Stroebel staggers field, wins Dad’s Modified Memorial

MERIDIAN, Idaho — The inaugural Allen Stroebel Memorial Modified Open Comp championship stayed in the family.

And there wasn’t a dry eye or an objection in the house Saturday at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway.

Racing just days after his father lost his battle with cancer, Meridian, Idaho’s Shelby Stroebel passed every racecar on the track in a dominating and emotional victory in the last ESI Express ASA Modifieds race of the year.

“This main event definitely has a lot of meaning to it,” Stroebel said. “We did a lot of things for my dad in this race. My family is town, and they made a magnet for me with his photo on it.

“He rode with me.”

And it was a fast and wild ride. Shelby completed passing the entire field when he inched past second-place Mike Reid of Meridian at the checkered flag. The win added to Shelby’s hardware in 2011; he had wrapped up the track championship earlier in the month to maintain his top-five position in the Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil ASA Member Track National Championship standings.

With Shelby’s blessing, race officials established a perpetual trophy for the memorial no-holds-barred Modified race after he flashed through 50 laps.

“It would be an honor. I know there are a lot of trophies that go around for this and there are a lot of great people in this racing community who have passed on,” Shelby said.

“And I would be honored to be the first on my dad’s trophy.”

Shelby’s night started fast as he roared around the quarter-mile in 13.107 seconds in qualifying.

In other main events, Meridian’s Mike Murgoitio led a top-three sweep by local drivers in the 50-lap ASA Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association main event; Chad Bess of Nampa, Idaho, posted a dominant victory in the College of Western Idaho Professional Truck Driving Street Stocks and Bucket List, driven by Kuna, Idaho’s Rob Bean, won its third feature of the Thunder Dogs season. It was the last feature win for Bean, who sold the car immediately after the race.

Murgoitio entered the night with a 27-point lead over Sierra Jackson of Middleton, Idaho, in the local Mtn. Dew Winged Sprints series. He and his crew battled through a mystifying sprintcar from jump street Saturday only to find the answer and get past Jackson for the victory.

“We wholesaled the thing,” Mugoitio said of the changes made throughout the day. “We were pulling apart shocks. We were pulling apart everything. We threw everything at it.”

Murgoitio had to pass Jackson twice to finally take control of the race with 10 laps to go. Jackson, who moved into the ASA NSRA series lead after Friday’s races, couldn’t hold off her rival on two side-by-side starts.

“Racing like these guys, I mean side-by-side and kicking it sideways you can only do that with a wing,” Murgoitio said. “What a great deal. That was fun.”

Murgoitio wasn’t the only Meridian open-wheeler to have a great night against out-of-towners. Johnny Giesler, who won an ASA NSRA feature earlier this year, ran hard after hitting the Turn 3 wall hard early on, picking up 19 positions to finish in the top five.

Jackson heads to Roseburg, Ore., at the end of the month in her quest to win the NSRA season championship. The season finale is Sept. 24 at Douglas County Speedway.

“We still have one more race,” Jackson said. “We’ve been struggling all weekend, so I’m glad we got two top spots this weekend.”

Bess lapped all but the top three cars to win the final College of Western Idaho Professional Truck Driving School Street Stocks feature.

Another Nampan, Melissa Weaver, had to finish the season in her father Marv’s Chevy Camaro, but according to unofficial results, she repeated as track champion in the Street Stocks division.

Bess and bad luck couldn’t deny Melissa Weaver a repeat performance in the Street Stocks.

Although she finished a distant second and was one of only two racers that Bess didn’t pass in the 40-lap finale, Weaver appears to have enough cushion to keep the series trophy for another year.

Weaver got a little help from her father, Marv, who surrendered his race car when the transmission failed on Melissa’s familiar No. 92.

“Tonight we started with a bad night,” Melissa Weaver said. “(Fellow street-stocker from Fruitland, Idaho) Bobby Riggs and Dad changed the drive line and then we dropped the tranny. I want to thank (Marv Weaver) for all of his help all year long.”

The track record-holder, Bess lapped all but the top three cars and was about two seconds away from passing third-place Tyler Nelson of Kuna, Idaho at the end of the 40-lap feature. Bess and Weaver led the field by three-quarters of a lap by the end of the night.

Hein and Caldwell, Idaho’s Ryan Newman finished first and second, respectively, in the eight-lap ASA NSRA B main to qualify for the 50-lap finale.

Middleton, Idaho racer Sierra Jackson did all she could to hang on to the NSRA series lead. In the first eight-lap heat race of the night, she sped her No. 25z sprintcar from sixth to third in the span of less than a lap. Jackson racked up valuable points by passing Chris Ratterree of Nampa, Idaho and then caught Roseburg, Ore.’s Vern Scevers near the checkered flag for third place.

Five-time series champion “Quick” Rick Brown of Springfield, Ore., took the heat race victory as he jumped out to a big lead early and cruised to a 3½-second cushion.

In the second heat race, Canadian Ron Larson proved that he could win in a strange sprintcar.

A night after totaling his racecar in a scary Turn 3-4 crash that sent his car high in the air and scattered parts everywhere, the Quesnel, British Columbia resident checked out for a four-second win in the eight-lap preliminary.

Four Treasure Valley drivers finished in the top five behind Larson, including former ASA NSRA feature winner Johnny Giesler of Meridian. Giesler roared into the top five late to register some points.

Meridian’s Mike Murgoitio, who entered the evening with a 27-point lead over Jackson in the local Mtn. Dew Winged Sprintcar series, picked up crucial points in the other heat race, roaring from fifth to third with daring low-side passes of Cody Veenstra of Emmett, Idaho, and Scott Aumen of Duncan, British Columbia. Justin Mack of Benton City, Wash., was able to stay a nose ahead of Murgoitio at the line to finish second behind Roseburg racer Andy Alberding.

In the ASA NSRA Trophy Dashes, Brown used his guile to hold off all-time track record-holder Andy Alberding of Roseburg, Ore., in the B Dash.

With Alberding bearing down on him on the final turns of the four-lap race, Brown slid up the track out of Turn 4 to preserve the victory at the checkered flag.

The A Dash wasn’t that close at all. Meridian, Idaho’s Mike Murgoitio, who holds the Mtn. Dew Winged Sprints track record for qualifying, checked out from the rest of the field. Murgoitio, who is trying to win a Mtn. Dew championship this season, won by half a straightaway over Jackson.

Jackson, who moved into the ASA NSRA series lead after Friday’s action, entered Saturday’s races just 27 points behind Murgoitio in the local series.

The ASA NSRA officials presented Jackson with a ladies diamond ring to signify her co-championship in the 96.1 BOB FM Diamond Cup presented by Hendrickson’s Fine Jewelry.

“I’ve been waiting for a while,” Jackson said before the presentation. “I’m ready.”

Not realizing a scoring error after the June race, NSRA officials declared Matt Hein of Roseburg, Ore., the sole champion.

But a second ring was created after the error was made, and the presentation was made Saturday night.

“When realized the mistake it really hurt us all, and we got together and did the right thing and we’re glad we could give it to her,” NSRA official Bill Birdsall said during the presentation after the trophy dashes.

For more information, visit www.meridianspeedway.com or call (208) 888-2813.