MERIDIAN, Idaho — When a class runs two main events in one night, the odds are someone's title hopes are going to get banged up. Rarely are the championship dreams of the frontrunners ruined, though.
But when the double main event occurs on the final night of the season, such as Saturday night with the Late Model Lites at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway, it could mean the difference between champion and also-ran.
Two of the top three points-earners in the Late Model Lites season found hard luck Saturday night as Jim Bailey of Middleton, Idaho, crashed with Casey Tillman in the early 25-lap main event and finished near the back of the 15-car field. He wound up 10th in the second main event that covered 35 laps.
But it was Kale Freedman of Meridian, Idaho, who perhaps suffered the cruelest cut of all. Entering the night running third in the points, Freedman looked poised to win the second main. But he spun out of the low groove in the track as he approached the flag stand to take the checkered, allowing Tillman to take the win and further jumble the championship puzzle.
"Man it's about time," Tillman said after the win. "I've been working my butt off the whole year getting this car going.
"I'm just happy I passed Freedy (Freedman) on the high side. That doesn't happen too often."
The bad breaks endured by Bailey and Freedman appeared to open the door for Rob Powers of Meridian, who has been tabbed as the unofficial season champ. Final points standings will be posted on www.meridianspeedway.com by Tuesday.
In other main events, Chase Gilbertson of Meridian tightened the points picture by winning in the Domino's Pizza Bandoleros; Meridian's Eddie Abels gained some ground in the series title chase with Mini Stocks victory; and Travis Pavlacky of Fruitland, Idaho, won the Hornets feature.
In the early Late Model Lites feature, Bailey and Tillman tangled on Lap 8. Jordan Fitch collected the first checkered flag of the final night of Late Model Lites racing, out-pacing the field by three seconds.
"We've been waiting a long time to get a main event win," Fitch said. "This is awesome."
Fitch returned to finish fifth in the late main.
Mark Zirschky\of Nampa, Idaho, became the third winner of the Eldon Cahill Memorial Legends race, taking the lead from Don Allen of Meridian on Lap 14 and then holding off a strong challenge from McCall, Idaho's Rob Collins over the latter stages of the 40-lap race.
Zirschky joins Erik Miller (2007) and Terry Plummer (2008) as winners of the race run in honor of the man who helped start what would become the Mini Stocks class at Meridian before shifting his focus to a Legends career that began with the 2005 rookie of the year award. Cahill, who died in 2007, had spent time at Meridian as a push-truck operator and was later named the track's Energy Release Driver of the Year in 1997. He was inducted into the Western Idaho Racing Association's Hall of Fame last year.
Cahill's family presented Zirschky with the perpetual trophy, and Cahill's granddaughter, Cassie Hackney, got the night going by singing the National Anthem.
The Cahill Memorial attracted Legends drivers from four states, including Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Utah. NASCAR Camping World West Series rookie Phil Dugan of Meridian also returned to his home track to compete in the race.
The youngest drivers competing at Meridian Speedway are one race away from wrapping up one of the most dramatic championship chases of the season.
On Saturday, Chase Gilbertson, a 13-year-old from Meridian, put some excitement in the Domino's Pizza Bandoleros season points battle by keeping series leader Andrew Clark of Boise in his rear-view mirror during the 15-lap main event.
The championship will be decided Friday night in the final Bandoleros racing of the 2009 season.
"It's probably going to be close, but I'll get it," Gilbertson said after his victory. "It'll be there."
Clark entered the night with a three-point lead in the title hunt. He widened his advantage slightly by grabbing top qualifying time with a 16.527-second tour of the paved quarter-mile oval and finishing second in the Fast Dash heat race, one spot ahead of Gilbertson.
Meridian's Eddie Abels got some good luck when 3-year-old Chase, the Racing for Smiles of the Northwest trophy honoree for Saturday, signed the hood of his No. 79 Mini Stock before racing began Saturday. Abels cashed in by blasting by season points leader Ray Bolinger, also of Meridian, on a side-by-side restart following a caution flag on lap 30 of the 40-lap main event.
One lap earlier, Bolinger, who entered the night with an 11-point lead for the title, had passed Abels for the lead. But Abels got a second chance when Chris Gilispie lost a tire and brought out yellow flag.
Travis Pavlacky of Fruitland, Idaho, works his way through a crowded field to win the 35-lap Hornets feature, in front of series leader Vern Cornish of Nampa, Idaho who finished second. Pavlacky had the fast time in qualifying then topped that by passing into the lead when Eric Harry of Boise got loose in Turn 3-4 on Lap 15 while trying to prevent Pavlacky from moving to the front.
