8/26/2021
Magic Valley Speedway
Tons of racing and close finishes on Bud Light Night!!
By DJ Everett
8/21/2021
The crowd was treated to one of the busiest nights of racing this year as seven different classes took to the 1/3-mile oval featuring the Gibson Diesel Super Late Models, Northwest Tour Truck Series, Brennan’s Carpet Midgets, Cactus Pete’s Streets, Snake River Legends, Magic Valley Pipe Hornets, and the Quale’s Electronics Jr Stingers!! Overcast and cool conditions made for a racey track!!
The first main event of the evening was the Quale’s Electronics Jr Stingers with Kristopher McKean and Paxton Guiles ready to do battle. The two young drivers took the green flag and McKean led early. Guiles kept looking to the inside until McKean ran off into the grass on the infield portion of the track which opened the door for Guiles to get by and drive it to victory. It was Paxton’s first career victory at MVS!!
The Northwest Tour Truck Series making another stop at MVS as their season starts to wind down. Points leader Jenna Quale blistered the track in McDonald’s Qualifying with a quick time of 15.542 seconds! Rookie Jordan Harris jumped out in front at the drop of the green leaving a side-by-side battle for second between Drew Reitsma and Neal Latham. Quale started to poke her nose in the battle as well but Latham was able to get by Reitsma for second with Quale following on through into third. Quale immediately started to put pressure on Latham for second and it only took her a lap to dive to the inside and drive by Latham into the runner up spot. Quale now had leader Harris next on her hit list and wasted no time to track down Harris to pull right up to his rear bumper. Harris and Quale now started to put distance on the rest of the field with Latham, Reitsma, and Jeff Wade doing battle for the third spot. Quale rode behind Harris for a few laps trying to plan her move and decided to dive to the inside of Harris as the two drove side by side for a couple of laps but Harris was hanging tough on the high side with Quale slotting back behind him to regroup. With a few laps to go, Quale tried the inside move again on Harris and as they got the white flag, the side-by-side battle continued all the way to the checkered flag where Harris nosed out Quale at the line to pick up his first career truck win!
The R&A Trucking Big Wheelz race was next with Kiley Acosta getting the win over some other future MVS racers as they gave it their all!
The next race was a combination Quale’s Electronics Jr Stinger and Magic Valley Pipe & Steel Hornet main event. Two races in one which produced much excitement for the fans! Jr Flagger Savana Hudelson threw the green flag to get this one going and Ike Miller in the hornet class took off running as the early leader as Kristopher McKean did the same in the stinger class. Brayden Sweatfield put an outside move on Peggy Dean and started to chase down leader Miller. Paxton Guiles wasted very little time to get by McKean for the lead as he was going for the double this evening in the stinger class. First time driver at MVS, Danny Beem did a great job hanging out in fourth. Sweatfield tried his best to catch leader Ike Miller but Ike was too strong and drove it to victory for his first win this year. Guiles also saw victory as his first two career wins at MVS came in one night! Trophy Presenter Cory Gill handed both trophies to the winners and joined in on the victory celebrations and pictures along with Jr Flagger Savana Hudelson.
The Brennan’s Carpet Midgets were next for their main event as weather has plagued their class all year long but the conditions looked good to get their race in. The green flag dropped and Ashlyn Powell made an outside move on polesitter Michael Smith to move into the lead. Devin Westover, Chuck Groat in his first race this year at MVS and quick qualifier earlier in the day, and Cheyenne Merrill also got by Smith to move up another spot. Westover closed in on Powell quickly and was ready to pounce for the lead. Groat did the same and the top three were nose to tail at this point. Westover tried a few times to get by Powell but Powell was able to fend off the challenges to stay out in front. River Merrill and first-time visitor to MVS Josie Nelson were also in this race. Cheyenne was able to catch the top three and now we had a four-car race for the lead! Groat spun to the grass on the inside of turn 4 to bring out the caution. This lined up for an exciting restart with a few laps to go. This was Westover’s best shot to get by Powell as he was on the front row for the green flag. Westover had a great restart and was able to power around the high side and into the lead. Powell wasn’t going to settle for that as she dove to the inside coming out of turn four heading for the white flag and cleared Westover for the lead. They entered turns 1 and 2 and Westover did a crossover move on Powell to try to grab the lead back. They were side by side down the backstretch and through turns 3 and 4. When they turned for the checkered flag, it was a photo finish at the line with Powell taking the win by .11 seconds over Westover!! It was Powell’s second win of the year!
