Owen Riddle Hopes to Knock the Dust off with $10,000 Vegas SRL Win

When looking to the Northwest region of the country, it is hard to find a driver who has been more successful over the last decade than Owen Riddle, when it comes to winning percentage. Riddle will look to parley that success into a $10,000 win in the “Retro Custom Metals 137” at the LVMS Bullring and Dirt Track in his first Spears Srl Southwest Tour Series start. The November 21st start has been a long-time in the making after entering the first two events of the SRL season, only to have an illness and the Covid-19 cancellation of the Winter Showdown squash those attempts.

Owen is a three-time winner of the Montana 200 at Montana Raceway Park (MT). He also has victories in the Chilly Willy 150 at Tucson Speedway (AZ), the Mark Galloway 150 at Evergreen Speedway (WA) and is a three-time winner on the Northwest Super Late Model Series, in only 12 starts. Owen also broke through with a win in the Fall Classic at Yakima Speedway in 2017, after several years of trying.  That season he made his one and only start in the ARCA Menards West Series, coming home eighth.

The four-time Spokane Super Oval (WA) Super Late Model Track Champion will not only be new to the SRL, but he will be making only his second start at the Bullring. That first start was in the “Fall Classic Senator’s Cup 150”, when he completed only 53 laps.

“I’ve only competed in one event at the Bullring, the Senator’s Cup in 2016”, Riddle stated. “That race didn’t turn out the way we had hoped, as a mechanical failure ended our day early.”

Another challenge the Northwest racer will face is a lack of racing experience over the last several seasons, including the 2020 season. Riddle did ring up a third-place finish at the Fall Classic at Yakima Speedway, a month ago, but it was his only start of the season. The lack of starts is one of the main reasons the team will make the long haul from Naches, WA to Las Vegas on the 21st.

“I think, like the majority of the people in the Northwest, our racing season never really happened due to Covid-19”, Riddle explained . So, with the SRL going to Vegas, it seemed like a great place to go do some racing.”

Riddle continued, “I’m really looking forward to the event, running with the SRL and the stout competition it brings. It definitely allows you to see where you stack up against the best on the West Coast.”

The competition is one thing that Riddle looks forward to. With several marque event wins under his belt, Riddle knows how to run up front when there is big money on the line. He knows the battle for the win will be difficult in the SRL, but that is what he races for, as he hopes to be in the winning mix after 137 laps of competition, as Riddle mentions.

“There’s no doubt that the SRL provides very stiff competition, which I am really looking forward to, and hope to be competitive against.

To win, Owen will also have to beat his younger brother Tayler Riddle, who has an impressive winning record of his own. But also like his brother, Owen isn’t sure whether Tayler or himself have more competitive personalities. Both brothers want to win in everything in which they compete, which Owen notes.

“It’s very hard to say which one of us has the more competitive personality. We are both very competitive in everything that we do, and both want to win just as bad as the next guy.”

To make the trip to las Vegas, Owen is thankful for those who helped make it happen.

“None of this would be possible without the help of a few longtime sponsors, in addition to all of the crewmembers that it takes to be able to make a race weekend possible.”

The “Retro Custom Metals 137” will be run on November 21st, with $10,000 going to the winner thanks to David Nava Mulcahy (Homie). The Spears Modified Series will join the SRL in the event, for the “OPTIMA Batteries 75 presented by “FAST – Fuel Air Spark Technology”. Practice will occur on Friday the 20th, with three sessions for the Super Late Models, beginning at 3:45 pm (PST) and ending at 7:30 pm. Saturday will find the Super Late Models practicing from 12:15 pm to 1:00 pm. Qualifying is scheduled for 3:15 pm. The Last Chance Qualifier (if needed) will follow, with feature events rolling off thereafter. There will be a halfway break on lap 68 for the SRL Super Late Models.

If you can’t attend the event, catch the action at www.SpearsRacing.TV, with your paid subscription.

Celebrating its twentieth season in 2020, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”. 

PC: Michele Martin