Flat-Track Motorcycles Get Another Crack At Playfair
After a promising season of flat-track motorcycle racing at Playfair Race Course fell victim to lease problems, it now looks like at least one event will be salvaged.
Mark Sept. 22-24 on your calendar.
Bert Marsh, co-promoter at the Playfair Half-Mile, has ridden an emotional roller coaster this year. It has taken him from the high of landing a coveted American Motorcyclist Association Grand National race in January to the low of having to cancel that event and a half-dozen others.
Marsh has confirmed that Playfair will run a two-day event featuring the 2nd annual Joe Kopp Challenge on Sept. 23 and an AMA Hot Shoe race the next night.
“AMA is serious about finding better race tracks,” Marsh said. Marsh said he has commitments from a half-dozen G-Nat riders - including current points leader Chris Carr, local favorite Kopp, Steve Moorehead and Brian Bigelow - to appear in Spokane.
An AMA pro-am race will kick things off on Sept. 22 at West Plains Speedway at the Spokane Motorsports Complex.
For further information, or for ticket locations, contact Marsh at (509) 489-5023.
Pro Gas hits straightaway
Dave Holmes takes a slim 50-point lead into the last of five Spokane Pro Gas Racing Association races this weekend at Spokane Raceway Park.
Holmes has used a win and runner-up finishes in two previous races to push past William Rice and Rod Hoerner into the No. 1 spot in the 10.20 ET class. In the 11.20 ET Mod Gas bracket, Mark Resen leads a pack of challengers including Kenny Newitt, Randy Ray and Tom Manfred. Brian Tibesar has all but wrapped up the 9:20 Top Comp class, leading his closest pursuer, John Preston, by 505 points.
Regular bracket racing is also on the schedule, as is a stock car program on the half-mile oval. Both races start at 7 p.m.
Showdown at Stateline
Rob Vest, Dan Miller and Keith O’Dell are locked in a battle for the Stateline Sreet Stock class that will be decided this Saturday night in the championship race.
Vest built an early lead on the strength of five wins, but hasn’t won a main event since June. Miller and O’Dell have each won one race this season and are in the points chase on the basis of consistent finishes.
The Northwest Mini-Supers and Hobby Cars also race in Saturday’s program that begins with time trials at 6:30.
Pit stops
The Spokane Kart Racing Association winds closer to the end of its season, running its eighth points race of the year on Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Spokane Motorsports Complex… . The Stateline Outboard Racing Association will run a two-day regatta at Winona Beach Resort on Waitts Lake near Chewelah on Saturday and Sunday… . Republic’s Eagle Track concludes its regular season with its final points race on Saturday… . The Motocross track at the Motorsports Complex will feature races both Saturday and Sunday. Gates open at 7 a.m.
Streaks, stats
Monte Zema Jr. kept on cruising toward a third straight Modified class championship at Northport International Raceway, winning the last race in the N.E. Washington Dirt Cup Challenge on Sunday. Darrin Metcalf was the Superstock winner. Jim Westlake of Post Falls won Saturday’s Can-Am Demo Derby at N-Port… . Spokane’s Marc Groskreutz started 30th and finished ninth at the NASCAR Southwest Tour’s L.A. Street Race in downtown Los Angeles on Monday… . Kevin Richards completed 248 laps of the Bank One 250 last Monday at Salt Lake’s Rocky Mountain Raceway and finished 10th. Next race is Sept. 25 at Las Vegas… . With a runner-up finish last Sunday at Tri-City Raceway, Tom Sweatman increased his lead to 14 points in the NASCAR Northwest Series standings ahead of Pete Harding. The season concludes Sept. 18 at Twin Falls… . Joe Kopp won his Supertrap class and placed second in the Hot Shoe race last Saturday at Springfield, Ill., but his luck went downhill from there when he blew an engine and was not able to compete in the Grand National.