First iRacing.com ASA NWLMT Season a Success
![19-year old Joey Tanner, who competed in his first full season of asphalt late model racing after many seasons of dirt action, picked up the 2009 ASA Northwest Late Model Tour Rookie of the Year award. (Photo courtesy of M.E. Wright) (The Spokesman-Review)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/_GkRQRasizJKSLgKm3sI6hFZZEM=/810x0/media.spokesman.com/photos/2009/09/25/tannerroy.jpg)
Rookie of the Year, Joey Tanner, who is only 19-years old, made the transition to asphalt racing from the dirt where he had success.
Courtesy: ASA Northwest Late Model Tour Media Relations
Marysville, WA–The
2009 iRacinng.com American Speed Association Northwest Late Model Tour
season has ended with Gary Lewis (Snohomish, WA) edging out Brent
Harris (E. Wenatchee, WA) for the championship. The coveted Port City
Racecars ‘Rookie Challenge’ goes to Joey Tanner (Portland, OR). The
super late model stock car traveling series did what it set out to do.
Have as many cars run with the traveling core group wherever the series
appeared at in 2009. It was evident that goal was reached with 72
drivers taking points during the season.
Lewis won the championship by 9-points. He
had to win the finale at Yakima Speedway to do it. Lewis now adds to
his many titles. The ASA NWLMT title will be added to his NASCAR and
ARCA West titles. No other driver in the Northwest has ever
accomplished what Lewis has in the past 6 years. Besides the three
major sanctioning bodies titles he has won three back to back to back
Montana and Idaho 200’s in the last three seasons.
Rookie Tanner who is only 19-years old made
the transition to asphalt racing from the dirt where he had success.
Competing in his first season with a major touring division had its
hurdles for the youngster. It took a hard fought 11th place finish at
the season’s final race to win the $3000.00 new Port City Racecars
chassis, courtesy of Chuck Carruthers Industries, by 2-points.
The new series in 2009 after the melding of
the former Late Model Challenge Series and the Northwest Tour brought
the best super late model stock car racers together providing the
tracks and fans with the best racing entertainment. The series was
innovative this first season to liven up the entertainment by
instituting the commit cone restarts and the free pass.
The series had a women driver (Amanda
MacDonald - Ephrata, WA) compete for rookie honors and the championship
for the first in the history of the two former touring series.
The touring division held point’s events in
Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington State during the busy 2009
season. The series originally scheduled 10-races but a washout of the
opener in March forced the officials to cut back to 9 events.
ASA NWLMT management is already in the
process of working on the entire package for 2010 from scheduling,
rules, sponsorships and more innovative enhancements to the program.
Series management wants to thank everyone
involved in the great beginning of a new era in super late model racing
in the Northwest. Thank you to the teams that traveled to the far
reaches of the Northwest and supported the series by being at every
race. The officials that had to make adjustments at each track to
accommodate all the racers that wanted to be a part of the inaugural
season. Big thanks go to the tracks and their respective promoters for
believing that the series was viable and worth the gamble.
Jerry and Brenda Losch and Scott Ellsworth
managers/owners of the iRacing.com ASA Northwest Late Model Tour wish
everyone well during the off season.
Top 20 in 2009 Points (72 drivers received points):
Pos / Car# / Name / Pts / Hometown
1 73 Gary Lewis 1179 Snohomish, WA
2 0 Brent Harris 1170 E. Wenatchee, WA
3 9m Kelly Mann 1081 Monroe, WA
4 36* Joey Tanner 1019 Portland, OR
5 91* Alan Cress 980 Albany, OR
6 20s Brad Stanwood 956 Portland, OR
7 20 Jay Sauls 954 Puyallup, WA
8 76* Amanda MacDonald 948 Ephrata, WA
9 37 Mike Longton 800 Moxee, WA
10 7 Mark Sundberg 716 Seattle, WA
11 21 Jared Vorse 618 Olympia, WA
12 51 Erick Hargraves 521 Toppenish, WA
13 39 Pete Harding 516 Surrey, B.C.
14 86 Harold Raczynski 491 Duvall, WA
15 15 Don Vickery 482 Seattle, WA
16 9r Dan Rhodes 415 Yelm, WA
17 3 Shelby Thompson 398 Spokane, WA
18 64 Garrett Evans 358 E. Wenatchee, WA
19 9 Josh Roberts 306 Ephrata, WA
20 10 Owen Riddle 304 Naches, WA
*Denotes Port City Racecars ‘Rookie Challenge’ Competitor
Final Standing for Port City Racecars
‘Rookie Challenge’ winner receives a $3000.00 Chassis from Port City
and Chuck Carruthers Industries:
Pos / Car# / Name / Pts / Hometown
1 36 Joey Tanner 284 Portland, OR
2 91 Alan Cress 282 Albany, OR
3 76 Amanda MacDonald 274 Ephrata, WA