Langs make history at Evergreen Speedway

MONROE — It was a good night to be named Lang.

In what is considered to be a historic first, husband-and-wife drivers Naima and Jill Lang each won a feature main race at Evergreen Speedway on Saturday night.

“That’s pretty cool,” Jill Lang said when told by announcer Kelly Hale that the speedway believed she and her husband were the first married couple to win feature races on the same night.

Naima Lang recorded his second victory of the season — and second overall — in the top-tier super stock division and Jill Lang won the bomber division race, her sixth overall.

Earlier in the day there was some question whether the super stocks would race because of the wet and chilly weather. However by late afternoon the track had dried out and the better-than-expected crowd was treated to some exciting — and relatively caution-free — racing.

Of the two Langs, Naima Lang by far had the easier time.

Naima Lang passed James Mugge on the backstretch on lap 24 and then cruised to victory in the 40-lap feature.

“I felt like I was out there on a practice session,” Naima Lang said after the race. “That’s how good this car was. (Crew chief) Jesse Jensen has given me the best race car ever.”

The first thing Naima Lang did after winning the race was call Jensen, who was at the late model race at the Wenatchee Valley Super Oval on Saturday.

Mugge passed polestitter Tom Hughes for the lead in turn 1 of the first lap, and then after the only caution on lap 3 built a large cushion between himself and the field over the next 19 laps before Naima Lang caught up to him as both closed on slower cars.

After Naima Lang passed him, Mugge went steadily backwards and eventually he pulled into the pits on lap 29 with a flat tire. Mugge did return to the track for the final five laps.

Mike Holden finished second, John Zaretzke was third, Fred Hall finished fourth and Steve Ptacek was fifth.

In the bomber main, Jill Lang passed Travis Blackwood for the lead on lap 24, then the two went side-by-side for a couple laps until Blackwood spun along the backstretch, bringing out the only caution of the race.

That caution set up a green-white-checkered finish, with Jill Lang holding off Lane Sundholm and Jim Foti for the victory.

Jill Lang started the race near the back of the field and steadily moved up after the green flag fell, taking over second place on lap 16. She credited her spotter, crew chief Steve Jennings, with helping her make the move to the front.

“He did a real good job,” Jill Lang said of Jennings. “Steve was calming me down the whole time — he was telling me ‘little by little, little by little.’ ”

Sundholm was second, Foti third, Russ Hale fourth and Frank Cowgill rounded out the top five in the bomber main.

After the race Jill Lang thanked her crew and engine builder, Phil Hunt, and said Naima Lang had done the set-up on her bomber. She also pointed out that Saturday was the birthday of Ron Fritzley, her father and car owner.

Both Jill and Naima Lang also won their respective bomber and super stock division heat races on Saturday.

Naima Lang’s first win in the super stock division came in the season-opening race on April 12, which required two green-white-checkered flag attempts to complete.

Naima Lang took the lead in that race after a caution was called during the first attempt to finish the race under green, and then he held off Zaretzke on the second for his first victory in three years of racing in the top-tier division.

“The second win definitely came a lot easier than the first,” Naima Lang said with a laugh. “First one was a little stressful, and there was a lot of weight on my shoulders.”

Delfel wins super figure eight main: Doug Delfel took the lead on lap 25 when Troy Siminaer had to pit and then Delfel held off the field en route to victory in the super figure eight division main.

It was the first time this season a driver other than defending champion John Carlson or Ricky Dietz had won Evergreen’s other feature division.

Ryan Gunderson finished second, Dietz was third, Carlson came in fourth and Nick Gunderson rounded out the top five.

Father over son: Steve Peters edged his son, Sean Peters, in the A main of the stinger eight division, winning both.

Defending champion Mike Middleton finished third in the A main, Michael Durbin was fourth and Ben Chandler fifth.

Jessica Gray won the B main.