DP kindles drag memories

A nostalgia craze has swept through drag racing in recent years.

Memorable and venerable old race cars are being located, restored and raced.

Local enthusiasts of the sport will get a chance to view some classic cars and vintage film Saturday when the Dragins car club stage its first Deer Park Drag Strip Reunion.

Since the old drag strip, which operated from the early 1950s to the 1970s, has returned to being a working airport, the reunion will be held at the Deer Park Fairgrounds beginning a 10 a.m. Admission is $5 per carload.

The idea for the reunion came together while many racers attended last spring’s funeral of noted local drag racer Jim Hordemann.

“We were talking and saying that the only time we all seem to get together are things like this,” said Randy Johnson, one of the event organizers.

Through a sad passing came the motivation to gather together old race cars such as those of John Weibe and a local favorite, the Eagle Electric Top Fueler. The Eagle’s former driver, Frank Rupert, is also supposed to come in from Calfiornia, as is Gordie Bonin, a resident in Deer Park, the town where he scored his first professional drag racing victory back in 1972.

But the racecars might be upstaged by a collection of vintage movies that, according to Johnson, Dragins president Greg Fury has collected, edited and put to a classic soundtrack of music. The reunion – held indoors and outdoors – will also feature displays of hot rods and custom cars.

Johnson, 57, recalled the days when at age 12 or 13 he was too young to get into the pits at Deer Park. Johnson would tag along to watch his brother race.

“He’d give me enough money to buy a hot dog and a pop and I’d sit there all day,” Johnson said. “I was there when Vern Massie went end-over-end in the old Wilbur-Massie car.”

Johnson said that the organizing committee has fielded calls and inquiries from all over.

A similar event at Arlington, Wash., site of another former airport drag strip, drew huge crowds.

Superstocks set for finale

You wouldn’t know by talking to Kevin Richards that he has an excruciatingly close points race on his hands and hoping Fed-X gets parts to him in time to repair his racecar in the final Inland Northwest Superstock (INSSA) Association race of the year.

“We’re just going to go out and do what we’ve done all year,” Richards said in a relaxed tone.

Richards has seen defending Inland Northwest Superstock (INSSA) champion Dan Garber close to within 17 points of the lead going into the Dr. Pepper/7UP 100 Saturday at Stateline Speedway.

A thorough inspection of his car revealed a problem with the rear end that has folks scrambling to get parts and fix in time.

“It would have broken,” Richards said.

The mechanical problem is just another late-season glitch that has stopped by to visit in what has otherwise been a dominating season for the Newman Lake driver.

In his last race, Richards’ McClintock and Turk/Garco Chevrolet had a right front tire go down in the last 20 laps. Despite a trip to the pits to change the tire and having to restart the race in the back, Richards still climbed to sixth when the checkered flag flew.

Saturday promises to offer up some drama and added interest where it maybe hasn’t been before.

“The top five qualifiers get bonus points,” Garber said.

The heat race is worth 20 points, said Garber, who admits he dislikes heat races except for Saturdays, when how he does might be enough to allow him to defend his title. “The heat race is as important as the last 10 laps of the main.”

Saturday’s race will also be the championship event for Hobby Cars. Craig Felix, who leads Brian Husk in the points race, takes a three-race winning streak into the finale. Fever Four Hobbies, normally Wednesday Night Fever competitors, will also run. Time trials begin at 6 p.m.

Pit stops

The Spokane Pro Gas Association will run its championship race Saturday night on the drag strip at Spokane Raceway Park. The Sportsman Superstocks compete for their championship race too on the oval. Gates open at 3 p.m. for both tracks. On Sunday, the track’s High School Drag Racing Series concludes with a race that begins with gates opening at 10 a.m.

Flat track motorcycle racing returns to Sunset Speedway at the Motorsports Complex when the Intermountain Motorcycle Club run back-to-back races Saturday and Sunday. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.

Streaks and stats

Blaine Sneva will take a two-race win streak into this weekend’s Northwest Modified season championship at the Mission Valley Speedway in Ronan, Mont., on Saturday and Sunday. It will take a perfect weekend for Sneva and an uncharacteristic performance by current points leader Frankie Volz Jr. to have Sneva overtake him. … Mel Aukerman has won three straight main events going into last night’s Fever Four Hobby race in Stateline’s Wednesday Night Fever. … Steve Zuber is the new Fever Four champion at Northport, taking Brian Cole by a 604-575 margin in point standings released by the track. Former Northwest Modified champion Greg Ochs picked up where he left off last year, winning the open wheel title at the track by seven points over Gord Ziatsoff. The new Street Stock champion is Bill Jackson Sr., who finished with a 523-491 edge over Kodi Anderson.