ALGER, Wash. — Levi Klatt made his formal introduction on a big stage in a big way on Thursday night, winning the opening preliminary feature for the 53rd Annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Angel of the Winds Casino Resort at Skagit Speedway.
After leading the first eight laps of the main event, Klatt drove passed Justin Peck to retake the lead on lap 28 of the feature en route to his first career 410 feature win in just his 16th start.
Peck had slid past Klatt before the pair hit slower traffic, opening up a small advantage but never shaking the younger driver from British Columbia. Klatt made bold moves through slower traffic before pulling ahead of Peck at the completion of lap 28, and leading the pair side by side to the stripe by .053 seconds on lap 29.
A yellow flag flew for Eric Fisher shortly thereafter, giving Levi the lead heading into a green-white-checkered finish. With the biggest win of his career just two laps away, Klatt was perfect, streaking away from Peck on the restart for the win. Peck and Shane Golobic rounded out the podium. Trey Starks was quick time.
Trey Starks leads the overall points with 474. Tanner Holmes is second at 469, Brent Marks is third at 466 and Scott Bogucki is fourth at 465.
Ryan Orchard went wire to wire with the CGE Garage Midgets for his first career win in the division.
The finish:
Levi Klatt, Justin Peck, Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, Tanner Holmes, Brent Marks, Robbie Price, Joel Myers Jr, Cam Smith, Scott Bogucki, Trey Starks, Jason Solwold, Tyler Thompson, D.J. Netto, Colton Heath, Justin Youngquist, Dominic Scelzi, Danny Sams III, Jesse Schlotfeldt, Gauge Garcia, Eric Fisher, Colin Mackey, James McFadden, Mariah Ede
