Perhaps he didn’t do it the hard way, but nonetheless Bobby Latham III earned the title of 2006 Feature Division Champion last Saturday night as the Magic Valley Speedway closed the door on the season.
As Latham set up camp in the pits second in the standings, Steve Jones, of Boise, headed to the Magic Valley Speedway with the points lead and a good chance to sew up the 2006 feature division title. But instead, Jones had things sewn up in a very different way.
Jones spent his Saturday night at the Magic Valley Regional Medical Center after a case of appendicitis warranted surgery for the 37-year-old driver just a few short hours before race time, drastically changing his chances for a fourth feature division championship.
Bobby Latham and Mike Buddenhagen, Jones’ closest competitors, therefore had their chances open up to capture the title in the final event of the season.
Rounding the track without the familiar No. 3 car of Jones present, the Premier Division drivers took the green flag for the 50-lap main event race.
Rob Vest and Shelby Stroebel began the battle for the lead in the at lap six and continued to run side-by-side throughout the remainder of the race. Meanwhile, the field of cars behind the pair were fighting their own battles, resulting in several cautions as Latham and Buddenhagen fought to gain as many positions as possible. Latham was able to work his way up to his eventual finishing position of fourth at lap 15, while Buddenhagen made his way into fifth the following lap. On the restart at lap 27 after a caution for T.J. Woodhall, who had drifted off the track in turn three, any luck Buddenhagen had took a turn for the worse. Buddenhagen collided with David Patrick and Allen Williams just yards past the flag stand and the No. 48 car and driver spent the remainder of contest in the pits.
After the restart, Vest and Stroebel once again took up the battle for the lead while Latham seemed satisfied with his position behind Daryl Wert, who finished the race with a season high third place showing.
After a bobble in turn two by Stroebel, Vest was able to pull away and cross the finish line to end the race with his third main event win of the season.
"When Shelby was on the outside of me he started pulling away, so when we got a caution I figured I’d take the line away from him - and it worked," Vest said. "I think we only touched one time. I feel really bad for Steve (Jones) though. He’s a good guy and it’s too bad it had to end this way for him."
When it all was over, the 21-year old Latham, in his first full season, had not only captured the track championship, but a spot in the Dodge Weekly Racing Series Division III battle as well.
"It’s definitely not the way you want to win the championship," Latham said. "But somebody has to represent the track and I’m happy to do it. This is just a fairy tale season for us. We’ve had our ups and downs but the guys stuck with me. It really hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m the track champion - it’s an awesome deal."
The Budweiser Grand National Division track championship was also on the line, with Jerry Rice atop in the point standings. His lead was slim, however, just five over Jerry McKean and seven over Louis Lopez, 2005 MVS Grand Nationals track Champion.
Lopez began the 25-lap main event race in sixth, with McKean and Rice directly behind.
Lopez took the lead in the race at lap 14 after dancing his way around Willie Dalton and Jeff Meads, while Rice and McKean were mired in traffic. With Lopez pulling farther and farther ahead, the two Jerrys went for broke as the approached the checkered flag. As the two made contact, McKean spun into the infield grass just short of the finish line. As Rice held on to make it across the mark, McKean frantically tried to claw his way back on the track, but not before the rest of the field had passed him by.
Lopez anxiously awaited the call on his second track championship at MVS from the winner’s circle while the officials sorted out the final point standings, but the word eventually came down from the tower that he had captured the title by a single point.
"I saw the one and the eight car get together a little and I thought "Hey, this is good stuff," - and I was able to fly right by them," Lopez said. "It took some luck to get where I got tonight, plus a lot of hard work. We just found the sweet spot."
The 2006 Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stock Division champion Craig Nuthak had a bit of an easier time nailing down his title, finishing fourth and winding up the season 17 points up on race winner Jim Shirley.
Nuthak entered the chase for the championship first in points and never relinquished his hold on the lead in the final five races of the year.
