8/26/2024
Meridian Speedway
Tellstrom Survives Pink Lady Tune Up Sprint
Triple digit temperatures took the night off Saturday, August 24, but that didn’t keep the asphalt from blistering as Meridian Speedway hosted the Project Filter Speed Tour Winged Sprint Cars Powered by Pit Stop USA event. The Pit Stop USA powered Speed Tour Winged Sprint Cars, NASCAR Modifieds, Domino’s Legends, Idaho CDL Training Street Stocks, Pepsi Sprintcars, and Meridian Speedway Midgets were on hand to race for the night’s Trammel Construction feature flags.
The ground shoot as the Speed Tour Sprint Cars powered by Pit Stop USA rumbled to green for a 35-lap feature. Rob Grice and DJ Lyons led the field to the green flag, but as soon as Grice got in the gas his Stinker Stores, Contral Cove Construction machine jumped sideways in front of the field. Grice gathered his suddenly ill-handling car up before he hit anything, but that bobble let DJ Lyons and his Stinker Stores, Eloy and Sons Landscaping racer dash to a comfortable lead.
In clean air Lyons’ car was outstanding, and early on he looked unbeatable. But Grice began to gain and may have caught his teammate if not for a mechanical failure that sent him spinning into the turn three barriers.
The restart lined Cory Lockwood up outside of Lyons, and Lockwood piloted his Stinker Stores, Dahle Construction sprinter to the top of the Pepsi-Cola scoreboard in a flash. Next to Lyons’ tail tank was Kyle Tellstrom in his LE Single Needle, Kip’s Pro-formance racer. After a spirited two lap battle Tellstrom held the runner up spot and turned his attention to Lockwood.
Though Lockwood looked to be in control of the race, the mechanical gremlins that have plagued him all season reappeared with ten laps to go. This time, it was a radiator cap that let go and caused Lockwood to spin into the infield.
This left Tellstrom in the lead with Lyons second and Colton Nelson’s Busch Light, PBT Auto Sales machine third. On the restart Nelson erupted out of the blocks and dispatched Lyons with ease. But fast as Nelson was, he couldn’t track down Tellstrom, who drove his way into the Caleb’s Chop Shop Winner’s Circle.
The NASCAR Modifieds’ first feature was just two laps old when contact mid pack sent Nick Durbin’s Mountain Metal, CF Floor Covering machine hard into the turn three wall. The impact pitched the car up and into the catch fence, where the whirled around and came to a rest back on the racing surface. Despite the massive impact, Durbin climbed from his destroyed modified and walked back to the pit area.
With the catch fence repaired and the field reset the green flag waved over Mike Davis and Titus Clancy. Clancy powered around the outside of Davis to put his Radiator Experts, 5J Electric racer up front, but Larry Hull was on the move and quickly piloted his K&C Reefer and Trailer Repair, Diversified Carpet Cleaning machine to the point.
But Hull wasn’t safe up front as Josh Jackson emerged from the pack to challenge the leader. This effort went wrong with nine laps left when contact sent Jackson’s Ray’s Diesel and Auto Repair, Lestarjette Painting machine backward into the barriers.
This left Tommy Harrod, Brendon Fries, and Alex Duda to pursue Hull to the checkers. Fries blew past Harrod to take second place on the restart and immediately took the fight to Hull. Fries’ Guild Mortgage by Ryan Shelby, CWST Transport car was fast on the outside, but Hull made the most of the shorter way around and kept the point leader at bay until he claimed the victory. Harrod finished third ahead of Kyle Latham and Chuck Youngblood.
The second feature saw Jackson turn a front row starting spot into an easy win over Hull, Harrod, Duda, and Latham. Championship leader Brendon Fries finished sixth while points runner up Caity Miller finished seventh despite a significant malfunction of her front suspension early in the race.
Nineteen Domino’s Legends combined for a 45-lap INEX Regional Qualifying feature. Andrew Tuttle got out of the blocks quick and took his racer to the early lead but was forced to relinquish the top spot to Mike Soiseth after a handful of laps.
