MERIDIAN, Idaho — During an unusually long sprintcar race, Friday’s opening night of the BOB 96.1 FM Diamond Cup came down to a split second with seven laps to go.
Roseburg, Ore.’s Matt Hein, a previous diamond ring winner as the 2009 Diamond Cup champion, found himself in position to lead the race coming out of a red-flag stoppage after ASA Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association officials ruled that Meridian, Idaho’s Brandon Johnson was involved in the crash that caused the delay and would have to relinquish the race leadership and moved to the back of the field at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway.
Hein bolted to the front on a side-by-side restart with Middleton, Idaho’s Sierra Jackson and then flashed over final seven laps for a victory in the ASA NSRA 2011 season opener.
“I messed up on the restart a little bit, and Matt got a good pull,” Jackson, who finished third in the NSRA series a year ago, said.
Hampered by six caution periods, Friday’s first leg of the 22nd annual Diamond Cup took an hour to run. The race was so protracted that pit crews were allowed onto the pavement to dump a fresh 27 gallons of methanol into the racecars with 17 laps remaining
In other features Friday night, Joe Ransom of Boise ran away with the win in Pepsi Sprintcars; Ken Chandler celebrated seven months smoke-free with a victory in the Project Filter Pro-4s; and Dell Scott of Nampa drove a Mustang loaded with horsepower to the checkered in the Edmark Mini Stocks.
During a red flag stoppage on Lap 23 of the Diamond Cup main event, Johnson announced that he was putting 15 pounds of air into a left rear tire that usually carries nine in an effort to keep it from going flat and keep him in the front of the pack.
The strategy worked until there were seven laps left when he had to restart the race side-by-side with Murgoitio, who had stalked him most of the night.
As the two frontrunners approached the start-finish line, Johnson got a little loose and affected Murgoitio’s line. Murgoitio and Victoria, British Columbia driver Jeff Montgomery crashed hard heading down the frontstretch in an impact that left Murgoitio a little woozy and stopped the race yet again.
Hein was able to escape disaster during the melee and was ready to start next to Johnson as the second-place racer, but officials sent Johnson to back of the 18-car field after ruling he had been involved in the wreck that knocked out Murgoitio and Montgomery.
In a 30-lap main event, Joe Ransom shook off watching his YMC teammate and fellow Boisean Carl Marcum tumble end-over-end in Turn 1 to blitz the field for a half-lap victory in the Pepsi Sprintcars.
Marcum sprang from his wrecked wingless sprintcar and thrust his arms in the air to tell the packed Meridian house that he was just fine after his car hit the sprinter of Josh Allen of Meridian and then pirouetted across the pavement into the middle of Turn 1. Marcum was running in fifth at the time, but lost control after checking up to avoid Kelly Perkins of Nampa, Idaho, who had slowed.
There was nothing slow about Ransom, though. He checked out from the field and led by a half-lap as the rest of the field jockeyed for position behind him.
“The car felt awesome,” the 2011 series points leader said after accepting the winner’s trophy. “It was running really well tonight. We were knocking on a 12-second lap.”
Ken Chandler hasn’t fired up a cigarette in seven months, but he still burns for the checkered flag.
The Boise, Idaho, driver ran around the outside groove, taking the high road to a victory in a 30-lap Pro-4 main event.
“The second groove has more banking than the first groove, and if you have two equal cars, I prefer the high groove,” the reigning series champion said.
The high groove allowed him to win a classic and familiar battle with Nampa, Idaho’s Joe Barton off a side-by-side start with five laps left.
Dell Scott of Nampa also used the high groove to pull to the front and win the Edmark Mini Stocks 30-lap feature.
Chandler’s Fairly Reliable Bob’s Pro-4 teammate, Rob Taylor, triggered a yellow flag when he spun his Corvette in Turn 4, giving Barton a little daylight.
That didn’t faze Chandler, who survived a side-by-side, fender-rubbing duel with old rival Barton to put his own Project Filter Corvette back out in front and take the checkered flag.
Earlier in the race, Chandler went to the high side and, after trading paint with race leader Jordan Fitch of Meridian, went to the front with 10 laps left. Fitch had claimed the advantage from Neal Latham, who drove his brother’s car out front for the first 13 laps. Latham’s brother, Kyle, is currently deployed in Iraq.
It didn’t matter which groove he drove in the Mini Stocks feature, Dell Scott of Nampa was determined to steer his way to the checkered flag.
The reigning division champ was just glad the race was no longer than 30 laps as he had to keep one step ahead of Middleton, Idaho’s Eddie Ables.
