11TH ANNUAL ED SNEVA MEMORIAL BACK AT STATELINE SPEEDWAY
STATELINE — The 11th annual Ed Sneva Memorial race returns to Stateline Speedway
For a 2 day event, June 30 and 31 as a tribute to the patriarch of Spokane’s long-time family of speed.
The race will be true to the Sneva tradition of open-wheel racing with a reported field of 30 Can-Am Sprints, 25 wing cars and possibly 20 midgets chasing a combined $25,000 purse. Visit Raceidaho.com for more information.
One of the organizers is TJ Sneva, natural a sprint car driver, Edsol’s grandson and son of the late Jerry Sneva.
TJ represents the third of what will soon be four generations of the Sneva’s in racing. and plans on getting his kids into racing soon.
“Grandpa was awesome always trying to make his cars faster,” TJ wrote in an email. “I remember my uncle Blaine winning at Ephrata getting home at 3 in the morning and as soon as I feel asleep he woke me up saying he couldn’t sleep and was heading to the shop.”
TJ raced for 10 years in Indianapolis with his dad. “It was super fun having him with me in my pit. I think he had more fun with me than he did with his own racing.”
First organized in 2015, the event honors Edsol Sneva who began racing both locally and regionally in the 1950s.
Edsol “Ed” Sneva died in 2014, but “Dad was not the funeral kind of guy so having a race like this is what he would have wanted,” his youngest son, Blaine Sneva once said.
“He built a family dynasty of race car drivers, it was amazing,” said Norm Ellefson who drove against Tom Sneva many times in the 1960s and 1970s.
Three of the boy’s, Tom, Jerry and Jan all have driven on the sacred ground of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tom earned his place in motorsports history winning the coveted race in 1983, helping pave his road to induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Detroit.
In a comparison best illustrated by football, what Edsol Sneva accomplished might compare him in some respects to racing’s version of Archie Manning whose sons, Payton and Eli, have accomplished amazing things on the football field.
Edsol moved to Spokane and finished his formal “book learning” in 1948, graduating from Lewis and Clark High School. There he was a standout athlete, a four year letterman in football, basketball and track.
He met Joan Giles and they graduated together. They were married Feb. 26, 1948 and made Spokane their home. Ed and Joan had six children, five boys and one girl.
Ed began his love of racing cars in 1950, first at Mead Speedway, then Wednesday nights at Memorial Stadium, better known now as Albi Stadium.
“The first day out he made a clean sweep,” Joan Sneva said in a 1973 Spokane Daily Chronicle story of Ed’s debut on the dirt track at Mead .
“I just knew he’d make a big fool of himself, and I remember saying that to him, too,” said in a 1973 Spokane Daily Chronicle story. “I just couldn’t believe it (the sweep). I didn’t think he knew what he was doing in the first place, but he sure did.”
Joan Sneva, who passed away in 2017, also remembered in that story how Ed started racing before he was the legal age of 21. He had newspaper delivery routes to pay for his racing habit.
Ed dominated racing in the Inland Northwest as a driver. At one point the other drivers coerced the promoter to buy Ed’s winning car and cut it up. But his sponsor, the city of Ritzville, just built him another car and it kept on winning.
When he finished racing, Ed started an automobile repair business in Spokane and a race car shop in the basement. When they were old enough, Ed passed along his love for racing to his sons.
Tom was the first one to enjoy Ed’s innovations. Ed built the first rear engine short track car, which Tom raced locally and against the Canadian American Modified Racing Association (CAMRA) teams.
With the success of that rear-engine, low-budget car, and Ed being an innovator, he came up with an idea and approached friend and racecar builder Jim Tipke.
He wanted Tipke to build the most radical short track race car ever for Tom to drive. It would be a rear engine, offset, 4 wheel drive car that dominated CAMRA right out of the shop. The competitors wanted the car banned. Tom easily won the 1970 CAMRA championship, helping to launch his IndyCar career.
Sneva had no formal mechanical training, just a natural God given ability for what he did. His ability was natural, Blaine Sneva said. “Why have something that someone else has if you can make it.”
As for Sneva and Tipke, among others, “(They) didn’t know they can’t do things, so they just go ahead and do them,” added Ellefson, a member of the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame.
WENATCHEE 200 SET FOR MAY 31 | From WVSO Media
WENATCHEE — The highly anticipated third annual Wenatchee 200 Presented by Plumb Perfect returns to Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval on Saturday, May 31st, promising one of the richest payouts on the West Coast.
Entries are now officially open for this premier Super Late Model event, which boasts a $25,000 payday for the winner and an additional $10,000 in Bonus Lap Leader Money for laps sponsored.
