Local racers pay off in Vegas

Drivers from across the western United States and Canada converged on Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Bullring facility last weekend for their annual Fall Classic 150-lap late model event.

Inland Empire drivers Shelby Thompson, Dave Garber and Nathan Fleury made their way to the high-banked three-eighths-mile track with all three coming home with strong showings.

Thompson, who ran the event last year and raced his way to as high as second place on the track before contact with Sprint Cup star Kyle Busch relegated both to the pits, showed that last year was no fluke.

Posting the fifth-quickest lap in qualifying gave Thompson a strong starting position in the qualifying heats that determined the main event’s 26-car grid. Running second in the qualifier locked the Mead High School graduate into the main event.

Thompson’s Valley Bowl Chevrolet ran as high as third in the evening’s race but fell back late and finished fifth in only his second trip to the Vegas facility.

Garber, the two-time INSSA champion, had to race his way into the finale after a subpar qualifying effort put the Pend Oreille Mechanical Pontiac in the last-chance race at the tail-end of the field.

Racing through the pack to second place, Garber locked himself into the final position in the A-main field and raced from 26th to 16th in 150 laps.

Fleury, who won an all-expense-paid trip to the Fall Classic by virtue of being the 2008 ICAR champion, started on the pole of the last-chance race and was holding down a transfer spot when contact with another car forced him to restart ninth. Racing back to third, Fleury missed the transfer spot by one position and was forced to wait on the sidelines for a potential entry in the A-main should a top qualifier not make the green flag.

No one dropped out and Fleury’s Two Brothers Concrete Racing Team’s weekend was over. Fleury was a crowd favorite and the concept of sending the ICAR champion to the event was well-received in the pit area and the grandstands, giving 2009’s group of ICAR drivers a strong incentive to run for a championship in hopes of returning to Las Vegas.

Indoor racing

Outdoor racing goes dormant for area racing teams, but indoor racing will be in full swing. FastKart Indoor Raceway will hold its Tuesday night racing leagues beginning in November, and for the ninth year the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds will host flat-track Motocross and Go-Kart racing.

Fairgrounds Arena racing begins Nov. 8 with Go-Karts racing the morning program and motorcycles practicing in the afternoon and racing that evening.

Adult and junior divisions will be racing the morning go-kart classes. Info: Jim Dodson at Racetech, 489-8010.

Dozens of motorcycle classes will be in action during the nine-race season. Ages 4 and older are welcome to compete. To learn more about the Motocross schedule and rules package contact Mark Anderson, 990-4854.

Robertson dies

Longtime Inland Empire open-wheel racer George Robertson died Sunday at age 82.

A Palouse-area farmer and Lewiston businessman, Robertson is best known for racing super modifieds at the Spokane Fairgrounds race track and other Northwest facilities during a stellar 30-year career that began in 1952.

Known as a “gentleman” racer during his racing exploits, Robertson captured many wins on the Canadian-American Racing Association (CAMRA) series in the familiar red and white No. 3 and captured several top honors, including the 1973 championship he won over Jerry Sneva.

Other Robertson highlights included track championships at Lewiston Motor Speedway, three Silver Cup championships in Edmonton, Alberta, and logging more than 1.3 million miles of travel to and from race tracks across the western United States and Canada from 1952 to his final race in 1983.

Robertson retired from business and racing to a farm in Rosalia, where he raised cattle and grew hay.

Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. today at Heritage Funeral Home on Government Way in Spokane. His family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations on Robertson’s behalf can be extended to the Moose Organization in Lewiston or to Spokane’s Shriners Hospital.