MERIDIAN, Idaho — The Canyon Honda Eve of Destruction at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway was just another Saturday night drive for Jaramie Fuss.
Taking advantage of a side-by-side restart, the Kuna, Idaho, Street Stocks driver got the jump on Meridian, Idaho's Dave Short midway through the feature race then weaved through traffic to keep his season points lead in front of more than 3,500 fans.
Fuss began the night with one of the fastest qualifying laps of his career, running a 15.393-second lap around the paved quarter-mile. Nampa, Idaho's Melissa Scott clocked a 15.392 to collect the fastest time of the night.
In other main events, Boise, Idaho's Joe Ransom made a successful 2009 debut, winning the Non-Winged Sprints feature in a borrowed car; Travis Anderson of Boise continued to dominate the Legends class with another win; Eddie Abels maintained his Mini Stocks points lead with a victory; Melba's Bill Lacy won the 10-lap main event sprint in the Thunder Dogs; and Butch Davis won the Hornets main event after the top three drivers were disqualified for not taking their cars to the scales for the post-race weigh-in.
The night featured some wild scenes as a swarm of Hornets drivers volunteered for 20 bonus championship points each for the chance to stop the gauntlet van driven by promoter Adam Nelson and protected by an army of guys tossing watermelons and flour out of the windows. Nelson lasted four laps before being hemmed in in a scene that looked like a demolition derby. A compact car suspended 130 feet in the air by a crane was dropped on another car in a smashingly successful stunt. "Crazy" Chris Carlson, a Thunder Dog driver, thrilled fans by completing the Steel Wall Crash by driving his Oldsmobile station wagon into a Cadillac that had been painted bright red and stood on end in the infield along the backstretch. Travis "Flying" Pavlacky, who races in several classes at the track, pulled off the Arkansas Mobile Home Jump, driving an old Lincoln Continental up a ramp and through a colorfully painted fifth-wheel camping trailer, annihilating the recreational vehicle and bringing screaming fans to their feet.
Dion States won the World Famous Trailer Race, outlasting a field of Thunder Dogs towing a menagerie of boat trailers, utility trailers and camping trailers. The event littered the track with debris and devolved into a demolition derby, leaving fans clamoring for more and vowing that they would return for the final trailer race of the season next month.
Racing in the 69A Non-Winged Sprint car normally driven by Carl Marcum, Ransom made a triumphant return to the paved quarter-mile oval, turning the division's fastest qualifying lap before taking advantage of an opportunity to win the 35-lap feature.
"That car was a rocket," Ransom said. "It's great to be back out. This is an awesome crowd tonight."
Ransom shot to the lead when front-runner Don Kithcart of Eagle, Idaho, braked for a lapped car that appeared to slow unexpectedly and duck off the track into the pits with little warning.
Kithcart, who was walking away from the field at the time, wound up fourth as top drivers Wyatt King and Johnny Giesler, both of Meridian, finished second and third, respectively.
The Street Stocks main got off to a rocky start with Nick Lane and Chad Bess of Nampa crashing into the Turn 1 wall on the second lap. Nyssa, Ore.'s Steve Bosselman took control early, building a five-second lead until Short passed him to go in front on Lap 16.
Two laps later, the four-car lead pack of Short, Bosselman, Fuss and Scott nearly met disaster on the Eve of Destruction, but all four acted quickly to avoid the track-clogging wreck of Lane and Casey Scott, another Nampa driver.
On the restart after that mishap, Fuss jumped ahead, and -- although his winning margin shrank when he and Short came up on lapped traffic -- drove off to another feature trophy.
In the Legends, Anderson gunned past early leader Darin Turpen of Nampa on Lap 20 then flashed to a victory over the final 15 laps of the 35-lap main. Anderson zipped through lapped traffic with second-place driver Camron Madsen of Boise in hot pursuit during the latter stages of the race. Madsen and Anderson took their cars three-wide on two different occasions to pass slower cars three laps before the finish.
Abels won the 35-lap Mini Stocks feature race by three seconds over Tyler Burlingame. Abels took the lead at the start of the 24th lap, passing Randy Keckley at the start-finish line. Moments later, Keckley spun in Turn 2 in a mishap that saw Chris Gillispie drive his car hard into the backstretch wall.
