http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002903382&slug=nwautos01&date=20060401

MONROE — In a sport where slowing down means getting passed, Shane Harding is standing on the accelerator.

After winning his first Evergreen Speedway track championship last year, Harding will move up to the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Northwest Series tour this season.

Harding and a top field are scheduled to open their 22nd season today in the Speedway Chevrolet 125 at Evergreen with the usual weather-permitting qualification.

The opener in Monroe has been rained out two years in a row, and the forecast calls for clouds with a shower or two.

That won't deter Harding from making the trip from his home in Langley, B.C., in hopes of trying his luck with a car he and his all-volunteer crew built over the winter.

"We also rebuilt my late model, and it's as hard as we've ever worked in the offseason," Harding said. "I kind of feel like a rookie in against so many great drivers."

While Harding, 30, has driven in only two elite races in his career, he knows what it takes to win. He was the crew chief for his father, Pete Harding, in 1999 when the two won the tour championship.

This year the father-son duo will work together in the shop and race against each other on the track.

"It will be fun racing against my dad," Harding said. "I'm sure I'll be borrowing his setups before the race, but once it starts it's like going up against one of your buddies. You want to beat them even a little bit more than everyone else."

Pete Harding and John Bender of Snohomish both won elite races at Evergreen last season, and both are entered this year.

Bender, also a former Evergreen track champion, is one of the prerace favorites, along with Gary Lewis of Bothell, Wilbur Bruce of Lakewood and Garrett Evans of Wenatchee.

The elite series, which also has races scheduled in Wenatchee, Yakima, and Twin Falls and Meridian, Idaho, is scheduled to return to Monroe on July 15 and July 29.

Shane Harding also plans to run as many super stock races at Evergreen as he can but doesn't expect to get in enough races to defend his track championship.

This is the final season for the series, also known as the Northwest Tour, in its current format. NASCAR has decided to put more emphasis on the Grand National West series.

Mickey Beadle, the Evergreen Speedway track president, expects the Northwest Tour to continue in some form without being sanctioned by NASCAR.

Three-time defending champion Jeff Jefferson of Yakima will not race in the elite series this season so that he can concentrate on the Grand National West series.

"I like challenges," Jefferson said, "and I'm hungry for a new one."

The rest of the top 10 in the points standings from last season are all entered.

A top field of sprint cars from around the western United States is also scheduled to race tonight beginning at 7 p.m.

Ticket information is available at www.evergreenspeedway.comor by calling 360-805-6100.

Note

• The openers for NASCAR bombers, mini-stocks, stinger eights, hornets, super and extreme contact figure-eights at Evergreen Speedway will be April 8.

Jim Riley Special to The Seattle Times