Idaho Racing News

Meridian Speedway
News release
Sept. 26, 2009

By Jon Brown
MERIDIAN, Idaho -- It was a big night for Hillbilly Racing at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway during Saturday’s final event of the season.
Chris Ratterree of Nampa, Idaho, took advantage of the hard luck of fellow sprintcar racers to win the American Speed Association Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association 50-lap main event and seal the deal on the 2009 Meridian Speedway Winged Sprints championship. The owner of his racing team, Tom Hill of Eagle, Idaho, also came away with the track championship in the ASA Modifieds.
Ratterree moved to the front on Lap 30 when ASA NSRA 2009 series champion Matt Hein and Nampa's Cory Lockwood spun into the Turn 2 infield to bring out a caution flag. Both Hein, who was leading at the time, and Lockwood, were relegated to the back of the field.
Ratterree pulled out to a four-second lead on his way to the checkered flag. Hein was an also-ran Saturday night, but the Roseburg, Ore., driver held on to collect his second consecutive ASA NSRA series championship.
Other main event winners included Dennis Brodigan of Nampa, whose Super Stocks feature win helped him close out a 2009 championship run in the class; Star, Idaho’s Tony Ackerland easily in the ASA Modifieds; Melissa Scott of Nampa, in the Street Stocks; Travis Pavlacky of Fruitland, Idaho, wrapping up the season championship by winning the final Hornets feature of the year; Jim Anderson in the Thunder Dogs Mini Main; and Tyler Saxton taking the Boat Race of Destruction as the last driver to have a piece of fiberglass -- formerly a boat -- attached to his Hornet in the nightcap. The race was supposed to be for Thunder Dogs, but Saxton volunteered to enter his smaller car against the best of Detroit Iron, including full-size Ford, Lincoln and General Motors V-8 passenger cars, a couple pickups and a pair of mini vans.
Kuna, Idaho, driver Jaramie Fuss wrapped up the championship in the Street Stocks, while Tommy White of Boise appeared to have the inside track for the Thunder Dogs title, although final points haven't been made official yet.
Hein went to the front in the ASA NSRA main event when sentimental pick Matt Elliott of Meridian, Idaho, pulled off the track with mechanical problems after leading the first 22 laps. Elliott, his family, pit crew and the Meridian Speedway faithful paid tribute to his late father, Tom, all weekend long. Tom Elliott died unexpectedly on Sept. 7 after a full weekend of Labor Day racing at the paved quarter-mile oval.
Nampa resident Dennis Brodigan, whose father Dave raced at Meridian Speedway for years, brought home another championship for the family with his Super Stocks triumph.
Brodigan steadily pulled away from rival Phil Zubizareta of Boise during the 35-lap feature. Zubizareta entered the evening running second to Brodigan in the season points standings.
Brodigan had to battle door-to-door with Zubizareta after Jeff Wilson of Mountain Home, Idaho, brought out the last yellow flag of the night on Lap 25. After racing side-by-side with the closest threat to his title hopes, Brodigan eventually put enough pavement between himself and Zubizareta to win by three seconds.
Brodigan worked his way from third to first in four laps after Wilson spun for the first time to bring out a caution flag. After passing Greg Wright for second place on the 20th lap, Brodigan then went to the front by going low to pass race leader Kyle Burrill of Boise on Lap 23.
Another second-generation driver, Tony Ackerland, literally left the ASA Modifieds field in his wake, winning the 50-lap main event by a half a lap. Meridian’s Chris Fenton crossed the finish line as runner-up 10 seconds after Ackerland.
“This place is just phenomenal,” Ackerland said. “The fans are wonderful. It’s just fun to come out here and do a good job.
“And to race with Shelby Stroebel (of Nampa) and Tom Hill and the other guys in the class, it’s a lot of fun.”
Hill thanked the new operators of the track -- Don Newman, Al Russell and Adam Nelson who wrapped up their first year at the helm -- when commenting on his series championship.
“I’m just thrilled to be here. It’s been a great year. It’s been a lot of fun,” Hill said. “I really want to thank Don and Al and Adam for what they’ve done at the track. And Chris Ratterree, who sets up my car every week.”
Melissa Scott passed David Short of Meridian about 10 laps from the end of the Street Stocks 50-lap season finale and drove to victory. Her father, Marv Weaver of Nampa, chased Short for a few laps before his daughter took control. Weaver, who ran second to Jaramie Fuss all year long in the points chase, finished second in the main event.
Fuss, who was pulling double duty by trying his luck in the Super Stocks, was knocked out of the Street Stocks main in a big front-stretch crash when the green flag dropped to start the race. But he had enough of a cushion in the points lead to take home the track championship.
A late-season surge helped Travis Pavlacky pin down the Hornets series championship to punctuate a 2009 that featured a new nickname (Flyin' Pavlacky) when he jumped a car through a fifth-wheel camp trailer and also saw him race a few laps with a windshield full of open hood because he forgot to secure the lid to his engine compartment.
His No. 29 car featured a little advice scrawled on the hood -- "Put in your hood pins."
With his hood securely fastened, Pavlacky flew past Nampa's Art Heath to take the lead after a side-by-side restart following a yellow flag.
By winning the Thunder Dogs Mini Main, a 10-lap race to kick off the feature races, Jim Anderson gained a little ground on series leader Tommy White of Boise. White didn't make it past the first lap, pulling into the infield in Turn 2 when his Cadillac began to falter; he was able to hang on for the series crown, though. Anderson passed John Pinkston late in the race to grab the checkered flag.
Matt Mansell of Victoria, British Columbia, had a productive night early, grabbing the first eight-lap heat race for the ASA NSRA sprintcars in impressive fashion. His heat race victory reinforced a win in one of the night's trophy dashes.
In the second heat race, Greg Ochs of Colville, Wash., out-dueled Matt Elliott for the checkered flag. Elliott shadowed Ochs for the final few laps but could never find a way to the front. Meanwhile, Chris Ratterree made a strong move midway through the race to pass Drew Church of Snohomish, Wash., to grab fourth place. Racing on the final night of his career, Boise's Dave Parrie finished third. He announced earlier in the week that he was hanging up the helmet after the Meridian double-dip.
Crowd favorite Brandon Johnson of Caldwell, Idaho, who hasn't made many appearances this season at Meridian Speedway, made a triumphant return in the third heat race. He didn't race Friday night, but thrilled the capacity crowd by sliding sideways and smoking his tires through every turn en route to a four-second heat race victory against a field of NSRA regulars Saturday.
Mansell won the first ASA NSRA trophy dash, pulling away as the other three competitors -- Johnson, Nampa's Chris Adams and Todd Coleman of Lynnwood, Wash. -- went three-wide into Turn 1 early in the four-lap heat race in a battle for second place.
In the second trophy dash, another Canadian, Jeff Montgomery, jumped out to the early lead and cruised to a victory. Two of the five cars on the track during warm-up laps -- Justin Mack of Benton City, Wash., and Boise's Jeff Russell -- didn't see the checkered flag after experiencing problems. Mack never started the race, and Russell pulled off one lap before the end of the race.
Both of the Canadians gave their trophies to the young children who were selected to present the hardware to them.

