NW MOTORSPORTS: Ready to try his luck twice

Call it one part harebrained idea and an equal measure of dream come true.

That sums up Tony Berry’s plan for Saturday at Stateline Speedway, where the young driver will be at the wheel of two drastically different race cars on the same night – a swift sprint car and a lumbering late model.

“I’ve had some harebrained ideas and this might be right up there,” Berry said.

The ASA Northwest Tour is back at the track for a race rescheduled after a rainout on June 9, but Berry was going to be there anyway for the third race in the Inland Northwest Sprint Car Series. Now he can also break out his new late model and put some laps on it.

“They are two totally different animals,” Berry said of the winged sprint and full-bodied stock car.

At the beginning of the season, Berry decided the sprint car team was going to be the primary focus. But, as luck would have it, he gets to do double duty on the quarter-mile.

“It was just too good to pass up,” said Berry, the 2006 Inland Northwest Superstock Rookie of the Year. “We had a great deal of success with the late model and got a new one over the winter,”

Tour rules allowed Berry to – with limited modifications – run that series.

“We’re not chasing points,” he said. “It’s a one-off, for-fun race.”

But it also promises to be a healthy workout that might qualify Berry for Sunday’s Ironman Coeur d’Alene if he were truly sadistic.

“The sprint car is actually more physically demanding than the late model,” Berry said. “With the late model it’s all about rhythm, being smooth and hitting your mark.

“The difference between the late model and the sprint car is unbelievable. You get in that sprint car with that great big wing and that much tire surface area. As a driver, you just have to consciously stand on the gas as much as possible.”

Berry said the focus for the year, including Saturday, is the sprint car. And if the Bartle-Berry team can figure out some little bugs, they could see a trip to the winner’s circle.

Recently at Pablo, Mont., the team qualified second and finished fourth, all with just seven of eight cylinders firing.

Then, at the Stateline opener over Memorial Day weekend, they broke a valve in practice. Berry said their pit-side rebuild was amazing.

“It kind of worked – it slid up and down in the valve guide,” Berry said. “We assembled it at the track and everyone was looking at us like we were absolutely crazy.”

Cancellation

The Sunday Shootout Race at SRP has been canceled. Randy Ray, co-promoter of the drag racing event, which was originally scheduled for Sunday at Spokane Raceway Park, said the race has been canceled because of scheduling conflicts at the track.

Ray said he and his partner, Tom Clark, will look at rescheduling the event later in the season. Saturday’s Pro Gas Association race will take place as scheduled.

On the oval, SRP’s schedule lists Super Modifieds, Hobby Cars and Compacts. Gates open at 5 p.m. on both tracks.

Pit stops

Mods, Streetstocks and Compacts will be churning up the dirt Saturday at Eagle Track in Republic with time trials set for 3 p.m. Info: garyolson@bossig.com. Gary Olsen: 509-779-4634. Buck Strauch: 509-775-3508.

“Go-karts will be racing both on the dirt and asphalt this weekend at the Spokane Motorsports complex in Airway Heights. Saturday features both the Spokane Kart Racing Association running a daytime race while Sunset Speedway’s racers are in action under the lights. Gates open at 3 p.m., with racing at 7 at Sunset. Times are unavailable for the SKRA events. Sunday, SKRA has their fifth points race of the season. Info: Bob or Diane Thompson (509) 924-6755.

Streaks ‘n’ stats

Tim Sawyer became the first driver to win two races this season in the Northwest Modified Series, claiming victory last Saturday at Spokane Raceway Park. … Also at SRP, Ray Hall turned the fast time of the night into a Hobby Stock win. … Dave Garber became the only inland Northwest Superstock driver to win two main events following his win last week at Stateline.