CASEY CAVENDER: STATELINE EARLY STOCKS
Casey Cavender
Casey Cavender from Naples, Idaho set the stage for success in 2024 with the Motion Auto Supply Early Stocks at Stateline Speedway by winning three of the six series races and adding a pair of runners-up.
As luck might have it, “2024 was my first full season in an Early Stock,” Cavender said.
Cavender also set fast time in every race and set a track record at the Wenatchee Super Oval as he finished with a 46-point advantage over John Brueher from Othello, Wash.
“I started racing when I was about 10 years-old in go karts at the road course in Spokane,” Cavender wrote in an email.
From there Cavender moved to dirt karts at Sunset Speedway and won championship in 1998. He took a year off before starting in Hobby Stocks at age 15 at Stateline Speedway.
Cavender’s work took him to California where he raced Street Stocks at All-American Speedway in Roseville from 2004 to 2011.
He moved home in 2012 but didn’t get back into racing full time until 2020 in the Hobby Stocks. Cavender won the 2022 Tri State Challenge Series Hobby Stock championship in 2022.
Cavender wants to offer “A big thank you to Idaho Welding & Supply in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, JJ Moore, Micheal Cossiart, Caleb Taylor, the whole Early Stock class who are more like a family than competitors.”
He said the biggest thanks goes out to his wife Tori and daughter Harper.
Tori Lavender also raced in Early Stocks, her first ever season racing anything and finished fifth in points.
Pos; Competitor; Hometown; Pts.; Gap
1; Casey Cavender; Naples, ID; 444; ––
2; John Brueher; Othello, WA; 398; -46
3; Michael Kent; Otis Orchards, WA; 383; -61
4; Rodney Fuchs; Moses Lake, WA; 356; -88
5; Tori Cavender; Naples, ID; 344; -100
NWSLM’S RELEASE 2025 SCHEDULE
From K. Peters, NWSLMS Media
Spokane (Dec. 16, 2024) – After a successful 2024 season, the Northwest Super Late Model Series will head into its’ 12th season of competition in 2025, with a schedule that will include eight races at six different venues throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The series is excited to return to four tracks from the 2024 schedule, with two additional facilities returning to the schedule from previous years.
The eight-race schedule will lighten the load for the teams in the Pacific Northwest, hoping to compete for the championship.
The series will begin its’ 12th season at Tri-City Raceway RMEC (WA) with the 56th Annual “Apple Cup 125” on April 6th. It will be the fourth consecutive season opening appearance at the triangular ½-mile. $10,000 was paid out to the winner in 2024.
The 10th Annual “Leonard Evans Memorial 150”, at the Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval (WA), will take place on April 26th.
The traditional event has been on the schedule since the series inaugural season in 2014, when the event was known as the “Apple Blossom 125”.
The series will then move to Findlay Stadium Stateline Speedway (ID) for the “SLS 125” on May 17th. It will be the fifth consecutive season the NWSLMS has scheduled this event at the Post Falls, ID ¼-mile oval.
Round #4 will see the series return to the 1/3-mile at Magic Valley Speedway (ID), for the first time since 2021, and only the second time in history.
The Twin Falls, ID facility will host the series on June 21st for the “MVM Hall of Fame 150”.
On July 18 & 19, the NWSLMS will make its’ debut in the “Summer Showdown 200” at Evergreen Speedway (WA). The event paid $30,000 to win in 2024 and will be the sixth time the NWSLMS has visited the facility, but the first time since 2019.
Michael Holden won the “Central Welding Supply 125” over a 22-car staring field, on the inner 3/8-mile, in the series last visit. It would be the series second start on the 5/8-mile circuit.
The traditional “Labor Day Spectacular” at Hermiston Raceway (OR) will take place on August 30th. The event dates back to 2019, when Trevor Cristiani earned his only win, in his championship season.
The longest running annual event for the series is up next, with the 12th Annual “Neal Newberry 125” at the Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval. The event has been on the schedule since the inaugural 2014 season and was not a victim of Covid-19 in 2020.
September 20th will see the NWSLMS return to the ¼-mile oval where Owen Riddle scored his fourth series win in 2024.
The season finale will once again take place at Tri-City Raceway RMEC, this time on October 5th. It is the fourth consecutive season closer for the NWSLMS at TCR.
The 38th Annual “Fall Classic 200” will pay a minimum of $10,000 to the winner. 32 Super late Models appeared in 2024 with a record-breaking field of 38 Super Late Models in 2023. Kasey Kleyn took the rich win in 2024, clinching his first series championship.
2025 NWSLMS SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
- April 6 – “Apple Cup 125” Tri-City Raceway RMEC
- April 26 – “Leonard Evans Memorial 150” Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval
- May 17 – “SLS 125” Findlay Stadium State Line Speedway
- June 21 – “MVM Hall of Fame 150” Magic Valley Speedway
- July 18-19 – “Summer Showdown 200” Evergreen Speedway
- August 31 – “Labor Day Spectacular TBA” Hermiston Raceway
- September 20 – “Neal Newberry 125” Wenatchee Valley Super-Oval
- October 5 – “Fall Classic 200” Tri-City Raceway RMEC
