Spokane County Raceway, Stateline Speedway undergo repairs, upgrades in preparation for new season

With the mild winter across the Inland Empire, operators of Spokane County Raceway and Stateline Speedway have taken full advantage to complete much needed upgrades and repairs.

At SCR, much of the work has been centered on the half-mile oval, which will begin the year under the leadership of father and son partners Rick and Joe Nelson along with consulting from former Stateline owner Joe Doellefeld. The pair signed a lease during the winter with Craig Smith, who is Spokane County’s overall operational contractor running SCR after several failed promoters in recent years.

Aligned with a strong group of officials and business partners, the Nelsons have put together an ambitious plan of operation that will focus on family fun, affordable racing and improvements to the oval’s pit area, concession stands and operations.

Improvements of note include power and water installed into the pit area where each stall can draw from the main junction. Paving will be completed later this month to add a second lane of pit stalls and access that should increase the total number of working areas to more than 60, according to Doellefeld. The racing surface and outer pit area will be sealed.

Action on the track begins this afternoon with a test-and-tune session. Open to all classes, drivers and crews will get a half-day’s worth of practice on the half-mile in preparation for the May 2 opener.

Highlights of the 2015 oval schedule include a stop by the Tri-Track Super Late Model Series in August for the running of the inaugural I-90 Challenge, a return to the Inland Empire by two popular touring divisions – the Northwest Pro 4 Alliance and Rocky Mountain Challenge Series – and two dates for the Northwest Modified Series.

For more information regarding all of SCR’s racing action, log onto spokanecountyraceway.com.

Stateline Speedway has already held one test session for the 2015 season with another scheduled for today. All of the action is going on while the facility wraps up its pit area construction projects that bring new lighting, retaining walls and landscaping to the Post Falls-based quarter-mile facility owner by Alaska businessman William Slayden.

The historic venue was damaged by a thunderstorm last August just before the start of the popular Idaho 200. Despite damage to the light tower, the track closed out 2014 on a strong note and heads into the new season with promise. NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series returns for a 150-lap event on July 11, which will be televised on NBC Sports.

“We’ve been working hard over the winter,” said Stateline general manager Larry Bertrand. “When we put up the new light tower, the electrical work allowed us to put new wiring into the pits, which added additional power sources. The ground being dug up for the new electrical work gave us the chance to add water lines to the pits, the first time that the track has had that.

“Having work done and towers erected gave us a chance to upgrade speaker units and lines and improved the sound system in there. The asphalt had to be redone (in the pits) and we’re planning to add new pit stalls that should give us close to 100 when it’s all done later in the spring.”

To reach Motorsports Correspondent Doug Pace or for story suggestions email him at racingnewssource@gmail.com