8/22/2020
Magic Valley Speedway
Fantastic racing and another NEW track record
The gates opened and the fans settled in on another great night of racing on Valley Office Systems Night that featured the ICCU Modifieds, Dennys Minis, Cactus Petes Streets, Project Filter Bombers, Valley Office Systems Hornets, and the return of the ISRL sprint cars for their one and only visit in 2020. A fun night was ahead for the fans with Valley Office Systems having their booth on location giving everyone a chance to win some great prizes and Brennan’s Carpet Midget driver, Natalie Waters joining DJ and Kenny in the booth for some color commentary and driver interviews!
The first main event of the night kicked off with the Dennys Minis. The green flag flew and it was Christina Williams with the lead at the end of lap 1. Danny Gilliam was the next to grab the lead with Cecil Miles hot on Gilliam’s rear bumper. Miles made an inside move on Gilliam for the lead but Miles’ car got loose exiting turn 2 and took it to the infield grass. The field stayed green and Steve Edens Sr was able to get by Gilliam for the lead. Jon Quinton started to show some strength as he was able to get into the runner up spot and chase after leader Edens. The leaders started to snake their way through the lapped traffic and in the midst of it all, Quinton was able to get by Edens for the lead. Edens wasn’t letting Quinton get away that easy and as the two approached lapped traffic again, Edens made an inside move on Quinton and the two made contact. They both kept it straight as the field got the two to go heading back into turn 1 where Edens’ car got loose and spun taking teammate Kaitlin Wilcox with him. Wilcox unfortunately would need a hook back to the pit area. Back under green for the final two laps and it was Quinton able to bring it home to the checkers recording his fourth main event win this year. Great performances also go out to Danny Gilliam and Zaine Newberry finishing in second and third.
The ICCU Modifieds were next for their first of two main events on the evening. At the drop of the green, Dan Root Jr led the field at lap 1. Root started to receive heavy pressure to his outside from Zach Webster coming off of turn 2 and Webster was able to get by to be the next leader of the race. Behind Webster there was a bunch of racing going on between Root, Jason Quale, Eric Rhead, and Mitch Pehrson. Quale put it to the outside of Root for second and after a lap of battling hard, Quale was able to clear Root for the runner up spot. Rhead after a slip up in turn 2 a couple of laps prior was starting to climb his way back up through the field battling Root for third. Rhead worked over Root for multiple laps and was finally able to get by for third. Eric Weimer spun in turn 4 bringing out the caution and bunching up the field. This put Webster and Quale side by side on the front row for the restart and when the green came back out, Webster was able to clear Quale coming off of turn 2 to maintain his lead. Quale tried his best to stay within striking distance on Webster, but Webster was too strong in this race and picked up another main event win. Keep in mind this main event win came after an engine change after practice earlier in the day making this win that much sweeter.
During intermission, Kiley Acosta was able to grab the win in the R&A Trucking Big Wheelz race and some employees of Valley Office Systems were treated to a ride in the two-seat late model for some exciting laps around the speedway.
After the national anthem, Valley Office Systems employee Ryan Miller gave the command to start engines with the Project Filter Bombers coming to life on the frontstretch. The green flag came out and polesitter Beverly Meyers led the field for the first 5 laps. Behind her Craig McCann and Gracie Pehrson were in hot pursuit of Meyers. They finally caught Grandma Bev and McCann put an outside move on Meyers to put himself into the lead. Pehrson was the next driver to work on Meyers for second. Meyers put up a good fight but Pehrson was a little too strong and moved herself into the runner up spot. By the time Pehrson cleared Meyers, McCann had a full straightway lead. McCann made this one look easy as he cruised to his third main event win of 2020.
The Valley Office Systems Hornets were next for their main event. Jr Flagger Jace Miller threw the green flag to get this one going and it was Malaki Juarez leading the way. Behind him, Zach Rydalch made a great move to the outside of Shelby Dalton to move into second. Rydalch now moved right up to the rear bumper of Juarez and the battle was on for the lead. Rydalch took several peaks to the inside and outside of Juarez but Juarez maintained the lead. The white flag came out and the leaders encountered lapped traffic. Gilligan was able to close in on the top 2 making it a three-car battle for the lead coming to the line. The three cars went three wide with a lapped car in between and Juarez was able to edge out Rydalch and Gilligan for the win. Jr Trophy Presenter, Tristina Wheeler handed the winner’s hardware over to Juarez and joined in on the victory celebration. After further review of timing, scoring, and video, the victory was awarded to Shelby Dalton.