Meridian Speedway
Meridian, Idaho
Saturday's unofficial results
American Speed Association
Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association
ASA NSRA season champion -- Matt Hein, Roseburg, Ore.
Speedway season champion -- Chris Ratterree, Nampa,Idaho
Main event (50 laps) -- 1. Ratterree; 2. Andy Alberding, Roseburg, Ore.; 3. Sierra Jackson, Middleton, Idaho; 4. Richie Larson, Prince George, British Columbia; 5. Matt Mansell, Victoria, British Columbia
Trophy Dash No. 1 (4 laps) -- 1. Matt Mansell, Victoria, British Columbia; 2. Brandon Johnson, Caldwell, Idaho; 3. Chris Adams, Nampa, Idaho; 4. Todd Coleman, Lynnwood, Wash.
Trophy Dash No. 2 (4 laps) -- 1. Jeff Montgomery, Victoria, British Columbia; 2. Cory Lockwood, Nampa; 3. Chris Ratterree, Nampa; 4. Jeff Russell, Boise, Idaho
Heat No. 1 (8 laps) -- 1. Johnson; . Sierra Jackson, Middleton, Idaho; 3. Andy Alberding, Roseburg, Ore.; 4. Matt Hein, Roseburg, Ore.; 5. Russell
Heat No. 2 (8 laps) -- 1. Greg Ochs, Colville, Wash.; 2. Matt Elliott, Meridian, Idaho; 3. Dave Parrie, Boise; 4. Ratterree; 5. Drew Church, Snohomish, Wash.
Heat No. 3 (8 laps) -- 1. Mansell; 2. Richie Larson, Prince George, British Columbia; 3. Cory Lockwood, Nampa; 4. Bryan Warf, Meridian; 5. Cody Veenstra, Emmett, Idaho
Fast time -- Hein, 11.820 seconds

ASA Modifieds
Season champion -- Tom Hill, Eagle, Idaho
Main event (50 laps) -- 1. Tony Ackerland, Star, Idaho; 2. Chris Fenton, Meridian; 3. Tom Hill; 4. Montie Potter, Boise; 5. Charlie Ham Jr., Boise
Fast time -- Shelby Stroebel, Nampa, Idaho, 14.549

Super Stocks
Season champion -- Dennis Brodigan, Nampa
Main event (35 laps) -- 1. Brodigan; 2. Phil Zubizareta, Boise; 3. Kyle Burril, Boise; 4. Terry Lydell, Mountain Home, Idaho; 5. Rick Baldwin, Middleton
Fast time -- Phil Zubizareta, Boise, Idaho, 15.172

Street Stocks
Season champion -- Jaramie Fuss, Kuna, Idaho
Main event (50 laps) -- 1. Melissa Scott, Nampa; 2. Marv Weaver, Nampa; 3. Chad Bess, Nampa; 4. Steve Bosselman, Nyssa, Ore.; 5. Jerry Krahn, New Meadows, Idaho
Fast time -- Melissa Scott, Nampa, 15.401

Hornets
Season champion -- Travis Pavlacky, Fruitland, Idaho
Main event (25 laps) -- 1. Pavlacky; 2. Art Heath, Nampa; 3. Eric Harry, Boise; 4. Vern Cornish, Nampa; 5. Fred Nagele

Thunder Dogs
Season champion -- Not decided at press time
Boat Race of Destruction winner -- Tyler Saxton
Master of Disaster -- Brett Sullivan, The Fishing Rig
Mini main event (10 laps) -- 1. Jim Anderson; 2. John Pinkston; 3. Robert Rupp; 4. Chris Carlson; 5. Jeremy Twillford