MERIDIAN, Idaho – Butch Gilliland, father of Nextel Cup driver David Gilliland and former Craftsman Truck Series driver, continued his driving career at Meridian Speedway in a main event win his second time at the track. The race night was sponsored by Project Filter and IdahoQuitnet.com which also sponsors two drivers (the "Smoke Free 83" in Late Model Lites and the Late Models). It was almost perfect for the title sponsor. One of their drivers won the main while the other came in second and would likely have won if not for the driving abilities of Butch Gilliland.
The race night started with the Street Stocks 35 lap main event. Terry Lydell, quick time of the night, started near the back of the 10 car field and worked his way to the front in ten laps when he passed Rodney Houpt on the outside. By lap 17 Lydell had a quarter lap lead but Darrell Lankford had just passed the last of the cushion cars between him and Lydell. It was a chase to the finish with ten laps to go and Lankford trying to catch up to the slightly faster Lydell. Both drivers were in clean air and able to drive their favored lines except when passing lapped traffic. Keri Sigman, running in third, was not able to put pressure on Lankford. With two laps to go Lydell passed two more lapped cars increasing the cushion ahead of Lankford to three cars. At the finish it was Lydell in first with Lankford, Sigman, Rodney Houpt, and DeeAnn Norton as the top five.
Darin Turpen led the eleven Legends to the green at the start of the 35 lap main with Lloyd Bigler on the outside. After the first lap a minor altercation on turns one and two sent Rob Collins to the pits but he stalled at the entrance which brought out the first caution. At the restart Darin Turpen and Lloyd Bigler started single file with Ed Sonius and Jimmy Gross behind. Gross took the high line and passed Sonius for third and then stayed high to go around Turpen for the lead. Ten laps later Gross had a quarter lap on the competition and while preparing to fly by lapped traffic almost got collected in a wreck that would have stopped his bid for the checkered.
After the restart Gross moved to a different time zone but a transmission problem caused him to slow on the back stretch with ten laps to go and eventually bring out the yellow flag. The restart had Gross in seventh while Rich Cron, Travis Anderson, and Joe Ransom were in the top three positions. At the restart Travis Ransom forced Rich Cron to the outside which allowed Joe Ransom to follow him to second. With seven laps to go Gross was in fifth place while Anderson was running away with first place. While trying to pass Austin Hager Gross bumped and spun bringing out another caution and a restart with Gross still in fifth, the tail end of the lead lap. With his momentum gone Gross could not manage to pass any but lapped cars while taking fifth at the last lap of the race but maintaining his points lead for the season. Travis Anderson won with a good margin of victory but not a run away. Joe Ransom came in second with Rich Cron, Austin Hager, and Jimmy Gross following. It was Andersons first main event win and only his seventh race.
Veteran driver and former points leader, Dennis Sonius, returned to the track on Saturday night after a mid season wreck gave him a shattered ankle, a severely damaged car, and several bruises. Sonius started from scratch and pitted after a few laps but fans and competitors alike were happy to see him return.
The Non Wing Sprints car count is still growing in the first season of the new class. Mick Williams had the pole position with Greg Owen on the outside while points leaders and young guns Johny Gielser, Cory Lockwood, and Tyler Bailey started near the rear of the field. Jim Todd, who won a few weeks ago in a Winged Sprint, started third inside row and passed for second on the outside of Cameron Sinsel and then again passed on the outside of Mick Williams for the lead. Jeff Russell followed Todd to the front with Cory Lockwood right behind. By lap seven Giesler had moved to fourth behind Lockwood while Bailey had moved to fifth. The group of five left no daylight between their cars and the tension was mounting while they ran away form the rest of the pack. Giesler battling to maintain a solid points lead ahead of Lockwood for the season championship was anxious to pass.
With no space between Lockwood, Giesler, and Bailey and Lockwood fighting problems with his brakes due to damage from an earlier practice session there was little chance that the five cars could stay so close together for long. With Lap traffic coming up Giesler looked outside coming into turn one when Lockwood's rear tires locked up and put him loose and into Giesler's path. The contact put Giesler into the wall and out of the race with 18 laps to go. At the end Jim Todd took the checkered in a race where the top four drivers crossed the finish line within six tenths of a second of each other. After the race Jim Todd said, "this one's for all the old guys…these kids can run you in to the ground." In fact the top four in points in the Non Wing Sprints are all young guns.
When the Late Model Lites took the green flag the field stayed bunched up side by side for the first lap until a spin by one of the leaders wadded up the rest of the field on the front stretch. After the clean up, pit stops by damaged cars, and some of the cars getting the hook the restart had the adrenaline charged competitors single file. Neal Latham and Casey Tillman quickly moved to first and second. John Peterson then passed Pat Young and Scott Wilcox Jr. on the inside to take third. Matt Wolfkiel saw an opening he couldn't resist and made a three wide pass on turns three and four on the inside of Wilcox and Young. A three wide pass at Meridian Speedway is like stealing a base; it's breathtaking and it often ends with someone out, but this time, Wolfkiel was safe and now in fourth position with the only damage to the other cars in track position and possibly ego. When the track is hot the outside line goes away and with the change of the seasons eminent the change in track temperature was dropping. John Peterson in the "Smoke Free 83" also sponsored by Saturday's event sponsor, gambled that the outside groove was ready for his move. With 14 laps to go Peterson took the lead and Kale Freedman followed his example right behind. Joe Barton caught up with Freedman and when Freedman moved outside to pass Peterson Barton closed up the gap. A spin by Neal Latham brought out another caution and with the time restraints the caution laps were being counted. At the restart a green, white, checkered finish was called for with Peterson in the lead followed by Barton, Freedman and Wolfkiel. The finish brought no changes from the restart with Peterson winning while his major sponsor was sponsoring the race night. He said later "I'm excited to win on Project Filter night". Joe Barton, Kale Freedman, Matt Wolfkiel, and Casey Tillman rounded out the top five.
The Late Models eleven cars took the green with Butch Gilliland right behind the pole position held by Jaramie Fuss. Fuss won for the first time in the class about a month ago but was having a bad day on Saturday that started when he was wrecked during practice laps and had to start the main with out any front end sheet metal. With out even the small amount of down force provided by the nose of Fuss' car Butch Gilliland was able to pass on the outside in the second lap to take the lead. Tyler Monroe also passed Fuss but could not close on Gilliland. At lap 13 the "Smoke Free 83" driven by Phillip Dugan passed Monroe on the inside. A half lap later Monroe and Travis Milburn contacted and spun. Both cars restarted at the rear which left John Nesmith, points leader, to contend with the top two for position.
Sierra Jackson was right behind Nesmith and a few laps later Monroe and Milburn caught up with the rest of the leaders to put even more pressure on. Dugan was very tight to the bumper of Gilliland and on lap 25 stuck his nose inside but could not get enough position to maintain the inside. Gilliland and Dugan encountered lap traffic but did not have any trouble getting around. On lap 28 Milburn's motor blew leaving the track slick from turn 4 to the start finish line where he backed into the wall. Jaramie Fuss continued his bad luck streak when he was the first to encounter the slick track and nosed into Milburn causing more damage to his already damaged car. The extensive cleanup time involved caused the track officials to call the race at just over half way completed. Butch Gilliland was declared the winner with Phil Dugan in second, John Nesmith in third, Sierra Jackson in fourth, and Tyler Monroe in fifth.