The exciting Idaho Sprint Car Racing League made their way onto the track for their main event. Earlier in the day during McDonalds qualifying, Riley Rogers from Meridian shattered his own ISRL track record with a 13.765. When the green came out, Middleton’s Kate Jackson led it early and after a few laps, put a little distance between herself and the rest of the field. Mike Anderson in second had to hold off some heavy hitters in the name of Sierra Jackson, Rob Grice, Preston Henderson, Ryan Newman, and Riley Rogers all battling side by side in tight formation. Grice was able to get by Jackson bringing Rogers with him and was now putting the heat on Anderson for the second spot. Rogers made a daring move to the high side of Grice in turn 1 and was able to get by Grice and Anderson in one lap to move into the runner up spot. Grice tried to do the same to Anderson but skated up high in turns 1 and 2 relinquishing his spot to Sierra Jackson. Up front, Rogers started to slowly close in on leader Kate Jackson. Jackson and Rogers put on an exciting battle for the lead the resulted in slight contact between the two. While they battled at the front, an intense battle was going on for third between 5 cars. Sierra Jackson was able to wrestle away the third spot from Anderson with Henderson in tow. Kate Jackson was doing a great job holding off Rogers for the lead for multiple laps but Rogers said it was go-time and put it to the outside of Jackson for the lead. The two ran that way for a couple of laps until Rogers used his outside momentum to push his way into the lead. Kate Jackson now had to hold off a fast closing group of cars with Sierra Jackson, Henderson, Grice, and Newman all battling for the runner up spot. Up front, Rogers put a straightaway lead on everyone and held that lead all the way to the checkers making it a perfect night of racing for him and his crew. Kate Jackson did a fantastic job holding onto second with cars behind her going side by side at the line jockeying for position. Valley Office Systems owner, Howard Hansen handed the trophy to Riley Rogers in victory lane and joined in on the celebration.
The Cactus Petes Streets came out next with Ronn McClimans and Jeff Peck putting on a side by side battle for the top spot in the opening laps. Willie Dalton was also in the mix making it an exciting three car battle for the lead. McClimans was able to put his car out front with Dalton getting by Peck for second. Dalton wasn’t done as he swung it to the high side of McClimans and after battling hard for a couple of laps, Dalton cleared McClimans for the lead. Shawn Lester put a good move on Peck to roll into the third spot. Once in front, Dalton slowly started to pull away from McClimans and held onto it all the way to the checkers adding another win in 2020.
The second of two main events for the ICCU Modifieds were up next and as the field took the green flag, outside front row starter Dan Root Jr was the early leader bringing Jason Quale and Eric Rhead up into second and third. Zach Webster put an outside move on Mitch Pehrson to make his way into fourth. The top 3 of Root, Quale, and Rhead were nose-to-tail and as they exited turn 2, Rhead started to make his move by first putting it to the high side of Quale. During all of that, Mitch Pehrson slid down the backstretch heading for the infield grass and in a separate incident Eric Weimer caught a piece of the wall coming out of turn 2. Weimer stayed on the gas keeping it straight and Pehrson was able to rejoin the field as the race stayed green. Up front, Rhead was still making moves getting by Quale and Root for the lead. From there on out, Rhead immediately checked out on the field. Quale was able to get by Root for second with Root now having to deal with Webster for third. After a great battle between the two, Webster was able to get by Root with a couple of laps to go. Up front, Rhead was definitely in the zone as he was untouchable in this one bringing it home under the checkers adding another to his incredible win total in 2020.
The final race of the night was the second of two Denny’s Minis main events. Chad Everett and Cecil Miles ran in double file formation at the front of the field with Steve Edens Sr, Jon Quinton, and Zaine Newberry right behind them. The top five ran in close proximity to each other weaving their way through the traffic. Everett was able to wrestle the lead away from Miles but Miles wasn’t going away as he put it back on the inside of Everett to challenge again for the lead. Quinton and Newberry were also running side by side behind them battling for third with Edens falling off the pace. The top four ran this way for the rest of the race and as they took the white flag, it was still Miles and Everett running door to door for the lead. They came off of turn four heading for the checkers and Everett was able to beat Miles to the line by a few inches adding another one in the win column for this year.
We would like to congratulate other winners on the night with Bob Bay winning the free Shari’s Pie and congratulations to Korrine Gay, Kristine White, and David Sandidge winning the Saturday Race Track Selfie Contest!! This Saturday night will be a night you definitely don’t want to miss!! The return of the Speed Tour Wing Sprint Cars along with the Speed Tour Modifieds on Idaho Central Credit Union Night!! Along with them will be the Project Filter Bombers, Quale’s Electronics Jr Stingers, and another visit by the Snake River Legends!! Gates open at 5pm and McDonalds Racing taking place at 6:30pm. This will be one of the more popular nights on the year so you will definitely want to arrive early! We look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday night at the valley’s biggest party location……………Magic Valley Speedway!!!