Easley wins stock race in Ephrata

EPHRATA — A large band of outlaws descended upon the peaceful little town of Ephrata on Saturday for a showdown.

Fortunately for local law enforcement, all the action was confined to Ephrata Raceway Park's high-banked, quarter-mile asphalt. Mike Easley of Olympia was the first Northwest Outlaw Street Stock driver to dash across the finish line in the feature event of the night. Evan Zema gave the broom to his competitors with a sweep in the Plummer/Janke State Farm Agents youth hornets. Charles Larr returned to the driver's seat for the first time this year to earn top honors in the Columbia Glass mini stocks. Stuart Barger earned his second consecutive victory in the Jerry's Auto Supply hobby stocks.

The Northwest Outlaw Street Stocks brought a large group of drivers from all over Washington state to Ephrata Raceway Park for the third event of the outlaw's 2007 schedule. Michael Press held the pole position and paced the 22-car field to the green flag to start the 75-lap feature event.

Press was leading when the first caution of the night waved on lap four, after Kevin Carver and Amanda MacDonald made contact with each other. MacDonald faired worse than Carver, spinning as she emerged from turn two.

After the restart, Press led the nose-to-tail pack around the low groove. But Easley ventured to the high side and was able to gain positions steadily. While Easley was the only car on the high side, the cars running from first to 10th looked like rail cars joined together with Press playing the part of the locomotive.

Once Easley moved into the fifth spot, an aggressive battle ensued between the Olympia driver and Gary Flammang of Everett. After a few tense laps, Easley was able to complete the pass to take the fourth spot from Flammang. By lap 20, Easley had moved into second place.

The yellow safety light signaled another caution on lap 25 after a spin in turn 3. The caution period bunched up the field, which was spread around the track. Press' rear-view mirror was filled with Easley's black Camero as the field resumed racing.

Press held Easley at bay for the next 15 laps. When Press, Easley, and Bryan Bykerk encountered lapped traffic, Press got stuck behind a slower car and Easley was able to sneak by for the lead on lap 40.

Press hounded Easley for the next 35 laps, but couldn't retake the lead. Easley took the checkers with Press on his tail to take the second spot. Carver came in third. Fourth and fifth went to Mark Gernlein of Rochester and Aaron Nevers of Spokane.

Evan Zema had a night to remember as he swept the field in the Plummer/Janke State Farm Agents youth hornets. The main event saw Soap Lake's Kelly Olsick lead until he was taken out of contention by contact with Dallas White. Zema zoomed into the lead in short order and began pulling away.

Zema's dominating performance almost came to a premature end when he was tapped in the right rear quarter panel while passing under a slower car. Zema's car fishtailed and looked as if it was destined to kiss the front-stretch wall. But Zema held the gas pedal to the floor forcing the front-wheel drive to pull him straight to turn one and earning him a lot of cheers from the Ephrata crowd.

Zema went unchallenged to walk away with the victory. White crossed the line to take the second spot, while Ana-Lisa Garcia held on to take third. Olsick managed to salvage a fourth-place finish after the melee earlier in the event. Fifth place went to Stephen Lodi.

After winning the 2006 Columbia Glass mini stock championship, Charles Larr decided to hang up his helmet to pursue other ventures. But the roar of the engines and the smell of hot rubber was more than Larr could resist.

The 20-lap mini stock main event roared to life with Ephrata's Chad Moore leading the group to the starting line. Moore held the lead for 14 laps. With six laps remaining, Larr got around Moore after starting from the last row. Just after losing the lead, Moore spun in turn two to bring out the caution flag.

The restart saw Larr pull out in front slightly while Nick Gardner, David Mackin, and Fred E. Moore ran nose to tail fighting for the No. 2 spot. Meanwhile Rod Whited and Joseph Smith contested for the fifth position.

Larr crossed the finish line unchallenged. However, Gardner and Mackin were engaged in a great battle for the second spot. Coming out of turn 4 and heading for the checkers, Gardner went high and Mackin dove low. The pair crossed the stripe with Gardner just edging out Mackin for the second spot. Fourth and fifth place went to Fred E. Moore and Whited.

