Pat Tully pounced on his competition in the AT&T Cable Limited Stock division. He blasted to the front, not leaving any doubt as to who was King of the Hill tonight. Kenny Hamilton bested Kelly Newman in the Papa John's Pizza 360 Sprint Cars. In the Bombers, David Wurtz crossed the finish line first; however, because of an infraction during the race, was penalized two positions, giving the win to Darrel Lankford. Points leader Bob Bachman won the shorten KIVI Channel 6 Super 6 modified Main.
Randy Tolsma, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race winner, paid his home track a visit this weekend. He presented Trophies to our "Kids Bicycle Race" winners. He also spent a couple of hours signing autographs for anyone that wanted one. When I asked Randy about his future racing plans, he said "there are some things in the works and that an announcement would be made in a couple of weeks." He seemed very excited about these changes. He said, there are a few more details to work out before he can say any more about them. Stay tuned for more.
Meridian Motor Speedway also announced the beginning of a Toys for Tots drive at our track. Everyone is invited to donate a brand new unwrapped toy to be given to the local Marine Corps Reserve unit. These toys will then be distributed to disadvantaged children at Christmas time. We will be collecting toys every race night until Saturday, September 9th.
All donors will receive a raffle ticket for a Big Raffle to be held on September 9th. All raffle prizes will have a value of at least $50.00. The Grand Prize is an overnight stay in any room of the Anniversary Inn, Dinner at a 4 star restaurant and Limousine service to and from the winners home. Over $1,000 in raffle items has so far been assembled. Attendance is required to win. Raffle tickets can also be purchased for $10.00. All money will be given to Toys for Tots, same as the toys.
We are participating in this early toy collection simply because our racing season ends in September.
If anyone has a company that wants to donate items or money for our raffle, please contact the speedway. Donations of toys from these companies are also invited.
Ryan Allen started the 30 lap Bomber Main Event on the front row and took the lead with the remaining twenty cars on his tail. The #72 car driven by Ray Otis, was running second, when on lap two, his car kicked out, in turn 4, and went sideways in front of the nineteen cars behind him. Some masterful brake stomping and with Ray looking like a mouse diving for his hole, cleared the mess without a Yellow flag. On lap 6, Ryan Allen was still leading, with the entire pack of cars going nuts trying to get around him and each other. The next time around, however, Ryan's car suddenly slowed. This jammed everyone together, while Ray was trying to get to the outside, so he could leave the track. As Ryan approached the track exit, he had a change of mind and turned back onto the track. This move caused him to hit Melissa Occhipinti spinning her and bringing out the Yellow. Now, inheriting the lead was Joe Dailey. At this point in the race, Brock Nelson, last years Points Champion, dropped a cylinder limiting his chance to win. He did finish a respectable fifth though on seven cylinders. Joe Dailey our leader, continued to lead with Todd Mitchell chasing him for three more laps. Ken Derrickson moved into second, around Todd on lap 14. Derrickson then set his sights on the leader. On round 19, Ken moved in on Joe Dailey and ran side-by-side with him. Derrickson powered to the lead next time around and looked like he might win. That wasn't to be. On lap 24, David Wurtz with Darrell Lankford, two of the hardest chargers in the Bomber division, moved into second and third place. Derrickson drove a fantastic race keeping the lead. On the last lap, the slow lapped car of Jamey Frostrom, wasn't able to move out of the way of the frantic race leaders and ended up blocking Ken Derrickson. Wurtz and Lankford dove under this and moved to the Checkered Flag. Wurtz was penalized two positions giving the win to Darrell Lankford. Ken finished second, his best finish ever. Larry Williams finished fourth with Brock Nelson fifth.
Next up were our AT&T Cable Limited Stock Cars. Pat Tully had problems during qualifying and started the Main in seventh position. Pat has one of the fastest cars and normally starts in the back of the pack. It took Pat only five laps to move to the front. Had the 30-lap main ran without a Yellow Flag, Pat would have run the race without a challenge. However, two Yellow flags were enough to bunch-up the pack allowing him to prove he was faster than everyone else tonight. Craig Bell almost got his car lunched when he was running with a pack of about eight cars. He squirted out of the cluster of cars, like a bar of soap in the shower, and backed into the turn one wall. He ended up finishing in eighth place. Finishing behind Tully were David Doan, Craig Doehling, Jeff Wurtz, and Adam Nelson.
