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Raceway lands NASCAR Series West race

by The Daily Inter Lake
| December 17, 2009 2:00 AM

NASCAR is coming to the Flathead Valley.

The NASCAR Camping World Series West will hold a 150-lap main event at Montana Raceway Park on Aug. 7. The race will be televised (tape delay) on the Speed Channel and broadcast live on the radio.

“It’s a big deal for the race track, a huge deal for Western Montana,” said Doug Pace, public relations director at Montana Raceway Park.

 “A lot has to do with the community. They support the track.”

Series West racing has launched the NASCAR careers of many of the top drivers in this year’s Chase.

The Thornton family, who owns the track, Bill McNally, a car owner in Series West, and NASCAR worked closely to pull the deal off.

Pace said Jason Jefferson, who has won several Northwest Tour races at Montana Raceway Park, was the one who hatched the idea of holding a Series West event here.

Pace said Montana Raceway Park is the only circle track in the Pacific Northwest, other than one in Roseburg, Ore., that could hold an event of this stature.

“The NASCAR Camping World Series West continues to visit key markets and top race tracks throughout the western United States,” George Silbermann, NASCAR managing director of racing operations, said in a press release.

“The 2010 calendar should make for another exciting season of tough competition, culminated by crowning our series champion at Phoenix in November.”

Jeff Jefferson, who races in Series West, is expected to compete here, along with past NASCAR national short track champion Greg Pursley.

Another familiar name, Gary Lewis, is looking to secure a ride so he can race in this event, Pace said. Lewis is a three-time winner of the Montana 200 at Montana Raceway Park.

 Many of the cars in Series West formerly raced on the Nationwide tour.

This Series West event will feature at least 24 cars with drivers competing for a total purse of just under $100,000. There will also be a Super Late Model main event that evening, similar to the Montana 200 in terms of drivers and purse.

The Series West race here is one of 12 on this year’s schedule. Other races are planned for Phoenix, Roseville, Calif., Irwindale, Calif., Dacona, Colo., Sonoma, Calif., Portland, Ore., and Tooele, Utah.

The schedule will once again include the annual combination race between the NASCAR Camping World Series East and West at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa on May, 23.

Past winners of the prestigious event include Kyle Busch in 2009; Brian Ickler in 2008; and Joey Logano in 2007. The event has also attracted NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standouts Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne.