Doug Pace: Colville’s Tiana Berkeley continues success on Washington Modified Tour
Colville’s Tiana Berkeley gears up for a big Memorial Day weekend of racing as the Washington Modified Tour arrives at Skagit Speedway located just south of Bellingham.
The race marks Berkeley’s fifth start of the season on the tour in which she ranks 14th out of 57 drivers in the championship standings.
Berkeley has built a solid career in dirt track racing, starting at the region’s two facilities, Eagle Track Raceway in Republic and Northport International Raceway. Earning championships and main event victories in the Hornet divisions, Berkeley moved to the high-horsepower Modifieds just after her high school graduation and has been at it since.
Similar to her approach in Hornets, Berkeley worked on her craft at the local level before setting out to conquer the region’s top Modified touring division. That decision brought huge accomplishments but also left little opportunities to race at either of her local tracks.
“Running for points last year on the Washington Modified Tour was a success,” Berkeley said. “We ran 17 races and finished in third place out of 104 registered drivers. Only one of the races was local (Eagle), but we’ll be back there again this season and it should be a good event.”
Berkeley gets her motivation to succeed from a strong support system of friends, family and sponsors. The support has been humbling for the only female racer on the tour.
“My family, friends and fans have kept me going and motivated,” she said. “I am very grateful for the opportunity to be racing. Our family has enjoyed all the time we get to spend together traveling all over the state. It has made us form a strong bond in which I believe every family should have. I look forward to seeing what the season and future has in store for me.”
Behar stands in fourth place
While NASCAR’s Nicole Behar endured her first finish this season outside the top-five running order (17th), some of her competitors also had off nights last weekend in San Bernardino, California, allowing the East Valley High School graduate to move up to the fourth position in the chase for the season championship.
No NASCAR K&N Pro Series female driver has finished higher than fourth place in a season championship. Julia Landauer, who set the mark in 2016, holds down the eighth-place position in this season’s points chase.
Behar is five points behind third-place Derek Kraus and 50 points behind second-place and most recent winner, Chris Eggleston.
Todd Gilliland, who won the race two weeks ago at Spokane County Raceway, continues to lead the championship standings as the series heads to its halfway point on June 10 with the running of the NAPA 150 at Colorado National Speedway.
Eagle, Northport start up
Eagle Track Raceway and Northport International Raceway start this weekend with a full slate of events for the dirt track facilities. Known for exciting racing programs, a great atmosphere for spectators and affordable pricing, the region’s two dirt racing ovals are hidden gems worth checking out.
Eagle’s program features two days of action beginning Saturday. Racing will be the stars of the Winged Sprint Cars division, two classes of four-cylinders, Super Stocks and the popular Dwarf class with cars that have similar looks to old 1940s racers. Info: eagletrackraceway.com.
Northport starts Saturday night with the ground-pounding Modified class, truck racing, Hornets, Fever Fours and go-karts on the infield.
Darren Dudley leads the Modified ranks as the track’s defending champion but will be challenged by Post Falls’ Britt Francis, Chewelah’s Dan Traaen, Derek Campbell (Northport) and a slew of Canadian racers. Info: northportinternationalraceway.com.