EXCITING FINISHES PUNCTUATE OPENING NIGHT

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Opening night at Meridian Speedway was a time for comebacks and breakouts. And a ton of yellow flags.

Upwards of 70 race cars packed into the newly painted pits, and thousands of fans -- some who hadn't been to the track in a decade -- filled the stands as a new chapter in the long history of the 58-year-old quarter-mile track unfolded.

"I think we had a hell of a night -- the pits, the drivers and the stands," Al Russell, one of the track's new owners, said. "The weather didn't really cooperate, but we got more (fans) than we expected."

The fans were treated to great racing all night long, with several drivers snapping dry spells and perhaps even one learning the secret to winning while capturing his first feature race victory.

Nampa, Idaho, resident Shaun Tubbs rebounded from an early spinout during the 35-lap Late Model Lites main event to win his first feature.

A wreck on a Lap 19 restart that brought out fourth of the race's five caution flags took out race leader Kenny Chandler and opened the door for Tubbs' comeback.

The 29-year-old father of two credited his victory to his 360-degree trip in the first turn on Lap 4.

"It fixed the screw that was loose behind the wheel," Tubbs said in self-deprecation. "The one we couldn't tighten."

It seemed the ASA Modified drivers couldn't get a handle on a smooth race in the final feature of the night. There were two red flags and numerous yellows, but when the dust settled, only one car had been sent to the pits early and Star, Idaho, veteran driver Tony Ackerland had emerged with the trophy.

Boise, Idaho's Pete Trammell led early. But when second-place driver Brian Terry from Fresno, Calif., slammed into the Turn 3 wall, the complexion of the race changed, and Ackerland took advantage.

Ackerland took the lead eight laps into the race and then held off Jeff Hill's lengthy charge by using lapped traffic, such as Trammell, to keep his rival at bay.

"Jeff Hill had a really good car," Ackerland said. "We came out and didn't put any new skins, tires, on the car.

"I think he probably had the faster car, but I had the position."

Even with only nine cars in the field, the Winged Sprints put on a show for the fans at a track that has become known for its open-wheel excitement.

Emmett's Cody Veenstra paced the field in the 35-lap main event and held off fatigue and Sierra Jackson to get what he hopes is a watershed victory.

"I could hear her. I was getting tired and at about Lap 25 I could hear her engine," Veenstra said of Jackson's charge.

"I didn't want to lead the whole race and get lapped in the last 10 to 15 laps."

Even as Jackson pulled up to Veenstra's rear bumper late in the race, the 23-year-old open-wheel veteran was able to pull away for the victory.

"I just hope this is the start of a good year for the track and for this team," Veenstra said.

The class with the largest contingent of cars, the Mini Stocks, saw five yellow flags of its own during a 35-lap feature.

Fast-time driver Eddie Ables roared past Tyler Burlingame on a Lap 18 restart and kept Burlingame behind him for the remaining 17 laps, surviving a Lap 21 caution that came out after Nampa, Idaho's Del Scott rammed Donovan Parker's car hard in the rear in Turn 3 for another slowdown.

The first night of the Thunder Dogs stock cars was interesting, to say the least. Veteran Bill Lacy won the 15-lap feature race during which all three cars on the track were required to stop at the flagger's discretion each time they passed the start-finish line for the first 10 laps.

The racing continues Saturday with the Fiberglass 500 Boat Race of Destruction in which Thunder Dog cars will pull boats around the track. Also on the docket are the 2009 debuts for the Non-winged Sprints, Super Stocks, Street Stocks, Legends and Hornets.

Admission is $12 for adults, $9.50 for senior citizens and military personnel, $8 for children ages 7-11, and children 6 and younger get in free.

The gates open at 4 p.m., with time trials at 5 p.m., and racing at 6:30 p.m.

Interested drivers can enter the Boat Race of Destruction by logging onto www.meridianspeedway.com. The track hotline is 888-2813.

As an American Speed Association-sanctioned track, Meridian Speedway is part of the ASA Member Track National Championship for the Modified division.

The goal of the ASA Short Track National Championship is to activate a measuring system that takes into account many variables, such as field size, inversion, wins and number of races in a season, and create a level playing field to determine who is the ‘best-of-the-best’ of the ASA Member Track Champions Nationwide.

The ASA Joe Gibbs Driven National Member Track Champion Award was designed to give the National Champion exposure with one of the top teams in racing – Joe Gibbs Racing. Joe Gibbs Driven Oil, a division of Joe Gibbs Racing, sells the actual oil products developed and used by Joe Gibbs Racing to racers at all levels. More information can be found at www.joegibbsdriven.com.

The ASA Member Track program is comprised of a network of short tracks around the United States, as well as a variety of regional and national touring series. For news and information from all the racetracks and tours involved in the American Speed Association, visit www.ASA-Racing.com.