Richards Launches New Bid For Winston West Success

If practice really does make perfect, then Kevin Richards of Spokane ought to fare well in Sunday’s opening race of the 1999 NASCAR Winston West Racing Series at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park.

The 200-lap, 75-mile race, the first of 13 series events, will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at noon.

Richards started seventh and finished eighth in last year’s race in Tucson in the Monaco Enterprises Monte Carlo. That effort help launch a memorable season in one of stock car racing’s top minor leagues for the 37-year-old, runner-up in Winston West rookie-of-the-year balloting.

Richards returns to a track he’s now familiar with, having just come from the three-race NASCAR Winter Heat late-model series that concluded Jan. 2. In three races, plus some testing sessions, he’s put some 1,000 laps under his belt on Tucson’s tight three-eights mile oval.

“I’m excited to get back down there,” Richards said.

Finishing fourth in Winter Heat points behind champ Marc Groskreutz, also of Spokane, was a big boost for Richards, especially since he went to Arizona with pretty limited resources.

“Not bad for just having a little box of tools and no spare parts,” Richards said. “There were 70 cars trying for 26 spots. I have to take my hat off to Groskreutz for winning there.”

It’s been a hectic schedule that has been anything but a holiday for Richards.

“I never really took the winter off,” Richards said. “From November to now, I think I have only been home three weeks.” When he’s not driving, Richards, a full-time Monaco employee, is in charge of prepping the car in the team’s Spokane shop. That job went pretty well, outside of one small detail - lack of a motor.

“We just got the motor Monday. It put us behind, but it’s the truck driver who’ll pay the price.”

It will mean more night driving in the 2-1/2 day trip to Arizona.

Running on the “if it ain’t broke” theory, not much changes in 1999 for the team that came within a point of reaching their goal of winning the rookie award. New paint’s about it. Last year, Richards drove cars that sometimes sported a different paint scheme at every race. One was even a gaudy checkerboard. The 1999 ride is Mercedes black, a favorite color of car owner Gene Monaco.

“It’s the bandit look. The nice guy, all-white look is gone,” Richards said with a smile.

The Tucson race is the first of 13 Winston West events released on a preliminary schedule. The series, which races primarily in California and the southwest, has two Northwest appearances - July 17 in Monroe, Wash., and Aug. 14 at Portland Speedway.

Motor sports booster dies

Attorney and long-time motorcycle race supporter Dave Manko of Hayden, Idaho, died of a heart attack Wednesday.

Manko, 59, was instrumental in providing the sponsorship that launched the pro racing career of local AMA Grand National rider Joe Kopp.

Services are Monday at 1 p.m. at Yates Funeral Home in Hayden.

Meeting coming up

The Spokane Kart Racing Association’s annual election and rules meeting will be held at the Washington Water Power auditorium Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The SKRA is affiliated with the International Karting Federation and offers opportunities to race starting at age 8.

Info: (509) 924-6755.