NW Motorsports: Berry, Popple sprint to finish
Another title chase will come down to the last race – and possibly the last laps – when the Mission Foods Inland Northwest Sprint Car Association series wraps up its inaugural season Saturday at Stateline Speedway.
Just 22 points separate leader Tony Berry from Justin Popple, the only racers who are in contention for the top spot.
While both drivers are fierce competitors on the track, they remain good buddies otherwise. The two staged a classic battle on Aug. 11 at Stateline, racing wheel to wheel and nose to tail down to the finish, with Popple taking the checker.
Berry has maintained the lead despite not winning a main event this season.
“Our year has been a model of consistency,” Berry said. “That being said, we show up each week to win. It’d be great to finish off the season with a win this Saturday.”
“I am excited that we can head into the final race of the year with a shot at the championship at a track that, I think, we’re figuring out more and more each time we visit,” Popple said.
Even though he’s out of title contention, third-place Cole Tupling, 16, is also the leading rookie of the year contender.
SRP championships set
Spokane Raceway Park wraps up its season Saturday with the championships to be settled on the drag strip.
Gates open at noon for a bracket racing program that has both points races up for grabs.
Garber holds on
He made it interesting in the end, but Dave Garber wound up as the Inland Northwest Superstock Association champion.
Involved in a multicar crash early, Garber finished 19 laps before a broken suspension part knocked him out of the Hooters Hot Wings 100 at Stateline Speedway, won by Andy Brown.
Garber finished with a 1,174-1,116 margin over Corey Allard of Sagle, Idaho.
Northport races Sunday
Northport International Raceway will come one step closer to wrapping up one of its latest seasons Sunday with a racing program featuring its four regular race classes.
Modifieds, Street Stocks, Fever 4s and Hornets will be on the track for time trials at 1 p.m. The season will wrap up in two weeks on Oct. 14.
Info: Don Hegel, 509-258-7007 or www. northportinternationalraceway.com
Title stays in family
Randy Ray of Spokane kept the Spokane Pro Gas Association championship in the family by winning the group’s title last Saturday at SRP.
Ray, whose wife, Sharon, topped the 2006 points, led the points going into the final race but had to wait and see what happened after he lost in a preliminary round to Randy Reynolds, his closest challenger.
Reynolds needed to advance two more rounds into the race to take the championship. The St. Maries driver was beaten the following round and ended losing his bid by16 points.
Pit stops
Kevin Richards, Shelby Thompson and Dave Garber are some of the Spokane-area drivers who will travel to Yakima Speedway for the 20th edition of the Fall Classic. The feature race takes place Sunday with a 1 p.m. start.
“In the Pro Gas Association finale at SRP last Saturday, Scott Killebrew was in the hunt for the championship until he hit a deer that crossed the track in the shutdown area. The deer was killed, along with Killebrew’s title hopes. The collision caused extensive front-end damage to Killebrew’s 1985 Thunderbird, but he promises to have it fixed in time to run in the SRP season finale.
Streaks ‘n’ stats
Tim Sawyer of Spokane took the lead nine laps into the main event and held on to take the race and win the Northwest Modified Series championship last Saturday. Sawyer wound up two points ahead on Colville’s Chris Ochs.