Keeping Pace: Championship night at SCR on Saturday

Andy Brown is no stranger to racing for championships on the big stage. The Spokane native has earned titles in the ICAR Late Model Series in addition to big awards from Stateline Speedway.

This season, Brown set out to be competitive at Spokane County Raceway’s revamped oval. With the momentum of a strong spring, the Zip’s Chevrolet and Brown are on the verge of scoring the track’s Late Model championship when racing concludes Saturday night.

The half-mile holds championship racing for Hobby Stocks, Road Runners, Pony Stocks and Street Stocks in addition to the Late Model main event.

Brown has been busy this season as he’s also raced his Pony Stock and competed on the Tri-Track Super Late Model Series while running each of SCR”s scheduled Late Model races. His primary competition has come from the track’s Rookie of the Year, points leader and second-place driver in the championship hunt, Joey Nelson.

Nelson has also raced in the track’s Pony Stock division where he’s chasing Kevin Cramer for the championship.

Another driver having a strong season in SCR’s Late Model class is Russ Osborne, who holds the third-place position in the championship hunt. Osborne, who has had one of his best seasons behind the wheel of a Late Model, wrapped up his Stateline Speedway season last month with a top-five finish in that track’s Late Model points standings.

With many of the regional tracks having held their championship events, the SCR Late Model division will boast a strong turnout of cars with drivers from Central Washington, Stateline Speedway and Western Montana expected in this weekend’s field.

Super Late Model racing will conclude next weekend with the traditional season-ending Fall Classic to be held at Yakima Speedway.

Other division leaders to watch during the SCR championship event will be Matt Hoyt (Street Stocks) and Gerald Nash (Hobby Stocks).

SCR’s Road Runner championship could be the race of the night as only two points separate Jason Thomas and Ben Cramer. Thomas has been consistent throughout the season, but Cramer’s hard charge after missing the season-opener has him in a position to challenge for the title. With points given in heat racing, time trials and the main event, every lap will count for each driver in the quest for the championship.

Wrapping up

Stateline Speedway and Sunset Speedway host their final events of the 2015 season on Saturday.

Sunset’s slate includes racing in the Junior and Adult go-kart ranks on the one-fifth mile clay oval.

Racers at Sunset return to daylight action after the summer evening schedule with Junior’s Jimmy Laswell and Molly Wethered (Junior II and Junior I, respectively) leading their division’s chase for the season championship.

In the Adult KT100 class, Mark Tedrow has been the top driver throughout the season, but Karl Schmitz and Andy Wethered have closed the gap. Larry Wheeler is points leader for the Adult Clone division and looks to wrap up his championship on Saturday afternoon.

Racing at Sunset Speedway offers free grandstand admission. For more information, go to the track’s Facebook page.

Stateline offers a two-day drifting program including a night event on Saturday. Drivers in the quarter-mile’s oval program also get the chance to take to the track one more time this season with a test-and-tune session offer on Saturday. Drifting is a unique event with cars scored on style points as the sweep or “drift” around Stateline’s banked corners.

For those who have not taken in a drifting event, the facility is offering a $5 admission ticket to its grandstands. For more information, go to raceidaho.com