Heading into the 2001 season on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series, NASCAR Touring, Rick Suran set a goal of finishing in the top-10 in the season points standings. After five races, Suran has quietly moved into the 15th position in the points standings as the series returns to his hometown track, Portland International Raceway, for the running of the George Morlan Plumbing 100 on June 23.
Suran got his start in racing at Portland Speedway. The historic half-mile oval converted its surface to dirt last summer, and now Suran calls PIR his home racetrack. He looks forward to running at PIR in front of the business owners and employees that supported him over the years.
“You race there (PIR) three or four times and now it has become my home track. It’s a place you don’t get to run and test very many times. It’s a huge deal, everybody you know, your sponsors, they guys that paint the car, the people that get you parts at discount, all come out and watch us at Portland. This is the biggest race of the year if you’re a Portland driver in this division,” Suran said.
Suran, a native of Estacada, Ore., has two top-10 finishes in four starts this season. In the series last event, held at Tri-City Raceway, Suran started 22nd, stayed on the lead lap, and moved up to finish in 10th place. He hopes to keep the upward trend alive in the George Morlan Plumbing 100.
“The car is working better. We’ve been real poor at qualifying and we’re going to keep working on it until we figure it out,” Suran said.
The series runs a 40-lap event at PIR for the first time in its history; Suran sees that as a bonus to some race teams.
“Pit stops are not mandatory now. In the past, guys have tried to run 52-laps without pit stops but they really haven’t been successful. Now, guys may be thinking of going all the way without stopping,” Suran said.
Suran has learned one simple key to success at PIR in his previous starts he noted.
“The majority of our drivers have run the thing several times. Everybody approaches it to keep the cars on the track. The guys who can keep it on the track usually have a pretty good finish,” Suran said.
Most drivers on the Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series enjoy PIR in part because of the speed a car can run down the long straightaway on the north side of the track. Suran finds the rush of speed a fun part of his race day he says.
“The car kind of floats down that backstretch. You can tell when a car pulls up behind you. It’s really cool,” Suran said.
In a race where keeping the race car underneath the driver is key, Suran says that preparation for the long haul is very important in finding success at PIR.
“We usually run pretty good in that race. It is such a race of attrition, the guys that slowly work they’re way up have a pretty good finish,” Suran said.
The Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series is one of nine NASCAR Touring Series that blanket the United States. NASCAR Touring brings special events to many NASCAR Weekly Racing Series tracks and some NASCAR superspeedways and road courses. NASCAR Touring Series can provide a competitor with an entire career, or they can provide valuable experience to competitors moving through the NASCAR ranks. Corporate sponsors make significant contributions to NASCAR Touring Series point funds. The sponsors include Anheuser-Busch, Raybestos Brakes, Featherlite Trailers, Gatorade, Goody’s Headache Powders, O’Reilly Auto Parts, RE/MAX International Inc., and R.J. Reynolds brand Winston.
