TJ Sneva among 'Thunder in Valley' entries

TJ Sneva from Spokane will chase victory July 12 at the Wenatchee Super Oval at “Thunder in the Valley.” File photo

WENATCHEE, Wash. — Wenatchee Valley Super Oval’s premiere open wheel race, “Thunder in the Valley,” is set for July 12.

The 10th annual edition of the race will feature a familiar racing name as TJ Sneva from Spokane will headline a contingent of entries from the Inland Winged Sprints in a race that pays $3,000 to win and $500 to start. Sneva is the son of the late Jerry Sneva.

Presented by Clearwater Saloon and Casino, this night of racing also features the Speed Tour Super Modified the Ted Mitchell Modified Shootout for WVSO B mods and Freedom Mods as well as the Northwest Focus Midgets.

“It’s always been a sprint car open wheel modified show,” speedway general manager Jeremy Andres wrote in a text message. “This is the first year we’ve had super modified back in 22 years at the Super Oval,” he added.
Chloe Hudson is the defending sprint car winner.

Drivers can pre-enter for all divisions on Pit Pay App. Pit passes can be purchased at pit gate or on PitPay App. Tickets are also available on wvso.com.

Garber wins at Mission

Mission Valley Photo

David Garber from Spokane shows off the hardware and payout he earned following his win at the Twin 50’s late model race at Mission Valley Super Speedway in Ronan, Montana, June 28. The race was a warm-up for the running of the 34th Annual Montana 200 at Mission, July 11-12. Visit https://www.missionvalleysuperoval.com for further information.

Chase Elliott breaks drought with victory at EchoPark

HAMPTON, Ga. (June 29, 2025) – Timing his pass on the last lap to perfection, Georgia native Chase Elliott charged past Brad Keselowski and held off the driver of the No. 6 Ford to win Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Echo Park Speedway.

The popular victory in the first event of the NASCAR Cup Series’ In-Season Challenge broke a 44-race drought for Elliott dating to last year’s win at Texas Motor Speedway. The win was the second at EchoPark for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the 20th of his career.

Elliott crossed the finish line 0.168 seconds ahead of Keselowski and 0.170 seconds in front of teammate and third-place finisher Alex Bowman.

The 29-year-old from Dawsonville, Ga., advanced to the second round of the five-race in-season tournament, eliminating first-round opponent Austin Dillon, who finished 20th.

In a race that featured 46 lead changes among 13 drivers, Elliott got a welcome push from Bowman on the final two laps, stranding Keselowski with no help for a final charge.

“Unbelievable... unbelievable. How about that? Are you kidding me?” Elliott said with an uncharacteristic display of emotion. “I’ve never in my life... This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much.”

In the closing laps, Elliott was quick to seize the opportunity that came his way.

“Well, I just think that, honestly, all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps,” he acknowledged. “What a crazy race, man. I don’t know if y’all had fun, but it was wild from my seat. I’m so glad we got to run that thing out there to the end.”

Keselowski led 46 laps, including circuits 255-259 of 260, and advanced past 21st-place finisher Kyle Busch in the In-Season Challenge, but he had no defense for Elliott’s final push.

“The 9 [Elliott] just had the 48 [Bowman] behind him giving him a huge push, and there was nothing I could do to cover that,” Keselowski said. 

Tyler Reddick came home fourth, followed by Erik Jones. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zane Smith, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.

The 18th event of the Cup Series regular season got off to a slow start that belied the intense action that would come later in the proceedings. A delay for a light rain stopped the race for 14minutes, 34 seconds after 36 laps, with Joey Logano out front for the entire stint after starting from the pole.

Next up for the series is the July 6 race on the streets of Chicago.

Prock, Ashley, Reed, Hall scoop up wins at Norwalk

From NHRA.com

NORWALK, Ohio (June 29, 2025) – Funny Car points leader Austin Prock won back-to-back races for the second time this year for John Force Racing, taking down Matt Hagan in the final round of the 19th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park.

Justin Ashley (Top Fuel), Cory Reed (Pro Stock) and John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 10th of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Prock went 4.064-seconds at 318.54 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS to slip past Hagan’s 4.099, as the points leader earned his fourth win of the 2025 campaign.

“It was definitely special, you know, the energy was definitely in a better place this year,” Prock said. “But to get it done with the Force family back in the house, that that was a big deal.”

“Last weekend was huge and this weekend was really big for the Force family and really big for Cornwell Tools.”
Speaking of back-to-back wins, Top Fuel’s Justin Ashley continues to roll, as the young phenom picked up his second consecutive victory, this time going 3.931 at 317.34 to hold off Clay Millican.

It’s the first career win in Norwalk for Ashley, who has gotten red-hot over the past couple months, advancing to six final rounds at the past seven races. He’s now won consecutive races as well, pulling to within 77 points of leader Tony Stewart.

“It’s very exciting to get my first win here,” Ashley said. “Norwalk means a lot to me personally. My father (Mike) won in Funny Car here in 2007, and I ever since we started racing in Top Fuel, it was a dream of mine to win right here and that’s what we did today.”

In Pro Stock, Cory Reed picked up his first career NHRA win in a magical moment, taking down teammate Dallas Glenn in the final round with a run of 6.648 at 207.30 in his J&A Service Chevrolet Camaro.

This will certainly be the most memorable, as Reed has made an incredible transition to the Pro Stock ranks, switching from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Pro Stock last year.

Reed was a spectacular .012 on the starting line against line and rolled to the victory and creating a moment he won’t soon forget.

“All I know is I got Dallas off the tree, which was a very big accomplishment for myself,” Reed said.

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s John Hall waited nearly 12 years between wins, but the veteran got the job done on Sunday in Norwalk, chasing down Richard Gadson in the championship round with a run of 6.880 at 196.67 on his American Rebel Beer Buell.

“It’s special because you never know if you’re going to get another one. I won twice in 2013, including the U.S. Nationals,” Hall said.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action with the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals on July 18-20 at Pacific Raceways in Seattle.