Idaho Racing News

By Jon Brown

MERIDIAN, Idaho -- Chris Fenton fulfilled Shauna Miller's wish Saturday at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway.
The widow of the man for whom the Sean Miller Memorial 40 is named said in pre-race comments that it would be a treat to see someone come from back in the pack to win the ESI Express ASA Modifieds feature.
Fenton started on the second-to-last row and dodged cars and calamity on his way to a second victory in the Miller Memorial.
"It's just crazy," Fenton said of Meridian's Modified division. "This class is just so competitive. There are 10 cars here that are less than 3/10ths (of a second) between each other."
Other main event winners included Meridian, Idaho’s Jordan Fitch in the LeeRoy Nelson Memorial 40 for the Project Filter Pro-4s; 14-year-old Cameron Cotta in the Eldon Cahill Memorial 30 for the Domino’s Pizza Legends; Eddie Ables of Middleton, Idaho, in the Mini Stocks; and Fare Lady for the second consecutive night in Thunder Dogs (Boise resident Kennon Irons drives the former Boise City Cab).
The racing continues Monday with the 35th running of the Bill Crow Memorial for the NAPA Latemodel Sportsman, the 30th Bob/Tom Naylor Memorial 50 for the Pepsi Sprintcars and the Dee Forrey/Don VanSchoiack/Robert Manwill 50 for the College of Western Idaho Professional Truck Driving School Street Stocks. The Tates Rents Hornets also will race.
Admission is $10 for adults, $7.50 for military personnel with ID and senior citizens, $6 for children ages 7-11 and children 6 and younger are free, as always.
Gates open at 4 p.m. with racing at 6:30 p.m.
In Saturday's Modified action, Fenton's crew was just as much responsible for his second Miller victory in three years as was the Meridian racer.
During the Fast Dash, Fenton lost control and slammed hard into the wall coming out of Turn 1. He was off the track just long enough to check out the machine and wound up finishing fifth.
It was the hard luck of other drivers that helped Fenton in the main event. After Kuna's Charlie Ham Jr. spun while trying to pass Fenton with 25 laps to go, Fenton drove hard around the outside to rocket past race leader and track fast-time record-holder Jentry Pisca of Nampa to get the lead.
Fenton would never relinquish the lead, building a three-second advantage at one point. He also survived the race's fifth caution flag with just three laps to go.
Starting on the second-to-last row in a 13-car field, Fenton needed just three laps to get in the top five -- and behind race leader Pisca -- on a restart.
Fenton found himself in that position after four of the race's top five drivers were either knocked out or shuffled to the back on Lap 3 when Rus Ward and Jeff Hill made hard contact while Hill tried to pass him. Also caught up in the front-stretch melee were Montie Potter, Tony Wonacott and Keri Davey. In fact, every top-five driver except early race leader Travis Milburn got trapped in the wreck.
On the restart with 37 laps left, Pisca shot ahead of Milburn for the lead and Fenton settled into third place. That was only momentary, however, as he slipped into second when Milburn bobbled in Turn 2 and smacked the wall soon after the restart.
The race's third yellow came out on the 15th lap when Fenton and Charlie Ham Jr. of Kuna went three-wide in an attempt to pass the lapped car of Rosalee Weller. Ham lost control and spun, probably eliminating one of the strongest challengers to Fenton.
Someone found a way to keep resurgent veteran Kenny Chandler out of the winner’s circle. According to Jordan Fitch, all you have to do is pass the legend on the outside with a green-white-checkered finish on the line.
Fitch, a Meridian, Idaho, driver, did just that to win the LeeRoy Nelson Memorial 40 for the Project Filter Pro-4s.
His aggression paid off for the win, even after he and Chandler touched one lap before the end.
“I just drove it in as hard as I could and luckily it stuck,” Fitch said.
Chandler, who hails from Boise, entered the night as the series leader. It didn’t seem like anything would change as he shot to the lead six laps in and looked poised to cruise to the victory.
But as Chandler roared out of Turn 4 to take the white flag, 2009 Nelson champion Dave Short of Meridian spun out to trigger the race’s second caution flag.
Fitch and Chandler raced side-by-side toward the white flag after the restart. Coming out of Turn 4, the two drivers touched, giving Fitch enough momentum to get the victory.
Chandler, who is enjoying an impressive early season, was trying to become the second member of his family to win the Nelson perpetual trophy. His son, Casey, won the second annual race in 2005.
The stars aligned for young Cotta as his 86-year-old grandfather watched from the stands after making the trip from Los Banos, Calif. the Meridian driver capped a successful night with a dramatic win in the Eldon Cahill Memorial 30 for the Domino's Pizza Legends.
Cotta's second trophy of the night -- he also won the Fast Dash -- kicked off the Memorial Day weekend at the speedway. Cahill was a former Legends racer who also drove the Ultra Touch Car Wash push truck at the track.
Cotta moved up through the pack in dramatic fashion. With 16 laps to go, he and Sara Henry of Nampa, Idaho, put Jamie Leslie of Meridian, Idaho, in the middle to pass him on the backstretch.
Six laps later, Cotta burst past Nampa's Darin Turpen for the lead.
The youngster had to hold on, however, after a cone restart following a yellow flag when defending division champion Travis Anderson of Boise spun out. Side-by-side with Cotta on the restart was Camron Madsen of Boise, the current points leader.
But Cotta pulled it off and went a long way toward erasing the memory of a blown engine earlier in the year.
The end of the 20-lap Mini Stock feature couldn't have come soon enough for Ables. After leading by as many as six seconds, Ables held on for dear life with his rear-end smoking and points leader Ray Bolinger of Meridian in hot pursuit.
