Woodside Recalls First Win At Evergreen

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 12) - Evergreen Speedway marked a couple of firsts for members of one NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series team. Now they are hoping for another. The .646-mile track in Monroe, Wash., was the site of Sean Woodside's (No. 3 Jerry Springer Pontiac) first win on the circuit in 1997. Car owner Christina Adair, meanwhile, won her first series race a year ago at the historic track. Now Woodside, who joined the Adair Motorsports team earlier this season, hopes he and the team can score their first win together when the series makes its annual visit to Monroe on Saturday, July 17 for the Coors Light 200 presented by NAPA/Albertson's/MDA and Creekside-Mountain Glen Retirement Centers. The $117,772 event will be televised to a national audience. It is to air live in high definition on HDNet. In addition, SPEED Channel will provide an enhanced replay on Aug. 14. Woodside's initial visit to Evergreen Speedway seven years ago was a memorable event in what was a remarkable rookie year for the Saugus, Calif., competitor. "I remember in practice they told me to watch out for turn  four," he recalled. "So, of course, I hit the wall in practice - but not too hard. We ended up fixing the car and coming back and winning the race. I learned a valuable lesson." The win was the first of three victories for Woodside that season. He admits it bolstered his confidence as a first-year competitor. "I was driving the Golden West Motorsports cars at that time," he said. "We had been running pretty well all year and had finished second a couple of times. It definitely opened the door to start winning more races." Woodside returned to Evergreen Speedway three times since that first visit, notching another top-five and two more top-10 finishes. He attributes much of his success to the layout of the track. "It's a flat place, which is similar to Saugus Speedway," the 33-year-old driver said, in reference to the now-shuttered Southern California track where he won two late model championships early in his career. He also credits local racer Kelly Tanner and his crew with helping him. "Kelly helped me a lot up there," Woodside said. "He showed me little tricks around the place and we always had really good setups in the car." One of the secrets he learned was how to negotiate turn four. "It's real rough and you're on the throttle way back in the middle of the corner," Woodside explained. "It just seems to jump out at you. Everybody warns you about it when you go there." Although Evergreen Speedway was dubbed years ago as the "Superspeedway of the West," drivers like Woodside approach it like a short track. "To me it's like a big short track," he said. "There's a lot of sliding the car around through the corners. You're definitely able to slide the car around more than you are on a speedway. You really have to make it handle and you really have to have a good motor. It's kind of a combination of everything." The pit stops that take place during the 200 laps are a popular feature with the fans at this annual event. And the pit strategy that comes into play between the teams can be the difference in winning or losing, according to Woodside. "In 1999, we let Kevin Richards go, because we thought we would save the tires, and tried not to pit as much. It ended up coming back to bite us. We ended up second." Qualifying well and track position at Monroe are another concern to the competitors. "The surface is pretty abrasive on the tires," Woodside said. "So, it's always easier to start ahead of people. You usually have to have a pretty good car to get by people. Fortunately for me I've had a pretty good car most of the time I've been there." Woodside, who won the West Series championship in 1999, is fourth on the list of Career Money Leaders for the series with $687,903 in winnings. He has tallied seven career victories, along with 32 top-five and 46 top-10 finishes, in 65 races. His career stats also include 12 Bud Pole Awards.