Ethan Ebert scores maiden CARS Tour West Super Late Model Victory at Tri-City Raceway

As America celebrated its 250th birthday, Ethan Ebert celebrated his first career CARS Tour West Super Late Model victory Saturday night in the Best of the West Freedom 250 at Tri-City Raceway.

The former Baja 500 champion led 138 of the 150 laps en route to victory at the Washington half-mile tri-oval in the fifth race of the season.

“The car was on rails tonight,” Ebert said. “We just kept tuning and tuning and it was all last-minute stuff because it was already ready out of the trailer. We just did what we wanted to do, did what we could, and we’re here with the win tonight.”

Ebert has only been racing on asphalt for the last year and a half and has leaned on the experience of both Grayson and Kole Raz to help him along as he continues transitioning his talents from the world of off-road racing to asphalt.

“I mean, it’s huge, right?” Ebert said. “I have both the Raz brothers helping me, so it’s super rad to have all that information at my disposal. So it’s awesome to have people like that behind me and it’s more of a friendship now. It’s easier to communicate, it’s easier to get stuff across and we hang out all the time. I can’t thank the Raz brothers enough for what they have done for me.”

Ebert won the pole earlier in the afternoon, led the field of 17 Super Late Models to the green flag and quickly jumped out to an early lead while Keelan Harvick, Wenatchee 200 winner Dylan Zampa and two-time winner this season Taylor Mayhew battled for second during the opening laps.

As the field settled into the early stages of the feature, Max Schroeder charged to the front, passing both Keelan and Kevin Harvick before making his way to second and onto the back bumper of Ebert in the fight for the race lead.

After a brief caution following 45 consecutive laps of green-flag racing, Ebert broke away once more before the caution flew again on Lap 48 after Aubree Christiani spun in Turn 3.

When the green flag waved again, Ebert immediately pulled away from the field, opening a comfortable advantage over now second-place Tyler Brown.

While the battle for the lead remained calm, it was anything but for CARS Tour West Super Late Model points leader Jace Hansen as he worked his way through the back half of the top 10 and found himself in the middle of several battles.

On Lap 70, while battling for fifth, Keelan Harvick and Mayhew made slight contact entering Turn 2. Mayhew suffered a cut left-rear tire and slid off into the dirt before re-firing his car, making a trip to the work area and returning to the race without significant damage.

As the sun set, the speeds began to increase and so did the intensity as the field approached the work stoppage break. Both Harvicks had worked their way into podium positions, while Hansen climbed to fourth.

The caution flew on Lap 98 after Scott Murphy dropped his right-side tires into the dirt between Turns 2 and 3, sending his car off the racing surface. Murphy safely rejoined the track and continued.

Officials deemed the caution to also serve as the scheduled work stoppage break with the race just two laps shy of Lap 100. Teams went to work in the hot pit, making adjustments to their cars for the final 52-lap run to the checkered flag.

As the cars returned to the track and drivers approached the choose cone, Hansen crossed over and touched the choose box, sending him from fourth on track to the rear of the field for the restart.

When racing resumed, Ebert once again led the way with Keelan Harvick applying heavy pressure. The two drivers traded fastest laps and slowly began to separate themselves from the rest of the field.

On Lap 106, Schroeder spun entering Turn 2 after making contact with Trace Thompson, erasing the advantage Ebert had built over Harvick.

As the field prepared for the ensuing restart, Mayhew’s night went up in smoke as a mechanical failure brought his car to a stop in Turn 3 just as the green flag waved. The driver who entered the evening fifth in the standings, 30 points behind the championship lead, climbed from his car as his night came to an early end for the second consecutive Super Late Model race.

Following a brief red flag to clean up the track after Mayhew’s mechanical failure, racing resumed with 42 laps remaining.

Ebert immediately pulled away, putting together another string of fast laps to open his advantage over Harvick and the field.

Further back, Hansen tried to make up for the mistake that sent him to the rear of the field. He climbed to eighth while battling Bryce Bezanson over several laps, with the pair making slight contact before Hansen finally completed the pass. However, his progress eventually stalled, and he remained eighth, finishing one lap down to Ebert.

Hansen, the defending division champion, entered the evening with an average finish of 2.0. Saturday night’s result ended his streak of opening the season with four consecutive finishes of third or better.

Further ahead, Zampa and Vito Cancilla resumed their battle from Wenatchee after the pair raced for the victory one month ago. Cancilla searched every groove possible in an attempt to take fifth from the Napa, California driver, but Zampa was able to fend off every challenge from the young Rackley-WAR driver.

Ebert opened up more than a six-second advantage over Keelan Harvick in the closing laps before cruising to the checkered flag and his first career CARS Tour West Super Late Model victory in his patriotic red, white and blue machine.

Kevin Harvick finished third, followed by Dylan Zampa in fourth and Vito Cancilla rounding out the top five.

CARS Tour West Super Late Models- Best of the West Freedom 250
Tri-City Raceway
July 4, 2026

1. Ethan Ebert
2. Keelan Harvick
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Dylan Zampa
5. Vito Cancilla
6. Johvan Dillon
7. Trace Thompson
8. Jace Hansen
9. Bryce Bezanson
10. Scott Murphy
11. Max Schroeder
12. Ken Bonney
13. Aubree Christiani
14. Taylor Mayhew
15. Madex Moran
16. Jason Jefferson
17. Tyler Brown