Evergreen Speedway’s Terrific 12

  • By Rich Myhre Herald Writer
  • Wednesday, June 4, 2014 11:25pm
  • SportsSports

Some of the top drivers in auto racing history have raced at Evergreen Speedway. Some visited early in their careers and others made special appearances when they were already well known. The list, in alphabetical order, includes:

Davey Allison

The son of legendary driver Bobby Allison raced in Monroe in the 1993 Coors Light 500 just 16 days before his death in a helicopter crash.

Greg Biffle

Biffle, who grew up in Camas, raced at Evergreen Speedway on the NASCAR Winston Northwest Tour in 1994, and is now in his 13th season on the Sprint Cup Series, where he has 19 career victories.

Geoff Bodine

The 1986 Daytona 500 winner and one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers won the 1991 Motorcraft 500 at Evergreen Speedway. He returned to Monroe in 2006 for a Saturday night show.

Derrike Cope

Still active on the NASCAR Nationwide Series, he won the 1985 Washington 500 at Evergreen Speedway, five years before he won the Daytona 500.

Bill Elliott

The 44-time winner on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (including the Daytona 500 in 1995 and 1987) and the Winston Cup Series season champion in 1988 raced in Monroe every year from 1986-94, and won the 1987 Motorcraft 500.

Ron Hornaday Jr.

Now racing on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, he won races in 1995 and 1999 when the series (then the Craftsman Truck Series) came to Evergreen Speedway. He is a four-time series champion and the career leader in series wins with 51.

Chad Little

The Spokane native and a 16-year veteran of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series got his start racing around the Northwest, including several races at Evergreen Speedway, where he won three Winston West Series races in the late 1980s.

Sterling Marlin

The 1994 and 1995 Daytona 500 winner came to Monroe for the 1991 Motorcraft 500.

Hershel McGriff

One of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers, he had a racing career that spanned 57 years, mostly on the West Coast, but also with 85 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts and four victories. He raced at Evergreen Speedway many times, but never won a major race there.

David Pearson

He is one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers, winning 105 Sprint Cup Series races between 1960 and 1980, including the 1976 Daytona 500. He raced in the 1979 Reed Cam 150 at Evergreen Speedway, part of the NASCAR Winston West Series.

Ken Schrader

He raced on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 1981 to 2013 and was the series Rookie of the Year in 1985. He raced in the 1993 Coors Light 500 in Monroe.

Tom Sneva

The Spokane native was a three-time pole winner at the Indianapolis 500 and won the race winner in 1983. He had several Evergreen Speedway starts early in his career from the late 1960s to the early 1970s.

Note: Richard Petty, a NASCAR legend nicknamed “The King,” won seven Daytona 500s and was a seven-time winner of the Winston Cup Series, and was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers. He came to Monroe, but served only as a grand marshal at the 2000 Sears 200, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

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