The quick and the young

By JERRY HITCHCOCK

Sports writer

A soft-spoken teenager with long blonde hair roams the pits of tracks throughout the Northwest.

Nicole Behar, a 15-year-old from Otis Orchards, Wash., has been going fast since age 2, when she first operated an Artic Cat snowmobile.

Fast forward 13 years, and Behar now blisters track records without blistering her tires. She'll try to qualify for her first Idaho 200 this weekend, after coming in ninth in her first attempt at the Montana 200 Super Late Model race recently in Kalispell.

"Of course, I'd love to win, but realistically, we want to get in the show," Behar said. "A top five/10 finish will be great for our first Idaho 200. Seat time and experience is the biggest goal.

"I've raced side by side with some of the best in the Northwest, and I have lots of confidence going into this race on my home track."

Behar, who will be a 10th-grader at East Valley High in Spokane Valley, is joined by fellow high-shoolers Joey Bird and Blake Williams of Spokane and soon-to-be college sophomore Braeden Havens of Airway Heights to make up the younger contingent looking for success at this weekend's 200.

The quiet, reserved Behar takes on a different persona once strapped into a race car.

She hasn't struggled in any class she's competed in at Stateline, including the 1,500-pound Baby Grand division, to 2,300-pound Fever Fours and now the 2,900-pound Super Late Models.

In Stateline's Hydrive Late Model class, she has won four of the first five events of the season and leads in the points championship.

Nicole's father Mike, a former driver and winner of the INSSA (Inland Northwest Super Stock Association) late model championship in 2006 and Nicole's crew chief, said she has the ability to flow from one division to the next, without issue.

"In the Baby Grand division, she learned how to be smooth," he said. "In the Fever Four division, she took the smoothness and learned how to drive traffic. The Super Late Model, while weighing two times more than the Baby Grand, is very similar on track. Being smooth and negotiating traffic is what she needs to do to get the job done."

Stateline promoter Larry Bertrand has been very impressed with Nicole's abilities on the track.

"There is one statistic about her that I think sums it up - she is only 15 years old, but in her short stock car career, she already has six track records at various tracks. That is impressive for anyone of any age."

Bertrand pointed out that Nicole's ninth-place finish at the recent Montana 200 at Montana Raceway Park was a big deal, due to the quality of teams that were on hand.

"People who questioned her talent before that race saw her qualify easily on time, and she did that based on her talent because everyone there had good equipment."

After fighting setup problems, the team experienced motor issues at the end of the practice session.

"Pulling out our backup car, we were able to secure four safety laps. We qualified 14th out of 39 cars, which locked us in the show," Nicole said. "We raced side by side with the best in the Northwest and come home with a ninth-place finish. As prestigious as that event is, we'll call that a win for our team."

"This is the second year we will be running at night, and I felt we has some success last year and we expect similar results this year," Bertrand said. "This will be the ninth year we are privileged to have NAPA as our event title sponsor."

The list of talent continues to grow for this weekend's 200, as drivers like Gary Lewis, Garrett Evans, Ryan Wells, Shane Mitchell and current NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Justin Lofton are confirmed.

Joey Bird, like Behar a Stateline regular in other divisions, also is set to take on his first Idaho 200 this weekend. Bird will be a senior at University High in Spokane this fall.

"It's one of the biggest races of the year," Bird said. "It's going to be tough and a big challenge for us, just like Montana. But I have a lot of confidence in my team that we will perform well."

After a setback at the recent Montana 200, Bird's crew has been readying his car for this weekend's action.

" We were running fourth in the LCQ (last-chance qualifier) and got wrecked from behind - the third race in a row for us. We had to take the whole rear end off to fix the damage."

Bird's goal for the weekend is to make the race, stay fast all weekend, don't wreck, and "get out with the best finish possible."

Braeden Havens of Airway Heights looks to improve on his second-place finish in last year's Idaho 200, won by Wenatchee's Garrett Evans, who'll be back to defend his title.

"We had a solid run last year and are looking forward to seeing if our team can duplicate it all again on Saturday night," Havens said. "It's a tough race to win with some of the best drivers in the Northwest coming to try and grab the trophy, so that's pretty cool to see how far the race has come in recent years."

To be in contention to win the 200, Havens said the team needs a solid qualifying effort and a race car that can be good in the corners.

"Handling is big at Stateline and we has been pretty good so far this year in the handling department so more of the same would be nice for the Idaho 200 weekend."

Spokane's Blake Williams, who'll be a senior at West Valley High, expects to compete again this weekend, in what will be his fourth Idaho 200.

Williams, who won this year's INSSA championship, finished ninth in the 2010 200, was 13th in 2011, and after mechanical issues, wound up 19th last year.

"We are very proud of the local talent we have nurtured here at Stateline Speedway," Bertrand said. "And over the next few years, you will see some of the dominant performances in the Northwest by our racers. We're really excited that they have done a great amount of their learning here at Stateline."