56th Annual Apple Cup Opens Northwest Super Late Model Series Season

The Northwest Super Late Model Series presented by Knottical Marine will open its’ 12th season at the 56th Annual Bonney’s TYM Trailers “Apple Cup 125” on Sunday, April 6th, at Tri-City Raceway RMEC (WA). The granddaddy of all Super Late Model events in the Pacific Northwest will pay $10,000 to the winner. It will be the first of seven scheduled events for the series in 2025. Three days of official action will highlight the weekend’s activities, with practice on Friday and racing on Saturday and Sunday. An optional Practice Day is scheduled for Thursday.

As the longest-running Super Late Model event in the Pacific Northwest, the inaugural “Apple Cup” took place at Yakima Speedway (WA) in 1967. Gordy Haines won the initial version. Yakima Speedway hosted the event until after the 2019 season, when the facility closed in 2020. Tri-City Raceway RMEC (TCR) hosted the rebirth of the “Apple Cup”, when the track reopened in the Fall of 2021, holding the event in 2022 under the NWSLMS banner. The NWSLMS has sanctioned the “Apple Cup” a total of eight times (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025).

In 55 previous editions of the “Apple Cup”, Don Dowdy has the most wins, counting seven of them. He won four-in-a-row beginning in 1974 and extending to 1977. In an eight-year period, he won seven events. 11 drivers have scored multiple “Apple Cup” wins. Those include Jack Jeffrey (2), Don Dowdy (7), Derrike Cope (3), Brad Tidrick (2), Roger Hall (2), Bob Schweigert (2), Pete Harding (3), B.J. Tidrick (2), Travis Bennett (2), Owen Riddle (3), and Garrett Evans (6), which included the last event held at Yakima Speedway. Preston Peltier was the first winner of the event at TCR with Kyle Tellstrom adding a win in 2023. Northwest Legend Garrett Evans took home the gold in 2024.

This year’s edition of the “Apple Cup” boasts another strong field of entries, with 26 Super Late Models on the roster. B.J. Tidrick is the only former winner entered this weekend. Three drivers have won in the NWSLMS including Kasey Kleyn, Haeden Plybon, and Max Schroeder. Nine drivers have touring series Super Late Model wins. Mike Burkhart is the only driver making his series debut. Three states will be represented this weekend. Those include Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.

This year’s field will feature the return of the 2021 NWSLMS Rookie-of-the-Year (ROTY) Bryce Bezanson. The 2021 season also found Bezanson tied for the championship runner-up position with Max Schroeder, gaining the tiebreaker with a second-place finish at the Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval (WA). Bezanson hasn’t visited the series since 2022, but that event was the “Fall Classic 125” at TCR. Bezanson is excited to make his return with Jefferson Racing, at a track at which he scored an eighth-place finish, in his only facility start.

"I'm just excited to be back", Bezanson stated. "TCR is a very technical track and easy to make mistakes on, but I've already had a decent run there, and I got a great supporting cast around me. I'm just happy to be back competing."

Another driver making his return to the series is 2022 NWSLMS ROTY and 2023 champion Haeden Plybon. Plybon made only two starts in the series in 2024, with his last start at Mode Stadium Stateline Speedway (ID) last May. After winning seven of his last 22 starts with the series, poor luck followed him in 2024, with a best finish of only 11^th in the series. Plybon did earn a Pro Late Model win at Evergreen Speedway (WA) and a runner-up finish in the “Idaho 200” at Mode Stadium Stateline Speedway (SLS). But the rest of his season was a disappointment for the former SLS Pro Late Model champion. The Spokane, WA driver has a TCR Super Late Model victory in the “Desert Star 80”, but he has yet to earn a long-distance win at the ½-mile. He is ready to turn his luck around and grab the $10,000 win.

“We always seem to have great speed at Tri-City, but can never seem to finish”, Plybon recalled his former “big” event experiences at TCR. “It is a challenging track, and a 125-lap race can present a lot of challenges. We haven't had great success recently, but I'm ready to change that, and give it all we have, to take home the win.”

Another former NWSLMS ROTY driver, entered this weekend, is Troutdale, OR racer Zach Riehl. Riehl has been very good at TCR with four of his five starts there resulting in finishes within the top half-dozen. He has two third-place results with a fourth as well. Despite finishing in the top five in half of his 14 series starts, he is still looking for his first win. The “Apple Cup” could be that opportunity, with his affinity for the facility, if he can save enough for the end.

“Something that I like about Tri-City is its characteristics”, Riehl stated. “With it being the only tri-oval track in the Northwest, it makes it very difficult, with every corner being different. Something I need to do, to be a little bit better and get the victory, is really focus on saving the tires throughout the race.”

One driver, who was not a former series ROTY, has had a love/hate relationship with the tricky triangle. That driver is former Yakima Speedway (WA) Super Late Model track champion Scott Walker. Walker had multiple wins at the facility, before it closed in 2004. The track reopened for the 2021 ”Fall Classic”, and Walker came home second. But since that return, Walker has had nothing but bad luck, beginning with the “Apple Cup 125” the next spring. In six overall “Apple Cup” and “Fall Classic” starts since 2021, his best finish was a 14th with four of them 20th or worse. He has yet to take the checkered in any of those events. He has had good speed, but the results haven’t shown those characteristics. Walker will try to change his luck this weekend.

