EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. – Erick Hargraves picked up his first career Mechanix Wear Pole Award on the ARCA West Circle K Late Model Challenge Series and after what appeared to a be a strong second-place finish was awarded the victory in the Pepsi 125 Saturday, July 26 at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval.
Garrett Evans, who had crossed the finish line first, was sent to the rear of the field due to an infraction in post-race inspection advancing the field up one position –moving Hargraves to first place.
Wes Rhodes was placed second, followed by his son Dan Rhodes.
Jason Jefferson, Todd Walters, Don Vickery, Josh Roberts, Alan Cress, Paul Buttkus and Jared Vorse rounded out the top-10 running order.
Vorse, who struggled in the afternoon practice session with a broken axle assembly, led the field to the green flag but contact with his teammate Dan Rhodes on the initial start resulted in a spin for both cars. Each driver was able to recover with no damage and the field lined up for a complete restart.
On the second attempt to get the Pepsi 125 underway Vorse was able to get a clean start and moved by Dan Rhodes for the lead. The current Port City Racecars Rookie of the Year points leader maintained the top spot in the running order through lap 33.
During the early portion of the event Jason Jefferson in his Evans Car Credit Chevrolet pressured Vorse for the lead and on several occasion the two young stars were side by side. Jefferson would lose the handle on his car on lap 18 bringing out a yellow flag. The Naches, Wash., native lined up 10th on the restart and advanced to sixth by lap 21.
Jefferson was able to continue his forward march and settled for a fourth place finish.
Contact with a lapped car forced Vorse to pit under the yellow flag at lap 35. The Knight Fire Protection crew went to work to determine the problem and it was discovered that the 21-year old had broken his second axle of the day and was forced to retire for the evening.
With Vorse in the pits Evans took over the top spot in the running order and stayed atop the leader board for the final 90 laps.
Dan Rhodes held down the second position until lap 61 when Hargraves moved
by and began to track down the Chevrolet of Evans. By lap 70 Wes Rhodes had moved by his son and was running in the third position with an intense three-way battle waging for the victory.
Over the final 55 laps Wes Rhodes applied constant pressure to Hargraves’ rear bumper and with three laps to go appeared to have the high line working for a pass that would propel him to second place.
Exiting turn No. 2 Wes Rhodes bobbled the Knight Fire Protection/Thurston County Tranmissions Chevrolet just enough off the corner to allow Hargraves’ Pontiac to move out to a three-car length lead and maintain the position.
Hargraves’ Magic Metals Pontiac would not be touched over the final two laps as the checkered flag flew.
The series points championship tighten considerably with Wes Rhodes moving ahead of Vorse by 12 points unofficially. Hargraves’ victory moved him to within 100 points of the lead with a trio of races to go in the season.
Vorse maintains his hold on the Port City Rookie of the Year chase with Dan Rhodes holding down second. Chris Walters rounds out the top three.
The ARCA West Circle K Late Model Challenge Series returns to action on August 16 at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval. The event marks the beginning of the final three races of the 2008 season for the series.
For more information visit onto www.latemodelchallenge.com.
No. 51 Erick Hargraves, Magic Metals/APEX Anodizing Pontiac GTO:
“What an unbelievable feeling! I was out there racing two of the best in the business in Garrett Evans and Wes Rhodes. We had a good car for most of the night but it seemed to roll over on the right front there late in the race and that made it tough to handle in the end. To be able to do this takes hard work from my crew and support from sponsors Magic Metals, Rick’s Garage, Solid Rock Trucking, APEX Anodizing and everyone else involved.
We’re off to the Idaho 200 (on August 3) and see what we can do there at Stateline. We’ve had a good car on the quarter-mile tracks so it should be a fun weekend.”
No. 6 Wes Rhodes, Knight Fire Protection/Larry’s Shock Shop Chevrolet Impala:
“I’m disappointed in myself tonight. I had a good car but I got loose off (turn No.) 2 and lost ground to Hargraves there at the end. My crew works so hard and it’s tough to come home without a win for them. They put a lot of effort into this car and our team so we’ll have to keep working and give it another go next time.”
No. 64 Garrett Evans, Leonard Evans Hyundai &Used Car Superstore Chevrolet Impala:
“I would like to thank Pepsi-Cola for sponsoring the night’s races and a big thank you to all the fans that came out tonight. We had a good run and it’s nice to be back in the car. My eyes are good and I am happy to be out here running again.”
–Christian Roeder, whose car owner Frank Brandt was killed in a vehicle accident on July 16 while traveling to the Montana 200, was in attendance with the No. 84 Brandt Law Firm Chevrolet. While the Ephrata, WA native did not time into the Pepsi 125 he did make a memorial lap in honor of Brandt and crewmember Gene Martin as both have passed in 2008 during the racing season.
–Hargraves joins Vorse as first-time Mechanix Wear Pole Award winners during the 2008 season. With the heat of the day keeping track temperatures over 125 degrees the pole speed was off by nearly two-tenths of second over the time Brent Harris put up in the series last visit to Wenatchee Valley.
–Hargraves also joined Vorse as a first-time winner on the ARCA West Circle K Late Model Challenger Series. Both drivers picked up their first career wins on .250-mile ovals with Vorse having won the series last event; the Firecracker 125 at Montana Raceway Park on July 5.
–Dan Rhodes top-3 finish was the best of his young career on the ARCA West series. It also marks the first time that a father and son have placed in the top-3 in series history.
–Alan Cress earns credit for making the longest tow of the evening with a drive of over 12 hours from Central Oregon. An ignition failure late in the race dropped Cress to eighth place in the final running order
–To date over 55 drivers have earned points on the ARCA West Late Model Challenge Series during the 2008 season.
ARCA West Circle K Late Model Challenge Series Pepsi 125
Saturday, July 26 at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval
.250-mile, East Wenatchee, WA
Finish/Start/Car No./Name/Hometown/Manufacturer/Laps
1) (6) 51 Erick Hargraves, Toppenish, WA, Pontiac 125 Running
2) (9) 6 Wes Rhodes, Yelm, WA, Chevrolet 125 Running
3) (2) 9r Dan Rhodes, Yelm, WA, Chevrolet 125 Running
4) (3) 97 Jason Jefferson, Naches, WA, Chevrolet 125 Running
5) (8) 4 Todd Walters, Wenatchee, WA Chevrolet 125 Running
6) (10) 15 Don Vickery, Seattle, WA, Chevrolet 125 Running
7) (7) 9 Josh Roberts, Ephrata, WA, Chevrolet 124 Running
8) (11) 3 Alan Cress, Albany, OR, Chevrolet 87 Mechanical
9) (12) 04 Paul Buttkus, Kelowna, BC, Pontiac 37 Accident
10) (1) 21 Jared Vorse, Olympia, WA, Chevrolet 35 Mechanical
11) (5) 0 Brent Harris, Wenatchee, WA, Chevrolet 18 Mechanical
12) (13) 93 Robert Sprague, Lakeside, OR, Chevrolet 8 Mechanical
13) (4) 64 Garrett Evans, Ardenvoir, WA, Chevrolet DQ
Lap Leaders: Vorse 0-35, D. Rhodes 36-61, Hargraves 62-125
Fast Time: Erick Hargraves, Magic Metals Pontiac, 12.812 sec., 70.247 mph
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