Sneva heads toward Stateline
Fresh off a runner-up finish in the 42nd Annual Yakima Speedway Apple Cup Modified main event, Blaine Sneva heads to Stateline Speedway this weekend looking for his first win of 2008 and a strong run toward the Northwest Modified championship.
Challenging Sneva this weekend for potential victory will be Frankie Volz Jr., who earned a fourth-place finish at Yakima, and a strong field of drivers set to debut their cars in the first points race of the season.
Sneva understands that many of Modified’s best will be out to win this weekend and that’s just fine with the Coeur d’Alene resident. A strong run in Yakima was all the motivation Sneva needed to prepare for 2008.
“We weren’t the dogs down there in Yakima, that’s for sure,” Sneva said. “He (Apple Cup winner Shane Mitchell, who hails from Orondo, outside of Wenatchee) had a great car and I know what that’s like to be in that dominant situation. Heck, I wasn’t even thinking of running Apple Cup, but as the time came it started to sound like a fun race to go down and run and we were off.”
The Stateline competition may have hoped the veteran racer had stayed home.
“We got to put some laps on the car,” Sneva said. “I changed about 100 different things last weekend and while we didn’t get any faster, we could go anywhere we wanted to on the track.”
While not planning for the Northwest Modified championship, Sneva admits it’s a nice goal to have for 2008.
“It’d be fun to be a champion again, but I was surprised with this group of racers who went down to Yakima, and I know at some point to win the championship we’ll have to deal with those Wenatchee boys again (Kevin Bull of Wenatchee ran third). Right now, racing’s fun and that’s the focus.”
As a veteran driver, Sneva knows that consistency will be crucial to any hopes of nabbing another championship. In one season, Sneva won 28 of 31 races and did not capture the top prize.
“You can win them all in one year and not be the champ and get no wins and come out on top,” he said. “It’s (winning a championship) a tough deal to do.”
With the season opener at Sneva’s home track, he is sure of one goal.
“I don’t want anyone to beat me at Stateline, because we’ve run a ton of laps there and know how to get around the place,” he said.
Stateline also hosts the season opener for the INSCA Winged Sprint Cars. Tony Berry is the defending series champion and will be out to continue his reign.
Sunset opens
Sunset Speedway plays host to its season-opener Saturday and one driver will be in the hunt for his fourth consecutive championship.
Joe Bird, a sixth-grader at Meadow Ridge Elementary in Mead, aims to grab the title again in the Junior II class at the fifth-mile dirt oval. Standing in his way will be Jeremy Nereaux and Braeden Havens. While both are Bird’s friends away from the track, come Saturday nights it’s all about the competition.
“You have to go about it like in years past when I’ve raced those guys,” the 12-year-old said. “We’re friends off the track, but on it you have to respect them and race as hard as you can for the win.”
Gates open at 4 p.m. Admission is free at the track located on the grounds of Spokane’s ORV Park. Also racing this weekend will be Junior I drivers and F200 adult competitors.