Enjoying green-flag racing for 20 laps, Ables held the top spot until rookie driver Jonathan Hull spun into the infield out of Turn 2 with 10 laps left.
Scott pulled up on the high side next to Ables for the restart and after one lap of door-to-door racing, took the lead – briefly.
One lap later, Nampa’s Art Heath and Scott Waldemar of Kuna, Idaho, collided to bring out another yellow flagt.
This time, Ables took the high side, but it didn’t matter – much.
“When I caught up under that caution, I had my hands full,” Scott said. “(Ables) gave me a good, clean run, and I was glad to see those laps start ticking down when they did.”
The first heat race for the NSRA sprints had a local flavor as Meridian’s Bryan Warf used horsepower to win an early battle up front with Darren6 Spiers of Adrian, Ore. Warf and fellow Meridian driver Johnny Giesler broke away from the field late in the eight-lap heat race and finished first and second, respectively.
Redmond, Wash.’s Robert Beck didn’t let a three-wide rush to the green flag bother him at the start of the second heat race, bolting to the front and running all eight laps in clean air. While Beck ran out front all race long, track record holder Andy Alberding of Roseburg, Ore., and Ron Larson from Prince George, British Columbia battled hard for position late in the race. Larson broke free from a wheel-to-wheel duel to finish fourth ahead of Alberding, who is the reigning NSRA series champion.
The heat for the fastest Diamond Cup qualifiers didn’t disappoint with Victoria, British Columbia driver Chris Schmelze streaked to the front and then ran fast enough to stay ahead of Meridian’s Wyatt King. King made a quick rebound after skidding off the track and out of contention during one of the trophy dashes earlier in the night.
The heat race wasn’t kind to Nampa’s Chris Ratterree. The reigning Mtn. Dew Winged Sprints champion at Meridian battled handling problems for the last half of the heat race after tweaking his front-end suspension on a hit into the frontstretch wall.
Canadian Matt Mansell made a two-week stay in Idaho pay off by grabbing the fast dash trophy in early NSRA action Friday.
“We brought this car out here last week and tried it out and ran in the back,” the Victoria, B.C., resident said, referring to his participation in the 32nd annual Bob and Tom Naylor Memorial Classic during the Memorial Day weekend.
Part of Mansell’s crew spent the two weeks wrenching on his No. 14 sprintcar in the Middleton, Idaho, shop of Mike Jackson, car owner for Meridian Speedway Mtn. Winged Sprints points leader Sierra Jackson.
“We came over to the shop, and half our crew worked on the car,” Mansell said. “Thanks to those guys for showing us some good Idaho lovin’.”
In the NSRA slow heat, Greg Middendorf of Snohomish, Wash., entered the field as an alternate and drove to the checkered flag in the four-lap heat.
Middendorf was pushed into the field when Meridian’s Wyatt King and Craig Deaver of Sumner, Wash., smacked tires as they entered Turn 3 on the opening lap. King fought his race car and saved it from tumbling, but suffered enough damage going through the infield that he had to retire, opening the door for Middendorf.
No NSRA driver posted a 10-second qualifying lap Friday night, and series officials pumped in another $500 into the speed bounty. If any driver breaks the 10-second barrier Saturday, they’ll win $2,000.
The Diamond Cup action continues Saturday night with the second feature and crowning of the 2011 champion. A new champion will pick up the diamond ring from Hendrickson’s Fine Jewelry because 2010 champion Justin Mack of Benton City, Wash., didn’t make the trip for the NSRA season-opening weekend.
The supporting classes Saturday night will include the third appearance of the season for the SPI Sprintcars, the ESI Express ASA Modifieds, the College of Western Idaho Professional Truck Driving Street Stocks and the Jr. Stingers.
Gates open at 4 p.m. with racing at 6:30 p.m.
Ticket prices are $15 for general admission, $12.50 for senior citizens and military personnel with ID, $11 for children 7-11 and, as always, free for children 6 and younger.
A family pass is available for $46, which is good for two adults and up to four children.
Fans can buy tickets online at www.meridianspeedway.com, print them off at home and avoid the long lines on race night.
For more information, visit www.meridianspeedway.com or call (208) 888-2813.
