JONES HOT ON HOT NIGHT AT MAGIC VALLEY SPEEDWAY

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- Steve Jones and TJ Woodhall fought to the bitter end, but it was Jones who ended up capturing his eighth main event win in the Pepsi Premier Feature Division race at Magic Valley Speedway last Saturday night, crossing the finish line narrowly ahead of runner-up in the race TJ Woodhall.

Other main event winners on the hot mid-July night were Louis Lopez in the Grand Nationals division, Jason Todd for the Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks and Lane Albright in the Manker’s Landscaping Teen Bee race.

Feature Division driver Jones began the 50-lap main event mid-pack but was trapped in traffic behind the cars of Harold Wartluft and Mike Greco as they battled side-by-side for the lead for much of the race. But Jones, as well as the No. 99 car of Woodhall - who had patiently worked his way through the pack - were ready to make their move as the laps wound down to the checked flag. At lap 44 Jones made his way past Greco and two laps later, Woodhall decided Jones needed his company. A caution at lap 48 for the spinning car of Stevie Fisher in turn four set up a green-white-checkered finish – which Jones and Woodhall quickly took advantage of, passing Wartluft on the restart and creating a battle of their own for the win. It was the number 3 however, that was lit up at the top of the scoreboard when the race was over.

The difference in the top two positions – just .028 seconds.

“I knew it was pretty dog-gone close,” Woodhall said of the white-knuckle finish. “When I went across I looked up at the scoreboard and I was thinking, ‘change, change,’ but it didn’t change.”

“We had a good car tonight,” Woodhall continued. “And right now is where you want to peak – right before the start of the chase. Steve (Jones) has helped us out a bit with some suspension stuff and if we can get this thing dialed in we can give him a run for the money. “When the racing is that close – that’s fun stuff there.”

Jones’ win is also a plus for the 38-year old driver in the Whelen All-American Series national rankings.

“It definitely helps,” Jones confirmed. “I think this is the best car count we’ve had all year and that helps, too. Things are shaking out now – and we’re going to end up in maybe the top 100.”

Rick Fowble had another good run coming in third, the highest finishing spot for a modified on the night.

Budweiser Grand Nationals

Louis Lopez wasted no time jumping into the lead in the 25-lap main event race and as he continued to put more real estate between himself and the rest of the field, it became a fight for second between Kris McKean and Jonathon Gomez for second. Gomez knocked on McKean’s back bumper a couple of times in turns one and two, but McKean held on to finish in the runner-up position. Lopez’ win will further increase his lead in the division but just one race remains on the schedule before the points are reset and the chase for the championship begins July 28.

Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks

Jason Todd, who recently came out of Thunder Stocks retirement, won his second main event race Saturday night.

Todd assumed the lead at lap two but Craig Nuthak and Shiela Harms had the No. 8 car in their sites as they peddled to catch up to the leader. Meanwhile, Desi Ahrens, 2005 track champion in the division, also wanted to be in on the action and made his way into third at lap 18.

A caution at lap 28 for Jim Howard and Steve Edens tangling on the front stretch set up a restart with just two laps remaining in the main event. As the cars were under the yellow lining up for the restart, Howard and Edens again got together, causing substantial damage to the front end of Howard’s ride and the flagman sending the pair to the pits for the remainder of the race.

Nuthak then had just two trips around the track to get around the No. 8 car, but ran out of laps and it was Todd who made the trip to Victory Lane for the second time in a row.

Manker’s Landscaping Teen Bees

The Teen Bee main event race gave every parent in the stands of a teenager reason to have second thoughts about handing the keys to the car over to the kids, as the action in the main event race went wild. The race ended up as a full contact sport - but after the dust settled it was Lane Albright who had powered his way into the winner’s circle for the second time this season