RHONDA COSTA-LANDERS/Nevada Appeal Northern Nevada supermodified drives in the ASA/WSSRL will head to Washington state Friday to compete in back-to-back races at Spokane Raceway Park and Wenatchee Valley's Super Oval. Troy Regier, No. 98, drives the S&S Motorsports car for Steve Shaw and Tom Silsby of Carson City and is the current points leader. Amy Barnes of Minden, No. 67, is in the top-10 and having a good season. The No. 96 is driven by Kurt Wartman of Boise, and owned by Courtney Lewis of Reno.
The American Speed Association/Western States Supermodified Racing League is looking at back-to-back races this weekend in the state of Washington.
The first is at Spokane Raceway Park in Spokane on Friday. The race is 40 laps on the one-half mile paved oval and is a first for most of the drivers in the series. The second race is Saturday at Wenatchee Valley's Super Oval in Wenatchee. It is a 50-lap feature race on what is touted as the "fastest quarter-mile oval on asphalt."
Record time on the Wentachee track is a 10.753 seconds by Trevor Montgomery in a sprint car. Track officials are optimistic the record could fall Saturday when the supermodifieds hit the track.
"The last time we raced at Wenatchee was in 2001 or 2002," said Steve Shaw, co-owner of the No. 98 S&S Motorsports racecar, driven by Troy Regier of Dinuba, Calif. "We've never raced Spokane.
"But Troy ought to do well. It's a half-mile and Troy's not bothered by higher speeds. He likes the big tracks. And for Wenatchee, it's a real smooth surface - a very fast quarter-mile, but real hard to pass on."
All five teams from Northern Nevada - S&S Motorsports and Dale Lamborn, both out of Carson City, Amy Barnes and Eric Silsby, teammates from Minden, and Kirk Wartman driving for Courtney Lewis in Reno will be at the Washington races.
Dale Lamborn, driver of the No. 48, has not raced Spokane either, but remembers all too well what happened at a past race at Wenatchee.
"I had a big wreck there," he said. "Maybe it was 1999.
"I was racing with Kelly Newman and he came up on a slower car. Kelly thought he was clear (by me) to pass, but I was right on him. We collided and I ran over his right rear tire, tumbled in the air, over and along the fence a bit, then landed back on the track.
"That's all I remember from the deal. That and taking an ambulance ride to the infield. The car was pretty tore up."
Lamborn said in returning to Wenatchee he's not too concerned about the crash, he's gotten over it. After an incident at Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City July 4, the motor is fixed and the car is ready for racing.
"Three races in eight days is a big gamble," Lamborn said. "This season has been up and down for me. The one race I've finished, I won.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen (in Washington). I've been in this situation before. I can't go to a race and be conservative, that's not me. I'm hoping for the best, and not expecting the worse."
Results of Friday's race will be in Sunday's Nevada Appeal; results from Saturday will be in Monday's edition.
For information on the series, visit www.wssrl.com.
•Contact Rhonda Costa-Landers at rcosta-landers@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.