Bolinger trimmed Ables' advantage down to two seconds with two laps to go, but ran out of time.
The Thunder Dogs showed exactly why they are the craziest class at the speedway during the 20-lap main event. Fare Lady got the win after Hot Wheels, driven by Brett Sullivan of Boise, and Greased Lightning, with Boise's Trenton Barrington behind the wheel, crashed out with two laps to go.
"This class is great because you get to run into each other.," Irons said. "We have a lot of stipulations. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't have any water on the track to run in."
Greased Lightning and Hot Wheels battled tough for the lead after the first yellow, which by rules sent race leader Bumble Bee (David Romero, Boise) to the back of the pack. Bumble Bee had checked out and led the race by a margin so great that the car looked more like a Street Stock.
With three laps to go, Greased Lightning and Hot Wheels dived into the infield heading into Turn 1, but kept things on the track. A lap later, Hot Wheels reverted to old rules and bumped Greased Lightning out of the way for the lead on the backstretch.
But one turn later, on the same lap, Hot Wheels spun around and stalled in Turn 4, giving Fare Lady the lead.
Meridian Speedway
Memorial Weekend
Saturday's unofficial results
Main events
ESI Express ASA Modifieds Sean Miller 40 --
1. Chris Fenton, Meridian, Idaho; 2. Charlie Ham Jr., Kuna, Idaho; 3. Tom Hill, Eagle, Idaho; 4. Darrell Dolling, Boise, Idaho; 5. Rus Ward
Project Filter Pro-4s LeeRoy Nelson 40 --
1. Jordan Fitch, Meridian; 2. Kenny Chandler, Boise; 3. Tyler Bailey, Middleton, Idaho; 4. Casey Tillman, Kuna; 5. Kyle Latham, Boise
Domino's Pizza Legends Eldon Cahill 30 --
1. Cameron Cotta, Meridian; 2. Camron Madsen, Boise; 3. Sara Henry, Boise; 4. Austin Hager, Meridian; 5. Darin Turpen, Nampa, Idaho
Mini Stocks (20 laps) --
1. Eddie Ables, Middleton, Idaho; 2. Ray Bollinger, Meridian; 3. Dell Scott, Nampa; 4. Donovan Parker, Kuna; 5. Tyler Burlingame, Meridian
Thunder Dogs (20 laps) --
1. Fare Lady (Kennon Irons, Boise); 2. The Cougar (Scott Sudduth, Meridian); 3. Lightning McQueen (Darrell Stogsdill); 4. Redneck Rampage (Cody Cameron, Kuna); 5. Greased Lightning (Trenton Barrington, Boise)
Heat races
(8 laps each)
ESI Express ASA Modifieds
Fast Dash --
1. Charlie Ham Jr., Kuna; 2. Tom Hill, Eagle; 3. Shelby Stroebel, Meridian; 4. Jentry Pisca, Nampa; 5. Chris Fenton, Meridian
B Heat --
1. Jeff Hill, Meridian; 2. Travis Milburn; 3. Rus Ward; 4. Darrell Dolling, Boise; 5. Keri Davey, Nampa
Project Filter Pro-4s
Fast Dash --
1. Rob Powers, Meridian; 2. Jordan Fitch, Meridian; 3. Tyler Bailey, Middleton; 4. Kenny Chandler, Boise; 5. Kale Freedman, Meridian
B Heat --
1. Dave Short, Meridian; 2. Casey Tillman, Kuna; 3. Kyle Latham, Boise; 4. Neal Latham, Boise; 5. Chet Thorson, Rigby, Idaho
Domino's Pizza Legends
Fast Dash --
1. Cotta; 2. Henry; 3. Madsen; 4. Travis Anderson, Boise; 5. Hager
B Heat --
1. Matt Elliott, Meridian; 2. Turpen; 3. Ron Hayes, Boise; 4. Jamie Leslie, Meridian; 5. Randy Keckley, Boise
Mini Stocks
Fast Dash --
1. Jason Sanders, Caldwell; 2. Quentin Ward; 3. Eddie Ables, Middleton; 4. Ray Bolinger, Meridian; 5. Scott Shoecraft, Boise
B Heat --
1. Kirk Sanders, Nampa; 2. Duane Gerber, Boise; 3. Scott "Wally" Waldamar, Kuna; 4. Jerry Perkins, Nampa; 5. Richard Brees, Meridian
C Heat --
1. George Gorton; 2. Rob Taylor; 3. Sarah Shaw, Boise; 4. Everett Meeks, Boise; 5. Larry Hull
D Heat
-- 1. Donovan Parker, Kuna; 2. Dell Scott, Nampa; 3. Cody Mitchell, Kuna; 4. Tyler Burlingame, Meridian; 5. Jason Lampman, Nampa
Thunder Dogs
Heat No. 1 --
1. The Cougar (Scott Sudduth, Meridian); 2. Old Skool (Dakota Allen, Kuna); 3. Greased Lightning; 4. Lightning McQueen
Heat No. 2 --
1. Hot Wheels (Brett Sullivan, Boise); 2. Fare Lady; 3. Sledge Hammer (David Jolley); 4. Plum Crazy (Tom Schon); 5. IP Freely (Kevin McConkey)
Fast times
ESI Express ASA Modifieds --
Pisca, 13.921 seconds (track record)
Project Filter Pro-4s --
Chandler, 13.417
Domino's Pizza Legends --
Anderson, 15.107
Mini Stocks --
Ray Bolinger, 15.351