TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- Bobby Latham III won not one but two Pepsi Premier Division main event races at Magic Valley Speedway last Saturday night, as the former track champion avoided trouble and kept his cool on a hot day of racing.
Last year the dual main event night for the feature division was jam-packed with racing “incidents” and last Saturday night it only took until lap five to bring out the first caution for a dramatic wreck in turn four.
Rick Van Vooren, Mike Buddenhagen, Kris McKean, Daryl Wert, Rick Fowble and TJ Woodhall all received various degrees of damage – with Fowble and Wert needing assistance off the track via tow-truck.
Once the race got back underway Stevie Fisher held the lead for the next 14-laps - but cousin Bobby Latham had been sneaking his way up through the pack and assumed the lead from Fisher on lap 21.
Latham then began to pull away from the rest of the field and the biggest battle on the track was between Steve Jones and rookie Travis Monett for third. The two fought door-to-door with Jones doing everything he could to get and stay in front on Monett, but the rookie stood his ground and along with capitalizing on a late-race bobble by Jones – Monett took the third-place finish. Rob Vest also edged past Jones and finished fourth in the 40-lap race.
The second main was caution-filled with the yellow flag flying 10 times during the 50-lap event.
TJ Woodhall held the lead for the majority of the race despite entering a wounded car in the event. Caution after caution gave Woodhall plenty of practice on restarts, but fortunately he managed to get a good jump on the crowd each time and maintain the lead. However, Latham was obviously not satisfied with just one win on the evening and realizing the main was going to run 50-laps, he made his move for the lead. The two scrimmaged for position in the final laps with Woodhall keeping his composure on the inside lane forcing Latham to try and get around him on the outside. However, the 2006 MVS feature division track champion managed the pass with four-laps remaining in the race and pulled into Victory Lane for the second time in the evening.
“The second win was definitely harder,” Latham said. “With all those cautions I kept getting stacked up there with everybody – I was just going crazy. I thought the race was only 40 laps – and I was driving and driving and driving and I thought a second place finish was alright. Then we got to lap 41 and I thought maybe we were going 50-laps. So then I got up next to TJ and we battled it out.”
Considering the damage to Woodhall’s car in the first main event, his runner-up finish in the second main was a big accomplishment for the driver of the No. 99 car.
“The first accident I have no idea what happened”, Woodhall said. “Modifieds started piling up and I got spun trying to stop and I got hit again.”
Woodhall then needed to make some quick repairs to make it out for the second event - with not a lot of time to make the car race-worthy.
“The radiator, the complete nose I put on last week – the complete front end again,” Woodhall explained. “My crew did a (heck) of a job – we had help from a lot of different teams over here. There are a lot of guys I need to give credit to for helping me get it back on the track.”
Steve Jones was plagued with ignition woes in the second event and had to leave the track twice to try and make repairs. Jones did get back on the track before the green flag fell for the restarts and finished fifth for the second time that evening.
Dale Rogers had a good thing going in the final main event race for the division, staying up in front and finishing third. Mike Greco placed sixth and fourth to hold on to his lead in the point standings.
Latham’s double win last Saturday night may have some wondering if Latham has second thoughts on his earlier statements to run a limited schedule at MVS.
“I’m just running out here for wins this year,” he said. “Our main focus is the Rocky Mountain Challenge Series. But it’s great to come out here and get some time and run around with a great group of guys – I really enjoy running with them. But I’m not running for the championship this year.”
The NAPA Pony Stocks race was won convincingly by Billi Miles, her first main event win of the season. Miles had mechanical issues last time out, but got the car back in shape in a big way.
“We ended up changing the oil pump and the distributor gear – now it works great,” Miles said. “It feels great to have a come-back, especially on Mother’s Day.”
Craig Nuthak was first over the finish line for the Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks – but just barely. Nuthak nudged out Mike Shewmaker by less than a second as the 2006 Thunder Stocks division champion captured his first win of the season.
The field was once again extraordinary, with 20 cars starting the 30-lap main event show.
Finally, Lane Buddenhagen made it two in a row with a win in the Manker’s Lanscaping Teen Bees race, with Lyndsey Detrey placing second.
RESULTS:
Pepsi Premier (first main): 1. Bobby Latham; 2. Stevie Fisher; 3. Travis Monett; 4. Rob Vest; 5. Steve Jones; 6. Mike Greco; 7. Dan Pherson; 8. Shelby Stroebel; 9. Rick Van Vooren; 10. Mike Buddenhagen.
Pepsi Premier (second main): 1. Bobby Latham; 2. TJ Woodhall; 3. Dale Rogers; 4. Mike Greco; 5. Steve Jones; 6. Dan Pherson; 7. Mike Buddenhagen; 8. Rick Van Vooren; 9. Sam Harris, Jr., 10. Travis Monett.
NAPA Pony Stocks: 1. Billi Miles; 2. Jonathon Gomez; 3. Jason Whited; 4. Josh Pitz; 5. Shawn Nice; 6. Kevin Grubbs; 7. Randy Grubbs; 8. Brent Abbott; 9. Jason Todd.
Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks: 1. Craig Nuthak; 2. Mike Shoemaker; 3. John Hoogendoorn; 4. Jim Howard; 5. Calvin Jackson; 6. Brian Lopez; 7. Spencer Meyer; 8. Steve Edens; 9. Loren Miller; 10. Kamie Nuthak.
Manker’s Landscaping Teen Bees: 1. Lane Buddenhagen; 2. Lyndsey Detrey; 3. Anthony Avalos; 4. Jared Devries; 5. Lane Albright.
