Wenatchee, WA (April 30, 2017) It has been two years since Shane Mitchell was involved in a horrific accident at the Inaugural Leonard Evans 200. Mitchell’s back and ribs were broken after careening head on into the turn 1 retaining wall before his car burst into flames. Mitchell’s recovery kept him out the rest of the 2015 season.

Since that time, Mitchell has struggled to get back to the success he’s previous known. From the eighth starting position Saturday night for the Northwest Super Late Model Series Inc. (NWSLMS), season opener, you’d have never known. He put the familiar orange and yellow flamed car in the lead on lap 23, and dominated all the way to the checkered flag for the 3rd Annual Leonard Evans 150.

“It’s just good to be back in the winner’s circle since the last bad wreck I had up here,” said a choked up Mitchell. “I haven’t had the greatest luck since then.” Mitchell debuted his new FURY Race Car that he hadn’t plan to race until Saturday morning. “We fired up the other car this morning and it dropped a piston,” noted Mitchell. “We rolled this one out with about 12 laps on it.” The new car had been put together over the winter with the intention of selling it. “Nobody wanted us to race it in the family.” With a huge smile on his face, he said “But look; brought it home with not a scratch on it and we won the race.”

When asked if he planned to take advantage of the guaranteed starting positions for Oxford 250, Mitchell wasn’t sure, but announced his retirement at the end of this year. “We’re going to retire, get rid of the cars, build some hot rods. Me and Dad have been doing this a long time.”

Backing up his 2nd place finish from last Fall, Joey Bird took the runner up position. Bird earned the 2nd guaranteed starting position for the Oxford 250. Qualifying 2nd quick, Bird started 9th in the 10-car inverted field, and drove up to the 2nd position, where he stayed for most of the race.

One of the more exciting battles of the night was between Braeden Havens and Brittney Zamora. Zamora had fallen as far back as 19th after a spin, but worked her way up to the 4th position. Havens knew where to keep his car to the advantage, as the two cars worked their way toward the finish line, with Havens taking the final podium spot.

In one of the major developments of the evening, Garrett Evans, 3-time defending NWSLMS champion, broke an upper link and track bar taking the green flag for his qualifying lap. Without time on the clock, Evans was forced to start at the rear of the 23-car field. By lap 75, Evans had taken over the 5th position, but was unable to advance further to one of the coveted guaranteed Oxford 250 starting positions. Evans will make the trip to Oxford for the second year in a row.

Fast time qualifier, Jeremy Doss, of Upper Lake, California showed a strong performance early in the race. After drawing the pill, Doss started from the 10th position for the invert. Doss quickly gained the 2nd position, and held it for a portion of the race, before pitting under yellow for a mechanical issue. Without losing a lap under caution, Doss was able to work his way back to the 8th position.

The race was slowed 9 times for caution, 6 of them in the first 50 laps, including a lengthy red flag after a chain reaction incident that retired several cars from the race.


Official Finish Pos. Car No. Name Hometown Laps
1 99 Shane Mitchell Orondo, WA 150
2 24 Joey Bird Spokane, WA 150
3 83 Braeden Havens Airway Heights, WA 150
4 52 Brittney Zamora Kennewick, WA 150
5 64 Garrett Evans E. Wenatchee, WA 150
6 89 Doni Wanat Woodinville, WA 150
7 64j Jan Evans E. Wenatchee, WA 150
8 75 Jeremy Doss Upper Lake, CA 150
9 9 Josh Roberts Ephrata, WA 150
10 1k Mitch Kleyn Quincy, WA 149
11 64s Stephanie Mitchell E. Wenatchee, WA 148
12 11 Ed Thomsen Kennewick, WA 147
13 14 Brandon Carlson Victoria, BC, Canada 129
14 91 Alan Cress Stanton, OR 126
15 1r Christian Roeder Ephrata, WA 101
16 22 Bryon Goetz Okanogan, WA 88
17 31 Chad Holaday Wenatchee, WA 46
18 51 Glenn Knutson Quincy, WA 45
19 81 Darrell Midgley Victoria, BC, Canada 45
20 33 Brooke Schimmel Woodland, WA 42
21 66 Jeff Bishofberger Santa Cruz, CA 25
22 86 Tom Berrow Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada 24
23 93 Dave Garber Spokane, WA 23
DNS 95 Buck Noel, Jr Yakima, WA

This week’s contingency prizes were awarded to the following drivers:

Hoosier Tire Award – Ed Thomsen, Glenn Knutson, Dave Garber
KRC Power Steering $50 Gift Certificate – Alan Cress
Longacre Racing Products Longest Tow - $50 Gift Certificate to Jeremy Doss
Longacre Racing Products Hard Charger - $50 Gift Certificate to Garrett Evans

Wheel Chill $100 Gift Certificate off Retail Set of Wheel Chills – Jeremy Doss
Wheel Chill $25 Gift Certificate off Driver Cool Box – Chad Holaday
Wheel Chill $25 Gift Certificate off Retail Grill Chill – Glenn Knutson

Frank’s Radio Gift Certificate $25 – Joey Bird, Brittney Zamora, Garrett Evans

The Ti Company “Move of the Race” $100 & Plaque – Brittney Zamora

The next event for the NWSLMS is at Spokane Super Oval on May 20th. www.spokanesuperoval.com

In their fourth season, the Northwest Super Late Model Series Inc. is the premier regional touring Super Late Model series in the Pacific Northwest. The series has many valued marketing partner including Hoosier Racing Tire, McGunegill Engine Performance, AR Bodies, Accelerated Graphics, Five Star Bodies, Longacre Racing Products, KRC Power Steering, Franks Racing Radio, Jefferson Pitts Racing, Bassett Wheels, TI Company, Child Haven Learning Center, Pacific Steel Structures, LLC and Racing Dynamiks. For more information on the series visit www.nwslmseries.com or on Social Media, Facebook (NWSLMS) or Twitter (@nw_latemodels).