Nw Modifieds Schedule Tribute To Founder Miller

In 1985, Gary Miller had an idea to pump life into his favorite racing class. Numbers of the open wheel sprint coupes had dwindled to about a half-dozen cars.

Miller was going to invite some Northport dirt modifieds down to Northwest (now Stateline) Speedway for a race and entice them with $50 tow money to show up.

“We had five dirt cars and four regulars for that first race,” recalled Dave Weaver, a Colville racer who was invited to bring his dirt car down to run on the asphalt. “We ended up having 17 cars for the season championship,” said Weaver, who now heads the group Miller helped form, the Northwest Modifieds.

What grew out of that experiment is one of the northwest’s oldest touring racing associations. Each year since, the mods have traveled across the region, racing at virtually every race track from Portland to Kalispell and most place in between.

Saturday night, to honor Miller who passed away two years ago, the modifieds will run the Gary Miller Memorial 100. The winner of the 100-lap race will earn $1,000.

“There would be no class if Gary Miller had not stepped in,” said Weaver, who now both races and presides as president of the race group. “He may not have done everything right, but he was definitely the catylist that kept it all together.”

The Canadian Oldtimers join the modifieds, as do the Sportsman. Time trials begin at 6 p.m.

Motorcycle road racers return

Returning for the third year to Spokane, W.M.R.R.A. (Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association) will host the sixth round of its Y2000 Championship Series at Spokane Raceway Park’s 2.5-mile asphalt road course in Airway Heights on Saturday and Sunday.

“SRP has become one of the most favorite road race courses in the Northwest,” said local race spokesman/ racer John Lippis. Riders travel from Oregon, Western Washington and Canada to compete here because of a growing reputation for a racetrack that fun by the racers,” Lippis added.

Motorcycle road racing involves closed circuit racing on asphalt, much like formula car racing. Some classes involve speeds upwards of 180 mph with emphasis placed on cornering speed, braking, acceleration and intense passing with 30-40 motorcycles competing at the same time.

Practice Saturday, racing Sunday begins at 10:00 a.m. Sunday’s schedule includes sprint racing (usually 7-12 lap races) for nearly 20 classes. Admission is $8. Street riders are invited to ride the racetrack at noon with the “Taste of Racing” introduction program. ($20.) Info: John Lippis 487-3308 or Jason Farrow 324-0369.

Richards returns to scene of first victory

Evergreen Speedway is a special track for Kevin Richards. It is where Richards made his debut in the NASCAR Winston West Series three years ago. It is also where he won his first race in the series last year. And it is the closest track on the schedule to Spokane, where Richards is based.

Richards, who ranks second in the NASCAR Winston West Series championship standings, hopes to close ground on the leader when the series visits Evergreen Speedway this Sunday.

As the defending champion of the race, Richards is optimistic about his chances for a repeat win. “It’s one of my favorite tracks because I ran on it the most through my tour racing and everything we’ve done,” Richards said of the Monroe, Wash., facility. “I’ve been on it more than any other track we go to. I feel that we have a little bit of an edge there because we raced there quite a bit. We consider it our home track. It’s the closest one to us.”

Finals field forms

Spokane Raceway Park’s World Finals is next Friday thru Sunday with Bobby Baldwin returning to defend his top fuel title. But the funny car crown will go to someone else because Jerry Toliver isn’t on the list of pre-entries.

One new funny car entrant is former NHRA world champ Cruz Pedregon, the only driver to dethrone John Force as a world champ in the decade of the 1990s. Gary Densham returns after a year’s absence.

Also back is an unretired Gordie Bonin in top fuel along with 72-year-old Chris Karamesines, who makes Spokane one of his few stops on the match-race circuit.

Pit stops

The next high school drag racing series event is Friday night at Spokane Raceway Park. Time trials are at 5:30. That is followed by SRP’s regular weekly drag racing program Saturday (time trials at 3:30) and stock cars (time trials at 5)… . The Night Motocross Racing Series continues this Friday at the Spokane Motorsports Complex (Gates 5 p.m.), with the Day Series running Saturday (Gates 7 a.m.)… . The second round of the Super TT Series comes to the Spokane Motorsports Complex Saturday, featuring four classes of bikes, plus a dirt track class. Info: 800-223-7661… . Eagle Track in Republic runs its mid-season championship on Saturday (TT noon).

Streaks & stats

Sean Ruble won his third straight Hobby Compact main at SRP while Tom Dry ended John McCroskey’s two-race Fever Four streak… . Jesse Saxby pushed his Street Eliminator win streak to two, but Luke Arneson may be even hotter, having made the final round each of the past four weeks, winning twice and being runner-up the last two weeks. Arneson’s been to the final round in nine of 14 weeks… . So you may have wondered how Corey Wolfe could be racing at two places on the same night? Yep. Wolfe first qualified at Stateline Speedway for the Idaho 200, then packed up his trailer and literally raced to Spokane Raceway Park to run in a late-model event. Wolfe arrived moments before the heat race and then finished second in the feature to Rocky Erickson. Sunday, Wolfe was fifth in the 200… . Mark Jones won last Saturday’s Northwest Late Model 4s race at Kalispell, Mont., and closed the gap between himself (469) and Kevin McKeehan (490) in series points. The compact later models visit Wenatchee Saturday… . Joe Kopp remains third in AMA Grand National points following last Saturday’s fifth-place finish at Hutchinson, Kan. Will Davis won the race. Kopp is off to Oklahoma City for Saturday’s PACE national race… . Josh Roberts became the first Northwest Modified driver to win a second race this season with his win Saturday at Tri City Raceway.