SHANE IN THE NEWS

NASCAR announced in April that it was abandoning the series — officially known as the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Northwest Series — because of the division's dwindling car counts in other parts of the country.

Ever since, drivers and racing teams have been scrambling to find places to race.

Many could end up at South Sound Speedway near Tenino, Thurston County, where they can run their same tour cars and motors in a weekly NASCAR series.

Some could end up at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, in the superstock division. To do that they would have to switch to a crate motor, which will be mandatory in the division next year.

Some could compete in a Late Model Challenge series, but that would involve racing east of the Cascades.

For the very best, it could mean racing on the Grand National West series, a move that would involve a yearly budget of around $500,000 and the sponsors to match.

Gary Lewis of Bothell is looking toward the Grand National West.

Lewis leads Brandon Riehl of Boring, Ore., by 94 points — 1,322 to 1,228 — in the Northwest Tour, and Lewis has won twice at Yakima Speedway, where the tour's penultimate race will be held Sept. 3.

Ideally, Lewis would like to win his second tour championship, attract a big-money sponsor and challenge the Grand National circuit.

"There are some sponsors who are interested, but you never know how interested until it comes time to write the check," Lewis said. "We still don't know what all our options are."

There's also a persistent rumor that a series based in California could expand to include tracks in the Northwest, but an announcement expected weeks ago hasn't materialized.

Lewis said both of his tour motors, which cost about $30,000 each, could be transformed for use on the Grand National circuit.

Lewis, 36, grew up racing at Evergreen Speedway, winning a bomber championship when he was 16. He has 31 Northwest Tour wins, third on the all-time list behind Garrett Evans (50) and Ron Eaton (42).

With the popular series coming to an end, Lewis said feelings of nostalgia haven't hit him yet but surely will when the tour finale takes place Sept. 16 in Wenatchee.

Evergreen track President Mickey Beadle expects as many as half a dozen tour drivers to compete in Monroe next year and said readily available crate motors both reduce the cost of racing and make it more competitive.

"A new crate motor is $6,200, about as much as it would cost to refresh a motor in the tour cars," Beadle said. "The crate motors are cheap, and they have a one-year warranty."

Besides cutting expenses, the standardized racing engines also will help prevent cheating.

This year Evergreen is averaging about 12 cars for each superstock race. Beadle said he hopes to double that next year.

Touchette takes lead in superstock points

Rob Touchette of Lake Stevens picked up his second win of the season Saturday night at Evergreen Speedway to take over the season superstock points lead.

Touchette and defending track champion Shane Harding of Langley, B.C., both got wins in a double main event to tighten the points chase.

Touchette now leads John Burtsche of Bellevue by only two points, 426-424, with three races left. The champion will be crowned Sept. 16.

Doug Davidson finished 10th and 13th to fall out of the lead and is in third place with 420 points.

Touchette now has two wins this season. Burtsche and Davidson are both still looking for their first checkered flags this season.

Jim Riley

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