Cornish, had one of the strangest finishes of the year in a heat race. Cornish took the white flag with a substantial lead over the field, but he slowed and started to pull into the pits -- one lap too early. He was out of the groove, allowing Larry Hull to speed past and lead the rest of the field to the checkered flag. Cornish finished last.
Saturday's action was supplemented by the wedding of Del Ray Gould and Mindy Jo Edgar, which took place on the front stretch before the first main event. Gould is a corner official at the racetrack. Silas Adcock of Motorcycle Ministries presided.
Hornets series leader Vern Cornish of Nampa, Idaho, had one of the strangest finishes of the year in a heat race Saturday. Cornish took the white flag with a substantial lead over the field, but he slowed and started to pull into the pits -- one lap too early. He was out of the groove, allowing Larry Hull to speed past and lead the rest of the field to the checkered flag. Cornish finished last.
The season wraps up Friday and Saturday with the Coors Light American Speed Association Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association championship. The weekend also marks the championship nights for Late Models, Non-Winged Sprints, Mini Stocks, Legends and Domino's Pizza Bandoleros (on Friday) and ASA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Hornets (on Saturday). The Thunder Dogs wrap their season on Saturday with another installment of the wildly popular Boat Race of Destruction.
General admission is $15 on Friday and $18 on Saturday. Two-day passes are available for $30.
Visit Meridian Speedway online at www.meridianspeedway.com or call (208) 888-2813 for track information. To learn more about the American Speed Association, log on to www.ASA-Racing.com.
| Late Model Lites championship |
|---|
| Main event No. 1 (25 laps) -- 1. Jordan Fitch; 2. Rob Powers, Meridian, Idaho; 3. Brandon McClean; 4. Joe Barton, Nampa, Idaho; 5. Shaun Tubbs, Nampa Main event No. 2 (30 laps) -- 1. Casey Tillman; 2. Kale Freedman, Meridian; 3. Kenny Chandler Jr., Boise, Idaho; 4. Kyle Latham; 5. Fitch Fast time, Main event No. 1 -- Tubbs, 14.762 seconds Fast time, Main event No. 2 -- Tubbs, 14.646 |
| Legends |
| Eldon Cahill Memorial (40 laps) -- 1. Mark Zirschky, Nampa; 2. Rob Collins, McCall, Idaho; 3. Camron Madsen, Boise; 4. Don Allen, Meridian; 5. Ben Matheson, Pasco, Wash. Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Tom Matheson, Pasco, Wash.; 2. Madsen; 3. Don Millbourn, Nampa; 4. Travis Anderson, Boise; 5. Ben Matheson B heat (8 laps) -- 1. Rob Collins, McCall, Idaho; 2. Ron Hayes, Boise; 3. Cameron Cotta, Meridian; 4. Sara Henry; 5. Darin Turpen, Nampa C heat (8 laps) -- 1. Don Allen, Meridian; 2. Charles McDonald, West Richland, Wash.; 3. Zirschky; 4. Rod Stiller; 5. Brandon Frasier, Nampa Fast time -- Travis Anderson, 15.197 |
| Mini Stocks |
| Main event -- 1. Eddie Abels, Meridian; 2. Rob Taylor; 3. Jason Sanders, Caldwell; 4. Kirk Sanders, Nampa; 5. Ray Bolinger, Meridian Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Kirk Sanders; 2. Jason Sanders; 3. Abels; 4. Bolinger; 5. Tyler Burlingame, Meridian B heat (8 laps) -- 1. John Uhl; 2. John Ellsworth; 3. Quentin Ward; 4. Donovan Parker, Boise; 5. Scott Shoecraft C heat (8 laps) -- 1. Everett Meeks; 2. Tommy Downs, Nampa; 3. Brandon Shira; 4. Dell Scott, Nampa; 5. Duane Gerber Fast time -- Abels, 15.711 |
| Domino's Pizza Bandoleros |
| Main event (15 laps) -- 1. Chase Gilbertson, Meridian; 2. Andrew Clark, Boise; 3. Brok Kidd, Meridian; 4. Kaegan Myers, Kuna, Idaho Fast Dash (8 laps) -- 1. Kidd; 2. Clark; 3. Gilbertson; 4. Russell Housel, Meridian; 5. Myers Fast time -- Clark, 16.527 |
