Lewis wins Montana 200
The Daily Inter Lake
Gary Lewis of Bothell, Wash., won the 17th annual Montana 200 early Sunday morning at Montana Raceway Park, holding off Erick Hargraves of Yakima, Wash., by a 10th of a second to take the checkered flag.
It was the closest finish in the history of this Super Late Model event.
BJ Tidrick of Yakima, Wash., finished third, Mike Obrist fourth and Mark Owens of Kalispell was fifth.
Tidrick won this event in 2005 and Owens in 1995.
Jeff Jefferson of Naches, Wash., was 15th. He was the defending champion.
Lewis, a two-time Northwest Tour champion, passed Kevin Richards on lap 123 and held the top spot for the remainder of the race.
Lewis posted the fast time, 13.056 seconds, coming into the main event, but Garret Evans won the pole position.
Evans was involved in the first mishap of the 200 when he lost a cylinder on the 33rd lap. That allowed Lewis to move into the lead, a position he held until lap 61 when Jeff Jefferson took over as the pace car. Jefferson continued to run first until the 92nd lap, when Richards passed him.
The race was delayed just over an hour because of a power outage at the raceway.
Lewis was a late addition to the 200 field. He came in having won the Firecracker USA 125 and a major race at Spokane Raceway Park.
Agni Howell of Kalispell led from start to finish in the last chance qualifier race Saturday evening for the 200. He wound up 12th in the main event.
In the Flathead Legends main event, Scott Dalla led all 40 laps in finishing first. That race opened with an eight-car pileup on the front stretch.
On Friday night, Wrango West posted the fast time for the Flathead Legends. Kevin Richards won the A dash and Don Staggs the B dash for Super Late Models. For the Flathead Legends, Adam Bishop, A dash, and Jim Hilliard, B dash, were winners.
Hilliard also won the B heat while Spike Schultze was the A heat winner in the Flathead Legends.
Steven Howard won the Late Model B main event with Scott Moore taking the Flathead Legends B main event. Moore started on the pole and led for all 35 laps for his first win in the series.
Super Late Models
Saturday
Main Event
Final Results
1. Gary Lewis; 2. Erick Hargraves; 3. BJ Tidrick; 4. Mike Obrist; 5. Mark Owens.
6. Kevin Richards; 7. Alex Lessor; 8. Bodie Morton; 9. Christian Roeder; 10. John Nesmith.
11. Ron Dexter; 12. Agni Howell; 13. Tim Elliott; 14. Dave Garber; 15. Jeff Jefferson.
16. Billy Salmonsen; 17. Micah Sampson; 18. Mike Keogh; 19. Kevin Goe.
20. Brian McCoy; 21. Shelby Thompson; 22. Josh Roberts; 23. Garrett Evans; 24. Jim Warn.
Last Chance Qualifier Lineup
(top 6 finishers advance to Montana 200)
1. 53 - Alex Lessor
2. 1 - Agni Howell
3. 74 - Rocky Erickson
4. 93 - Dave Garber
5. 27 - Tim Elliot
6. 88 - Cory Wolfe
7. 20 - Don Staggs
8. 22 - Brian McCoy
9. 82 - Mike Keogh
10. 0 - Brent Harris
11. 95 - Dave Garber
12. 25 - Kirk Heneffer
13. 75 - Troy Schweigert
14. 66 - Jim Warn
15. 49 - Brian Levant
16. 10 - Jeff Little
Friday Qualifying
Time
Gary Lewis 13.056
Garrett Evans 13.062
Mark Owens 13.116
Kevin Richards 13.143
BJ Tidrick 13.181
Erick Hargraves 13.200
Shelby Thompson 13.200
Jeff Jefferson 13.207
Rox Dexter 13.216
Bodie Morton 13.261
Billy Salmonsen 13.310
Christian Roeder 13.319
Steven Howard 13.354
John Nesmith 13.367
Tim Elliott 13.367
Dan Garber 13.372
Micah Sampson 13.382
Mike Obrist 13.394
Kevin Goe 13.404
Cory Wolfe 13.407
Brian McCoy 13.411
Dave Garber 13.427
Kirk Heneffer 13.431
Josh Roberts 13.468
Alex Lessor 13.482
Troy Schweigert 13.485
Jim Warn 13.485
Brent Harris 13.563
Jeff Little 13.591
Don Staggs 13.638
Rocky Erickson 13.644
Brian Levant 13.687
Agni Howell 13.700
Mike Keogh 13.741
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Starting lineup after Friday
1. 64 - Garrett Evans; 2. 73 - Gary Lewis; 3. 51 - Erick Hargraves; 4. 14 - Kevin Richards; 5. 42 - Jeff Jefferson; 6. 44 - Mark Owens; 7. 77 - Bodie Morton; 8. 72 - BJ Tidrick; 9. 84 - Christian Roeder; 10. 3 - Shelby Thompson; 11. 55 - Billy Salmonsen; 12. 67 - Ron Dexter
B Main Event
Top 6
13. 38 - Steven Howard
14. 7 - Micah Sampson
15. 54 - Mike Obrist
16. 11 - John Nesmith
17. 8 - Kevin Goe
18. 9 - Josh Roberts
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Flathead Legends
Main Event
Final Results
1. Scott Dalla; 2. Wrango West; 3. Brandon Sickler; 4. Joey Bisset; 5. Tyfini West.
6. Tyler Corpron; 7. Scott Lee; 8. Frank Stainbrook; 9. Brad Sentel.