Zaretzke will run the ‘Gauntlet’ at Evergreen

By John Sleeper

Herald Writer

Never say that the Evergreen Speedway honchos aren’t willing to try absolutely anything.

From the outfit that brought us three-car chain races, school-bus figure eights and boat races comes something completely different.

The latest: Track manager Mickey Beadle and race supervising consultant George Wade talked super stocks driver John Zaretzke into what’s called a “Gauntlet,” never before run at Evergreen.

“It’s good guys versus bad guys,” Wade said, “right out of the movies.”

Racing on the figure-eight track, Zaretzke will drive a mini-bus while chased by four figure-eight drivers. The figure-eight drivers will try to prevent Zaretzke from completing 10 laps by trying to force him to wreck his bus.

That’s right, wreck his bus.

While Zaretzke tries to get away, he will have two of his fellow super stocks drivers in the bus with him, throwing eggs, lettuce, tomatoes and other consumables at the figure-eight drivers.

The idea came from a similar escapade by Chuck Deery, longtime promoter at Rockford (Ill.) Speedway.

“One thing that Chuck said was to make sure that these guys don’t have windshield wipers,” Beadle said. “It’s become very popular over there. In fact, he said it’s become very close to being a stand-alone event. We thought that if they like it in the Chicago area, they’ll probably like it here.”

Zaretzke’s henchmen and food-tossers will be three-time champion Tom Moriarity and Matt Murphy. Two of the chasers will be Gordy Severson and Malcom (The Maniac) Lindberg.

On a more conventional scale, the super stocks, bombers, extreme-contact figure eights and women’s figure eights will compete.

Qualifying and heat races are set for 5 p.m. Saturday. Trophy dashes, main events and other mayhem are scheduled for 7 p.m.

Northwest Series: Seems the Northwest Series is getting some mileage out of Kevin Hamlin’s bump of Gary Lewis in the season opener March 30 at Evergreen Speedway.

Hamlin and Lewis will hook up in a 10-lap match race before the Pepsi 125 Saturday at South Sound Speedway in Tenino.

Lewis and Hamlin will race Northwest Legend cars, scaled-down versions of 1930s and 1940s American sedans. Lewis will have a chance to avenge Hamlin’s late-race bump at Evergreen that gave him the lead and later the win.

“If I get the approval to do a little bumping, we’ll have some fun,” Lewis said. “It’s not my car, so I don’t want to bend it up. I really have no idea how this will turn out.”

Bill Bailey, promoter of Northwest Legends and organizer of the event, said the two are naturals for the race.

“The main focus of this race is that I thought Gary got passed by Kevin the wrong way,” Bailey said. “I wanted to give him a chance to have some fun in a Legends car against Kevin and show him how it’s done.”

For the record, Lewis held no ill will toward Hamlin after the race.

Hamlin will be racing a car usually driven by Legends driver Jason Dickoff of Kent, while Lewis will pilot a car usually raced by Larry Best of Lake Stevens.

Hamlin, the defending series champion, holds a 10-point lead over Jeff Jefferson of Naches in the points race.

McGriff retires: Hershel McGriff went out on his own terms and in his own way: without pomp and circumstance.

McGriff, 74, decided to end a career that spanned seven decades during the recent NASCAR Winston West Series event at California Speedway. During the race, he pulled into the pits, climbed out of his car and called it quits.

“I just retired,” said McGriff, named one of the 50 greatest drivers in NASCAR. “If I cannot keep up, be near the front, have fun and be comfortable – which is how it has been – then I think the time has come.”

When McGriff was 9, growing up in Sioux Falls, S.D., he puttered around on a motor scooter and drove farm machinery while working summer jobs before he was a teen-ager. He first raced at 17, after the family moved to Portland, Ore. He borrowed his father’s 1940 Hudson to compete at Portland Speedway in September 1945.

That started a career that included a win in the 1950 Pan American road race in Mexico. That same year, he was invited to race in the first Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. He drove his car from Portland to Darlington, finished ninth in the race, then drove it back home.

Over the years, McGriff won a record 14 races on the road course at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. He drove a Winston Cup car in the 24 Hours of LeMans. He raced in Australia and Japan.

McGriff has the distinction of racing against three generations of Pettys – Lee, Richard and Kyle. McGriff’s 236 Winston West starts are one short of the record.

From 1981 to 1992, McGriff was voted Most Popular Driver in the Winston West series.

“He was quite a race-car driver through the years and even more importantly, a great ambassador for the sport,” NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. said. “Although he’s retiring, we hope he continues as an ambassador for our sport.”