http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003151316&slug=riley26n&date=20060726

Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 12:00 AM

By Jim Riley
Special to The Seattle Times

The longest day of NASCAR racing ever in the Pacific Northwest will take place Saturday at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe.

Track manager Terry Buell is expecting at least 70 cars and more than 5,000 spectators for a three-race program billed as the Washington 500.

Racing will get under way when the track's superstock division goes 100 laps in its weekly competition beginning at 5:15 p.m.

The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division's Northwest Series will follow with the Washington National Guard 150 at 6:30.

Then it'll be on to the Grand National West Series and the Napa Auto Parts 250, scheduled to start at 8:15.

NASCAR has announced that this will be the final season for the AutoZone Elite touring division, which has been popular in the Northwest but less successful elsewhere. Buell said this was a way to give the series a big send-off.

"We've hosted more Elite races than anyone else in the Northwest, so we wanted to put on the biggest single NASCAR racing day we've ever had," Buell said. "We've had 500-lap races before but never in three separate divisions like this. It should be heaven for the NASCAR fan."

The logistics of running three races in a short time span is daunting, with three sets of officials, three pits, three flagmen and three sets of rules.

"We've got it all penciled out, and there's no reason it shouldn't work," Buell said. "This may have happened at other tracks, but it's historic for us."

All three races will be run on the track's five-eighths-mile outer oval.

Jason Jefferson of Yakima had hoped to compete in all three races but will be limited to two because he couldn't secure a deal for a Grand National car.

"Monroe is one of my favorite tracks because it has so much history," Jefferson said. "It would have been fun to see if I could have run 500 laps."

Evergreen has hosted 48 Grand National races since 1964, with Ray Elder claiming the most victories — five, the last in 1975.

Competitors Saturday are scheduled to include Mike David of Modesto, Calif., who won a Grand National race at Evergreen last year. For four straight years, he's finished in the top three.

Also due to race is Austin Cameron, a former champion at Evergreen. He won last week's race in Irwindale, Calif.

The race will mark a milestone for veteran driver Jack Sellers of Sacramento, Calif. Sellers, who will turn 62 this week, is scheduled to compete in his 200th Grand National race in a career that has spanned 22 seasons.

Sellers has raced at Evergreen Speedway 17 times, more than any active driver in the series. His best finish was ninth in 1991.

Giuliano Losacco, a two-time stock-car champion in Brazil, is slated to make his NASCAR debut in the race.

Three-time series champion Jeff Jefferson of Yakima also will return to the division. He has three top-five finishes in six starts at Evergreen.

In the AutoZone Elite touring division, Gary Lewis of Bothell is running away with the points race, and he will return home to one of his favorite tracks.

Lewis, who raced seven years at Evergreen before moving up to the touring division, led for 121 laps in Yakima on Saturday en route to winning for the third time this season and the 31st time in his career. He is 47 points ahead of Ellensburg's Travis Bennett, who also is coming to Monroe.

Brandon Riehl, who won at Evergreen Speedway on July 15, was third in Yakima and is third in the points race, 129 points behind Lewis. Riehl is due to compete Saturday.

In the weekly superstock competition, Doug Davidson leads the points race, but on Saturday, he'll still be looking for the first win of his career.

Shane Harding has won five times, but he skipped one race because of a scheduling conflict and is third in superstock points. He is to run Saturday in the superstock competition and the Elite race.

Jim Riley