Event: The “Neal Newberry 125 presented by North Valley Mechanical” at the Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval (WA) will be Round #6 of the Northwest Super Late Model Series presented by Racing Dynamiks season and will take place on Sunday, September 18th. $5,000 will go to the winner of the ninth annual event. It will be Day #2 of the “End of Year Bash” and will also feature the INEX Legends, Thunder Cars, Bandoleros, and Focus Midgets
Entries: 23 Super Late Models are currently entered for this weekend’s “Neal Newberry 125” representing three states; Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. The series is averaging 21.6 Super Late Models per event with a high of 23 (3 times) and a low of 19 for a rain makeup date at Stateline Speedway. Three of the entries are former NWSLMS winners at WVSO; Garrett Evans, Haeden Plybon, and Evan Goetz.
Series Returns: The NWSLMS will return to WVSO for the second time in 2022. Evan Goetz led the 23-car feature event to the checkered flag in May to become the youngest winner in series history. It was his series debut. WVSO will host the series for the 19th-time, the most of any track the series has visited. Gracin Raz leads all drivers with three victories at WVSO. Shane Mitchell, Shelby Thompson, Tayler Riddle and Brittney Zamora have two apiece. Brent Harris, Jeff Jefferson, Owen Riddle, Doni Wanat, Garrett Evans, Haeden Plybon, and Evan Goetz have one each.
READ MORE: 14-Year-Old Evan Goetz Wins Leonard Evans 150
Championship: Kaiden Anderson had his championship lead narrowed by six points, with Kulwicki Driver Development Program finalist Haeden Plybon’s victory at Hermiston Raceway (OR). He still leads by 20 points, 232 to 212. Nick Gibson now sits third (201 points), followed by Andy Beaman (190), Max Schroeder (185), Evan Goetz (180), Ken Bonney (176), Christopher Kalsch (168), Corey Allard (151) and Jason O’Neil (146). Seven teams have entered each event this season.
Rookie-of-the-Year: Kaiden Anderson also leads the Jefferson Racing Rookie-of-the-Year standings. Anderson is followed by Haeden Plybon, Nick Gibson, Evan Goetz, and Kasey Kleyn. All five drivers are entered this weekend
Season Debut: Four drivers are currently scheduled to make their NWSLMS season debuts. Larry Lasmanis, Jay Sauls, John Newhouse, and Trayton Tarr will make their first starts of the season. All have previous efforts in the series. 49 different drivers have competed in the series in 2022, through five events.
Winners: In five NWSLMS events in 2022, there have been five different winners. Three will be present this weekend at WVSO. Preston Peltier won the season opening “Apple Cup 125” at Tri-City Raceway at RMEC, but will not attend this weekend’s event. Evan Goetz became the youngest winner in NWSLMS history by taking home the checkered in Round #2 at Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval’s “Leonard Evans 150”. Round #3 was won by Kaiden Anderson who picked up his first series victory in the “PCA 125” at Hermiston Raceway. 2019 series champ Trevor Cristiani claimed Round #4 at Findlay Stadium Stateline Speedway in the “Liberty Launch Academy 125”. After his accident at Hermiston Raceway, he will be absent this weekend. Haeden Plybon won the last round at Hermiston in the Atomic 125”, picking up his third career victory.
Champions: Garrett Evans is the only former NWSLMS champion entered this weekend, but he has four series championships. He was the winner of this event in 2019. Several local Late Model teams will challenge the “Tour” series competitors including Jan Evans, Matt Doyle, with Evan Goetz on the precipice of the 2022 Pro Late Model Track Championship.
Double Duty: 11 drivers are scheduled to perform double duty this weekend in both the “Jerry Berschauer 125” for the Pro Late Models on Saturday and the “Neal Newberry 125” on Sunday. Those drivers include; Ken Bonney, Jan Evans, Nick Gibson, Max Schroeder, Evan Goetz, John Newhouse, Alan Cress, Garrett Evans, and Ashton Cristiani.
Schedule: Fan Gates open at WVSO at 12:00pm on Sunday September 18th. Group Qualifying for the Bandoleros and Focus Midgets will be at 12:10pm followed by Single Car Qualifying for the Legends and NWSLMS. Opening Ceremonies are scheduled for 1:30pm with Trophy Heats for the Bandoleros and Thunders Cars following. “B”-Mains for the Legends and NWSLMS are next, if needed. Main Events will then proceed for the Thunder Cars, Legends, Bandoleros, Midgets and NWSLMS.
Broadcast: For those unable to attend, the event will be shown LIVE on Racing America, with a subscription to its streaming service.
Preliminary Entry List:
Car# First Last, City, State
1. 1 Kasey Kleyn Quincy, WA
2. 3 Andy Beaman Selah, WA
3. 3G Wyatt Gardner Lake Stevens WA
4. 3K Ken Bonney Hermiston, OR
5. 5 Larry Lasmanis Olympia, WA
6. 5 Jan Evans E Wenatchee, WA
7. 11 JJ Hamilton Centralia, WA
8. 11G Nick Gibson Nampa, ID
9. 13 Matt Doyle Wenatchee, WA
10. 17S Max Schroeder Tacoma, WA
11. 17 Bob Presley Olympia, WA
12. 20 Jay Sauls Puyallup, WA
13. 22 Evan Goetz Okanogan, WA
14. 26 John Newhouse Twin Falls, ID
15. 29 Jason O'Neil Spokane, WA
16. 31 Trayten Tarr Spokane WA
17. 33 Christopher Kalsch Hillsboro, OR
18. 37 Kaiden Anderson Yakima, WA
19. 55 Haeden Plybon Spokane, WA
20. 64 Garrett Evans E Wenatchee, WA
21. 91 Alan Cress Stayton, OR
22. 93 Dave Garber Spokane, WA
23. 94 Ashton Cristiani Boise, ID