Idaho Racing News

By Jon Brown
MERIDIAN, Idaho -- Drew Church made a late entry into the 2009 ASA Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association season on his own bankroll.
It was a pretty good investment, considering Church has won the past two features in the series, including Friday at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway to kick off Coors Light Championship weekend.
The winner two weeks ago at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., Church, who calls Snohomish, Wash., home, grabbed another checkered flag in front of more than 4,200 fans at the historic paved quarter-mile in Meridian.
Church led wire-to-wire as NSRA points leader -- and defending series champion -- Matt Hein of Roseburg, Ore., struggled after getting caught up in a wreck with Boise, Idaho's Jeff Russell on the first lap.
Church has started only three features this year for the NSRA, winning the past two -- including Friday at Meridian and the Rory Price Memorial in Monroe -- and finishing third in an Aug. 1 race at Ephrata Raceway Park in Washington.
Hein finished 16th in his quest to hang on to the points championship heading into tonight's final race of the season.
Meridian, Idaho's Matt Elliott kicked off a weekend dedicated to the memory of his late father, Tom, by finishing second in the NSRA 40-lap feature. Nampa, Idaho's Chris Ratterree, who leads the Meridian Winged Sprints series standings, finished third.
In other main events, Chase Gilbertson of Meridian flashed to the season championship by winning the Domino’s Pizza Bandoleros main event; Meridian teenager Wyatt King, won the Non-Winged Sprints main; Kirk Sanders of Nampa, Idaho, won the Mini Stocks feature in what he said was the final race of his career; and Sara Henry won the Legends feature.
Other champions crowned Friday included Johnny Giesler of Meridian, who survived King's last-ditch attempt to unseat him from atop the Non-Winged Sprints standings. Eddie Abels took home gold in the Mini Stocks after he held off fellow Meridian driver Ray Bolinger by turning in the fast time of the night (15.840 seconds) and finishing ahead of Bolinger in a heat race. Travis Anderson took home the Legends hardware without finishing in the top five of the main event.
The final night of racing for the 2009 season takes place tonight when the ASA NSRA crowns a champion along with the rest of the Meridian Speedway classes.
Support divisions include Super Stocks, Street Stocks, ASA Modifieds, Hornets and the Thunder Dogs Boat Race of Destruction
Admission is $18 for adults with discounts for senior citizens, military personnel with ID and children ages 7-11. Children 6 and younger are free. Log on to www.meridianspeedway.com for more information.
Meridian Speedway kicked off Friday night with a tribute to Tom Elliott, the father and crew chief for Winged Sprint driver Matt Elliott, who died Sept. 7. The Elliott family carried the flags for the United States and Canada as both national anthems were played before the heat races.
With a bold move on a restart, young Chase Gilbertson passed two of his competitors early in the Domino's Pizza Bandoleros main event to grab the season championship after the tightest points race of the year at Meridian.
The 13-year-old Meridian resident won the championship after capturing the 15-lap main event for a class featuring the youngest drivers at the track. Gilbertson won the trophy dash to pare Andrew Clark's championship lead to three points heading into the finale.
In the main event, Gilbertson was sent to the back of the field after a Lap 4 collision with Kuna, Idaho's Keegan Myers, an 8-year-old. But on the restart, Gilbertson roared to the front, passing Clark and Brok Kidd of Meridian to take the lead for good.
Clark fell back to third place when Kidd passed him as the lead pack tried to work its way through lapped traffic.
In the Non-Winged Sprints finale, Wyatt King needed a good finish in the 35-lap main to overtake fellow Meridian young gun Johnny Giesler for the series championship.
Holding up his end of the deal, King chased down early and sometimes dominant race leader Brittany Poedy of Emmett, Idaho, leading a pack of four cars past Poedy on Lap 26.
King then held off the determined Rob Grice of Nampa to win the race. Giesler, who picked up points with quick qualifying time (a sizzling 13.807), finished fourth.
In the 35-lap Mini Stocks main event, Nampa’s Kirk Sanders finished his career at the top by holding off fellow Nampa Dell Scott over the latter stages of the race.
“I retired tonight. This is a great way to go out. Thank you,” Sanders said to the crowd while he shook the championship trophy triumphantly.
In the Legends race, Sara Henry led wire-to-wire for 35 laps, including the final 33 circuits without a yellow flag. Henry’s lead shrank under pressure from Nampa’s Darin Turpen, but she held on through treacherous lapped traffic to take the checkered.
She was racing with a heavy heart one day after her dog died, but Henry said the victory made her feel a little happier. Henry raced only the latter part of the year in a car originally fielded by Ryan Byrd of Salt Lake City, Utah.
The NSRA action kicked off with former series champion Andy Alberding roaring to victory in the first trophy dash of the night, leading a line of four cars to the checkered flag.
In the second trophy dash, Meridian, Idaho's Matt Elliott -- running in memory of his late father -- jumped to the lead when the green flag dropped, pushing out in front of fellow Treasure Valley driver Sierra Jackson of Middleton, Idaho.
Racers named Greg dominated the first two ASA NSRA eight-lap heat races of the night.
In the first preliminary, Greg Ochs broke away from Alberding after a side-by-side duel on the first lap and ran away from the field for a victory.
Greg Middendorf of Snohomish, Wash., had a similar run in the second heat race, out-distancing three local drivers -- second-place Chris Adams and third-place Chris Ratterree, both of Nampa, and Elliott -- as well as fifth-place racer Todd Coleman of Seattle suburb Lynnwood, Wash.
Snohomish driver Drew Church, who won the NSRA stop at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., on Sept. 12, won the other heat race ahead of hometown driver Bryan Warf.