The Northwest Tour Truck Series entered the track for their second race of the night. Front row starters Sam Harris and Drew Reitsma led the field side by side on the first lap but on lap 2, Reitsma was able to get by Sam Harris and into the lead. Jordan Harris was able to get by Neal Latham and Sam Harris to move into second with Jenna Quale coming through the pack with a head of steam and into third. The top 3 were evenly spread out but a great battle behind them was happening between Sam Harris and Latham as they were side by side for most of this race. Another battle was developing in the pack between Jeff Wade and Ron Lawser. Lawser came back out in his truck with a beautiful look to it after crashing it at Meridian Speedway earlier in the year. Jordan Harris was closing in on leader Reitsma but after a few laps, Reitsma seemed like he put it in high gear and started to drive away from Jordan Harris and the rest of the pack. Reitsma drove it to the checkered flag and parked it in victory lane for his second win of the year!
The Cactus Pete’s Streets were next and when the green flag flew, Jeff Peck from the outside front row squirted out in front. A great three wide battle behind him occurred with Willie Dalton, Josh Cuff, and Ronn McClimans with McClimans moving into second and Dalton into third. McClimans wasn’t done as he put it on the top shelf and worked his way around Peck for the lead. Dalton did the same to Peck for second and the same for Edens Sr to move into third. Edens Sr started his charge to front by getting by Dalton for second and as soon as that happened, Dalton spun in turn 2 to bring out the caution. On the restart, McClimans and Edens Sr waged a great side by side battle for the lead for a couple of laps until Edens Sr was able to get out in front. Shawn Lester from the back of the pack worked his way to the front also by moving into second but Edens Sr was too far out in front and picked up his 5th win of 2021.
The Snake River Legends visited MVS for their third and final appearance of 2021. So far this year Johnethan Davis has won both main events so the big question was could anyone stop Davis from doing the trifecta? Polesitter Roxali Kamper was the early leader for the first four laps until Ken Frickey was able to grab the lead next. McDonalds quick qualifier, Jerry Davis, followed Frickey through into second until the caution flag flew for a spin in turn 2 by Cameron Battles. The green was back out and Jerry Davis used his outside front row starting position to his advantage to move into the lead. Jerry Davis started to pull away but his son, Johnethan Davis started to move through the field by picking off Brok Kidd for third and then made the move on Frickey for second. Kamper also closed back in on the top four to make it a five-car race for the lead. With five laps to go, Johnethan moved to the inside of Jerry and they both ran side by side and occasionally rubbing fenders for the lead. The caution came out one more time for Battles again taking his car into the spin cycle. The restart saw Jerry grab the lead with Johnethan close behind. As they rounded turn 4 for the while flag, the top five cars of both Davis’, Kidd, Frickey, and Kamper were all in a small pack. Jonethan grabbed the top spot from Jerry in turns 1 and 2 and never looked back giving himself his third win at MVS within three races. Johnethan batted a thousand this year as he definitely has the 1/3-mile oval figured out.
The final race of the night was the Gibson Diesel Super Late Models for a 50-lap main event. Eddy McKean who has been perfect so far this year at MVS in super late model competition was looking to keep his winning streak alive this evening. Kris McKean grabbed the number one spot at the drop of the green with Eddy McKean moving into third after a great door to door battle with Jeff Hillock. Eddy started to put pressure on second place Bruce Quale by putting his super late underneath Quale and moved past to get the position. We now were entertained by another father and son battle for the second race in a row on this evening this time between Kris and Eddy McKean. Leader Kris started to show some sparks coming from the front end of his car and as each lap passed, the sparks got greater forcing a black flag to come out. Tough break for Kris McKean as he looked really good in this race. This handed the lead over to Eddy McKean with Hillock moving around Quale for second. At times, it appeared that Hillock was moving in on McKean for the lead but then McKean would start to stretch his lead back out. With less than ten laps to go, Hillock’s car fell off the pace with mechanical issues and pulled off the track. This cemented the win for Eddy McKean and remained undefeated in the Gibson Diesel Super Late Model division with his sixth win of the year.
We would like to congratulate our selfie winners for the evening Joshua VanBaalen, Janae LeClair, and Jareth Van Slooten for winning a free adult admission ticket to next week’s event which is O’Reilly Auto Parts Night featuring the ICCU Modifieds, Cactus Petes Streets, McClimans Racing Engines Minis, Project Filter Bombers, Magic Valley Pipe Hornets, and the Quale’s Electronics Jr Stingers. Gates open at 5pm with McDonald’s racing at 630pm! Just 3 races left in 2021 so you will want to get your racing fix before the end of the racing season! We will see everyone next Saturday night at the party place of the valley…………..Magic Valley Speedway!!