56TH APPLE CUP TO CROWN NEW CHAMPION
BJ Tidrick looks to recapture past Apple Cup glory this time at Tri City Raceway, April 4-6. Tidrick won the race twice in 2005 and 2008 at its former home, Yakima Speedway. File photo
WEST RICHLAND — The 56th running of the Apple Cup, April 6 at Tri City Raceway will certainly crown a new champion, if not possibly a past winner.
BJ Tidrick of Kennewick was the lone entry in the $10,000 to win super late model race in the past and that has come twice in 2005 and 2008 at its former home, Yakima Speedway. Tidrick’s father, Brad is a two-time Apple Cup winner in 1987 and 1988. And BJ is also a two-time, back-to-back Montana 200 champ in 2021 and 2022.
Other drivers in the field, however, are those who have won a leg of the Pacific Northwest’s premiere races such as the Fall Classic, Montana 200 and Idaho 200.
Haeden Plybon from Spokane captured the Idaho 200 in 2022 while Kasey Kleyn is the defending Fall Classic champ at Tri City. Lynnwood’s Naima Lang is a three-time Fall Classic champ in 2011 2012 and 2022 at Yakima.
Defending champion, Garrett Evans, will not be in this field, nor at this time other late model racing as he plans to drive regionally in a modified in 2025.
Tidrick was recently interviewed about his experiences at the half-mile tri-oval and offered thoughts on a variety of subjects.
He likes what he termed the “The lack of symmetry,” Tidrick said. “The car tends to slide from entry of turn one, to exit of turn two. There’s little balance,” he added.
On the flip side for Tidrick, the scariest place on track, there are two.
“The tire shed, it’s a horrific sight paying that tire bill,” Tidrick joked. “And two, coming off turn two down back stretch when the sun is setting. It’s like driving a drag car in a blizzard. You can’t see s**t, and you’re just hoping your spotter isn’t on snooze mode.”
In addition to the featured class for the opening of the 2025 NW Super Late Model Series, the Apple Cup will have a variety of support classes such as Vintage Modifieds and Hobby Stocks.
MILLICAN, BECKMAN, ANDERSON PICK UP WINTER NATIONALS WINS
NHRA Winternationals Pro Stock winner Greg Anderson celebrates victory at Ponoma. NHRA Photo
POMONA, Calif. (March 30, 2025) – Clay Millican edged out Tony Stewart in an explosive Top Fuel final round on Sunday for Rick Ware Racing, winning for the first time at historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip at the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals.
Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also won the third of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Millican went 4.273-seconds at 189.71 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Mighty Fire Breaker/Parts Plus dragster before a wild engine explosion at the finish line, as Stewart drove into tire smoke almost immediately in the finals. It is the eighth career victory for Millican, who defeated Shawn Reed, Jasmine Salinas and No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force to reach the final round, and first in 2025.
“My crew chief (Jim Oberhofer) told me he had it loaded up and a couple things were going to happen. He said we’re going to win, we’re going to blow up and if we lose, we’re going to be a footnote in history,” Millican said.
Stewart reached the final round for the third time in his career and first this season after defeating reigning world champion Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and points leader Shawn Langdon.
In Funny Car, Beckman handed John Force Racing its 300th Funny Car win after he went 4.015 at 302.88 in his 11,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS to knock off Daniel Wilkerson in a historic championship round at the legendary facility – and the home track for JFR. It is the 38th career win for Beckman, who replaced Force after his crash last year and has won the last two races in Pomona.
Wilkerson reached the final round for the second time in his career thanks to round wins against J.R. Todd, Paul Lee and Funny Car rookie Spencer Hyde.
There appears to be no stopping Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson these days, especially at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, as the reigning world champion set the track record in the final round against KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn with a stellar run of 6.476 at 210.90 in his HendrickCars. com Chevrolet Camaro. That gives Anderson a remarkable 16 career wins in Pomona – the second-most in NHRA history – including the last two races.
Anderson, the current points leader who also won the GESi Pro Stock No. 1 Qualifier Award for a second straight race, then broke it again in the championship round with a spectacular run, giving the six-time world champion his second victory this season and 108th in his marvelous career.
“We set a [track] record in the final and this is the way you want to do it,” Anderson said. “You want to go out and earn it every single run, and you want to save your best for the final round, and that’s what we did.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action April 11-13 with the 25th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
HAMLIN SCORES DOMINATING NASCAR CUP VICTORY AT MARTINSVILLE
By Reid Spencer; NASCAR Wire Service;
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 30, 2025) – It didn’t take Denny Hamlin long to find the recipe for success in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway.
Hamlin grabbed the lead on Lap126 of 400 in the seventh NASCAR Cup Series race of the season and never looked back.
With flawless work from his pit crew, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 274 of the last 275 laps—with the only exception a lap credited to pole winner Christopher Bell, who raced side-by-side with Hamlin after the final restart on Lap 326.
Hamlin pulled away toward the end of the final 75-lap green-flag run and beat Bell, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, to the finish line by 4.617 seconds.
The victory was Hamlin’s sixth at the 0.526-mile short track, most among full-time active drivers, but his first at Martinsville since 2015. It was his first win of the season and the 55th of his career, tying him with Rusty Wallace for 11th on the career victory list.
The win was also Hamlin’s first with crew chief Chris Gayle, who took over the pit box on the No. 11 Toyota this season. Hamlin has now won Cup races with seven different crew chiefs.
“You know, Chris Gayle, all the engineers, the pit crew, everybody really on that wall right there, just deciding they were going to come here with a different approach than what we’ve been over the last few years,” said Hamlin, who won at Martinsville for the first time with the Gen 7 race car.
Bubba Wallace finished third for the second straight race, as Toyotas claimed the top three finishing positions at the paper-clip-shaped track. Chase Elliott came home fourth, followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson.
Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe and Todd Gilliland completed the top 10.
