ASA NorthWest Late Model Tour

** IMPORTANT NOTICE **

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we regretably must announce the following:

ALL REMAINING 2010 RACE DATES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED

An official announcement will follow shortly.  We apologize for any inconvenience. 

OH MANN!

Rochester, WA (May 2, 2010) - Kelly Mann used patience, strategy, experience and most of all talent on his way to winning the International Parking Management 125 at South Sound Speedway on Saturday night. Mann was relegated to starting in the fifth row after fast qualifier Jay Sauls rolled a six with the invert die, add the six that he rolled to the mandatory 6 car invert and the result would be a 12 car invert for the initial start. In the early laps Mann had to wait out a side by side battle in front of him while up front a 5 car freight train was breaking away from the field. Once free Mann attached himself to the rear bumper of Mike Obrist and the two of them started picking off spots as they charged to catch the train that was being led Bob Presley. As the race settled in and the commitment strategy played out Mann was content to ride in the top 5 and take a spot when the opportunities were presented.

It wasn’t without it’s close calls though, at one point in the run Fred Hall had spun in the middle of turns 1 and 2 and was sitting drivers side exposed to the field in the middle of the track when the field got to him, cars had missed him by going high but Mann was stuck in the middle of the track and heading right at Hall, Mann got on the binders and spun the car narrowly avoiding disaster for both himself and Fred Hall. On the restart Mann was given his spot back as he was not involved in the cause of the caution but was acting only in avoidance.  As the laps began to wind down Mann had worked himself up to third while Bob Presley continued to lead and Sauls was second. On lap 92 Sauls who had set fast time and had been running a solid second for most of this race had clearly developed a problem on his car and Mann worked his way around Sauls and into second the next challenge would be Presley who up to this point had held off all challengers but was clearly getting tight in the corners and was leaving the door open on the bottom. Mann took advantage of that opening on lap 97 and Jay Sauls and Dan Rhodes would follow him by Presley who had led the most laps.

As they broke into triple digits in the lap count and only 25 were left Dan Rhodes got along side Sauls to challenge for second, Mann would use that to his advantage and begin to stretch out his lead, up to this point in the race the leader had not broken away from the field but that was exactly what Mann was doing now. John Zaretzke who had led the early laps was back in the mix as he joined in the battle with Rhodes and Sauls. Sauls good night would take a turn for the worst when brake problems would send him spinning as he entered turn 3 and bring out a late caution setting up a 5 lap shoot out for the win. With only 5 to go the lapped cars were moved to the back and only the leaders would be using the cone. Rhodes would go to the outside at the cone to pull up alongside Mann while the second row would have Zaretzke on the bottom and Dirk Stephens outside of him. As the green flew and Mann led them into turn one Rhodes would have to settle in behind him with Zaretzke in third. At this point it looked to be a comfortable ride to the checkers for Mann but as he crossed the line and received the white flag Mark Sundberg and Mike Obrist would get together off of turn 2 and both would go spinning leaving Sundberg sitting in the middle of the track. Mann came off of two and shot to the outside of Sundberg narrowly missing catastrophe for the second time this night as he would beat Rhodes to the line for the win and Dirk Stephens would come across third as Zaretzke who had a tire going down in the closing laps would have to settle for fourth.

The International Parking Management 125 was a good time had by all and it would not have happened without the extraordinary efforts of Mark and Tracy Sundberg and the whole International Parking Management group. Mark and his family want to say a big thank you to all the fans for coming out to support the Iracing.com ASA Northwest Late Model Tour.

South Sound Media

ASA NW Late Model Tour
Fast Time: Jay Sauls 13.685
Dash: Kelly Mann, Dan Rhodes, Mike Obrist, and Jay Sauls.
Main: Kelly Mann, Dan Rhodes, Dirk Stephens, John Zaretzke, Jay Sauls, Bob Presley, Fred Hall, Mark Sundberg, Jon Hubbert, Troy Eaton, Rod Schultz Sr., Rod Schultz Jr., and Tim Minister.

SEATTLE, WA (Wednesday April 14 2010)  - Officials with the ASA Northwest Late Model Tour in conjunction with South Sound Speedway and International Parking Management have agreed to host an event on May 1, 2010 on the historic asphalt oval located near Tenino, Wash.  Billed as the 'IPM 125', the race will feature some of the best late model drivers in the region battling it out on the fastest 3/8th mile speedway in the Northwest.

“Butch and I both are excited to have the race back on the schedule and it will be a great show for all the fans”, said Nick Behn of South Sound Speedway.

Placing the event back onto the 2010 schedule was important for the continued growth of the Northwest Late Model Tour, added Competition Director, Jerry Losch. “We’re pleased with this sudden change to our schedule and will work hard as a team to bring the best show possible to South Sound Speedway.  It’s been many years since the Northwest Tour has raced in Tenino and we look forward to being there to help the track kick off the month of May”, Losch said.

Series and track officials are not the only ones looking forward to a return to South Sound, added IPM owner, Mark Sundberg.  “(My wife) Tracy and I are excited to debut the brand new IPM Ford Fusion for this race and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel,” Sundberg said.

Long-term success of a regional super late model series was one reason behind IPM’s sponsorship of the race, Sundberg added. “Late Model Racing in the Northwest is going through several challenges right now and we can’t afford to have races cancelled.  It’s not good for the drivers, series, racetracks and most importantly the fans,” he said.

Ticket information for the IPM 125 is available on South Sound Speedway’s website, www.southsoundspeedway.com or by calling (360) 858-1464. To learn more about the ASA Northwest Late Model Tour log onto www.asanorthwestlatemodeltour.com 

Based out of Seattle, Washington, International Parking Management currently operates over 30 parking locations in the Seattle area and at a variety of different venues including Qwest Field, which is host to the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC.  For more information, call 206-254-0811 or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  For news and information from the ASA NW Tour visit www.asanwlatemodeltour.com and for South Sound Speedway visit  www.southsoundspeedway.com

SNOHOMISH, Wash. (September 23, 2009)-Growing up watching races at Evergreen Speedway, Gary Lewis dreamed of someday competing against the best late model drivers the Northwest has to offer and someday winning races and championships over those competitors.

After a strong performance last Saturday night at Yakima Speedway on the ASA Northwest Late Model Tour, Lewis has eclipsed Ron Eaton (three) in regional championships and matched another great with title number four.

“When I was younger I dreamed of the day I could even be on the same track as Garrett Evans (who like Lewis has four regional touring championships), Eaton or Tobey Butler and now here we are coming off a strong run in Yakima and capturing our fourth championship,” Lewis said.

“It’s so tough to win a championship these days especially when there are only 10 races in a season (like 2009). You just have one DNF (did not finish) and you’re almost totally out of the picture. We had our fair share of problems this year but we were able to push through and still get some good finishes. Our season and this race team are not done yet and there is still more to strive for going forward.”