9/17/2019
Magic Valley Speedway
The Crowning of Champions has begun!!
By DJ Everett
This past Saturday night we saw one final blast of warm weather before cooler temperatures start to prevail as we started crowning some track champions on Magic Valley Pipe & Steel night!
The first main event of the night saw the Denny’s Minis and at the drop of the green, The Little Rebel, Manda Haye, jumped out to the early lead. The race did have a couple significant incidents. The first one would have Kris McKean spinning coming off of turn 2 and was hit hard by Katie Hatch. McKean would be able to drive away to the pits where Hatch’s car would need a tow. The second incident found Jeremia Eden with a wheel coming off his car and would hit the safety truck on the infield. Back to green flag racing and Haye would have to deal with a fast closing Mike Gill but was able to hold onto to the lead all the way to the checkered flag. It would be Haye’s first win in many years.
The next main event would feature the Bud Modifieds where they would also see two main events on the evening for their final night of action. Going into the night, the top 3 in points of Eric Rhead, Lynn Hardy, and Zach Webster were separated by 6 points. The green flag flew on this one and contact between polesitter Eddy Cole and Bridget Burgess coming off of turn 2 would bottleneck the field down the backstretch for a short time. Zach Webster would take advantage of the situation and find himself in the lead by lap 2. He would build up quite a sizeable lead early on and by the time Hardy and Rhead could get through the traffic, Webster’s lead was too great. Webster would make quick work of the field in this race and find victory keeping his track championship hopes alive.
The Cactus Pete’s Streets would be next for their main event of the night. Mike Miller would lead early on but a hard charging Levi Rider would soon find the lead next. Ron McClimans, bringing his car out for the first time this year, and a rare appearance by Roy Boots in the streets division would both find their way to the front of the field trying to chase down Rider for the lead. Rider would prove to be too much once again and add to his multiple win total for 2019.
The second main event of the night for the Denny’s Minis would be next. When the green flag flew, Manda Haye would get around Hannah Hatch and build a huge lead. From that point on, Haye would put her machine in cruise control and drive away to victory for the second time on this night. Haye is making a statement as to be one of the one’s to watch in 2020. In addition to Haye’s victory circle party, Hannah Hatch would also have a party of her own on the frontstretch as she was crowned the 2019 Magic Valley Speedway Denny’s Minis Champion.
Ike Miller, in the Sawtooth Auto Sales Hornets would lead the field early with Shelby Dalton close behind. A halfway caution flag would see the field turn around and go in the opposite direction. The green flew and the battle for the lead was on again between Miller and Dalton. This time Dalton would take peaks to the outside of Miller for the lead. Dalton would finally find the break she needed as she dove to the inside of Miller on the short course portion of the track and get by for the lead. Miller would stay close behind but would start to slow coming to the white flag. Dalton would drive around one more time to the checkers and park it in victory lane.
The second and final main event of the night would be the Bud Modifieds with still a tight points battle going on between Rhead, Hardy, and Webster with each looking for a track championship at the end of this race. The green flag was flying and Eric Weimer would lead lap 1. Rosalee Weller would have a turn next to take over the lead and lead the next few laps. Points championship contender, Lynn Hardy, would get by Weller to be the race’s third different leader. After that, Rhead and Webster would soon find themselves running second and third. With the top three in points now occupying the first three positions in this race, the stage was now set for an exciting battle to determine who was going to be the Bud Modified track champion. A quick yellow slowed the field for a spinning Rosalee Weller in turn 2 resulting from contact between her and Bridget Burgess. On the restart, Rhead and Webster would fight hard for the runner up spot with Rhead eventually getting by Webster. Hardy would still lead but Rhead was right on his rear bumper and Webster not too far behind. The three would run in close formation for the rest of the race cutting through traffic with Hardy edging out Rhead for the win and Webster bringing it home in third. With those three finishing in that order, that gave the 2019 Magic Valley Speedway Bud Modified Championship to Eric Rhead. Zach Webster would walk away with the Idaho State Championship, Idaho State Rookie of the Year, and the National Division 1 Rookie of the Year. We congratulate our champions on the night.
This Saturday night, we close the curtain on the 2019 season! We will crown some more champions on Quale’s Electronics night featuring the final race of the year for the Northwest Tour Truck Series in addition to the Cactus Petes Streets, Project Filter Bombers, Sawtooth Auto Sales Hornets, Quale’s Electronics Jr Stingers, and the Quale’s Trailer Race of Destruction! Gates open at 5pm and Nascar racing at 6pm!! It’s an action packed night and we’ve saved the best for last! Get there early as we are going to pack the stands one final time! We will see you this Saturday night at the fastest 1/3 mile oval in all of Idaho……….Magic Valley Speedway!