Washington 500 is the biggest event ever held at the track

MONROE It will be a historic weekend for Evergreen Speedway and for Jack Sellers.

Evergreen plays host to the biggest day of racing in its history with Saturday’s Washington 500 and Sellers will turn it into an even bigger celebration.

The Sacramento, Calif., driver celebrated his 62nd birthday Thursday and will compete in his 200th race as part of the NASCAR Grand National Division West Series NAPA Auto Parts 250 on Saturday.

The day of racing begins at 5:15 p.m. with the Speedway Chevrolet 100 for the NASCAR Super Stocks, and will be followed by the Washington Army National Guard 150 for the NASCAR Elite Division Northwest Series before concluding with the NAPA 250.

“It’s hard to believe that I’ve been to that many races,” Sellers said in a press release. “That’s over a third of my life I’ve spent with NASCAR. I didn’t start until I was 40. I started where most people were quitting.”

Sellers knows Evergreen well, having started 17 West Series events there, more than any of the active drivers on the tour. His best finish on the big .646-mile oval was ninth in 1991, one of his 31 top-10 finishes since he started racing in the series in 1985.

Racing for 250 laps shouldn’t be an issue for Sellers either. He competed in Evergreen’s annual 500-lap races from 1985 to 1993.

“It was a three-day event,” Sellers said. “I remember we would bring all the tires we could bring. They just changed tires left and right. It seems like the sun rose on us and set on us and we were still racing.”

Sellers is third on the overall career list for most races started since 1970 in the series. Bill Schmitt had 237 starts and Hershel McGriff had 236.

Harding looking for a double: Defending Evergreen Super Stocks champion Shane Harding, now a rookie on the Elite Division Northwest Series tour, is hoping for a pair of wins Saturday. Harding, a Langley, B.C. native, will be one of a select few drivers who will compete in more than one of the races.

Harding nearly pulled off the double earlier this month, when the Elite Division returned to Evergreen. He won the Super Stock race for the fifth time this season, but managed just a season-best fourth in the Elite Division race.

Harding said he doesn’t believe splitting time between two cars is a disadvantage because the cars are so similar.

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Harding said in a press release. “I get in one car and focus on it and then get in the other one and put my focus there. With the cars being the same, we can make the changes we want to both.”

Harding is in seventh place in the Elite Division rookie of the year race, but just 13 points behind leader Shane Mitchell. In the overall points race, Harding is in 19th, 54 points out of the Top 10, which would put him in October’s NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.

Hamlin a no-show: The biggest name expected to compete this weekend has withdrawn. Snohomish’s Kevin Hamlin had planned to return to Evergreen Saturday but will instead be driving in a NASCAR Busch Series race at Gateway in Saint Louis.

Hamlin got the ride when Tracy Hines resigned as part-time driver for FitzBradshaw Racing. Hamlin, a Chip Ganassi Racing/Felix Sabates development driver, will take over the No. 12 car.

Hamlin started his career racing Super Stocks as a 16-year-old before moving up to the Northwest Series, winning two championships before moving to North Carolina, where he was signed by Ganassi.

Predicting the future: In four of the past six years, the winner of the Grand National West race at Monroe has gone on to win the series championship. NASCAR Craftsman Truck driver Brendan Gaughan won in 2000 and 2001, Eric Norris won in 2002 and Mike Duncan won last year for his second consecutive series championship.

Anticipated debut: Juan Pablo Montoya isn’t the only Brazilian moving from open wheel racing to NASCAR. Giuliano Losacco, a two-time stock car champion in Brazil, will make his NASCAR debut Saturday at Monroe in the No. 07 Chevrolet for Bill McAnally Racing. Losacco’s career has gone from go-karts to Formula Ford, Formula Uno, Formula Chevrolet, Formula Renault Europe and Formula 3/South America.

Jefferson back in West Series: Naches driver Jeff Jefferson will run in the West Series for the first time since July of 2004 when he handles the No. 61 Thompson Motorsports car. Jefferson is a three-time Northwest Series champion. The last time he was in a West Series race, he finished second at Monroe, and in six starts at Evergreen, he has four top-10 finishes.

Duncan hopes for repeat: Duncan hopes to become the first driver since Gaughan to be a repeat winner at Monroe. He has a good shot. Duncan has had podium finishes four-straight years at Monroe, including second in 2003 and third in 2002 and ‘04.

Four is the magic number: When Duncan won last year, it was the first time a West series race was won from the pole at Monroe since 1987. Five of the past 10 were won by the driver who started fourth. Only nine of 38 winners at Evergreen have won from the pole since 1971.

Past champs represented: Eight of the previous 20 winners at Evergreen in the Northwest Series are expected to race this weekend, led by Bothell’s Gary Lewis, who leads the series’ points standings. Lewis has won seven of his last 21 races at Evergreen. Also expected to compete are Garrett Evans, who has 13 wins at Evergreen but none since 1996, Ron Eaton, Pete Harding, Snohomish’s John Bender, John Dillon, Jefferson and Brandon Riehl.

Points leaders: Mike David of Modesto, Calif. is the current West Division points leader, but leads Eric Holmes, of Escalon, California, by just one point. Rookie Peyton Sellers is 20 points back, followed by Steve Portenga (59 out) and Duncan (74 back).

Lewis leads the Northwest Series by 47 points over Ellensburg’s Travis Bennett. Lewis has three wins in six starts this season, but has just one win in his last 10 starts at Evergreen.

Though he’s still looking for his first career win, Monroe’s Doug Davidson continues to lead the Super Stocks points race, holding an eight-point advantage over Rob Touchette. Harding is 28 points back in third.