JEFFERSON LOOKS FORWARD TO RETURNING TO EVERGREEN SPEEDWAY

Jeff Jefferson (No. 42 MJ2 Racing/Gran Prix Imports Chevrolet) has many fond memories of Evergreen Speedway. Prior to becoming a competitor in the NASCAR Camping World Series West, Jefferson watched stars of the series, such as Derrike Cope and Chad Little, circle the historic Monroe, Wash., track in cars owned and prepared by his father, George Jefferson.

“I spent a lot of time there, watching Derrike and Chad and everyone that drove for my dad,” recalled the 36-year-old Jefferson, who hails from Naches, Wash.

Little had three wins in series competition on the 5/8-mile track and Cope had one. Prior to them, it was Jeff’s uncle, Harry Jefferson, who piloted the Jefferson Racing entry in the series – winning at Evergreen Speedway in 1974 and 1977.

Unfortunately, Jeff was too young to recall. “The sad thing is that I never remember watching my uncle race,” he said. “The first one I really remember is Derrike.”

The younger Jefferson is now making memories of his own. He was a three-time champion in the former NASCAR Northwest Tour and currently races in the NASCAR Camping World Series West. Although he made a limited number of appearances in the series each year prior to this season, a visit to Monroe was nearly always on his schedule. In seven starts there – between 1999 and 2006 – Jefferson had one pole, four top-five and five top-10 finishes.

“Out of most of the Northwest race tracks, Monroe is just a place that I have always loved to go to and can’t wait to race there,” he said. “I’ve really only won one race there, and that was in a tour race, but I’ve had a lot of good finishes and run well there. It’s a fun place. You go fast there.

“The fans there love racing,” he said. “It’s like they can’t get enough of it and they really enjoy having the West Series come to town. They love watching racing on the (5/8-mile track) there.”

The NASCAR Camping World Series West heads to Monroe this week for the Evergreen 150 on Saturday, July 26. The event, part of this year’s Washington 500, marks the 50th visit by the series to Evergreen Speedway.

Jefferson is hoping for a strong performance there to help turn around a season that has been plagued by bad luck. He drives one of two entries for first-year team MJ2 Racing and car owner Mike Warn. Jefferson is 13th in the championship standings, with one top-five and two top-10 finishes in eight races. He has recently seen solid finishes vanish in two races, getting caught up in incidents while running in the top 10 late in both events.

A good finish at Monroe could serve as a turning point for Jefferson to get his season back on track. “I’m just looking for something positive right now at the race track,” he said. “It’s just been one of those years. But you create your own luck. We haven’t put ourselves in the right position and we need to get better at the race track and we’re working on that. Hopefully, Monroe is the place that will help get that turned around.”

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