EAGLE, Idaho -- To say Billie Miles went the extra mile to get a Mini Stock victory on the opening night of the 2005 season at Chaparral Speedway is most definitely an understatement.
Miles experienced engine trouble while running hot laps Friday after the Coors Light Series opener was postponed because of a wet track at Idaho's motor speedway. Miles and her husband, Dale, trailered the race car back to their home in Gooding, Idaho, to scrounge up a new engine, install it and get back in time for Saturday's races. Total miles on the couples' rig: About 600, or enough to cover the longest NASCAR Nextel Cup race of the season -- the Coca-Cola 600.
"We had to rebuild the head (on the engine) because we had a cracked head on it," Billie Miles said in a post-race interview.
It worked. Miles was dominant throughout the evening's NAPA Auto Parts Mini Stock action, winning the main and out-running fast qualifier Dan Eckert of Boise, Idaho, to win the Mini Stock preliminary heat.
In the 7-Up Street Stocks main event, 15-year-old Tyler Monroe of Star, Idaho, lost his first career victory when he was penalized for jumping a green flag during the 30-lap feature. Defending track champion Melissa Scott of Nampa, Idaho, was awarded the win, and Chris Teague of Boise, Idaho, moved into second place as Monroe was dropped to third.
The hardest hit of the night came on Lap 5 of the Bump-2-Pass Thunder Stocks main event when Trevor Scott of Nampa, Idaho, and Denise Lacy of Melba, Idaho, got together in the front chute. Scott skidded sideways in front of Lacy and slammed hard into the inside wall, obliterating the left front fender of his race car.
"That was sick," Scott said after emerging from his damaged car, which had come to rest at the entry into Turn 1 on the 3/8-mile oval. "That was so awesome."
R.J. Lewis of Meridian, Idaho, took home the main event trophy after a wild and woolly Thunder Stocks race that saw Scott's crash and three other spinouts.
Ted Nicholes of Nyssa, Ore., doubled up in the Super Hornet division, backing up a preliminary heat victory with a strong win in the main event. Nicholes ran away and hid from most of the field in the feature.
The next night of racing at Chaparral comes Saturday for the Sprint Car 20/20. The 7-Up Street Stocks, NAPA Mini Stocks and Super Hornets will race, too.
For more information about Chaparral Speedway, log on to the track’s Web site at www.chaparralspeedway.com or call (208) 939-RACE.
