Tonight in Monroe, governor’s race really revs its engines
Published 11:20 pm Friday, September 19, 2008
MONROE — The battle between Gov. Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi is taking place in every corner of the state.
Tonight, their duel comes to the big oval at Evergreen Speedway.
Though the two candidates will be absent, their presence will be visible. Each is sponsoring a car entered in the 125-lap race.
Rossi’s name has been a fixture at the track for months. In June he signed on as one of the sponsors of car No. 11, driven by Mike Holden and owned by Ryan Zahnow.
And officially, tonight is the “Dino Rossi for Governor Northwest Big Track Championships” presented by University Mechanical Contractors — a Rossi supporter.
“When we found out that it was ‘Dino Rossi Night,’ we contacted the Gregoire campaign and said, ‘We’d love to put your name on our car,’ ” said Lena Coleman of Monroe.
She and her husband, Frank, own Coleman Motorsports. On Friday, they had Gregoire’s named applied to their car, No. 51, driven by John Zaretzke.
Gregoire and Rossi will have their names on the hoods and bumpers of the cars.
This race has a special meaning for the drivers, too.
What’s at stake? The season title for Super Stock car drivers. Zaretzke is sitting in second and Holden in fifth in the standings.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com,
