Idaho Racing News

Russell rallies for sprintcar triumph
By Jon Brown
MERIDIAN, Idaho -- Jeff Russell raced a new car for the second consecutive night Sunday at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway. This time, he was able to drive it to a victory.
Piloting a Non-Winged Sprintcar that he had seen for the first time just 72 hours earlier, the veteran Boise racer beat drivers with decades fewer experience in a 40-lap main event during the second night of the Pepsi and Tates Labor Day Races.
He took control of the race by shooting ahead of Meridian, Idaho, teenager Wyatt King twice on restarts in the last quarter of the race.
Russell, who recently picked up a ride in the ASA Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association, had to fight his new machine a little.
“My car had some good bite on the outside. It was coming to me,” Russell said. “It was hard to get off the corner had to get on the brakes a little. It was our first time in this car. It felt good.”
He'll be back at Meridian on Sept. 25-26 as the NSRA wraps up its season with a two-night championship shootout.
Russell had to get by King twice in the span of two laps to take the lead for good. He had passed the second-place series driver once, only to have the lead snatched away when Emmett, Idaho’s Brittany Poedy spun on the backstretch on the restart lap to bring out another yellow flag. The field reverted back to the order of the last completed lap, putting King ahead of Russell.
But the longtime open-wheel driver sidled alongside King again on the next cone restart and then shot to the front to stay.
Meanwhile, King gained some ground in the points race as series leader Johnny Giesler, also from Meridian, was knocked out of the race early when he spun in the infield on Turn 3.
Another young driver, Carl Marcum of Meridian, worked his way into fourth place with late passes. He won a trophy earlier in the night by finishing first in the Fast Dash.
In other main events, Middleton, Idaho's Tyler Bailey celebrated his 20th birthday by winning the Late Model Lites feature; Nyssa, Ore.'s Steve Bosselman won in the Street Stocks; cab driver Kenneth Irons drove a Boise City Taxi to a win in a strange Thunder Dogs feature; and Fruitland, Idaho's Travis Pavlacky swapped the lead with Nampa, Idaho's Art Heath in the final two laps to win the 100-lap Hornet-fest.
Most birthdays aren’t as stressful as the one Bailey celebrated in winning the 30-lap Late Model Lites feature. He survived a green-white-checkered flag, two-lap shootout to take home the hardware.
Two caution flags triggered side-by-side restarts after drivers committed to a groove on the paved quarter-mile oval. During each restart, a different driver pulled alongside Bailey to challenge for the lead -- unsuccessfully.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” Bailey said of the cone restarts. “You get the cone and you’re waiting to see who’s beside ya. Casey (Tillman) pulled up the first time, shoot. Then Rob (Powers). Again? Cone after cone, caution after caution. When is it going to end?”
It ended with Bailey thwarting each attempt to unseat him from the front of the pack.
Bosselman drove past Nampa's Chad Bess on the 27th lap of the Street Stocks main event and then pulled the field to the end of the 40-lap race.
Most of the top drivers in the points standings wound up in the top five with series leader Jaramie Fuss of Kuna, Idaho, pulling in second behind Bosselman. Nampa's Marv Weaver, who came into the night second in the points standings, finished fifth, and Bess may have gained some ground on season fourth-place driver Melissa Scott of Nampa by grabbing third place in the race. Scott was in third place with 13 laps to go, but fell off the pace late when her Camaro overheated. She failed to finish in the top five.
Travis Pavlacky survived a night of attrition in the Hornet-fest, but not before he had to fight back and reclaim the lead with just two laps left in a 100-lap marathon. On Lap 99, Art Heath snuck past Pavlacky, who had led 54 consecutive laps -- nothing to sneeze at considering that there were several lapped cars on the track with which to contend and crashes galore.
But Pavlacky wrested the lead away from Heath on Lap 99 and then sped to the checkered flag.
The Hornet-fest featured several spectacular crashes, including a Turn 3 crash on Lap 17 in which one car wound up on its top and another on its side. Both were bunched against the wall and fluid was spewed down the banking.
There was even drama off the track during the 100-lapper as a plume of smoke rose from the pit of Colin Parker, whose car caught on fire after he pulled off the racetrack.
Visit Meridian Speedway online at www.meridianspeedway.com or call (208) 888-2813 for track information. To learn more about the American Speed Association, log on to www.ASA-Racing.com.

