and everything is in one piece. I wanted to go to the outside (on Eaton), but I just couldn’t get enough of a run going into the turns to get by. Ron being around as long as he has, he just never screws up,” Hamlin said.

     While Benedetti would love to capture his third career series victory, top-3 finishes are just fine with him at this point of the 2001 campaign.

     “Top-3’s pay the bills. I thought we had this one wrapped up. I tried to run smart but under the last caution we cut ran over something and got a slow leak. We only had 13 pounds of air pressure there at the end, it just got tight towards the end of the race,” Benedetti said.

NOTES OF INTEREST:

Wes Rhodes earned a season best sixth place finish in the Budweiser 125. Rhodes guided his Lumberman’s/Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet from the 17^th starting position on the grid, to sixth place by lap 114. He was the last car on the lead lap. With the top-10 finish, Rhodes moves to 10^th place in the season points standings.

Matt Hall, who hails from Spokane, Wash., earned his best finish ever on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series. Hall and the NSF Resources Chevrolet started in 20^th place on the field and managed to move to ninth by lap 122. His ninth place finish moved him to fifth place in the Totem Travel Rookie of the Year points standings and gave him a 16^th place in season points heading to the Sun City 250 at Yakima Speedway on July 14, 2001.

Kristi Schmitt became the second female driver to ever qualify for a Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series event. Schmitt attempted to qualify for the May race at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval, but fell just short. On Saturday night, she earned the seventh quickest lap at 12.839 seconds. Schmitt, who hails from Anderson, Calif., finished a disappointing 21^st after devolving engine trouble on lap 32.

Howard Ford, another driver from California that makes the trek north to run the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, was the highest finishing rookie in the Budweiser 125. Ford, a native of Crescent City, started in 12^th and came home in eighth place in only his fifth start of the 2001 season. With the outstanding run, Ford moved into third place in the Totem Travel Rookie of the Year standings.

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