WENATCHEE, WA – Not the Saturday night finishes Darrell Midgley or Brandon Carlson wanted at the Wenatchee Super Oval’s Leonard Evans Memorial 150.  Midgley finished 16th in the Team Northern Provincial Pipelines #81 Dodge. Carlson finished 14th in his Alien Race Cars/Northern Provincial Pipelines #14 Chevrolet. “I really thought we had all the pieces in place after running so well in Tucson,” exclaims Midgley, “its just the nature of the beast.  You go to a different race track and you chase a whole different set of problems.” Last month Midgley had his best ever finish at Tucson Speedway (4th place). “Right from the get go tonight, it just didn’t go our way.”  The Sidney, British Columbia driver qualified 19th out of 19 cars. At the drop of the green Midgley was more than a half second off the pace.  The Sidney, British Columbia driver was down a lap before the race was even 40 laps in.  Realizing that a decent finish was not going to take place, Midgley made numerous trips to the pits.  “We used the remainder of the race as a test session.”  Midgley pitted a total of 4 times.  “The car was running real good at the end.  We were as good as anyone out there.  We just didn’t figure it out in time.”  With 43 laps to go Midgley brought the car into the pits for the final time.  “We were down too many laps so I decided to pull off and keep the car in one piece.”

Brandon Carlson was campaigning his own car Saturday night, instead of racing the Team NPP #81C. “We just had some goofy issues with our car tonight,” exclaims the Victoria, British Columbia competitor, “we have a new motor and near the end of the race we had a valve cover stud break.  Its a cheap repair but its pretty embarrassing to have a valve cover come loose.”  Smoke began billowing from Carlson’s race car with just 15 laps remaining.  With 13 laps remaining, Carlson headed to the pits.  He was credited with a 14th place finish. “Better than dead last but I would have liked a better result here tonight.”

ELMA, WA – Rain delayed the start of the 2019 season opener at Grays Harbor Raceway on Saturday night.  When action began, Zerbin started the night on a strong note.  The Victoria, British Columbia driver grabbed a second place finish in his Heat race.  “The track was a bit slimy (due to the rain),” admits Zerbin, “it was going to be a fast track in the Feature.”  Zerbin wrapped up the 2018 season with a Feature win at Grays Harbor Raceway.  Last weekend he opened his 2019 season with a second place finish at Skagit Speedway.  The driver of the Northern Provincial Pipelines Ltd./C-Force Marine #81 Modified had his eye on another Feature win or at least a podium finish.  His starting position for the Feature couldn’t have been better.  “Row three on the inside,” adds Zerbin, “good starting spot to work from.”

At the drop of the green Zerbin immediately knew he was going to have his hands full.  “Missed the set-up bad.”  Zerbin ran fifth for the first 10 laps of the race but then started losing track position.  The opportunity for another podium finish, or even a victory in Washington, all but evaporated.  Running 5th, became 7th.  Zerbin then dropped out of the top 10.  The race went from bad to worse thanks to the ill-handling race car.  “I ended up hitting the outside wall a few times near the halfway point.  That was it.  I had enough.”  Knowing he wasn’t going to gain or lose any more ground in the race, Zerbin pulled into the pits.  “I decided to call it a night before I caused any more damage.”  Zerbin was credited with an 18th place finish.