The Channel 6 Super 6 Modifieds had Chad Sammons brake-out to the lead holding it until lap 9, when Hy Wilson took over. Then on lap 14, Wilson's engine exploded in a cloud of smoke and oil. Because of the ensuing time to clean the track, the officials decided to finish the race quickly, the race was shortened to 16 laps because of the approaching curfew and the remaining 360 Sprint car race still to be run. Bob Bachman, who inherited lead, won the race after a Green, White, and Checkered finish. Al Russell tried desperately to get past Bob but did not have enough time. Following Al in second, were Jason Skyberg, Terry Benson, and Dick Sola. After the races, Bob Bachman told me had secured a major new sponsor, the local Hummer Dealership. He said, he will be bringing on his new partner next year and is hoping to move up to the 360 Sprint Cars then.
Last up were our Papa John's Pizza 360 Sprint Cars. Steve Freeman took command when the race started. Steve's lead looked good for about 8 laps. At this point, the cars that had been running in second through six seemed to turn up the power and started moving up. Jimmy Hamilton passed for the lead on lap twelve, bringing Dan Lyons with him. One lap later Freeman had gone from first to sixth. Dan Lyons did everything he could to move around Jimmy without success. Dan had to be careful of his own position because Kelly Newman was inches from him. While these three were fighting, Kenny Hamilton, in his new Beast, was working on Kelly. Kenny ran the upper groove, going back and fourth from third place to fourth. Kenny worked up high for four laps like this until lap seventeen when he muscled past Kelly for a solid third place running position. Dan Lyons turned up his daring moves on Jimmy Hamilton, in the lead, on lap twenty. Dan moved in on Jimmy in turn three. Going through the turn, contact was made. Dan did a hard spin and stopped in his tracks. Jimmy didn't seem to slow down and stayed in the lead. Because of this contact, the track officials later penalized Jimmy two positions for not holding his line. Kenny, now in second, blew past Jimmy on lap twenty-five, winning going away. Kelly Newman was on Jimmy Hamilton, like a trailer on a hitch, but couldn't get around him. The top five finishers were Kenny Hamilton, Kelly Newman, Greg Panicke, Jimmy Hamilton, and Dan Lyons.
Bombers
Fast Time: Tyler Nelson 16.383
Trophy Dash: Marv Weaver
A Heat: Larry Williams, Leonard Reed, Melissa Occhipinti
B Heat: Todd Mitchell, Ken Derrickson, Drake Nelson
C Heat: Ray Otis, Jamey Frostrom, Brian Shalz
A Main Event: Darrell Lankford, Ken Derrickson, David Wurtz Jr.
AT&T Cable Limited Stocks
Fast Time: Don Tolsma 14.565
Trophy Dash: Adam Nelson
A Heat: David Doan, Craig Bell, Adam Nelson
B Heat: Jerry Green, Pat Tully, Ron Clausen
C Heat: Chris Sirani, Bruce Frank, Steve Gertson
A Main Event: Pat Tully, David Doan, Craig Doehling
KIVI Channel 6 Super Sixes
Fast Time: Al Russell 13.970
Trophy Dash: Bob Bachman
A Heat: Dan Sola, Jason Skyberg, Dick Sola
B Heat: Kevin Chipman, Johnny Rowe, Dennis Lopez
A Main Event: Bob Bachman, Al Russell. Jason Skyberg
Papa John's Pizza 360 Sprint Cars
Fast Time: Kenny Hamilton 13.286
Trophy Dash: Dan Lyons
A Heat: Jimmy Hamilton, Dan Lyons, Kelly Newman
B Heat: Steve Freeman, Derrick Allen, Allen Clarke
A Main Event: Kenny Hamilton, Kelly Newman, Greg Panicke
