Cress Captures the “Weather Guard Roofing – Kennedy Classic 200”

Spokane, WA – Alan Cress continued his recent success at South Sound Speedway (WA)

Saturday night, claiming a hard-fought victory in the “Weatherguard Roofing – Kennedy

Classic 200” before a packed grandstand. Cress had to come from the back twice to earn

the victory in Round #3 of the Northwest Super Late Model Series presented by Knottical

Marine, taking home $8.000 for his effort. Cress in now the fifth driver to score multiple

wins in the traditional “South Sound / Miller 200” event at the 3/8-mile oval. It is a feat

he was excited to duplicate at his home track.

“It is awesome”, Cress exclaimed from Victory Circle! Not very many people have done

it twice. It is just awesome! Trevor Cristiani dialed me in, man. He got me running the

middle lane and he kept me up there and I kept going.”

Cress, from Stayton, OR took the lead for the final time on lap 158, racing from third to

the lead on the outside, as the front two runners, Dave Garber and Bob Presley, fought

each other for position. It was the final of four lead changes, among four drivers.

J.J. Hamilton opened the evening setting a Fast Time of 13.947 seconds, barely edging

Cress by 0.001 seconds, in his first Super Late Model start since 2023. But for the second

event in-a-row, Brandon Carlson drew the pole position after leading all 150 laps of the

“Kennedy Classic 150” at Saratoga Speedway (BC). Christopher Kalsch pulled the

number two pill as the top eight qualifiers all redrew for position. Dave Garber,

Hamilton, Zandar Peters, Cress, Matt Doyle, and Tom Sweatman made up the remainder

of those qualifiers.

Carlson jumped out to the lead at the initial green, with Dave Garber grabbing second.

Garber dropped to fourth on lap 10 with Peters and Doyle getting by. The first of 15

cautions flew on lap 22, as Doyle and Peters made contact, with Peters spinning. Both

restarted at the rear. After the caution, Carlson resumed his lead, holding off multiple

challengers. On lap 64, the competition caution flew with Cress now up to second,

followed by Tom Sweatman, a charging Bryce Bezanson, and Darrell Midgley.

The restart found Carlson with his first serious challenge, as Cress rode the outside line to

the lead two laps later. Another caution flew on lap 94 for teammates Hamilton and

Randy Garcia, making his first series start. The decision was made to call for the planned

halfway break at that point. Cress led Carlson, Bezanson, Sweatman, Garber, Midgley,

Presley, Doyle, Peters, and Kyle Cottam.

Two laps after the restart, all four front runners had issues as Sweatman fell off the pace,

Carlson got into Cress and Bezanson slowed to a crawl to avoid serious contact with the

spinning Cress. Carlson was sent to the rear after the contact and was sorry for the

unintended incident, as Cress also held no ill will.

“I just have to apologize to Alan (Cress)”, Carlson stated from Victory Lane. “Alan and I

have raced together about 15 years. I made a mistake underneath him. I’m just happy it

turned out the way it should have.”

“I appreciate everyone that raced me, they raced me pretty good”, Cress recalled. “I know

Brandon didn’t mean to do that. He is not like that. It was an awesome race, and I was

glad I was able to close it out.”

Bezanson was able to continue and was placed in the lead, with a slight buckle to his

hood. He now led Garber, Presley, Midgley, and Peters. The caution flew again on lap

108, as Cress and Hamilton got together, spinning the Fast Qualifier. Cress went to the

tail of the field for the second time. The ensuing restart found Garber and Bezanson side

by side battling for the lead. By lap 111, Garber was able to clear the former series

Rookie-of-the-Year, as the hood damage became more evident.

By lap 124, Cress had made his way back into the top five. He supplanted Peters from

fourth on lap 130, and he set his Super Late Model on cruise control until the

Competition Caution on lap 148.

After the restart, the action ramped up, producing several cautions and advancing Presley

to second behind Garber. Three-wide action for second, after another restart, only

subsided when South Sound Super Late Model championship leader Jeff Peterson spun

into the Turn 3 wall on lap 154. Bezanson pitted for repairs, after the wild action, leaving

the top five as Garber, Presley, Cress, Peters, and Doyle.

The green flew and Garber and Presley fell into line, battling hard for position. Cress

began to challenge on the high side, shooting by both combatants as they both

momentarily slowed on lap 156. On lap 164, the caution flew again, as Peters and Presley

made contact battling for third. Both had to restart at the rear, effectively ending their

chance for victory.

Through multiple cautions, Brandon Carlson began to make his charge grabbing fourth

from Doyle on lap 170 and third from Cottam on lap 173. On lap 178, Carlson drove

around the outside of Garber and took up the chase of Cress for the lead. But as laps

wound down, Cress was able to match Carlson’s lap times and grabbed his second

“Weatherguard Roofing – Kennedy Classic 200” victory and his third NWSLMS win at

the facility. Cress led Brandon Carlson, Dave Garber, a recovering Bob Presley, Kyle

Cottam, Zandar Peters, Matthew Doyle, J.J. Hamilton, new championship leader

Christopher Kalsch, and Randy Garcia at the finish.

Carlson led the first 66 laps and looked like a strong bet to back up his “Kennedy Classic

150” win. But a changing track and a tight condition slowed his effort.

“We just fired off a little too tight tonight”, Carlson explained. “We let the racetrack get

away from us. The TCR (Trevor Cristiani Racing) guys race every weekend. We try to

hit about four a race so every time we get on the podium it’s a good job.”

Dave Garber earned a strong podium finish in his 62nd career series leading start. It wasn’t his first series victory that he has come so close to, but a strong effort, nonetheless. The driver from Spokane, WA was happy with the finish but just needed to save the car a little more.

“We got a little pressure, and I had to start putting it up there a little harder”, Garber

recalled. “I knew we kinda used up some tire. But I’m happy with that. The car is in one

piece and we raced hard.”

The next event for the Northwest Super Late Model Series will be the traditional “Neal

Newberry 125” at the Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval on August 29th. It will be the series

only appearance at the ¼-mile oval in 2026.

Results: 1. Alan Cress, 2. Brandon Carlson, 3. Dave Garber, 4. Bob Presley, 5. Kyle

Cottam, 6. Zandar Peters, 7. Matthew Doyle, 8. J.J. Hamilton, 9. Christopher Kalsch, 10.

Randy Garcia, 11. Syndney Hamlin, 12. Tom Sweatman, 13. Melanie Schmitt, 14. Bryce

Bezanson, 15. Jeff Peterson, 16. Darryl Midgley, 17. Andy Beaman, 18. Scott Perkins,

19. Mike Brooks

Remaining Schedule:

August 29 - Neal Newberry 125 - Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval

October 4 - Fall Classic 200 - Tri-City Raceway RMEC

ABOUT THE NORTHWEST SUPER LATE MODEL SERIES

The Northwest Super Late Model Series is the premier regional touring Super Late

Model series in the Northwest. The series has many valued partners including Knottical

Marine, RaceCals, Hoosier Racing Tire, McGunegill Engine Performance, Penske

Racing Shocks, Five Star Bodies, AFCO Racing / Longacre Racing Products, Franks

Radio Service, Jefferson Racing, Zero Handicap Golf Cars, Atomic Screen Printing, Port

City Racecars, In Front Motorsports, Peltier Racing, Shockwave Seating, and Short Track

Heroes. For more information on the series visit www.nwslms.com or on Facebook and

Twitter.

Article: K. Peters, NWSLMS Media

PC: Photos by Stormy and Felicia