Evan Goetz picked up arguably the biggest win of his young career with winning the 2024 Wenatchee 200. The then 16 year old Kulwicki Driver Development Program finalist took the lead following the race’s halfway break and fended off the likes of Bubba Pollard and Haeden Plybon to secure a $26,000 payday.
The City of East Wenatchee proudly joins the event as a support sponsor, helping to bring this must see racing spectacle to the region. With a minimum of $1,500 to start, the Wenatchee 200 is set to attract top tier drivers and teams, delivering an electrifying night of action at one of the fastest quarter mile tracks in the country.
“This event continues to grow every year, and with $25,000 on the line for the winner plus lap leader bonuses, it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest short track races on the West Coast,” said WVSO GM Jeremy Anders “We’re thrilled to have the support of Plumb Perfect as our title sponsor and the City of East Wenatchee as a key supporter along with Hoosier Tire West help in making this race possible.”
Fans won’t want to miss this thrilling night of high speed action. Tickets for the Wenatchee 200 Presented by Plumb Perfect are available now online at wvso.com through the TicketHoss App. Stay tuned for additional event details, including the full race weekend schedule and special promotions.
For more information visit wvso.com.
LATE CHARGE PROPELS ROSS CHASTAIN TO VICTORY IN COCA-COLA 600 ROUTE 66 WINS
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
CONCORD, N.C.— (May 25, 2025) Welcome to the party, Ross Chastain—and to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, for that matter.
Starting from the rear of the field in a backup car his team needed all night to prepare, Chastain ran down the dominant car of William Byron to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Byron led 283 of 400 laps and swept the first three stages of NASCAR’s longest race. Chastain led the final six after diving below Byron’s Chevrolet entering Turn 1 on Lap 395 and sliding up in Turn 2 to clear Byron off the corner.
Chastain crossed the finish line 0.673 seconds ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports driver to win for the first time this season, the first time at Charlotte and the sixth time in his career.
It was a far cry from Saturday’s practice, when Chastain blew a tire on his No. 1 Chevrolet and crashed into the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4, ultimately forcing his Trackhouse Racing team to build a backup car.
Unable to make a qualifying run, Chastain took the green flag in 40th and spent the rest of the race methodically working his way toward the front.
“Holy cow, we just won the 600!”
Chastain had nothing but admiration for his Trackhouse organization following their work to get the car race ready.
“When I left the shop last night, I went over and sat in this car for the first time,” Chastain said. “It was about 10 o’clock when I left. They worked until 2:30. They were back at 5:30 this morning. Most of them drive 30, 45 minutes home. A little shower, I think.”
Pole winner Chase Briscoe overcame a tire violation on his first pit stop to finish third. AJ Allmendinger ran fourth and Brad Keselowski came home fifth, posting his first top- 10 result of the season. Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson completed the top 10.
Jimmie Johnson’s 700th Cup Series start came to an end just as suddenly. In Turn 4 on Lap 112, Johnson’s No. 84 Toyota broke loose and collected the cars of Cole Custer and Connor Zilisch. Johnson retired from the race in 40th.
INDIANAPOLIS 500 PURSE REACHES NEW PINNACLE
INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, May 26, 2025) – The Indianapolis 500 purse record was broken for the fourth year in a row for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, with first-time winner Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing earning $3.8 million from a total purse of $20,283,000.
This is the largest purse in the century-plus history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on the heels of four consecutive record-breaking years. This year’s average payout for NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers was $596,500, which also exceeds last year’s average of $543,000.
In 2024, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $18,456,000, and the year’s winner payout was $4.3 million, which included a $440,000 roll-over bonus from BorgWarner for earning back-to-back wins. In 2023, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $17,021,500, and the winner earned $3.7 million.
In 2022, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $16,000,200, and the winner earned $3.1 million. Prior to 2022, the largest Indianapolis 500 purse was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indianapolis 500.
“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world, and winning this race makes history in more ways than one,” INDYCAR and IMS president J. Douglas Boles said. “The Month of May featured a grandstand sellout crowd and intense on track action.
Alex Palou adds Indianapolis 500 winner to his long list of growing achievements and takes home the largest purse in Indianapolis 500 history. There’s no better way to end an epic month.”
Pole winner Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing earned Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors for his performance during the Month of May. Shwartzman earned a $50,000 bonus for being named Rookie of the Year, adding to a total take-home prize of $327,300.
The Indianapolis 500 purse consists of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NTT INDYCAR SERIES awards, plus other designated and special awards. Purse awards are presented annually at the Victory Celebration, held this year at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis Monday night.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented on Sunday, June 1 on the streets of Downtown Detroit. The race will be broadcast live on FOX and the INDYCAR Radio Network at 12:30 p.m. ET.