This is Nuthak’s first championship at MVS.
Jim Howard, who entered the race with just a three-point deficit from Shirley, had to exit the track at lap 20 with a flat tire and could not return to complete the race, but held on to third in the final point standings.
The final race of the season at MVS belonged to the Rocky Mountain Challenge Series as the NAPA 150 put a climatic end to an evening already packed with shake-ups.
Mike Minegar of Boise, who held a 205-point lead over Twin Falls driver John Newhouse, developed mechanical problems on the No. 9 car and never took the green flag for the main event race of the season.
Suddenly Newhouse’s statement issued in a press release earlier in the week took on an eery sidebar.
"I still got a shot," he claimed. "If he screws up qualifying and the engine won’t fire at the start of the main and I pass everybody on the track twice he’s gonna lose," he laughed.
Newhouse did finish third in the race, but it was not enough to knocked off Minegar. He did however, lock in the runner-up position in the final point standings in his second year the series.
Bryan Warf of Meridian was the main event winner, with Twin Falls drivers Bruce Quale and Bobby Latham finishing fourth and eleventh respectively.
Chris Ratterree of Nampa was Warf’s major contender for most of the final laps of the race, making his way up to the front after being involved in a caution at lap 50.
With less than 10-laps to the finish of the 150-lap race, Warf’s car caught fire and twas attended to by the turn one officials. Warf was able to keep things together for the final few laps, garnering the win in the season finale.
RESULTS:
Pepsi Premier -- 1. Rob Vest; 2. Shelby Stroebel; 3. Daryl Wert; 4. Bobby Latham; 5. Sam Harris, Jr.; 6. Rick Van Vooren; 7. Allen Williams; 8. Sam Harris, Sr.; 9. Mike Greco; 10. Stevie Fisher.
Budweiser Grand Nationals – 1. Louis Lopez; 2. Willie Dalton; 3. Jeff Meads; 4. Randy Price; 5. Jerry Rice; 6. Les Schild; 7. Ernie Hall; 8. Jerry McKean; 9. Bill Manker.
Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks: 1. Jim Shirley; 2. Spencer Meyer; 3. Jason Todd; 4. Craig Nuthak; 5. Desi Ahrens; 6. John Hoogendoorn; 7. Brian Lopez; 8. Michelle Rouse; 9. Mike Dawson; 10. Jim Howard.
RMCS – 1. Bryan Warf; 2. Chris Ratterree; 3. John Newhouse; 4. Bruce Quale; 5. Dan Buckley; 6. Tyler Monroe; 7. Zan Sharp; 8. Chris Cook; 9. John Wong; 10. Chris Schrade.
Final Point Standings:
Pepsi Premier – 1. Bobby Latham, 1253; 2. Mike Buddenhagen, 1234; 3. T.J. Woodhall,1222; 4. Steve Jones, 1204; 5. Rick Van Vooren, 1199; 6. Mike Greco, 1180; 7. Sam Harris, Jr., 1172; 8. Allen Williams, 1161; 9. Rob Vest, 1160; 10. David Patrick, 1157.
Budweiser Grand Nationals – 1. Louis Lopez, 1235; 2. Jerry Rice, 1234; 3. Jerry McKean, 1224; 4. Randy Price, 1201; 5. Willie Dalton, 1185; 6. Ernie Hall, 1173; 7. Bill Manker, 1172; 8. Terrence O’Brien, 1122; 9. Jeff Meads, 1080; 10. Mike Wilson, 973.
Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks – 1. Craig Nuthak, 1234; 2. Jim Shirley, 1217; 3. Jim Howard, 1196; 4. Desi Ahrens, 1167; 5. Louis Lopez, 1149; 6. John Hoogendoorn, 1133; 7. Mike Dawson, 1122; 8.-9. (tie) Steve Edens, Michelle Rouse, 1117; 10. Kamie Nuthak, 1107.
