SPRINT PRINT BOATS RETURN TO ST. JOHN, JUNE 21
The aerial view of the Webbs Slough racetrack and the town of St. John in the distance. Webbs Slough photos
ST. JOHN, Washington (June 19, 2025) — The relative quiet of the Palouse will be shattered Saturday, June 21 when the first of two sprint 2025 boat races take place at Webbs’ Slough.
This is the 34th race at Webb’s Slough which opened in 2007. There is an additional facility in Port Angeles, Wash. on the Olympic Peninsula.
Three classes of boats will compete, including Modifieds, 400’s and Unlimiteds with 30 boats expected.
While the boats all look very similar on the outside, there is a notable difference between the classes according to spokesperson, Casey Willson.
“The biggest difference is how much cubic inch displacement the motor is allowed to have,” Willson wrote in an email.
Modified motors are required to have a maximum cubic inch displacement of 367 while the 400 class motors can have between 368 and 412 CID.
“Unlimited is just as it sounds, they may have as large of a motor as they would like,” Wilson explained. “They have few restrictions and can use any type of fuel including methanol.”
In competition, the teams which include a driver and navigator, drive a specific course that has multiple left and right hand turns. The quickest time over several runs is the winner.
“All of our teams are amazing,” Willson said. “It takes a lot of skill and a need for speed to perform as well as these teams do.”
Teams that include colorful names like Overkill, Jolly Rogers, Poison Ivy, Pure Insanity and Punisher.
“We have racers coming from near and far. Some as close as Spokane, Spangle and Lewiston. While others are coming from New Zealand, Australia and Canada,” Willson said.
Sprint boats also sometimes race on area rivers like the Clearwater near Lewiston, Idaho and Salmon around Riggins.
“Some of these boats run on the rivers but they excel in tight corners and hairpin turns,” Willson said.
Race viewing takes place up close in seating near the track, or from five grass terraces on an adjacent hillside. The facility offers a variety of food vendors as well as two beer gardens.
Gates open at 9 a.m., racing starts at 10. For information or to purchase tickets visit www.WebbsSlough.com.
Fans are invited to meet the teams and see the boats up close at the Show n’ Shine downtown St. John, Friday, June 20 from 4pm - 6:30 p.m.
A second event takes place Aug. 23.
VAN GISBERGEN DOMINATES IN MEXICO CITY
By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
MEXICO CITY (June 15, 2025) – An overcast sky and early afternoon drizzle could not dampen the enthusiasm or energy of the huge crowd at Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez Sunday for the first points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race outside the United States in half a century.
And they were not disappointed.
As he did at another NASCAR’s “inaugural race” – on the streets of Chicago two years ago in his series debut - New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen, 36, prevailed again. This time, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, he claimed a huge 16.567-second victory over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell in the Viva Mexico 250 – the largest margin of victory of the season.
The three-time Australian Supercars champion Van Gisbergen – in his first fulltime season at the NASCAR Cup Series level – won pole position and led 60 of the race’s 100 laps, including the final 32, easily pulling away from the field to claim his first ever berth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with the win.
“What a week, I’ve really enjoyed myself here, but felt like rubbish this morning,’’ said Van Gisbergen, who’s victory was only his second top-10 finish of the season.
As thrilled as the crowd may have been to watch Van Gisbergen’s masterwork, there was no doubt they were there to cheer on his Trackhouse teammate, Mexico-native Daniel Suárez, who was celebrated as a hero after his win in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
The grandstands chanted “Dan-iel Dan-iel” and held up signs of support. And Suárez was emotional standing by his car on the starting grid as a local children’s choir sang the Mexican National Anthem before the race. Ultimately, he ended up 19th.
The victory was particularly rewarding for Van Gisbergen, considering the amount of adversity he faced this week in Mexico. He was sick to his stomach Sunday morning and his crew showed up a day later than the other teams after some travel challenges.
Not only did Van Gisbergen prevail in some tough circumstances, Bell’s work was also impressive, considering he finished runner-up after starting 31st.
John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, championship points leader William Byron and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-five.
The series returns stateside for The Great American Getaway 400 (2 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Pocono Raceway, June 22.
MULTIPLE WINNERS AT QLISPE DRAGS
BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 8, 2025) – Three-time Funny Car world champion Ron Capps became the all-time wins leader at Bristol Dragway on Sunday, snapping a 33-race winless streak by defeating Paul Lee in the final round of the 24th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.
Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the eighth of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Capps made the best run of his weekend in the finals, going 3.957-seconds at 328.06 mph in his 12,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra to chase down Lee and win for the eighth time at Bristol Dragway, surpassing Tony Schumacher for the most in track history.
It also gave Capps a huge sigh of relief, snapping a long winless streak. His last victory before Sunday came at Indianapolis in 2023, but the veteran found his groove on Sunday in Thunder Valley, winning at the scenic track for the third time in four years. Capps knocked off Matt Hagan, Epping winner J.R. Todd and Dave Richards to reach the final, turning in a classic performance to get his 77th career win and moving to fourth in points.
