Evergreen Raceway put the punctuation mark on the 2023 season with day #3 of the 22nd Annual King of the Green held Sunday afternoon and the highlight was a pair of twin-30 lap features for the Evergreen Mods that would determine this year’s champion.
Coming into the day four drivers, Jerry Hildebrand, Paulie Hartwig III, Steve Shultz and Jayden Harman all had a shot at the title. But with Hartwig not present it would come down to the other three to fight it out and indeed they did as it turned into a nail bitter in deciding the championship outcome.
In the opening feature Shultz out ran pole sitter Micah Adams at the initial start and then kept Harman at bay the rest of the way as the pair ran closely together.
Only two laps into the race Hildebrand gave everyone a scare when he almost spun and narrowly escaped being clipped by oncoming traffic. The problem turned out to be a flat tire which he was able to replace and return to the action.
However, with Shultz and Harman still running one-two it left Hildebrand hustling to gain spots and more importantly points.
Leading to the finish Shultz would earn his first victory with a Modified and more so head into the second main just one point behind Hildebrand who notched fourth. Harman’s runner-up had him still very much in the hunt at just 10 points out of first.
“It feels great to win with a Modified and it was just a matter of getting more time under my belt. We don’t have it dialed in just yet but we’ll keep on trying things and make the best of it,” said Shultz after achieving his 36th career win.
“It was definetley hooked up on that (initial) start and from there we just continued to hit the marks and it worked out. We’ll have to come out and just find a good balance with the car and try to stay consistent in the next one. The end of that feature is what’s going to win the championship.”
Shultz couldn’t have been more right about that last statement. Picking the five pill as the invert, it would see Adams and Hildebrand on the front row for the finale. And, as soon as the green flag dropped Hildebrand blasted to the lead with Mike Pollack settling into second.
Thanks to a nonstop race Hildebrand was able set a good pace, keep just enough ahead of Pollack and steadily cruise his way to the win and ultimately the championship.
“How about that, I get to come out and put a crown on my head for King of the Green and get the championship to boot, that’s pretty cool,” Hildebrand said.
“The track has changed a lot over the last couple weeks and I felt it would have been good on the high side because the Tour Modifieds where here yesterday and put down a lot of laps but that just wasn’t the case so it was big for us to start up front, it definitely helped.”
As Hildebrand was focusing on leading and Pollack holding down second, there was a very torrid battle for third between Adams, Harman, Shultz and Lou Strohl. The group ran under a blanket for most of the distance until late in the going when Harman got by and went on the take third at the checkers followed by Strohl and Shultz.
“I kept praying that it would stay green because my car was great on the long stints. We got to halfway and I thought good there are no cautions yet and let’s keep it going this way,” indicated Hildebrand.
“We did and it was a great race, a great day and I can’t thank the Ross gang enough for all they do for me. If it wasn’t for them I would be here.”
For Hildebrand, who has been racing at Evergreen since 1988, it was his second title in the last three years and also a repeat with a King of the Green win.
The Factory Stock cars where part of the action, running a 30-lap main which would also see a champion crowned.
For the race Jarrod Hayes made his first Evergreen start of the year and it would be well worth the trip from his Long Island home as he took the lead at the outset and never looked back. Hayes, a former track Late Model champ, was just too strong for anyone to keep pace with him as he cruised easily the whole way en route to his first Factory Stock win and third King of the Green verdict, the latter two with the Late Models.
Broc Brown was second while the third place finish by Brandon Cook gave him his record third consecutive class title.
The 4-Cylinder Stocks competed in a 2023 non-winners 25-lap feature and what a thriller it turned out to be.
After winning his very first heat race, Robert McNulty would then start the race from the pole and wasted little time in taking the early lead but not by much as Maggie Yeakel and Johnny Bennett ran side-by-side directly behind him.
Lap after lap the trio would stay that way with McNulty having to run just high and low enough in order to protect his lead as time and again Yeakel and Bennett each tried to work by him.
With less than a lap and half to go McNulty led the charge down the back straight and as they began entry into turn three Yeakel nipped his left rear that almost sent him spinning. He instead made an amazing save while Bennett, who was safely on the outside of both, shot into the lead and would go on the take the checkers.
McNulty held on for a career best second with Dave Imler Jr., third, Harry O’Neill fourth and Yeakel fifth.
The Rotten and Forgotten were part of the well-rounded program and as has been the case all season long the unique group of racers put on a great show.
Despite leading all 35 laps, winner Dan Jensen would have to fend off champion Noah Jensen over most of the waning laps. It would be D. Jensen’s second win of the season and solidify him as runner-up in the final standings behind champ N. Jensen.
1st Evergreen Mod feature (30 laps): 1. Steve Shultz, 2. Jayden Harman, 3. Micah Adams, 4. Jerry Hildebrand, 5. Mike Pollack, 6. Lou Strohl, 7. Justin Teresak, 8. MacKenzie Adams, 9. Brian Rygielski, 10. Gunner Zeiner DNS: Evan Rygielski
2st Evergreen Mod feature (30 laps): 1. Hildebrand, 2. Pollack, 3. Harman, 4. Strohl, 5. Shultz, 6. Micah Adams, 7. Tersak, 8. MacKenzie Adams, 9. Gunnar Zeiner, 10. Brian Rygielski DNS: Evan Rygielski
4-Cylinder Stock feature (25 laps): 1. Johnny Bennett, 2. Robert McNulty, 3. Dave Imler Jr., 4. Harry O’Neill, 5. Maggie Yeakel, 6. Michael Wambold, 7. Jarred Frye, 8. Payton Arthofer
Factory Stock feature finish (30 laps): 1. Jarrod Hayes, 2. Broc Brown, 3. Brandon Cook, 4. Blaine Barry, 5. Ryan Casagrande, 6. Scott Sipe DNS: Richard Carman
Evergreen Speedway PR
Rotten and Forgotten feature finish (35 laps): 1. Dan Jensen, 2, Noah Jensen, 3. Sam Jensen, 4. Tom Jensen, 5. Hunter Sterner, 6. Jon Jensen DNS: Tyler Huntsberger
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