Back-to-back! Jayme Barnes wins second straight Dirt Cup

by Andrew Kunas

ALGER, Wash. - It was one of the wildest Dirt Cups in recent memory, and Lady Luck was smiling on Jayme Barnes. Just turned 31 years of age recently married, Barnes made some Dirt Cup history on Saturday as he won his second straight Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Van's Equipment and again made his race team $25,000 richer.

It is only the sixth time in 38 years that a Washington driver has won the event, and Barnes, out of Everett, is only the second Washingtonian to win back-to-back and first Skagit Speedway regular to do. Kasey Kahne won in 2002 and 2003, but was already making his way up the NASCAR ranks at the time and was racing in out of state equipment. For Barnes to be a regular in local equipment made it all the more special for the Washington sprint car racing community.

The only other Washington drivers to win the Dirt Cup are Ross Fontes in 1972 and Bobby Burrow in 1992. Outside of that, the Dirt Cup has long been dominated by teams from out of state, mostly California.

Barnes drove his own car to the victory last year, but after problems with his car this season he eventually found a ride with a different team just a few weeks ago. As he did a year ago, Barnes started outside Los Angeles, Calif.'s Tyler Walker. Unlike last year, when Walker took the lead on the start, Barnes motored ahead to take the lead this time. Barnes led the first seven laps before Walker got past him coming out of Turn 4 on Lap 8. Medford, Ore.'s Roger Crockett, looking for his first Dirt Cup win, eventually got around Barnes himself to take second place.

Then in an instant, with 35 laps down and five to go, Barnes suddenly found himself in the lead. Roger Crockett's car overheated and slowed and Tommy Tarlton also stopped to bring out the yellow flag. During the caution, Walker's car suddenly had trouble as it had a hole in a hose and lost all of its water. Walker stopped on the front stretch and was pushed to the pit area. Barnes was the leader again.

In the last five laps, Barnes motored away from all three Kaedings in the field and took the checkered flag in front of a very happy home state crowd aboard the Law Motorsports No. 33b Shark-powered XXX. San Jose, Calif. driver Tim Kaeding, who found himself in the second position after starting eighth, finished second in the Roth Motorsports No. 83 Kistler-powered KPC. His brother Bud, who started right alongside him in the fourth row, ended up third in his No. 29 Shaver-powered Maxim.

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Dirt Cup Champ Barnes Letting History Sink In

Andrew Kunas

ALGER, Wash. - Jayme Barnes stood outside his race trailer in the very early hours Sunday morning. He was told and asked: “Local drivers to win Dirt Cup; Fontes, Burrow, Kahne and Barnes. How does that sound?”

Barnes was taken aback for a moment, then finally responded in an unusually soft voice.

“That sounds good,” the new Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup champion, usually a little cocky, said humbly about what he had just accomplished.

He was letting it all sink in. He drove the race of his life and made Skagit Speedway history Saturday, becoming just the fourth Washington driver in 37 years to win Skagit’s crown jewel event. He put himself in exclusive company, the few Evergreen State drivers who won an event long dominated by out-of-state drivers, especially from California, which has won 24 Dirt Cups.

What was even more special for the Everett driver and the local fans of more than 6,000 who were on hand at Skagit Speedway on Saturday was Jayme’s victory coming in local equipment, his own in this case. While fans were thrilled with future NASCAR superstar Kasey Kahne’s victories in 2002 and 2003, his first win came in a car from the eastern part of the country and the next came in a car based in California. The last time a local driver won in local equipment was Bobby Burrow’s still popular victory in 1992. The only other Washington driver to win the Dirt Cup was Ross Fontes, who won the inaugural event in 1972 when it was a three-track, three-night points deal.

“I wanted to be the first one since Burrow so bad,” said Barnes, still showing off the big check for $25,000 handed to him by track owner Steve Beitler. “We’ve got some of the best drivers and cars in the country here. It makes it so tough, so it feels so good.” More