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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Harding, Habich not racing for points at Evergreen Also in this notebook: No decision yet by John Zaretzke on racing schedule Scott Whitmore Herald Writer A couple of long-time fixtures in the super stock division won’t be racing for points at Evergreen Speedway this season. Shane Harding and Roger Habich, who finished second and fifth respectively in the top tier of NASCAR’s Whelen All American Series at the Monroe track last season, won’t contend for the championship this year. Harding still plans on racing part-time this season — and will make several appearances at Evergreen — but Habich said he expects to be watching, not driving at the Monroe track. “At Evergreen we finished second and it was like our dog died, it took the fun out of racing” Harding said Wednesday. “(This year) we’re going to find some other tracks, do some racing we’ve never done before, have some fun again.” Harding, a two-time super stock champion at Evergreen, will return to Monroe for the season-opening ASA Northwest Tour race on March 29 and the super stock opener on April 12. “We’re probably going to run the state fair races, too,” Harding said. “That’s my favorite racing weekend of the year.” Rather than join any one tour or series, Harding plans on traveling around, competing in or just watching races in Canada or the Northwest that interest him. “In 2009 we’ll pick a series and run for points again,” he said. “This year, have some fun.” Harding opened his own business this year, Harding Motorsports Supply, and he said racing closer to home in Canada will help promote the company. Although he’s been working hard to get the business off the ground, and his racing schedule is “real tentative right now,” Harding said he definitely plans on taking time off in the next few months. “We’ve got to take some time off for baby season,” said Harding, whose wife Shae Harding is pregnant with the couple’s first child. “Our daughter Cadence is expected end of April, beginning of May. We’re all ready to go, painted pink and bought cribs, strollers and changing tables.” Family was a major factor in Habich’s decision to step away from racing this year. As last season wore on, Habich found himself working up to six nights each week to be ready to race on Saturdays, leaving little time for his wife and two sons. “I’ve been (racing) for 17 years, and it’s time to be with my family,” Habich said Wednesday. “I’ve got a 13-year-old and a 7-year-old, and they need someone to go fishing with them, spend time with them on weekends.” Although he didn’t rule out running a selected race or two at Evergreen Habich said he sold his super stock car and plans instead to cheer on Jeff Knight, his partner at Total Velocity Motorsports. That is, on the nights he goes to the track. “I told them not to plan for me being on the crew or anything like that,” Habich said. “Because I’m not going to be there every Saturday night.” Scaling back is one thing, but racing is not entirely out of the picture for Habich. He currently plans on running in the La Carrera Pan Americana rally in Mexico for a third straight year and said he has been invited to race at Pike’s Peak, although he hasn’t decided yet if he’ll take the offer. Zaretzke close to a decision: Two-time and reigning super stock champion John Zaretzke said Tuesday he was close to firming up his racing plans for this season. “I’ll know more by the end of the week, early next week,” said Zaretzke, who had planned on running a limited super stock slate and focusing instead on the second-tier bomber division and figure eights. “Some things have changed and I’m close getting things settled.” Double duty: Jill Lang will compete full time in both the super stock and bomber divisions this season, said Ron Fritzley, Lang’s father and car owner. Last season Lang ran a limited number of super stock races while running in the bomber division. During the off-season Lang had been in discussions with a team in the NASCAR Camping World West series for a driving position, but Fritzley said the deal stalled over money issues that couldn’t be resolved. Grrl power: Rookie Angela Jennings will make her mini-stock debut this season at Evergreen, sharing the driving duties in the No. 33 car with Kim Lang, who is not related to Jill or Naima Lang. Jennings, 17, is a junior at Snohomish High School and the daughter of 1986 mini-stock champion Steve Jennings. Angela Jennings, who plays soccer and lacrosse for the Panthers, won a national championship driving quarter midgets and said she has been racing “since 1996 when I was 5.” That gives her a lot in common with her teammate, Kim Lang, who has also raced for years. The daughter of racer Cliff Counley, Kim Lang and husband Clint Lang recently welcomed their first child, son Kyle. Kim Lang found out at the beginning of last season that she was pregnant, which ended her hopes of racing. Clint Lang took over most of the driving duties last year, but is happy to step out of the car this season in favor of his wife. Just one look: Mini-stock driver Drew Harthorn got interested in oval-track racing in an unusual way. Harthorn tinkered with cars in his youth and won a title drag racing, but had to leave racing at the strip to be a single parent. Then one day Harthorn’s neighbor rolled a mini-stock car out of his garage, and Harthorn asked to get behind the wheel. He was hooked. “I’d never raced circle tracks before,” Harthorn said. “But I said ‘I can do that.’” Harthorn, who lives in Bremerton, spent the short off-season getting ready for this year: pulling out motors, replacing worn parts, sprucing up his car. “I love driving. You learn something new every night at the track,” Harthorn said. “Especially me because I’ve been doing it such a short time.”

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