Drivers Pursue First Championships

Five months of drivers chasing each other around the ovals and down the drag strip begin to wind down Saturday in the season’s first local season championships.

The Spokane Pro Gas Association meets at Spokane Raceway Park for its final event with time trials beginning at 4:30 and eliminations at 7:30. Todd Hoerner has an almost insurmountable lead in Pro Gas (9.90) points. John Lantz seems assured of the 10.90 Mod Gas title.

SRP will run its regular bracket drag racing program in conjunction with the Pro Gas cars. The weekly drag racing concludes later this month. Other championship races in the next few weeks include:

Saturday: Interstate Superstocks at Ephrata: Puyallup’s Mike Sauls and Kevin Burck of Ephrata are locked in a tight battle, while local racers Brad Allard of Sandpoint and Spokane’s Dave Garber fight it out for third and fourth.

Sept. 15: Mountain Dew High School Drag Series at SRP: As was the case last year, Lakeside of Nine Mile and the Spokane Skills Center are the class of the field. They meet for the title next Sunday.

Sept. 14 and Sept. 21 at Stateline Speedway: All regular track classes plus the Northwest Mini-Supers gather to crown their champs. Andy Brown (Compact Streets), Todd Whitham (Sportsman) and Wayne Reynolds (Hobbys) hold slight leads in their classes. Pat Lewis, with a big lead over Matt Tarr appears on the way to the Street Stock title.

Sept. 28: Northwest Modified Series at Stateline: Colville’s Greg Ochs and Spokane drivers Blaine Sneva and Jeff Zimmerman are locked in a three-way battle.

Sept. 28: Spokane Raceway Park Drags & Stocks: Double points make this season finale crucial. Super Pro leader Bart Knowles, who has a 115-point lead, is the only one with breathing room. Tom Manfred has a 10-point lead in Pro Eliminator over Steve Johanson, while Neil Hansen leads Bob Haws by 50 in Street Eliminator.

Stateline Hosts Mini-Supers

Allen Swain has been virtually unstoppable in Stateline Speedway’s Northwest Mini-Supers and he will put a three-race win streak on the line Saturday night. Also on the crowded schedule are Compact Streets, Hobby Cars, Street Stocks and Sportsman. Time trials begin at 6 p.m.

Sand drags conclude

The Northwest Off-Road Racing Association (NORRA) finishes its points season Saturday and Sunday at the Spokane County ORV Park in Airway Heights.

The program will consist of sand drags, mud bogs and obstacle racing and begins each day with sign-up at 7:30 a.m.

Cunningham wins finale

Chris Cunningham took over the lead from Garrett Evans on lap 110 and that’s the way the NASCAR Northwest Tour “Tri Cities Freightliner 150” ended last Sunday at Tri-City Raceway in West Richland.

Kelly Tanner only had to start to win his first series championship, but he finished fourth and beat Evans by 156 points.

Spokane’s contingent was lead by pole-sitter Rick Schultz, who finished all 150 laps, was seventh in the race and sixth in points. Marc Groskreutz (17th) won the Totem Travel Rookie-of-the-Year award with a fifth-place finish in points.

Pit stops

Motocross and Go-Kart racing return to the Spokane County ORV Park Sunday… . After they finish their local racing, a number of area drag racers, including Rod Hoerner and James Arsenault, will continue to pursue NHRA divisional titles. The re-run of a rained-out race at Seattle International Raceway takes place next weekend and the final race will be run at Cache Creek, British Columbia, on Sept. 22… . Republic’s Eagle Trac finishes its points season Saturday with time trials at noon and racing at 1 p.m… . Lake Lawrence near Yelm, Wash., will be the site of an American Powerboat Association inboard hydro race this weekend… . The last Stateline Outboard Association-sponsored mini-hydroplane races of the year will be held this weekend at Waits Lake, noon-5 p.m. both days, at Winona Beach Resort, 937-2231.

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