MONROE — Evergreen Speedway is upping the ante this year.
Evergreen Speedway’s 2017 season takes the green flag during Saturday’s opening night, and when it does it also kicks off a new series designed to increase the number of premier events held at the track.
This is the inaugural season for the Budweiser Crown Series, a six-race series for Super Late Models. With a combined purse of $240,000, the series is expected to attract more high-profile drivers to Evergreen on a monthly basis. The first race of the series is Saturday’s Mighty 12’s Alliance 100.
Saturday’s opening night also includes racing in the Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Outlaw Figure 8, Hornets and Youth Hornets classes. The doors open at 12:12 p.m. Racing begins at 6 p.m., with the Mighty 12’s Alliance 100 scheduled to begin at approximately 8:30 p.m.
But it’s the Crown Series that’s getting the most attention as the 2017 season begins.
“The response has been fantastic,” Evergreen Speedway president Doug Hobbs said. “There’s a lot of buzz throughout the west coast and the Rocky Mountain states. It will be great to highlight the speedway and Snohomish County.”
Evergreen will still race Super Late Models throughout the year. However, the Crown Series designates one race a month as part of the Whelen All-American Series, which is sanctioned by NASCAR.
“The Super Late Models division is one of the most competitive in the United States,” Hobbs said. “What this does is create a once-a-month feature race in Super Late Models at Evergreen Speedway. We’ll still be racing all season, but one week a month will be highlighted.”
By creating these highlighted races, Evergreen is hoping to increase its national profile. And by increasing its purse to nearly a quarter-million dollars — in the past the equivalent six races would have had a combined purse of about $80,000 — the series is hoping to attract drivers from across the country.
“As we’ve grown as a speedway and we’ve traveled to different tracks like Daytona and Charlotte, we’ve found there’s a lot of interest in stock-car racing,” Hobbs explained about the reasoning behind creating the Crown Series. “Evergreen Speedway is now a NASCAR top-10 track. So we wanted to create big feature events. Now drivers from Texas, Daytona, Charlotte will come out to race at Evergreen Speedway. More money and more races will get them to come out west.”
Hobbs said there are 28 cars registered for Saturday’s Mighty 12’s Alliance 100. Among the those scheduled to participate are two renown drivers from eastern Washington, Wenatchee’s Garrett Evans and Yakima’s Tayler Riddle. Also competing are Evergreen defending Super Late Models points champion Naima Lang, as well as former champs Mike Holden, Daniel Moore and John Zaretzke.
Approximately 110 cars will race Saturday among all classes.
Other feature events at Evergreen this year include visits from a pair of national series. Formula Drift, a driving style that emphasizes sliding into turns, takes place Aug. 4-5, while Global Rallycross, a hybrid dirt/asphalt national series that includes jumps, comes on Sept. 9-10 and will be televised by NBC.
2017 Bud Crown Series at Evergreen Speedway
April 1: Mighty 12’s Alliance 100
May 27: Mark Galloway 150
June 24: Central Welding Supply 125
July 22: Summer Showdown 200
Aug 12: K&N West Race
Sept. 16: Championship Night
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