Jason Kooy used the big stage of the NASCAR K&N West weekend to grab his first win during the Michael’s Toyota 100 at Evergreen Speedway.
20 Super Late Models were on hand to compete in front of the large crowd that gathered on NASCAR K&N West weekend, setting what would be a rather large stage for the local Whelen All-American Series weekly racers. The six car invert would place Blake Williams on the pole with Garrett Archer joining him on the front row. Row two would be made up of current Evergreen Speedway points leader and defending State champion Mike Holden joined by recent Miller 200 winner Parker Stephens to his outside. 3-time state champion Gary Lewis would grid up inside of fast qualifier Pete Harding in row three.
The green flag would see Archer storm from the outside lane to promptly take the lead over Stephens who had followed Archer to the front, shuffling Williams to 3rd as the rest of the field would take a few laps to get sorted out behind them. Archer would only hold the lead for a short time as Williams flexed his muscles overtaking Stephens on lap 8, then taking over the point on lap 10. The running order now stood as Williams leading over Archer, Stephens in 3rd with Lewis giving chase in 4th while Holden held down 5th. This running order would stay virtually unchanged through lap 30 as Kooy made a steady march to the front from his 9th starting position, moving into 6th on lap 33.
Archer continued a slow backwards movement to match the forward progress Kooy was making, trading the 5th spot with the 26 on lap 47, marking Kooy’s first appearance in the top 5 on this night. Blake Williams continued his impressive drive up front, often times gapping the field by as much as a full straightaway. At the lap 50 mark the running order stood as Williams over Stephens in 2nd, with Harding holding down 3rd in front of Lewis in 4th, while Kooy stood tall in the 5th spot.
Kooy would relinquish the 4th position from Lewis on lap 56. But Lewis would not go so quietly, grabbing the spot back a few laps later, only to see Kooy take it back after just one circuit of the big 5/8ths mile oval. Lap 68 would see a red flag for a massive wreck in turn 3 as Tyler Baker would become the victim of a 3-wide maneuver from the 5 car as Archer tried to make his way through some lapped traffic that saw the 30 car swap ends before backing into the retaining wall.
Back under green Williams got a huge start, leaping out front of Harding who followed him past the 4 of Stephens. Just one lap later Kooy would move the 4 back another spot to 4th as he continued his march to infamy. The lap 70 mark saw Shelby Thompson make his first appearance in the top-5 during this race, as the running order would see Williams out front of Harding, while Kooy charged in the 3rd position. Stephens would run 4th with Thompson rounding out the top 5.
Just a few laps later Thompson would make a bid for 4th, moving Stephens back to 5th as the 4 car continued a slow slide down the running order. Things would stay status quo until the lap 85 mark when Kooy grabbed the 2nd spot from Harding, showing that he meant business on this night. With the crowd on their feet, cheering Jason Kooy on, he would snag the top spot from Williams just a handful of laps later, taking the lead on lap 88 as Thompson followed him around Williams.
The last 10 laps saw a flurry of activity behind the leaders, as Kooy proceeded to drive away from the field. The 89 of Wanat had already hit pit row with problems, ending his day early. Andy Sole would bring his 20 car to pit row, out of fuel with just 5 laps left to run. A few other cars would pit, thinking they had a flat tire, shuffling the running order dramatically. Parker Stephens would rally from his 5th spot, stopping the slide there and driving back to the front, taking 4th from Harding on lap 91 and then 3rd from Williams on lap 97. Kooy easily drove to the checkered flag in his first ever Super Late Model victory at Evergreen Speedway, then showed his excitement in a massive burnout in front of the “Turn 1 Club” to the cheers of thousands.
Final Running Order:
1. Jason Kooy
2. Shelby Thompson
3. Parker Stephens
4. Blake Williams
5. Pete Harding
6. Luke Selliken
7. Gary Lewis
8. Naima Lang
9. Garrett Archer
10. Brandon Sheiber
11. Mike Holden
12. John Lathrop Jr.
13. Molly Helmuth
14. John Urquhart
15. Jeremiah Johnson
16. Scott LaCross
17. Andy Sole
18. Brion Philley
19. Doni Wanat
20. Tyler Baker
Editor’s Note:
“Terrible” Tim McDougald is the driver of the #68 HayWire Racing / Mo-Dane Trucking / Clevenger Associates / Rev-Equip / Ringers Gloves Toyota Camry in the Whelen All-American Late Model series at Evergreen Speedway. When Tim is not driving the car, he helps the 3-car family owned team on the pit crew. Tim also handles the spotter duties for his brother, Tommy Rasmussen’s, #92 Mo-Dane Trucking / RPM Sales & Service / Vital Signs / Mauritsen Enterprises Chevy Impala racing in the Pacific Northwest. Tim is the HayWire Racing team’s web site editor and Media Relations Director handling all team pr, media obligations and sponsor relations. Tim is an avid blogger, active Twitter (@TerribleTim68) and Facebook user and a published author. For more information about the team, visit http://www.haywire-racing.com. For inquiries regarding marketing coaching and sponsor package help, contact Tim through the HayWire Racing website.
