TWIN FALLS, Idaho – Jim Howard made it two in a row in the Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks division doing it the hard way, coming from the rear of the field of more than 20 cars in the main event race to take the checkered flag last Saturday night at Magic Valley Speedway.
Steve Edens began the main event in the lead and held onto the position for more than half the race with Brian Lopez stalking the No. 23 car at every turn. As the two fought for position, Howard was consistently making moves straightforward, picking off the cars in front of him one at a time. Meanwhile, 2006 champion in the division Craig Nuthak had also made his way to the front of the large pack – and a late race caution would put the drivers side-by-side for the restart. Howard decided to take the inside lane with Nuthak directly on his right - and the five-lap scramble to the finish was soon underway. Howard got a good jump when the green flag dropped on the field and soon Howard’s No. 37 car was back in Victory Lane for the second time in as many races this season.
Howard didn’t have high hopes for the evening, but his perseverance paid off in the long run as he worked his way through the crowd in front of him.
“It was actually easy,” Howard said. “Every time I’d come up and there’d be a group, somebody would bump somebody and a door would open up - and I’d just drive through it and go up to the next group. Things just worked my way - it may never again - but I’ll take it.”
As the cars behind the leaders attempted to improve their finish at the end of the race, a number of vehicles got together in turn one, causing damage to several cars. One of the cars involved in the skirmish was that of the No. 38 car driven by Jim Shirley, who came into the night second in the point standings. Shirley had been put to the back of the pack late in the race after he had contact with the car of Jason Todd, and Shirley would wind up finishing eleventh in the main event.
Jerry Rice may have been nudged out of the Budweiser Grand Nationals track championship last season, but he was on top of the world Saturday night after winning his first main event race in the Intermountain Pro Race Trucks Series.
Rice, in his first full year with the trucks, conquered a main event win in only the second race of the season.
Rice started in the lead of the 40-lap main event race which went caution free, but the No. 8 truck of Nick Lynch quickly became Rice’s biggest issue on the track. Lynch has always run well at MVS, and the sight of Lynch in his mirror had Rice playing defense for the remainder of the race.
“I’m pretty amazed I pulled that off,” an exuberant Rice said after the race. “We have radios and mirrors in the truck and my spotter told me he (Lynch) was clear of traffic and he was coming up. He just kept getting bigger and bigger in my mirror.”
However lap traffic late in the race turned into Rice’s favor, with Lynch having some difficulty getting around the slower vehicles.
“I think Nick got stuck in it,” Rice added. “I got under it and he had to go on the outside. I was just hoping there wasn’t going to be a caution.”
Alan Larson finished third in the main event race behind Lynch, with Kenny Vanderham placing fourth.
Budweiser Grand Nationals division driver Louis Lopez came away from the night with a bit of redemption from the previous race where Kenny Hatke won the main event driving a race truck.
Lopez led the race from the get-go, but Hatke was hanging in second until he got loose and did a 180-degree turn in turn two. The battle for second was then between Jerry Rice and Jeffrey Meads, with Meads getting under McKean with just three laps remaining in the race.
The good news for the Grand Nationals class is that they continue to have more entries as the season moves along - and some keen competition is obviously in the works in the division in the still young season at MVS.
The Quale’s Electronics Queen Bee’s opened their season with six entries for the 20-lap main event on the new one-fifth mile track. Darcy Harcourt was the winner of the inaugural race of the season, with Amber O’Brien a close second.
Last but not least, Brandon Burton of Kaysville, Utah, captured a win in the main event race from a field of the 10 Legends cars that were on the track for the green flag start.
RESULTS:
Budweiser Grand Nationals: 1. Louis Lopez; 2. Jeffrey Meads; 3. Jerry McKean; 4. Eric Jensen; 5. Kris McKean.
Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks: 1. Jim Howard; 2. Craig Nuthak; 3. Steve Edens; 4. Brian Lopez; 5. Calvin Jackson; 6. Jason Todd; 7. Desi Ahrens; 8. Spencer Meyer; 9. Jason Kissel; 10. Shiela Harms.
Quale’s Electronics Queen Bees: 1. Darcy Harcourt; 2. Amber O’Brien; 3. Misty Greco; 4. Alecia Dalton; 5. Krista Lander.
Intermountain Pro Race Trucks: 1. Jerry Rice; 2. Nick Lynch; 3. Alan Larson; 4. Kenny Vanderham; 5. Johnny Pierra.
Legends: 1. Brandon Burton; 2. Kelly Van Cleve; 3. Doyle Hartman; 4. Jimmy Gross; 5. Dennis Sonius.
