WENATCHEE, WA (April 22) \u2013 After months of anticipation, drivers and fans of the Pacific Northwest are just days away from the return of organized stock car racing to the region with this weekend\u2019s Apple Blossom 200. The season opener for Wenatchee Valley\u2019s Super Oval (WVSO) will also double as the inaugural event for the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Northwest Triple Crown. <\/p>\n
PASS is largely regarded as the premier sanctioning body for short track asphalt racing in the North America. The Apple Blossom 200 has traditionally been one of the biggest Super Late Model races in the Northwest, so the pairing of the two just seems to make sense. The PASS Northwest Triple Crown has already drawn lots of interest from racers excited about the possibilities for this year and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys are hopeful and ready to support PASS in the Northwest,\u201d said WVSO promoter and short track racing legend, Garrett Evans. \u201cI know several drivers that have been saving their cars because they are committed to the PASS Northwest Triple Crown. We\u2019ve had teams practice here at WVSO from Spokane and other places. And the local guys have been practicing a lot too and are really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since he became a full-time PASS driver in 2009, Durham, NC\u2019s Jay Fogleman has been one of the series staunchest supporters. The series has allowed the veteran driver to race from Florida to Maine at speedways he never once imagined prior to joining PASS. That will continue this weekend when Fogleman travels to WVSO to compete in the Apple Blossom 200.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t thank Garrett [Evans] enough for this opportunity to come out and race at Wenatchee against some of the best short track racers in the West,\u201d said Fogleman, the defending PASS National Champion. \u201cPASS helped resurrect Super Late Model racing in the Southeast and I think the PASS Northwest Triple Crown will do the same for that part of the county. I\u2019m just really excited and ready to go race at a new facility for me against a lot of really talented race car drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gary Lewis of Snohomish, WA is one of those talented racers. Lewis is a former champion of the old Northwest tour and is usually at the top of the contenders list wherever he races. The PASS Northwest Triple Crown at WVSO is vital to the region Lewis believes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst off, I\u2019m really excited that PASS is coming in and giving the Northwest racers a place to race and a chance at growing a series through the coming years,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cI think it will be a good race, a lot of top teams have shown interest and the Apple Blossom 200 has always been one of those races you want to win. We tested a new car at Wentachee, it went really good and I think we will have a great shot at the win.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to drawing veteran drivers like Fogleman and Lewis, the Apple Blossom 200 will also have its share of youth and exuberance. Idaho\u2019s Jonathon Gomez has proven himself wherever he races across the West Coast and feels Saturday\u2019s field of competitors will rank among the best.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see this year\u2019s Apple Blossom being a very professional race and should be a very clean race because I will be racing against a great group of drivers from the Northwest,\u201d said Gomez. <\/p>\n
Gomez echoed the feelings of many that believe the time is right for PASS to come to the Northwest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great that there will be another series for us to compete on in the region and I hope that it will only grow bigger and better through the years,\u201d Gomez continued.<\/p>\n
The PASS Northwest Triple Crown looks to build on an outstanding start to the season for both PASS North and PASS South that has seen extremely high car counts thus far. Canadian champion Brian Levant has already filed an early entry along with Oregon\u2019s Alan Kress. Several drivers from Washington state have also entered, many of whom have experience at WVSO, including Ricky Allen, Michael Knutson, Kelly Mann, Josh Roberts, and Todd Walters with many more drivers expected this weekend.<\/p>\n
Action gets under way on Friday, April 26th for the Apple Blossom 200 with rotating practice from 11 AM \u2013 4 PM for the PASS Northwest Super Late Models, WESCO Sprints, Pro 4 Alliance, and Pure Stocks. On Saturday, April 27th, rotating practice for all divisions begins at Noon, with qualifying at 4 PM, and main event racing to follow at 6 PM.<\/p>\n
PASS Northwest Triple Crown entry forms the Apple Blossom 200 at Wenatchee Valley\u2019s Super Oval along with PASS North Super Late Model entry forms for Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and the 40th Annual TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway can be found at ProAllStarsSeries.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Apple Blossom 200 Set To Kick Off PASS Northwest Triple Crown At Wenatchee WENATCHEE, WA (April 22) \u2013 After months of anticipation, drivers and fans of the Pacific Northwest are just days away from the return of organized stock car racing to the region with this weekend\u2019s Apple Blossom 200. The season opener for Wenatchee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,14972],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pass","category-touring-series-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}