Meridian Speedway
Meridian, Idaho
Friday's unofficial results
American Speed Association
Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association
Main event (40 laps) -- 1. Drew Church, Snohomish, Wash.; 2. Matt Elliott, Meridian, Idaho; 3. Chris Ratterree, Nampa, Idaho; 4. Bryan Warf, Meridian; 5. Matt Mansell, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Trophy Dash No. 1 (4 laps) -- 1. Andy Alberding, Roseburg, Ore.,; 2. Richie Larson, Prince George, British Columbia; 3. Greg Middendorf, Snohomish, Wash.; 4. Chris Adams, Nampa, Idaho
Trophy Dash No. 2 (4 laps) -- 1. Matt Elliott, Meridian, Idaho; 2. Sierra Jackson, Middleton, Idaho; 3. Cory Lockwood, Nampa; 4. Chris Ratterree, Nampa
Heat No. 1 (8 laps) -- 1. Greg Ochs, Colville, Wash.; 2. Alberding; 3. Cody Veenstra, Emmett, Idaho; 4. Justin Mack, Benton City, Wash.; 5. Matt Mansell, Victoria, B.C.
Heat No. 2 (8 laps) -- 1. Middendorf; 2. Adams; 3. Ratterree; 4. Elliott; 5. Todd Coleman, Lynnwood, Wash.
Heat No. 3 (8 laps) -- 1. Drew Church, Snohomish, Wash.; 2. Bryan Warf, Meridian; 3. Hein; 4. Larson; 5. Jackson
Fast time -- Matt Hein, Roseburg, Ore., 11.844 seconds

Non-Winged Sprints
Season champion -- Johnny Giesler, Meridian
Main event (35 laps) -- 1. Wyatt King, Meridian; 2. Rob Grice, Nampa; 3. Erik Miller, Middleton, Idaho; 4. Giesler; 4. Brittany Poedy, Emmett, Idaho
Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Carl Marcum; 2. Grice; 3. Miller; 4. Richard Perkins, Caldwell, Idaho; 5. Johnny Giesler, Meridian
B Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Tyler Monroe, Star, Idaho; 2. Aly Clark, Boise; 3. King; 4 Zach Wilson, Boise; 5. Chad Cannon
C Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Poedy; 2. Kelly Perkins, Nampa; 3. Doyle Hartman, Boise; 4. Kole Bushman, Boise; 5. Sharde' Bement, Kimberly, Idaho
Fast time -- Giesler, 13.807

Mini Stocks
Season champion -- Eddie Abels, Meridian
Main event (35 laps) -- 1. Kirk Sanders, Nampa; 2. Dell Scott, Nampa; 3. Jeff Hasson, Boise; 4. Abels; 5. Jason Sanders, Caldwell
Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Hasson; 2. Jason Sanders; 3. Abels; 4. Ray Bolinger, Meridian; 5. Scott
B Heat (8 laps) -- 1. John Ellsworth; 2. Donovan Parker; 3. Tyler Burlingame; 4. Kirk Sanders; 5. Scott Shoecraft
C Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Chris Gillispie; 2. Sara Shaw; 3. Everett Meeks; 4. Tommy Downes, Nampa; 5. Duane Gerber
Fast time -- Abels, 15.840

Legends
Season championship -- Travis Anderson, Boise
Main event (35 laps) -- 1. Sara Henry; 2. Darin Turpen, Nampa; 3. Rob Collins, McCall, Idaho; 4. Mark Zirschky, Nampa; 5. Don Milbourn, Nampa
Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Dennis Wurtz Jr., Kuna, Idaho; 2. Tom Matheson, Pasco, Wash.; 3. Travis Anderson, Boise; 4. Josh Allen; 5. Cameron Cotta, Meridian
B Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Mark Zirschky, Nampa; 2. Camron Madsen, Boise; 3. Rob Collins, McCall, Idaho; 4. Darin Turpen, Nampa; 5. Sara Henry
C Heat (8 laps) -- 1. Jamie Leslie, Emmett; 2. Ron Hayes, Boise; 3. Brandon Frasier, Nampa; 4. Rod Stiller, Meridian; 5. Ed Sonius, Twin Falls, Idaho
Fast time -- Travis Anderson, 15.527

Domino's Pizza Bandoleros
Season champion -- Chase Gilbertson, Meridian
Main event (15 laps) -- 1. Chase Gilbertson; 2. Brok Kidd; 3. Andrew Clark, Boise; 4. Russell Housel; 5. Keegan Myers, Kuna, Idaho
Fast Dash (6 laps) -- 1. Gilbertson; 2. Clark; 3. Kidd; 4. Myers
Fast time -- Andrew Clark, Boise, 16.742