Hornets season points leader Vern Cornish of Nampa crossed the finish line first in the 25-lap feature, but he, runner-up Paul Bradshaw of Melba, Idaho, and third-place Art Heath of Nampa were disqualified immediately after the race. Davis, who had led until he made contact with the lapped car of Brock Minor in Turn 3 on Lap 23, was declared the winner in unofficial results that were to be reviewed Sunday. Cornish passed Bradshaw one lap later when the leader got pinned behind the lapped car of Tony Johns. Bradshaw skidded out of control across the finish line for second place -- before the post-race ruling by track officials.
Lacy moved into the lead in Turn 4 on Lap 6 of the Thunder Dogs main and cruised to the victory.
Visit Meridian Speedway online at www.meridianspeedway.com or call (208) 888-2813 for track information.
| Non-Winged Sprints |
|---|
| Main event (35 laps) -- 1. Joe Ransom; 2. Wyatt King, Meridian, Idaho; 3. Johnny Giesler, Meridian; 4. Don Kithcart, Eagle, Idaho; 5. Zach Wilson, Boise A Heat -- 1. Kelly Perkins, Nampa, Idaho; 2. Rob Grice, Nampa; 3. Ransom; 4. King; 5. Giesler B Heat -- 1. Don Kithcart, Eagle, Idaho; 2. Erik Miller, Middleton, Idaho; 3. Kole Bushman, Boise, Idaho; 4. Sharde' Bement, Kimberly, Idaho; 5. Brittany Poedy, Emmett, Idaho Fast time -- Joe Ransom, 13.566 |
| Street Stocks |
| Main (35 laps) -- 1. Jaramie Fuss, Kuna, Idaho; 2. Dave Short, Meridian; 3. Melissa Scott, Nampa; 4. Steve Bosselman, Nyssa, Ore.; 5. Marv Weaver, Nampa A Heat -- 1. Chad Bess, Nampa; 2. Marv Weaver, Nampa; 3. Melissa Scott, Nampa; 4. Shawn Hansen, Boise; 5. Dave Short, Meridian B Heat -- 1. Steve Bosselman, Nyssa, Ore.; 2. Casey Scott, Nampa; 3. Richard Urrutia; 4. Nick Lane; 5. Daniel Field C Heat -- 1. Brian Williams, Parma, Idaho; 2. Chris McClure, Star, Idaho; 3. Bobby Riggs, Fruitland, Idaho; 4. Bill Lawrence, Grand View, Idaho; 5. Doug Loon, Caldwell, Idaho Fast time -- Melissa Scott, 15.392 |
| Mini Stocks |
| Main (35 laps) -- 1. Eddie Abels, Meridian; 2. Tyler Burlingame; 3. Ray Bolinger, Meridian; 4. Jamey Frostrom; 5. Donovan Parker A Heat -- 1. Kirk Sanders, Nampa; 2. Jeff Hasson; 3. Burlingame; 4. Jason Sanders, Caldwell; 5. Eddie Abels, Meridian B Heat -- 1. Tommy Downes, Nampa; 2. Chris Gillispie; 3. Parker; 4. Dell Scott, Nampa; 5. John Ellsworth C Heat -- 1. Randy Keckley; 2. Joe King; 3. Sarah Shaw; 4. Everett Meeks; 17. Todd Seaver Fast time -- Bolinger, 15.652 |
| Legends |
| Main (35 laps) -- 1. Travis Anderson, Boise; 2. Camron Madsen, Boise; 3. Don Allen, Meridian; 4. Darin Turpen, Nampa; 5. Ben Matheson A Heat -- 1. Mike Cullum, Meridian; 2. Madsen; 3. Tom Matheson; 4. Travis Anderson; 5. Ben Matheson B Heat -- 1. Ron Hayes, Boise; 2. Mark Zirchsky, Nampa; 3. Don Millbourn, Nampa; 4. Brent Collins, McCall, Idaho; 5. Allen C Heat -- 1. Turpen; 2. Brandon Frasier, Nampa; 3. Lloyd Bigler, N. Powder, Ore.; 4. Rod Stiller, Meridian; 5. Ed Sonius, Twin Falls, Idaho Fast time -- Travis Anderson, 15.229 |
| Hornets |
| Main (25 laps) -- 1. Butch Davis; 2. Eric Harry, Boise; 3. Travis Zaugg Thunder Dogs Mini Main (10 laps) -- 1. Bill Lacy, Melba; 2. Jim Anderson; 3. 12; 4. Dion States World Famous Trailer Race winner -- Dion States |
