Srp Prepares For Climactic Points Races
Points races are wrapped up at Stateline Speedway after last week’s racing program, but Spokane Raceway Park will have one more week to decide who reigns as 2000 champions.
SRP will have stock car and drag racing Saturday. Drag time trials begin at 3:30 and stock cars qualify starting at 5 p.m.
Stateline Speedway closes out its season with the third of a series of Demolition Derbys this Saturday night beginning at 6.
Last Saturday, Stateline decided at least two season champions, the most exciting of which was in the Mini-Trucks, where Mark DeBoodt took advantage of Rob Tipp’s broken camshaft and took that title.
Bill Currier won for the 17th time this season and walked away with the Hobby Stock title.
Big payout on line
The Inland Northwest’s biggest and richest late model stock car race, the 13th annual Fall Classic, runs Friday through Sunday in Yakima.
And as if $10,000 in first-place money wasn’t enough to draw the best late-model drivers to the half-mile oval, a couple of special bonuses could make the winner rich.
The winner of the Tour/Late Model race pockets $10,000. But if the winning driver has also won a weekly event at Yakima Speedway during the season, there’s an additional $25,000 bonus at stake. And, if a driver qualifies first or second in that class, then chooses to go to the back of the field for the start of the main event, then emerges as the winner, that person will take home a $20,000 bonus. Bottom line: a potential of $55,000 to the winner.
Hydro race exceeds projections
The Northwest Water Competition MDA Short Course Nationals last weekend at Moses Lake was an unprecedented success, according to organizer Roy Mackey of Spokane.
There were 150 boats and 78 drivers, Mackey said, adding that those drivers established 12 American Outboard Federation national records.
Placing third during this event in his 102 Stock Hydro boat was Kerry Clellen of Spokane, and that was all he needed to win the RACE 2000 championship and a trip to Phoenix to see the International Hot Boat Drags on Firebird Lake.
Brent Harnack from Spokane had engine trouble on Saturday in the Super F Hydro. He maintained his overall points lead and again will carry the number US-1 on his boat for 2001.
Pit stops
Motocross goes under the lights on Friday night at the Spokane Motorsports Complex with a series race beginning at 5 p.m. The Spokane Kart Racing Association closes its 2000 season on Saturday at the Spokane Motorsports Complex beginning at noon.
Streaks, stats
Josh Roberts of Ephrata scored his sixth Northwest Modified Series victory of the season Saturday at Stateline Speedway and in the process finished a runaway season championship (1,243 points) over Spokane’s Alan Quist (990) and Dave Weaver (944) of Colville… . Jim Seivers won for the second straight week in Spokane Raceway Park’s Super Pro class while Sally Moore was runner-up again in Street Eliminator. Sean Ruble has won his last three SRP Hobby Compact races, while John McCroskey has won three of the last four Fever Four events. It took 15 races for Garrett Evans (2583) to win the closest battle in NASCAR Northwest Series history - a single point over Gary Lewis (2582). Ken Kaltschmidt of Marion, Mont., was third with 2534 points… . Joe Kopp was second to Rich King in last week’s Sacramento Mile PACE motorcycle race. Kopp, who leads AMA Grand National points, is currently fifth in the PACE series and will race this week at Manzanita Speedway near Phoenix.