The iRacing.com American Speed Association Northwest Late Model Tour was at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington on Saturday July 25 for the Washington 500. The scheduled 175-lap distance for the Tour was shortened to 100 due to a surprise thunderstorm that caused over a two hour delay in the proceedings. With the curfew closing in, track officials had no choice but to shorten the race to 100-laps. Pete Harding was declared the winner. Kelly Mann was second followed by Jay Sauls.
A freakish thunderstorm started to head towards the track. The storm came from the east which is abnormal. The normal weather pattern is primarily west to east. When it was determined that the storm was impending, track and series officials moved the ASA NWLMT portion of the program up to run immediately after the presently running figure-eight 100. Just 12-laps into the scheduled 175-lap main for the traveling Super Late Model Series the race was paused to clean up an oil spill. During the clean-up process the rain started and lasted for 45-minutes. The drying process began and the track officials decided they would go with the Street Stock portion of the night’s festivities. The local Street Stocks use a treaded tire and would help get the track to a fully dry state for the remainder of the ASA NWLMT’s 175. A few mishaps and another oil situation during the Street Stock race delayed the ASA NWLMT restart. With time growing short the determination was to shorten the race to 100-laps. The chase for the coveted 2009 championship has tightened. Gary Lewis leads Brent Harris) by five points. Kelly Mann is now third and within striking distance just nineteen back of Lewis. Jason Fraser was the race winner. Failing the post race inspection Fraser was disqualified.
Up next for the iRacing.com ASA Northwest Late Model Tour is the series’ only visit to Oregon during the 2009 season. Race number nine for the northwest’s only traveling premier stock car series is at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, OR at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Saturday August 22. The 125-lap race will feature a race within a race as the local late models will be competing for the win and points for their local track championship. A strong contingent of ASA NWLMT, local late models and Northstate Challenge Late Models are set to make the trip.
