MONROE, Wash. — Evergreen Speedway may not feel like his home track, but Jeff Barkshire made himself comfortable there Saturday night.

Barkshire passed series points leader Eric Holmes for the lead on lap 17, then stayed out front most of the rest of the way en route to his first career NASCAR Camping World Series West victory in the Toyota/Concept Race Cars &Parts 150.

Although he is one of just two West series drivers from Washington state, Barkshire, who lives in Auburn, said earlier in the week that he hadn’t raced at Evergreen Speedway enough to consider it his home track.

A convincing victory Saturday in his fourth start on the five-eighths oval in the Monroe track was enough to change Barkshire’s feelings on the subject.

“It felt like home — we were pretty good,” Barkshire said after the race. “It was a pretty awesome car.”

Holmes, who set a new track record with a qualifying lap of 23.191 seconds — eclipsing the previous mark of 23.328 set by Mike Duncan at last year’s West series race — finished second.

Jason Bowles was third, Jeff Jefferson — the other Washington state driver, coming from Naches — finished fourth and Jim Inglebright rounded out the top five.

Although he started from the pole and led the first 16 laps, Holmes dropped to as far as fifth before battling way back to the front to challenge Barkshire.

“The beginning of the race they were running me harder than I wanted to run and the car was a little on the loose side” Holmes said. “I knew I could come back and get (Barkshire) — I was hoping anyway — and I ended up catching him but Jeff did a great job of not slowing down.”

Holmes reclaimed the lead by beating Barkshire to turn 1 on a restart on lap 69, but lost it again on the next restart, after the midpoint competition yellow.

The Camping World Series uses mandated caution periods for fuel and tires at the majority of its races as a money-saving measure for race teams, who can use fewer crewmembers and spend less on travel and training.

After getting past Holmes on the lap 76 restart from the competition yellow, Barkshire led the rest of the way. Holmes closed the gap between them on a couple occasions, but the points leader wasn’t able to get past the rookie.

“We got a little free at the end, but I think Eric was, too,” Barkshire said. “He’s a real smart racecar driver and I had a feeling maybe he was saving (his car), and he was trying, but he went away just about the same as we did at the end.”

Holmes has been the driver to beat in the West series this season. Going into Saturday, the series’ point leader had won four of eight races, had started on the pole four times and had led the most laps.

Bowles, who remains in second place in the standings, has also had a strong season with two wins and two poles. Although he stayed close to the leaders for most of the race he faded in the late going.

“My car wasn’t quite a good at the end,” he said. “We were good for those first 50 laps or so right after the break, but those last 25 I just didn’t have anything for them.”

Saturday’s victory helped Barkshire, who has eight top-10 finishes in the series’ nine races this season, check a few things off his to-do list.

“This was one of our goals,” he said. “We wanted to win rookie of the year, get into the top three in points and win at least one (race).”

With just four races to go, Barkshire holds a commanding lead in the rookie standings over No. 2 Jim Warn, and he is now third in points behind Holmes and Bowles.

The 150-lap Camping World race was one of four races held at Evergreen Speedway Saturday night as part of the annual Washington 500.

Saturday’s race marked the 50th visit by the NASCAR Camping World Series West to Evergreen Speedway. Dick Bown won the first race on April 19, 1964, and since then 29 different drivers have recorded a win at Evergreen Speedway.

The late-model stock cars of the American Speed Association Northwest Tour and Evergreen Speedway’s own NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Stock division also raced for 150 laps each, and the speedway’s Bomber division raced for 50 laps.

Saturday at Evergreen Speedway, Monroe, WA

Lap length: 0.646 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

Unofficial

1. (3) Jeff Barkshire, Auburn, Wash., Dodge, 150 laps, 81.315 mph, $7,865.

2. (1) Eric Holmes, Escalon, Calif., Toyota, 150, $5,500.

3. (5) Jason Bowles, Ontario, Calif., Ford, 150, $3,500.

4. (2) Jeff Jefferson, Naches, Wash., Chevrolet, 150, $3,236.

5. (13) Jim Inglebright, Fairfield, Calif., Chevrolet, 150, $4,000.

6. (6) Johnny Borneman, Ramona, Calif., Ford, 150, $2,250.

7. (9) Moses Smith, Tempe, Ariz., Toyota, 150, $2,150.

8. (16) Jonathan Gomez, Twin Falls, Idaho, Chevrolet, 149, $1,550.

9. (10) Jim Warn, Aurora, Ore, Chevrolet, 148, $1,975.

10. (11) Daryl Harr, St Albert, Alberta, Chevrolet, 146, $1,950.

11. (8) Mike David, Modesto, Calif., Ford, 146, $2,500.

12. (14) Jason Patison, Corona, Calif., Ford, 145, $1,875.

13. (15) Mike Gallegos, Wheat Ridge, Colo., Chevrolet, 144, $1,850.

14. (7) Austin Cameron, El Cajon, Calif., Toyota, 143, $1,825.

15. (17) Tony Toste, Pismo Beach, Calif., Chevrolet, 142, $1,300.

16. (4) David Mayhew, Atascadero, Calif., Chevrolet, 128, suspension, $1,775.

17. (12) Jamie Dick, Albuquerque, N.M., Chevrolet, 71, accident, $1,750.

Race Statistics

Time of Race: 1 hour 11 minutes 30 seconds

Margin of Victory: .509 seconds

Fastest Qualifier: E.Holmes (100.280 mph, 23.191 seconds)

Caution Flags: 2 for 10 laps.

Lead Changes: 3 among 2 drivers.

Lap Leaders: E.Holmes 1-16; J.Barkshire 17-68; E.Holmes 69-76; J.Barkshire 77-150.

Standings

1. E.Holmes, 1506; 2. J.Bowles, 1425; 3. J.Barkshire, 1372; 4. M.David, 1341; 5. J.Inglebright, 1324; 6. A.Cameron, 1254; 7. M.Smith, 1230; 8. J.Borneman, 1178; 9. M.Gallegos, 1177; 10. J.Warn, 1124.