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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

King Of The Hill Race Brings Back Old Days

Paul Delaney Correspondent

Back in the days when drag racing was done mainly on the backroads and under cover of darkness, the eventual winner of an evening’s grudge race was known as “King of the Hill.”

Spokane Raceway Park will revive the legal version of the “King of the Hill” drags Sunday afternoon. The race will feature competition in brackets for every type of vehicle from Volkswagens to dragsters. Eliminations will pare the field to the final runoff for the big trophy.

Gates open at 10 a.m. with eliminations at 1:30. This event will close out the 1996 season at SRP.

Zimmerman wins mod title

After five years of coming close, Spokane’s Jeff Zimmerman finally had the luck go his way and won his first Northwest Modified Series season championship last Saturday at Stateline Speedway.

Challengers Greg Ochs and Blaine Sneva were involved in a wreck on lap 15 of the Interstate Batteries Season Championship, putting both out of the race.

“When I saw that Ochs had hit the wall, I told the (pit crew) guys that this must be Christmas,”

Zimmerman said. Zimmerman stayed out of trouble the rest of the way, finishing third in the 50-lap race and first in the final standings. Steve Lovitt of Ephrata led from green to checker, claiming his first career victory in the open-wheel series.

Stateline crowns ‘96 champs

Ron Massingale was the lone racer to defend a points-leader title at Stateline Speedway, winning the Super Four Modified crown. Todd Witham’s six race wins gave him the edge over defending Sportsman champ Tim Sawyer, while Pat Lewis won six of his last eight races and 12 overall to easily claim the Street Stock championship.

Wayne Reynolds, runner-up in 1995, won 12 races and the Hobby Stock title. Andy Brown had five wins in his last seven races to win in Compact Streets. Clayton Howard won five main events and the crown in Fever Four Hobbies. Joe Sabo won the inaugural championship in the wild Bump-To-Pass class and Stan Pope survived to finish atop the Demo Derby standings.

Pit stops

Neil Hansen of Spokane just returned from racing at the jet car championships at Los Angeles County Raceway where he drove his “Brain Damage” dragster to a number two finish, clocking a 6.14 elapsed time at 263.84 miles-per-hour… . The Spokane Kart Racing Association resumes its busy season this Sunday with another points race at the Spokane County ORV Park… . Short track motorcycle racing also is back at the ORV Park Sunday… . The Inland Northwest Car Club Council will hold its 3rd annual benefit auction and dinner, Nov. 2 at Mukogawa Fort Wright. Donations are still being sought. Call Dan Rennick at (509) 891-2426 for more information.