“We’re a single car team, and we can’t lean on other teams so it’s been a little more difficult,” Capps said. “Even when we were struggling, I never once questioned Guido [crew chief Dean Antonelli]. I just knew we had to get better, and we stuck with the plan.
To reach the final, Torrence got past Dan Mercier, Clay Millican and points leader Tony Stewart, defeating Stewart by .002 in a thrilling side-by-side semifinal duel.
On a historic day, Anderson earned his 1,000th round win in the Pro Stock semifinals and followed with his fourth win of the season, defeating teammate Dallas Glenn in the championship round with a weekend-best run of 6.623 at 205.91 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. Anderson now has 110 career wins and joins John Force as the only drivers in NHRA history win 1,000 career rounds wins.
“This is pretty magical. I think I could call it a day and ride off into the sunset but I’m having too much damn fun right now,” Anderson said. For the first time, Richard Gadson is a winner in the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks, defeating teammate Gaige Herrera in the final round, taking the holeshot victory on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki with a run of 6.884 at 196.30. Herrera went a quicker 6.882, but Gadson’s stout .014 reaction time proved to be the difference at the finish line.
“The first thing is I’m exhausted. This has been hands down the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done I always knew I could do it. I really needed to win this for me,” Gadson said. The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action June 20-22 with the fifth annual American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va.
Lighting Upgrade Completed for Qlispe Raceway Drag Strip
From H1
Eric Wolfe had a pair of wins in Sportsman and was runner up in Pro during the opening weekend at Qlispe Raceway in Airway Heights. File photo
AIRWAY HEIGHTS (June 14-15) — The chase for the 2025 championships at Qlispe Raceway Park is just underway but several drivers got a head start on winning titles.
Ryan Nesbitt from Hayden, Idaho, Eric Wolfe from Fife, Wash. and Yakima’s Damien Chinn each won twice in racing June 14 and 15.
In Junior Street Nesbitt’s 2018 Dodge Charger turned an elapsed time of 9.393 second time Saturday and won easily over Hydee Lyman, also from Hayden, who red lighted in the final. The following afternoon the result was the same, just the numbers were different between the two Idaho competitors.
Wolfe also swept things in Sportsman with his 1967 Ford Fairlane, on Saturday beating Robin Taylor from Athol, Idaho and Ron Wright, Sunday. Wolfe was also runner-up in Pro Eliminator to Jim Bonner from Deer Park.
Chinn’s wins came over Joel Lesine from Spokane Valley in a battle where Kawasaki prevailed over Suzuki, Saturday. China topped Airway Heights’ Jim Penix on Sunday.
Junior Thunder winners traded places with Valley, Washington’s Revy Swiger capturing Saturday’s win against Willow Geren of Spokane in a tight battle, 9.047 to 9.142. Geren turned tables Sunday, claiming even a closer win, 9.071 to 9.084.
Gauge Charles of Spokane was also on both sides of things, claiming a win Sunday against Jacen Lake from Deer Park and followed Saturday as runner up in Junior Lightning to Corban Allen from Athol.
Justin Jones from Greenacres won in Saturday’s Super Pro final while Ray Ridhalm from Yakima the Sunday winner. JT Sherlock was the easy winner in the High School class as he was the only entry.
KIRKWOOD EARNS FIRST CAREER OVAL VICTORY
From Indycar.com Media
MADISON, Ill. (June 15, 2025) – Nobody can call Kyle Kirkwood just a street-circuit specialist anymore.
Kirkwood used pace found with help from his teammates and masterful strategy in a chaotic, exciting race to win the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Sunday night at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis.
It was the fifth career victory for Kirkwood and career-best third win this season. But most importantly to Kirkwood, it was his first career oval victory after four wins on street circuits.
“My first oval win; I’m over the moon right now,” Kirkwood said. “Ovals have eluded me for a very long time, so it’s nice to get that first one and break that ice.
“An oval win and a road course win is what I wanted. I didn’t want people just to think of me as a street course guy or else they’ll just have me going to street courses.”
The podium was filled with three INDY NXT by Firestone champions. Kirkwood drove his No. 27 Siemens Honda fielded by Andretti Global to victory by .5398 of a second over Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Christian Rasmussen finished a career-best third in the No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet after starting 25th, making 62 on-track passes.
Six time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon finished fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, his best result since he placed second in the season opener in March at St. Petersburg.
Santino Ferrucci continued the recent upswing of A.J. Foyt Enterprises as he produced his third straight top-five finish this season in the No. 14 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet.
The 260 lap race, in which 14 of the 27 drivers led, came down to an intriguing gambit between two fuel strategies and navigating thickets of traffic over the last 50 laps