Soiseth wasn’t safe up front either as Dylan Wardle got his TraBar Customs, Franklin Auto Body machine in the lead mix. Next through the race leader revolving door was ThirdGen Racing driver Brenden Ruzbarsky, who shot by Wardle and immediately opened a sizeable lead. Wardle settled into the runner up spot for a lap before Ashton Williams in the other ThirdGen Racing machine dispatched him to third and again motored into the distance.
An ensuing caution flag lined Ruzbarski and Williams up on the front row for the restart. Before the ThirdGen Racing pair could take the green they came together and were both sent to the back of the pack for rough driving. This left Austin Murphy with the lead with Brok Kidd, Wardle, and Leon Tridle in the top spots.
Undeterred, Ruzbarski and Williams went to work from the back of the pack. It took just a handful of laps for the duo to claw their way back into the top five. With the aid of another caution flag Ruzbarski established himself as the leader, and had Williams lined up outside of him in second spot.
This restart was made without contact, but after the green flag the action got physical as Williams tried to beat his way past Ruzbarski. As the leaders took the white flag, they found themselves knotted in lapped traffic. Williams was hemmed in, but Ruzbarski saw daylight between two cars and somehow shot the gap in a wild turn one pass. Williams was just close enough to give Ruzbarski one last bash on the rear bumper in turn four, but Ruzbarski held onto his machine and took the checkered flag. Murphy crossed the finish line third ahead of fellow top five finishers Canyon Ashley and Leon Tridle.
Aaden Fanopoulos took control of the Idaho CDL Training Street Stock feature early in his Certified Services car. The youngster found a fast line around the second racing groove and used it to hold off Scott Groom, then made Andrew Palmer wheel his Bobby’s Transmission mount hard to take over the top spot.
This dropped Fanopoulos into the clutches of long-time Meridian Speedway racer Lee Hackney. Lapped traffic helped Fanopoulos keep Hackney at bay for a few laps, but with five laps left the youngster lost control of his machine and spun in turn four. This left Palmer and Hackney to decide the race.
The green flag waved and Hackney worked Palmer over from the outside lane. But Palmer was up to the challenge and pulled away on the final lap to claim the feature win.
Casey Tillman overpowered fellow Pepsi Sprintcar competitors to win the race in his YMC Inc., Westside Machine sprinter, with Kate Jackson second and Jordan Harris having fought his way to third. Father-son duo Tony and Carson Ackerland rounded out the top five and rookie AJ Luttmer finished in sixth position.
Cheyenne Merrill took the early Meridian Speedway Midgets feature lead, but encountered a mechanical issue early and was forced to retire after just three laps at speed. This left the familiar duo of Devin Westover and Chuck Groat up front on the restart. Westover got to the gas pedal first and zipped to the lead while Groat found some spilled fluid and spun in turn two. But it all happened behind Westover, who sped across the Caleb’s Chop Shop Victory Stripe ahead of Groat, River Merrill, Matt Elliott, and James Portenier.
Meridian Speedway gets a case of the Mondays this Labor Day weekend as the Speed Tour Supermodifieds take over the quarter-mile oval on Monday, September 2 for the Labor Day Super Modifieds presented by A-1 Heating and Air Conditioning. Along with the most savage race machines in existence, the Zamp NASCAR Latemodels, Pepsi Sprintcars, Idaho Vintage Sprintcars, Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Mini Stocks, and Idaho Asphalt Services Hornets go wheel-to-wheel in pursuit of the night’s Trammel Construction trophies. Gates open at 4:45 p.m. Monday with races starting at 6:30 p.m. Log on to www.meridianspeedway.com to purchase your advance tickets now. We’ll see you under the big, yellow water tower Monday, September 2, for the Labor Day Supermodifieds presented by A-1 Heating and Air Conditioning at your NASCAR Home Track, Meridian Speedway.
Submitted By: Tyler Schild