ZACH RIEHL COMPLETES MISSION WITH ’APPLE CUP’ WIN
Zach Riehl exits his car following victory April 6 in the 56th annual Apple Cup at Tri City Raceway in West Richland, Wash. It was Riehl’s first Northwest Super Late Model Series victory. Photos from Elevate Racing Media
From NWSLM Media & NW Motorsports News Services
WEST RICHLAND, Washington (April 6, 2025) – A pass with two laps remaining of Kasey Kleyn delivered the 2025 Apple Cup win to Zach Riehl.
Riehl had been knocking on the door of victory lane for some time but finally closed the deal in the Northwest’s oldest late model stock car race at Tri-City Raceway RMEC. The victory was good for a $10,000 payday for the 16 year old.
“I didn’t think this day would ever come. It is definitely a crazy experience,” Riehl said following victory in the 125 lap race on the TCR half mile tri oval.
Kleyn took the lead on lap 86, in a daring three wide move.
The two leaders embarked on a torrid battle that saw Riehl dipping to the inside of Kleyn on multiple occasions. On lap 123, Riehl finally got his break, when Kleyn slipped in turn 3, allowing Riehl to grab the top spot.
“I was taking my time and the opportunity opened up for me to take the lead through some hard racing, when the leaders washed up the track,” Kleyn said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hold onto the lead until the end of the race.”
Trace Thompson started deep in the field in 17th, but drove through the field, showing patience. He was able to wrestle the third spot away from Plybon with four laps to go, after an extended battle with the 2023 series champion.
“I think we took a little too long to get around the 55 (Plybon), but overall, it was a great day with a top three,” Thompson said.
Plybon ended up fourth with, Ryan Phipps (5th), Johvan Dillon (6th), Ken Bonney (7th), Wyatt Gardner (8th), Terry Halverson (9th) and Andrew Palmer made up the rest of the top 10.
Former 2005 and 2008 champ BJ Tidrick was 16th.
“At the beginning of the race, I knew that we were going to have to back it down and save some tires”, Riehl said. “It’s a long race with 125 laps and only four tires. We were just trying to cruise and pick our passes without spinning our tires. At the end we picked it up and it definitely worked out.”
This is the fourth Apple Cup staged at Tri City Raceway since its rebirth in 2022 at the track which had been closed since 2024. The Apple Cup originated at Yakima Speedway in 1967 but the track closed in 2022 and the race moved.
The next event for the Northwest Super Late Model Series is the “Leonard Evans Memorial 150” at the Wenatchee Valley Super Oval on April 26th. Jan Evans will be looking to defend his title from 2024 and score his second career victory in the series.
LIGHTNING-FAST LAST PIT STOP NETS HAMLIN VICTORY
By Holly Cain - NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON, S.C. (April 6, 2025) – A perfectly executed overtime restart by Denny Hamlin following a clutch final pit stop by his Joe Gibbs Racing crew provided exactly the advantage the veteran needed to claim the trophy in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Hamlin took the race lead out of the pits during the final late race caution then bested the field on the ensuing restart, pulling his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota out front and ultimately to a .597 second victory over the day’s most dominant driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron.
It’s the second consecutive victory for Hamlin, who won last week at Martinsville, Va. and marks the first time he’s won back-to-back races since 2012 when he won at Bristol, Tenn. then Atlanta the following week.
All smiles as he climbed out the car, Hamlin gave all the credit to his pit crew. He was third place at the time of the final caution – the yellow coming out for Byron’s Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson’s spin. The leaders seized the chance to pit for fresh tires in anticipation of the overtime restart and Hamlin’s crew got him out of the pits first - ahead of 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Byron.
A perfect launch on the ensuing green flag gave Hamlin the victory over Byron, who led a race best 243 of the 297 laps. It is Hamlin’s 56th career win, breaking a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 11th place on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.
“There’s two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson,’’ the 44 year old Virginian Hamlin said with a grin. “Had a little assist there, so thank you.
It was obviously a tough ending to a career day for Byron, who rallied to the runner up finish on the final restart but had absolutely dominated the early race, leading the opening 243 laps and claiming both Stage 1 and Stage 2 victories. It was the most laps Byron has ever led in a single race.
“First off, just really proud of my team to bring that level of effort and preparation and have a car like that and us execute like that,” Byron said.
“It sucks and I’m sure it will sting tonight, but there are still a lot of positives. It just stings in the moment for sure.’’
Hamlin’s JGR teammate Christopher Bell finished third in the No. 20 Toyota after an amazing rally forward from a 20th place starting position. Reddick finished fourth in the 23XI Racing Toyota, co-owned by Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney finished fifth. It is the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion’s first top five at the 1.366 mile historic track, but the result still stings as Blaney had just taken the race lead moments before the final caution came out with only three laps of regulation remaining.
“Oh no,’’ Blaney said when the yellow flag flew.
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher finished sixth, followed by Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, Hendrick’s Chase Elliott, JGR’s Ty Gibbs and Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch. It was a season best effort for Gibbs.
Byron’s runner-up showing keeps him in the NASCAR Cup Series championship lead now by 49 points over Hamlin and 52 points over Bell.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the famed Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway high banks next weekend for Sunday’s Food City 500 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hamlin is the defending winner.