“It really has been a thorn in my side”, Walker recalled of his recent TCR experiences. “I feel like we always have good speed but getting to the finish just hasn't been in the cards, as of late. I've had a couple of parts failures and a couple of times where I'm just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's gotten to the point that when we roll through the gate at TCR, my main objective is just to finish. And with the speed we have with this new Pathfinder car, I believe we can be racing for the lead. Part of me thinks I should take a year off from TCR, and go run a couple races elsewhere, but I'm too hardheaded and not willing to give up, no matter what the raceway throws at me. I only race 3-4 times a year, and two of those times are at TCR. It's just a track I enjoy driving.”

2025 NWSLMS ROTY contender Gabe Sessler is new to Late Model racing, but made an impressive debut at TCR in the 2024 “Fall Classic”. Sessler nearly won the Pro Late Model event on Saturday, falling short after leading with seven laps remaining. A fuel pickup issue was the culprit. Sunday’s “Fall Classic 200” found Sessler leading the practice charts, then qualifying into the top 10 in his first Super Late Model start. A disappointing 16^th-place finish was the result of his first “Fall Classic 200”, but fuel was the culprit once again, after leading 22 laps in the 32-car field.

“In the Super Late Model, I qualified 10th, then drove up to the lead by around lap 60 or so”, Sessler recalled. “I then led for 22 laps, before I got spun out by a lapped car. I went to the back, then drove up to fourth, made contact with Dawson Cox while passing him for 3^rd, and ended up getting the worst end of it, spinning out again. I then drove back up to fifth with seven laps to go, and I ran out of fuel under caution again.”

Sessler, like 25 other competitors, hopes having a good car, good skill, and good luck will lead to a $10,000 victory at the end of the day, in the 12^th season opener for the Northwest Super Late Model Series presented by Knottical Marine.

Saturday Schedule: Admission Gates open at 11:00 AM with practice for the Pro Late Models, Mini Stocks, and Vintage Modifieds, beginning at 9:15 AM. Group Qualifying begins at 11:00 AM for the Vintage Modifieds followed by the Mini Stocks. Single car Qualifying for the Pro Late Models is scheduled for 11:40 AM. Opening Ceremonies commence at 12:30 PM. Racing begins 1:00 PM with the feature events for the Northwest Vintage Modifieds (35 Laps), Mini Stocks (40 Laps), and the Pro Late Models (85 Laps).

Sunday Schedule: Admission Gates open at 11:00 AM with practice for the Super Late Models, Hobby Stocks and Vintage Modifieds beginning at 9:15 AM. Single car Qualifying for the Super Late Models is scheduled for 11:00 AM with Group Qualifying for the Hobby Stocks and Vintage Modifieds beginning at 11:50 AM. Opening Ceremonies are scheduled for 12:50 PM with racing beginning at 1:00 PM. If needed, the Last Chance Qualifier for the Super Late Models will take to the track first (30 Laps). The Bettarel Hobby Stocks (50 Laps) will follow with the Vintage Modifieds (35 Laps) next. The Bonney’s TYM Tractors “Apple Cup 125” for the Northwest Super Late Model Series will finish off the 56^th annual event.

Pre-Entry List (as of 4/1/2025)

00 Naima Lang Lynnwood, WA
01 Mike Burkhart Sandy, OR
1K Kasey Kleyn Quincy, WA
2 Terry Halverson Wenatchee, WA
3B Andy Beaman Selah, WA
3G Wyatt Gardner Lake Stevens WA
3K Ken Bonney Hermiston, OR
5H Jess Havens Spokane, WA
5P Ryan Phipps Burley, ID
7R Zach Riehl Corbett, OR
11D Danica Dart Ephrata, WA
11JD John Dillon Meridian, ID
11JoD Johvan Dillon Meridian, ID
17s Max Schroeder Tacoma, WA
17t Zach Telford Middleton, ID
22P Andrew Palmer Meridian, ID
27 BJ Tidrick Kennewick WA
29 Jason O'Neil Spokane, WA
33 Christopher Kalsch Hillsboro, OR
34 Scott Walker West Richland, WA
51 Bryce Bezanson Snohomish, WA
54T Trace Thompson Kennewick, WA
55 Haeden Plybon Spokane, WA
66 Gabe Sessler Snohomish, WA
69R Andrew Riehl Corbett, OR
81 Ray Clever Boise, ID

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, AR Bodies, Penske Racing Shocks, Five Star Bodies, AFCO Racing, Longacre Racing Products, Franks Radio Service, Jefferson Racing, Champion Auto Group, Atomic Screen Printing, Zero Handicap Golf Cars, and The TI Company. For more information on the series visit www.nwslms.com or on Facebook and Twitter.

-Story, Photo credit: Kevin Peters, NWSLMS Media