Todd Gilliland, Nicole Behar off to fast starts in auto racing

NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series kicked off its West Coast competition on March 18 with a four-race swing over a 13-day period. When the dust settled reigning champion Todd Gilliland had swept all four-pole awards and claimed three consecutive victories.

While all eyes were on Gilliland’s strong performance, Otis Orchard’s Nicole Behar quietly established herself as a championship contender on the strength of four top-10 finishes including a fourth-place run at Irwindale Speedway in greater Los Angeles.

The 19-year-old holds the fourth-place position in the championship standings, just 39 markers behind Gilliland.

Behar, who had run selected events across late model, ARCA and NASCAR divisions in 2016, announced during the off-season that she would return full-time to the K&N Pro Series this season as she attempts to become the first female driver to claim the championship. In her only full-time season on the series (2015) Behar earned a top-10 points finish while finishing third in the Rookie of the Year standings. Behar is a past member of NASCAR’s Next Program that recognizes up and coming talent in short-track racing.

The graduate of East Valley High School holds the ARCA and NASCAR K&N Pro Series record for highest female finish (second-place) and with steady improvement in the heavier NASCAR race cars, this may be the season in which she challenges the likes of 2015 champion Chris Eggleston and Gilliland for the title.

Behar will also have to contend with Medical Lake’s Braeden Havens who announced that he would run selected NASCAR events in addition to his full-time commitments with the Northwest Super Late Model Series.

NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series returns to Spokane County Raceway on May 13 for its lone race of the season in Eastern Washington.

Spokane County Raceway

Motorsports across the Inland Empire get underway in coming weeks with some facilities including Spokane County Raceway and the Spokane Kart Racing Association hosting events this weekend.

With a region featuring two paved ovals, an NHRA-sanctioned drag strip, one of the top road courses in the Northwest, two karting facilities, a motocross complex, a flat-track motorcycle facility, two clay ovals, an incredible sprint boat course and so much more, race fans are never wanting for an event from April to mid-fall.

SCR’s drag strip features a test and tune session on Saturday that also allows racers to have technical officials inspect their cars and provide certification.

The drag strip and SCR’s half-mile paved oval will have feature national-level events in 2017 including NASCAR’s return to the oval for the first time since 2013. Also making stops at the half-mile this season will be the Northwest Super Late Model Series and the WESCO Sprint Car Series.

Nitro Funny Car racing, Vintage Drags and the Les Schwab Summer Nationals make up the highlight events of the quarter-mile drag strips season.

Road course events including the annual SOVERN Racing Series and the Northwest Grand Prix are part of an exciting slate of racing on the two-mile circuit.

Yakima Speedway

The longest continually held stock car event in the Northwest, Yakima Speedway’s Apple Cup, returns this weekend for its 51st running. Featuring the regions best Super Late Model drivers looking to add their name to illustrious stock car racing trophy, the race is a staple of early season competition.

Filled with two action-packed days of racing, the famed event has a showcases some of the biggest names in the sport earning the right to be called Apple Cup champions, including defending race winner Garrett Evans.

Three regional touring divisions, the Columbia River Legend Series, West Coast Late Models and the Northwest Pro 4 Alliance kick their seasons off with racing at the half-mile. All three groups have events schedule in the Spokane region during the 2017 season.

Racing gets underway on Saturday with qualifying in all four divisions followed by trophy dashes and positioning heats. Sunday’s finales take the green flag at noon. For more information on this weekend’s Apple Cup event log onto yakimaspeedway.us.