The Northern Sprint Tour has put on seven races in 10 weeks. Next week, beginning Monday at the Southern Oregon Speedway in White City, the circuit will put on five races in six days.

Welcome to Northwest Speedweek, where a driver's endurance, his car's spare parts and a dependable pit crew can be just as important as a fast car in registering victories and lucrative paydays.

From here, the racing frenzy moves to Cottage Grove on Tuesday and Lebanon on Wednesday.

Then, after a one-day break, the drivers move on to Grays Harbor Raceway Park in Elma, Wash., or the final two days of racing madness.

The first three races pay $1,750 to the winner. On Friday, it's $1,000. For Saturday's crowning event, it's $5,000.

Drivers will also earn points in each of the first four races to determine their starting position for Saturday.

Virtually all of the top sprint car drivers in the Northwest are scheduled to compete, including current NST points leader Shawna Wilskey of Lake Stevens, Wash., and former points champions Jason Solwold of Burlington, Wash., and Rick Fauver of Everett, Wash.

Dan Menne of Fort Jones, Calif., who is second in this season's points race, Central Point's Bill Nutter, who stands fourth, and rookie standout Chad Baurer of Brookings will also be on the starting line when the series begins Monday.

Gates open at the White City track at 4 p.m. Racing starts at 6.

"We usually take a week to get ready for one race -- now we'll have less than 24 hours," says Nutter, who will break in a new car Monday. "It's going to be hectic."

Nutter's crew worked on the car until 2 a.m. in Lebanon, then towed it to Cottage Grove and, after a couple hours of sleep, resumed the repair job for another six hours.

The crud, sweat and changing of gears were worth the effort, though, as Nutter went out that night and set the fast time, won the trophy dash and captured the main event.

"You just never know what's going to happen in this sport," says Nutter, now in his eighth season of racing sprint cars. "One night you're in a world of hurt and the next night you're in the winner's circle. Go figure."

Nutter will have his old car on hand throughout Northwest Speedweek, not to mention an additional spare motor, four extra wings, five extra right rear tires and numerous other spare parts.

"I've got a friend pulling an extra trailer for all that stuff," says Nutter, who will make his debut Monday in a 1999 J.B. Max-boy chassis that features more than 700 horsepower . "The nature of sprint car racing is that you can use up a car at any given race. You don't want to be caught shorthanded."

Nutter will have a home track advantage at Southern Oregon Speedway, where he pulled off third- and fifth-place finishes when the NST made its season debut there May 7-8.

But Northwest Speedweek will bring out the best sprint drivers from along the West Coast, and the competition will be fierce, Nutter says.

"This whole tour is very competitive, and next week will bring out guys who aren't even on the tour," Nutter says. "We'll see guys from all over California who are going to want a piece of the action."