Herald staff
Talk about your slam dunks.
All Kevin Hamlin has to do at the season-ending NASCAR Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series race Saturday at East Wenatchee to become the circuit’s youngest champion is take the green flag.
That’s it. Start the race and Hamlin, at 22 years, 3 months, becomes the youngest champion in the circuit’s 16-year history.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Hamlin, a Snohomish High School grad. “This is my first championship in a late model-type car. We’re going to enjoy it as much as we can every day.”
It may take some time for Hamlin’s record to be broken. When John Dillon won the title in 1990, he was 27 years, 7 months old. Hamlin also is the youngest driver ever to have won a Northwest Series race, doing so when he won at Roseburg, Ore., at 19 years, 11 months.
Hamlin put himself in this position by finishing fifth at the Frank’s Chevrolet 150 in Yakima last week, a race won by Pete Harding of Surrey, British Columbia. Hamlin leads Auburn’s Joe Benedetti by 111 points, making it impossible for Benedetti to catch Hamlin if Hamlin takes the green flag.
While Hamlin has said that it was more important for him to finish every race once he took the series lead, Hamlin hardly has raced conservatively.
At the Frank’s Chevrolet 150, he and defending series champion Garrett Evans battled for the lead in the early going before Hamlin lost control of his car and crashed.
“We’re out there to race, not out there to be light-footed,” Hamlin said. “It’s not always about the points. I went farming and the car wasn’t the same after that. It’s not always a good deal. You’re spitting rocks out for a few laps.”
Hamlin said he’s out to win Saturday’s race, as well.
“Hopefully, I can do a burnout because we won the race and the championship,” he said. “We’re so jacked up because of this championship, we’ll definitely do something different from the other drivers’ celebrations.”
After that, Hamlin says he plans to compete in two Featherlite Southwest Series races in October.
Elsewhere in the series, John Bender of Arlington leads Troy Conrad of Puyallup by three points in the Rookie of the Year points chase.
Also, Shane Biles of Woodinville, with a win and two top-five finishes in the past three races, moved from 12th to sixth in the points standings.
In addition, Greg Bennett of Monroe finished 11th at Yakima after starting the race in 21st position. He also took a memorial lap in his car, painted in an American flag paint scheme, in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes.
Evergreen Speedway: A demolition derby and fireworks show are among the activities scheduled Saturday at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe. Also on tap are school bus figure eights, a rollover contest, a bump-to-pass race, Northwest legends and hornets.
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