Rain Forces Makeup Dates

Racers will try to even the score with Mother Nature this weekend.

The first racing weekend of summer last week looked more like spring, as rain washed out a pair of important local racing events last Saturday.

Spokane Raceway Park and Stateline Speedway will run postponed events Saturday night.

SRP midseason scheduled

SRP will try again to get its drag racing midseason championship off the ground. The double-points event will attempt to break a logjam that has developed in two of the track’s three bracket classes.

Virgil Sellers has a 10-point lead over Bart Knowles in Super Pro. David Allison has a 15-point margin over Tom Manfred and Steve Johanson in Pro Eliminator. Neil Hansen is comfortably ahead in Street Eliminator. Gates open at 4 p.m.

A minitruck summer challenge is part of the schedule on SRP’s oval track.

Superstocks try again

At Stateline Speedway, the Interstate Superstock Racing Series will attempt to run its sixth race of the season. Time trials are at 6 p.m.

Joining the late-models will be the Northwest Super Fours, a group of late-model compacts that runs out of the Tri-Cities and Yakima.

After five races, a tight three-way battle for the lead in points has developed between Puyallup’s Mike Sauls (203), Kevin Burck of Ephrata (188) and Spokane’s Dave Garber (182). Sauls and Burck have each won twice. Racers will run for a $500 added purse.

To make room on the crowded schedule for the superstocks, the Sportsman and Fever Fours have been dropped from Saturday’s program. A Hobby Stock Challenge is still on for Saturday.

AMA bikes at Playfair

A different kind of horsepower - two-wheeled, not four-legged - will run laps around Playfair Race Course this summer. Local motorcycle racer and promoter Darrell Triber has sealed a deal that will allow the horse racing track to host an American Motorcycle Association sanctioned flat track race July 20.

Northport hits midseason

The season has reached the midway point at Northport International Raceway and the dirt track will hold its traditional midseason championship Sunday.

The Kal Tire Rollin’ With the Winners race has time trials scheduled for 1 p.m.

Canadians Gord Zaitsoff and Randy Steep are locked in a tight battle for first place in the Modified class, while defending champ Don VanSickle leads Henk Ravenstein in Super Stocks.

Street rodders gather

An estimated $20 million worth of custom cars will gather today through Sunday for the 13th annual Northwest Street Rod Nationals at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds.

Some 1,000 pre-1949 hot rods will join a variety of competition. The show runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Pit stops

Stateline Speedway will host Hobby Cars, Street Stocks and Compact Streets tonight. Time trials are set for 6:30. … The Spokane County ORV Park in Airway Heights will run flat-track motorcycle racing Sunday. … Stateline Speedway’s traditional July Fourth Demolition Derby is scheduled Wednesday. Pick up tickets early at Post Falls Trustworthy Hardware. … The Northwest Modified series ducked the dampness last Saturday at Ephrata and Spokane’s Jeff Zimmerman came out the big winner for a second time this season. Zimmerman and Colville’s Greg Ochs have split the four series races. … Last weekend’s NHRA Division Six race in Seattle was rained out and was rescheduled Sept. 14-15. The next divisional event is July 12-14 at Woorburn, Ore. … Word is that local drag racer John Preston’s unique 1972 Ford Maverick is loaded with power. Preston runs in the 10.90 Super Street bracket at NHRA events.

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