http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/07/30/100spo_c2an001.cfm

Published: Sunday, July 30, 2006

Harding wins final Northwest Tour race at Evergreen Speedway
Pete Harding takes Washington Army National Guard 150 as tour makes its last stop in Monroe

By Mike Allende
Herald Writer

MONROE - Though Pete Harding has raced stock cars for 38 years, it's fair to say that the past two have produced some of his best memories.

A year ago at Evergreen Speedway, Harding won a NASCAR Elite Divison Northwest Series race on the same night his son Shane won a NASCAR Super Stocks event. That had been the last time Pete Harding won a race.

Until Saturday.

Taking a big gamble that paid off, Harding kept his car on the track for the entire 150 laps on the big 5/8-oval and roared to his 18th victory in 19 years on the Elite Division Northwest Tour in the Washington Army National Guard 150.

The race was part of Evergreen's biggest night of racing ever, dubbed the Washington 500.

The victory was all the more special for the 55-year-old Harding because it was the 59th and final visit the Northwest Tour will make at Evergreen Speedway. NASCAR is folding its Elite Division series at the end of the season.

"It's really special," said Harding, a native of Langley, B.C., who started the race 17th. "I'm at the end of my career. To win here in front of so many of my friends and family ... It's a wonderful night."

Of course, Harding has been saying his career is almost over for years, and Shane said he'll believe it when he sees it.

"He's the most awesome race car driver I know," Shane Harding said. "I'm really proud of him. He says he'll quit when he can't win anymore, but that's never going to happen."

One thing does seem clear, though. Harding will not win another Elite Division race, and he said that could play into his future plans, though he admits that the win Saturday probably will keep him on the track a bit longer.

"It gives me a year extension," Harding said. "But with the NASCAR Elite Division going away, I'll think about it over the winter ... .It's been such a part of my life and my family."

The race to the finish turned into a battle between several drivers who gambled they could make it to the end of the race without pitting for fuel.

Snohomish's Jason Fraser, a rookie on the Elite tour who finished second to Shane Harding in the Super Stocks points race last season, took the lead from Auburn's Jeff Barkshire on lap 123 and two laps later, Pete Harding passed Barkshire to take over second. The duo held those positions for 18 more laps, with the crowd eagerly watching to see if the cars could hold out.

Unfortunately for Fraser, the gamble did not pay off. Fraser had to pit with eight laps to go and Harding pulled into the lead and barely held on.

"I planned to go the distance, I had no questions about stopping," Harding said. With two to go, I thought, "Oh no, it's going to run out." I was right at the bottom of the tank."

Barkshire, fourth in the points standings, finished second, followed by Brandon Riehl, third in the points standings.

Harding said he couldn't pick which of his most recent wins was the most special.

"That was a special evening with my son," he said of last year's win. "This one, because it's the last one here, it's very special. I'll remember this evening."

The day's opening event, the Speedway Chevrolet 100, featuring the Evergreen Speedway Super Stocks, nearly was a coming out party for Lynnwood's Naima Lang. The former Bombers champion came within a few laps of claiming his first Super Stocks win, but instead saw Monroe's Kelly Mann get his second career victory on the large oval.

Lang, who started 12th, took the lead on lap 22 from Mountlake Terrace's Rick Hager, who led 16 laps before falling back, and held it, barely, until lap 94.

Lang survived a couple restarts but Mann, who started 13th, continued to ride his bumper, nearly passing him a couple times before inching ahead at the starting line and then opening things up over the last six laps.

"I'm usually good on the big tracks," said Mann, who has spent most of the season racing in Tenino and Yakima and has only raced one other time at Evergreen this year. "In practice I felt real good."

Mann said the first couple times he tried to pass Lang, a yellow flag kept him in second. "It seemed like he was a little faster on the restart," Mann said.

For Lang, the second-place finish was disappointing, in particular because he looked so dominant for much of the middle part of the race. Lang entered the night in fifth place in the Super Stocks points race, 56 points behind leader Doug Davidson of Monroe, who finished fourth.

"It's frustrating to lead so many laps and lose like that," Lang said. "It's hard to take."

The story of qualifying was a big last-second transaction. Lake Stevens' Rob Touchette, second in the points standings to Davidson, saw his car fall apart Friday night. Facing a no-start and a huge hit in the points race, Touchette approached former track champion John Zaretzke, who had qualified his number 51 car. Touchette asked Zaretzke if the car was for sale, and Zaretzke said, for the right price.

That price? A cool $32,500. Touchette promptly wrote a check for the price and got his ride, though he started from the back of the pack and never challenged, at one point finding himself seven laps down.

Mike Allende