SPOKANE, Washington — For 2007 Inland Northwest Sprint Car Association champion, Tony Berry, the racing season has come down to one final event-the Northwest Sprint Car Invitational to be held Saturday, October 10 at Columbia Motor Speedway in Hermiston, Ore.
Falling just short in his bid for a second INSCA championship to title winner, Justin Popple, Berry sees this weekend’s race as a chance for redemption to a strong but brief season.
“When we began the season with our new Lejeune chassis we were focused on running strong at each event,” Berry said. “Going in there were two dates that we knew we could not attend with the INSCA group, one was my wedding over the Fourth of July and the other happened to be a rain out. When those passed we found ourselves second in points and as a racer with a committed team we went for the gold so to speak.
“We changed our schedule to run the rest of the season for points and came up a bit short. We really had hoped to run the championship race at Spokane County in September (which was canceled by the race track) but we chalked that up to something like a rain out and started to focus on this Northwest Invitational here at the end of the season.
Having the opportunity to jump behind the wheel of the Oak Tree Inn/Pheasant Café and Lounge No. 53 one more time in ’09 is a reward for the team’s hard work, Berry added.
“We’re excited to have another opportunity to perform well and in reality this race could end up being the biggest event of the year for our team.
We’ve had some local business partners come on board for this weekend including the Desert River Inn and the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s Blue Moon Saloon and Western Wine Festival so I know the promotional team is very excited to get this event going this year and for the future.”
Berry has made laps in Hermiston and knows that the little bit of knowledge he may have could be key to besting the likes of Mike Fought, Craig Deaver, Popple and other Northwest Sprint Car stars.
“It is a track with a lot of character. There aren’t many places to compare it to because it’s so unique. The racing surface itself has been sealed by the new owners of the facility and I think that will produce higher grip and better racing for our cars,” Berry explained. “We’re excited to hold this type of event here because no one really has a competitive advantage at a neutral site. To win, it’s going to come down to the drivers and crews that are able to best adapt to the new surface and I hope we can make those gains quicker then everyone else.”
While working with Popple and Mark Jones to build excitement for this weekend’s event has been a daily task for Berry, the end result of a successful weekend makes the long days of working on the event coupled with working on the sprint car worthwhile, he noted.
“It hasn’t been easy (balancing the needs of the race team and the event),” Berry said.
