Herald staff

Two years ago, it appeared unlikely that Nick Evans would ever race again.

After Saturday, it appears likely that you’ll call him “champion.”

Evans, of Marysville, can clinch the sportsman sprint-car title at Skagit Speedway simply by taking the green flag in Saturday’s main event in the season’s finale.

When he does, it will cap a remarkable two-year comeback.

Evans cracked several vertebrae in a frightening accident Sept. 5, 1999, at Skagit Speedway. For days, it was unclear whether Evans would ever walk again, let alone climb into a car.

After months of physical therapy, Evans decided to return to racing. He sat out the 2000 season, but thrilled race fans when he announced at the Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup that he would return for the 2001 season. Evans kept busy during that time, working as the team’s crew chief while his father, Lee Evans, drove the car.

Fully recovered, Nick Evans returned at Skagit in April. He won his first race since the accident. Dueling all season with Mike Melwicks and Tim Dunham, Evans only recently began to pull away from the pack. He is 19 points ahead of Dunham in the points race, which means Evans merely has to start the A main Saturday night to win the points title.

Also at Skagit, Alan Munn of Granite Falls is second in both the 410 and 360 class. He is 14 points behind Todd Heikes in the 360 class, 46 behind Chad Hillier in the 410s.

Biles victorious: Shane Biles of Woodinville notched his third career victory with a win in the Tri-City 125 NASCAR Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series race at West Richland on Saturday.

Biles passed Auburn’s Joe Benedetti on lap 108, but had to ask his crew over the two-way radio who the leader was.

“I was just concentrating on what I was doing and trying to save the tires,” he said. “I just assumed somebody else was out there, a jackrabbit or something. I didn’t think I had the lead.”

Points leader Kevin Hamlin of Bothell finished fifth. With three races remaining, Hamlin leads Benedetti by 116 points.

Moriarity closing in: Tom Moriarity of Monroe is three races away from his third NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Super Stocks title at Evergreen Speedway. Moriarity, who won the division title in 1996 and 1999, is 82 points ahead of John Pierce.

Moriarity needs solid finishes in Saturday’s show and in the twinbill season finale Sept. 15.

Super stocks, bombers, mini stocks, extreme-contact figure eights and more are on the card Saturday at Evergreen.

Wilskey wins: Shawna Wilskey of Lake Stevens captured the 360-sprint-car main event Friday in Yakima, passing Jay Cole in the eighth lap of the 25-lap race. Wilskey led by as many as 15 car lengths before lapped traffic slowed her down and allowed Chad Hillier to close the gap on lap 17. But Wilskey was able to hold on at the checkered flag. Hillier was second, followed by Cole.

Wilskey also set a track record in qualifying at 14.821 seconds.

Potashnick wins, Gaughan still leads: Sammy Potashnick of Bakersfield, Calif., won the Bank One 250 NASCAR Winston West race at Salt Lake City on Saturday, but defending champion Brendan Gaughan still leads the points standings with a 16th-place finish.

With two races left in the season, Gaughan holds a 25-point lead over Mark Reed, who finished 12th.

Kevin Richards of Spokane finished second to Potashnick.

Hannagan hurt: Two-time Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup champion Randy Hannagan underwent surgery Monday to repair a broken leg he suffered at a World of Outlaws race at Calistoga (Calif.) Speedway.

Hannagan will be out four to six weeks after surgeons inserted two titanium rods to support his tibia and fibula.

Hannagan was injured when he and Craig Dollansky collided in the night’s A main, sending both into a wild flip. Dollansky was uninjured.

Hannagan, of San Jose, Calif., is 14th in the World of Outlaws points race.