Meridian Speedway
Meridian, Idaho
Pepsi and Tates Labor Day Races
Day 2
Sunday's unofficial results
Non-Winged Sprints
Main event (40 laps) -- 1. Jeff Russell, Boise, Idaho; 2. Rob Grice, Nampa, Idaho; 3. Wyatt King, Meridian, Idaho; 4. Chad Cannon; 5. Carl Marcum, Meridian
Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Marcum; 2. Rob Grice, Nampa, Idaho; 3. Johnny Giesler, Meridian; 4. Wyatt King, Meridian; 5. Jeff Russell, Boise, Idaho
B Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Kelly Perkins, Nampa; 2. Aly Clark, Meridian; 3. Erik Miller, Middleton, Idaho; 4. Brittany Poedy, Emmett, Idaho
C Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Chad Cannon; 2. Sharde’ Bement, Kimberly, Idaho; 3. Doyle Hartman, Boise; 4. Don Kithcart, Eagle, Idaho
Fast time -- Giesler, 13.691 seconds

Late Model Lites
Main event (30 laps) -- 1. Tyler Bailey, Middleton, Idaho; 2. Casey Tillman; 3. Rob Powers, Meridian; 4. Joe Barton, Nampa; 5. Kenny Chandler Jr., Boise
Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Victor Clark, Boise; 2. Kale Freedman, Meridian; 3. Chandler; 4. Shaun Tubbs, Nampa; 5. Jim Bailey, Middleton
B Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Bailey; 2. Barton; 3. Tillman; 4. Powers; 5. Jordan Fitch, Meridian
Fast time -- Jim Bailey, 14.502

Street Stocks
Main event (40 laps) -- 1. Steve Bosselman, Nyssa, Ore.; 2. Jaramie Fuss, Kuna, Idaho; 3. Chad Bess, Nampa; 4. Nick Lane; 5. Marv Weaver, Nampa
Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Fuss; 2. Weaver; 3. Bess; 4. David Short, Meridian; 5. Melissa Weaver, Nampa
B Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Micky Lawson, Caldwell, Idaho; 2. Steve Hansen Jr., Boise; 3. Bosselman; 4. Jerry Krahn, New Meadows, Idaho; 5. Lane
C Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Chris McClure, Star, Idaho; 2. Casey Scott; 3. Daniel Vanderveen; 4. Andrew Tuttle; 5. Jay Doughty
Fast time -- Weaver, 15.366

Thunder Dogs
Main event (25 laps) -- 1. Kevin Irons; 2. Chris Carlson; 3. Brett Sullivan; 4. Tommy White, Boise; 5. Jim Anderson
Fast Dash (6 laps) -- 1. Jim Anderson; 2. White; 3. Travis Jones; 4. Tom Pinkston; 5. Dion States, Meridian
B Heat (6 laps) -- 1. Mark McCurdy; 2. Carlson; 3. Nick Forsey; 4. Sullivan; 5. Dale Morton
Fast time -- Tom Pinkston, 17.574

Hornets
Hornet-fest 100 -- 1. Travis Pavlacky, Fruitland, Idaho; 2. Art Heath, Nampa 3. Ray Bolinger, Meridian; 4. Trenton Barrington; 5. Eric Harry, Boise
Fast Dash (6 laps) -- 1. Colin Parker; 2. Andy Stote; 3. Fred Nagele; 4. Barrington; 5. Paul Bradshaw, Melba
B Heat (6 laps) -- 1. Thomas Weekes; 2. Vern Cornish, Nampa; 3. Danny Canington, Nampa; 4. Tony Johns; 5. Karissa Wood, Caldwell
C Heat (6 laps) -- 1. Casey Tillman; 2. Travis Zaugg; 3. Pavlacky; 4. Sean Davis; 5. Alex Whitmyer
D Heat (6 laps) -- 1. Bolinger; 2. Heath; 3. Harry; 4. Larry Hull; 5. No. 8
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