Doug Pace: Spokane drivers take their shot at Stateline Speedway

After winding its way across Arizona, California and Iowa, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series comes to the Northwest on Saturday with a stellar lineup of drivers aiming to join a select few in series history who have won at Stateline Speedway.

Stateline has hosted the NASCAR group three times, with last summer’s race the first since 1985. James Bickford (2014), Jim Robinson (1985) and Jimmy Insolo (1974) are the only drivers to win at the one-fourth-mile oval in series history. This year a Spokane driver may join the record books as a Stateline winner as three are entered in this weekend.

Nicole Behar, a member of the NASCAR Next program, which showcases rising talent within the sanctioning body, returns to Stateline one year after making her series debut with plenty of momentum on her side. Behar established a series record as the highest-finishing female driver with her second-place run at Iriwindale Speedway in April. Since then, Behar as put together two top-five and four top-10 finishes in six starts to move within the top 10 in the chase for the series championship.

“This race is one that our team has had circled since the schedule came out in the off-season,” Behar said. “We knew that many of the tracks on the series would be new experiences for us, but Stateline is a track we know well and had a good run at last summer. Our goal is to come out of Stateline with a solid night, look for opportunities to run up front again and see how it plays out in the closing laps,”

Braeden Havens, who won the pole award for this race last year and followed it up with a career-best finish, will also be a factor in Saturday’s NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150.

“The NASCAR K&N Pro Series is one of the toughest divisions in the country for short-track racing,” Havens said. “To earn a pole award last year was a big boost for our race team and in my career. Being able to post a fourth-place effort after starting on the pole and running up front all night long was also great, but this year we’d like to improve on that if we can.”

The region’s third entry has the racing community talking.

Blake Williams will make his NKNPSW debut driving for Jefferson Pitts Racing in its No. 55 Ford Fusion. A past Idaho 200 late-model champion, title holder in two late-model touring divisions during his racing career and a winner on the Tri-Track Super Late Model Series when they visited Stateline Speedway in June, the 19-year-old may quietly be building toward a NASCAR victory in his initial start.

“This opportunity to drive for Jeff Jefferson, Jerry Pitts and the entire JPR team is amazing,” Williams said. “To do so at my home track will be an even bigger boost. JPR has been strong all season. This No. 55 has been at the front of almost every race in 2015 and has a win with Dalton Sargent behind the wheel. We’re going into this race looking to continue the strong run the team has been on.”

NASCAR racing starts Saturday with qualifying scheduled for 6 p.m. with racing to follow. The track’s Dr Pepper 10 Late Model Series will also be in action. For more information go to: raceidaho.com.

Nitro Funny Cars highlight event

Spokane County Raceway announced during the off-season that it would no longer be an NHRA-sanctioned facility and would join the International Hot Rod Association, the world’s second-largest drag racing sanctioning body. The change would bring the first IHRA Nitro Jams circuit to the region, giving the drag racing portion of SCR its first national-level event. In recent years, NHRA races were held only at the divisional level.

Featuring Nitro Funny Cars, Jet Dragsters, Nitro Harley motorcycles along with dragsters and Funny Cars powered by alcohol, this first IHRA national event will bring big-league racing to SCR for the first time since Spokane County purchased the facility in 2008.

The series focal point, Nitro Funny Cars, will feature plenty of racing excitement, according to IHRA Motorsports president Scott Gardner.

“There’s a real possibility of the event having the largest funny car count on the West Coast and the racing action is going to be nonstop,” Gardner said. “We can’t wait to introduce the Northwest to Nitro Jam drag racing.”

Racing starts tonight with qualifying rounds and wraps up Saturday with final-round eliminations. For more information: nitrojam.com or spokanecountyraceway.com.