Pace: Spokane-area driver goes after national title at Evergreen

NASCAR’s national championship for the Whelen All-American Series will be determined this weekend with a Spokane resident part of the mix.

Designed as an opportunity for each sanctioned track to select a featured class then tally season points of the title winner against other competitors in the nation, the All-American Series is grass-roots racing without a driver needing to travel like a touring division requires.

Unless that driver is Dan Moore.

Moore, a Washington State University graduate who works for an aerospace company based in the Spokane Valley, makes the trek to Monroe, Wash., each week that the Late Model division competes at Evergreen Speedway. Originally from Snohomish, the 25-year old logs more miles on his personal car then the race car in an effort to claim the All-American crown at Evergreen.

“I know I-90 like the back of my hand,” Moore said. “The race car lives in Snohomish at my parents’ (Dan and Jan Moore) house which makes racing tricky. Usually my dad does all the parts runs and gets everything tore apart so when I arrive Friday night we can thrash to get everything prepared for Saturday.”

Holding a 28-point lead on his closest pursuer, Moore can claim the title with a solid night then have his points submitted to NASCAR for a shot at the national title. While winning NASCAR’s national championship may be a big mountain to climb, Moore will be named the state champion of the All-American Series once racing is wrapped up on Saturday night.

Competing as a NASCAR driver is one reason Moore makes the trek across the Cascades, he explained.

“I like being part of a NASCAR-sanctioned track mainly due to the support they provide (Evergreen) and the exposure gained from a national sanctioning body.”

One thing that Moore would like to do in his racing career is compete at a track closer to his Spokane home. With Evergreen running its championship race on Saturday night and Super Late Model events concluded at Stateline Speedway and Spokane County Raceway, Moore looks to the Northwest’s season-ending Fall Classic at Yakima Speedway as his only chance in 2013 to race away from Evergreen.

Support from his primary sponsor will play a big role in where his race team competes through the remainder of this season and beyond, he noted.

“We are thinking about running the Fall Classic. We would like to do some more traveling but it has to make sense for our primary sponsor, Grocery Outlet in Monroe. If we can get (Grocery Outlet at the) corporate (level) to chip in some marketing money we could race in other markets like Spokane.”