Josh MacKensie led the first lap of the Jerry's Auto Supply hobby stocks. However, Billy Smith was able to scoot by MacKensie to take over as race leader on lap two. While Smith was busy stretching out a healthy lead, Stuart Barger, who started in the last position, had patiently maneuvered his stock car into second place. It took five laps for Barger to erase Smith's advantage.

With three laps to go in the 20-lap main event, Barger was able to pull alongside of Smith while speeding down the backstretch. The pair was even going into turn three, but Barger won the battle coming out of turn four. Barger led the remaining laps to earn his second consecutive win of the season. Smith had to settle for second, while MacKensie took third. Kevin Hill crossed the line in fourth and Patrick Canady rounded out the top five.

Northwest Outlaw

Street Stocks

B Dash: 1. Daniel Mears.

A Dash: 1. Mike Wallace.

B Heat: 1. Bill Rutherford, 2. Michael Press, 3. Bryan Bykerk, 4. Mike Wallace.

A Heat: 1. Josh Wilson, 2. Amanda MacDonald, 3. JR Miner, 4. Gary Flammang.

B Main (top four transfer to A Main): 1. Gary Homad, 2. Brian Cottrell, 3. Terri MCart, 4. Duane Chapman, 5. Daniel Mears, 6. Greg Peterson, 7. #44J, 8. #26, 9. #22, 10. Michael Knutson, 11. Mike Wall, 12. #24.

Main Event: 1. Mike Easley, 2. Michael Press, 3. Kevin Carver, 4. Mark Gemlein, 5. Aaron Nevers, 6. Dustin Kagle, 7. Bob Greiner, 8. Brian Cottrell, 9. Carl Davidson, 10. JR Miner, 11. Bryan Bykerk, 12. Terri McCart, 13. Amanda MacDonald, 14. Bill Rutherford, 15. Daniel Mears, 16. Michael Knutson, 17. Ron Stewart, 18. Mike Wallace, 19. Gary Flammang, 20. Gary Homad, 21. Josh Wilson, 22. Duane Chapman.

Jerry's Auto Supply

Hobby Stocks

Fast Time: Stuart Barger, 16.25 seconds.

Dash: 1. Billy Smith.

Heat: 1. Stuart Barger, 2. Kevin Hill, 3. Billy Smith, 4. Patrick Canady.

Main Event: 1. Stuart Barger, 2. Billy Smith, 3. Josh MacKensie, 4. Kevin Hill, 5. Patrick Canady, 6. Dustin Kapalo.

Columbia Glass Mini Stocks

Fast Time: David Mackin, 16.68 seconds.

B Dash: 1. Joseph Smith.

A Dash: 1. Fred E. Moore.

B Heat: 1. Rod Whited, 2. Glen Hector, 3. Dustin Kapalo, 4. Chris McCart.

A Heat: 1. Joseph Smith, 2. Nick Gardner, 3. Charles Larr, 4. David Mackin.

Main Event: 1. Charles Larr, 2. Nick Gardner, 3. David Mackin, 4. Fred E. Moore, 5. Rod Whited, 6. Dustin Kapalo, 7. Glen Hector, 8. Chris McCart, 9. Joseph Smith, 10. Chad Moore.

Plummer-Janke State Farm Agents Youth Hornets

Dash 1: 1. Kelly Olsick.

Dash 2: 1. Evan Zema.

Heat 1: 1. Kelly Olsick, 2. Dylan Adamson, 3. Michael Olsick, 4. Justin Dunagan.

Heat 2: 1. Evan Zema, 2. Ana-Lisa Garcia, 3. Dallas White, 4. Damon Claibourn.

Main Event: 1. Evan Zema, 2. Dallas White, 3. Ana-Lisa Garcia, 4. Kelly Olsick, 5. Stephen Lodi, 6. Damon Claibourn, 7. Justin Dunagan, 8. Dylan Adamson, 9. Michael Olsick, 10. Derek Thompson.