By Andrew Kunas
VANCOUVER, Wash. – After losing its last two events to the weather in Washington, the NorthWest Wingless Tour sprint car series, the premier non-wing sprint car tour in the Pacific Northwest, now looks to get back to racing with a pair of events in Oregon this Friday and Saturday.
The non-wing 360 sprint cars will make their the only scheduled appearance of 2011 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. on Friday night. Then on Saturday, the NWWT will make its second attempt at running its inaugural event at Coos Bay Speedway, located just minutes from the Oregon coast. The NWWT’s first scheduled event at Coos Bay Speedway was rained out on May 22nd last year.
With weather claiming both of the NWWT’s events in May, it is ironic that the NWWT’s last event at Willamette Speedway in 2010 was also rained out. Mark Nichols of Eagle Creek, Ore. won the lone event completed at the 3/10-mile clay oval last season on July 30th. It was also Nichols’ only career NWWT win. Shane Forte’ won the other NWWT event run at Willamette Speedway on October 3, 2009.
Assuming the weather does not interfere this time around, the 1/4-mile long Coos Bay Speedway on Saturday will become the sixth different track to run a NorthWest Wingless Tour sprint car event in the tour’s short history. Originally a pavement track, the asphalt was covered in dirt in 2007 and has since hosted a variety of dirt track events, including a handful of winged and non-winged sprint car events.
Defending series champion Theo McCarty, who finished second in the season opener at Cottage Grove Speedway on April 30th, leads the series heading into the weekend. The Hillsboro, Ore. driver holds a slim four-point lead over Gaston, Ore.’s Corey Esteban, who finished sixth in the Cottage Grove race. 2009 series champion Kyle Miller, who won at Cottage Grove, currently plans to race in Friday’s event at Willamette Speedway.
More information on the NorthWest Wingless Tour sprint car series can be found online at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com.
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On the web…
Willamette Speedway – Lebanon, OR: http://www.trophymotorsports.com
Coos Bay Speedway – Coos Bay, OR: http://www.coosbayspeedway.us
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NWWT: The NorthWest Wingless Tour sprint car series
http://www.nwwinglesstour.com