Meridian Speedway
96.1 BOB FM Diamond Cup
presented by Hendrickson’s Fine Jewelers and Stinker Stations
Friday’s unofficial results
Main events
Diamond Cup Night 1 (ASA NSRA sprintcars, 40 laps) – 1. Matt Hein, Roseburg, Ore.; 2. Sierra Jackson, Middleton, Idaho; 3. Andy Alberding, Roseburg, Ore.; 4. Bryan Warf, Meridian, Idaho; 5. Chris Ratterree, Nampa, Idaho
Pepsi Sprintcars (30 laps) – 1. Joe Ransom, Boise, Idaho; 2. Eric Ransom, Boise; 3. Rob Grice, Nampa; 4. Kelly Perkins, Nampa; 5. Josh Allen, Meridian
Project Filter Pro-4s (30 laps) – 1. Ken Chandler, Boise; 2. Joe Barton, Nampa; 3. Jordan Fitch, Meridian; 4. DJ Lyons, Nampa; 5. Jim Bailey, Middletton
Edmark Mini Stocks (30 laps) – 1. Dell Scott, Nampa, Idaho; 2. Ray Bolinger, Meridian, Idaho; 3. Eddie Ables, Middleton, Idaho; 4. Scott Shoecraft, Boise, Idaho; 5. Jason Sanders, Caldwell, Idaho
Trophy dashes
(Four laps each)
ASA NSRA Sprintcars No. 1 – 1. Matt Mansell, Victoria, British Columbia; 2. Cody Veenstra, Emmett, Idaho; 3. Chris Ratterree, Nampa, Idaho; 4. Jeff Montgomery, Victoria, B.C.
ASA NSRA Sprintcars No. 2 – 1. Greg Middendorf, Snohomish, Wash.; 2. Vern Scevers, Roseburg, Ore.; 3. Randy Dubois, Poulsbo, Wash.; 4. Chris Adams, Nampa
Edmark Mini Stocks – 1. Jason Sanders, Caldwell, Idaho; 2. Donovan Parker, Kuna, Idaho; 3. Scott Shoecraft, Boise; 4. Tyler Burlingame, Meridian, Idaho
Pro Filter Pro-4s – 1. Jim Bailey, Middleton, Idaho; 2. Jordan Fitch, Meridian; 3. Ken Chandler, Boise; 4. Joe Barton, Nampa
Pepsi Sprintcars – 1. Joe Ransom, Boise; 2. Rob Grice, Nampa; 3. Carl Marcum, Boise; 4. Eric Ransom, Boise
Heat races
(Eight laps each)
ASA NSRA Sprintcars
Heat 1 – 1. Chris Schmelze, Victoria, B.C.; 2. Wyatt King, Meridian; 3. Chris Adams; 4. Brandon Johnson, Meridian; 5. Mike Murgoitio, Meridian
Heat 2 – 1. Robert Beck, Redmond, Wash.; 2. Randy Dubois; 3. Middendorf; 4. Ron Larson, Prince George, B.C.; 5. Andy Alberding, Roseburg, Ore.
Heat 3 – 1. Bryan Warf, Meridian; 2. Johnny Giesler, Meridian; 3. Darren Spiers, Adrian, Ore.; 4. Randy Newman, Nampa
Pepsi Sprintcars
A Heat – 1. Joe Ransom; 2. Marcum; 3. Grice; 4. Eric Ransom
B Heat – 1. Ryan Wiederich, Meridian; 2. Josh Allen, Meridian; 3. Kelly Perkins, Nampa; 4. Erik Miller, Caldwell
Project Filter Pro-4s
A Heat – 1. Fitch; 2. Chandler; 3. Barton; 4. Bailey; 5. DJ Lyons, Nampa
B Heat – 1. Neal Latham, Boise; 2. Rob Taylor, Boise; 3. Dayne Amyx, Boise; 4. Ron Peters, Meridian
Edmark Mini Stocks
A Heat – 1. Ray Bolinger, Meridian; 2. Dell Scott, Nampa; 3. Sanders; 4. Burlingame; 5. Shoecraft
B Heat – 1. Eddie Ables, Middleton, Idaho; 2. Sarah Shaw, Boise; 3. Jason Lampman, Middleton; 4. Jonathan Hull, Boise; 5. Donovan Parker
C Heat – 1. Art Heath, Nampa; 2. Chad Barker; 3. Mary Johnson, Meridian; 4. Jerry Perkins, Nampa; 5. Mike Davis, Boise
Fast times
ASA NSRA Sprintcars – Chris Ratterree, Nampa, 11.344 seconds
Project Filter Pro-4s –Chandler, 13.512
Pepsi Sprintcars – Carl Marcum, Boise, 13.305
Edmark Mini Stocks –Shoecraft, 15.507
