Stateline welcomes Northwest Pro 4 Alliance

It only comes to the area once, but it should have a lot of impact.

The Northwest Pro 4 Alliance will be at Stateline Speedway on Saturday night for the 75-lap Project Filter North vs. South 75.

The race, originally scheduled on Sunday at Spokane County Raceway, now becomes a double-points event.

The series brings a large car count to each of its events and is a popular circuit for late-model- minded drivers and teams with its six-race schedule. Using a four-cylinder engine package, the cars can lap Stateline Speedway in the 14- to 15-second range.

Drivers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California are expected for the one-night format, including Spokane Valley’s Steve Schovaers.

Schovaers, debuting a new car Saturday, sits 10th in the chase for the series championship. Using a chassis design similar to what is under full-size late-model race cars, the plan is to have a four-cylinder rocket capable of running in the front of the pack.

“This new GSE Promotions Ford chassis is a home-built tube chassis patterned after a Lefthander (late model) that we know we’ll have to get set up right and performing competitively right off the trailer,” Schovaers said.

The engine, however, is well-tested.

“Unfortunately, our Ford SVO engine was damaged in a wreck at our last event, so we’re having to go with a more conventional Ford (2,300cc) motor in the new car for the weekend. It is reliable and should do just fine for us on the quarter-mile so we know we’re going to be OK in that department.”

Filling in for SCR

With this week’s announcement that racing at Spokane County Raceway’s oval track has been suspended for at least a few weeks, Stateline Speedway has fielded calls from interested racers who have been displaced.

“Our rules for several of the divisions that were competing at SCR are very similar, so we’ve told those drivers to take a look at our schedule and come out to the events we’re holding that fit the type of car they have,” Stateline Speedway general manager Larry Bertrand said.

“We’ve had conversations with some of the traveling series that were scheduled to compete (at SCR), and while we’d like to get them onto our remaining dates, the one challenge we’re working through is having sponsorship in place to host the events.”

With just five Wednesday and Saturday racing dates left in the season, the clock is winding down fast for a decision to put touring groups on Stateline’s schedule.

“If we’re going to add in some additional groups or classes, our staff knows the decision will have to be made in a short amount of time in order to market the events and get the word out.”