Novice racer takes Powder Puff heat race
Courtesy photo - Stacey Bretches in the No. 56 truck jockey’s for position in Heat Race No. 2 Friday night, June 9 at the Lind Combine Derby.
LIND — Talk about your oh my gosh moment — On Friday evening, June 9, Ephrata’s Stacey Betches captured the top spot in Heat Race No. 2 of the Power Puff pick-up event at the 30th annual Lind Combine Derby.
Now that, to some, might not seem like such a big deal, but it was as Stacey had never entered a motor vehicle racing competition in her life. In fact, this race wasn’t a scheduled event.
“That weekend was actually not planned at all,” Stacey said. “Our family went (to Lind) as we do each year for my brother in laws birthday. We know Win (the owner of the truck) — he is a family friend. I was joking around with him and asked if I could drive his truck. I have never been in any race or done anything like that before.”
Turns out she was a real natural at it.
“Sitting in the truck I was extremely nervous – had a death grip on the steering wheel,” Stacey said. “I wasn’t able to do a preliminary race so I didn’t get the feel for it.”
Later in the evening following the race, the truck was having carburetor problems. On Saturday Stacey was scheduled to race again, but that morning the truck crapped out and she wasn’t able to get back on the track. “At least I got to try it once — it was a lot of fun!”
Stacey isn’t a complete stranger to racing, however, as her husband Rick is a local street stock racer. “He drives the No. 12 car… people know him as the Seahawks Car. “
Stacey and Rick have two children. Their son enlisted into the Marines and will soon be headed to boot camp. The couple own a business in Moses Lake and a coffee stand in Spokane. The trek to Lind was meant to give them a little downtime. “We are a busy family, so Lind was a great relaxing weekend, but became exciting too.”
When asked if she’d return next year to defend her crown, Stacey replied, “I would love to come back and do it again. I’ll have to contact Win and see what he says… but ya ever know… maybe next year I’ll even bring my own rig.”
As for a tip to other women who may want to get involved in an event like the Powder Puff competition Stacey offers this piece of advice; “Do it …have fun… check it off your bucket list.”