Davey Hamilton's Supermodified Racing League brought twenty three winged sidewinders to an encore show at Idaho's Meridian Speedway on July 30. However, Jim Pasquin was eliminated in a practice incident that damaged his number twelve.
Qualifications came off without a hitch and Troy Regier(98) garnered fast time with a lap of 11.664 seconds on the fast quarter mile. Jeff Russell(85) was second at 11.859 followed by Ken Hamilton(1) at 11.950, Rick Veenstra(91) at 11.981, and Eric Silsby(96) at 12.019.
The first heat race lined up with Rick Cameron(24) and Harry Stone(40) on the front row followed by Mike Murgoitio(9), A.J. Russell(7), Rick Veenstra(91), Troy Regier(98) and Fred Kohlmeier(19). Cameron grabbed the lead at the outset with Murgoitio moving to second followed by Stone, Veenstra, and Russell. Regier displaced Russell on lap two and then Stone fell to sixth on lap three. Veenstra grabbed second on lap four making the order Cameron over Veenstra, Murgoitio, Regier, and Russell. Regier and Russell moved past Murgoitio on lap five. Regier challenged Cameron for the lead on lap seven when contact was made and both cars went to the wall in turn two. On the ensuing yellow, both Regier and Cameron exited on the hook and Stone went to the pits with problems as well. Veenstra lined up in front on the restart with Russell, Murgoitio, and Kohlmeier behind him. The final two laps ran off without a pass and the final order was the same as the restart.
Heat number two was paced by Jimmy Hamilton(97) followed by Bobby Dalton(36), Jim Birges(32), Eric Silsby(96), Jeff Russell(85), Steve Freeman(31), and Mike McCann(14). The race lined out in starting order until Silsby grabbed third from Birges on lap three. Silsby moved into second on lap four and grabbed the lead on lap five. Meanwhile Russell was moving through the pack and snagged second on lap six. Hamilton continued to fade with the lap eight checkers falling on Silsby over Russell, Birges, Hamilton, and McCann.
The third heat featured six cars led by Mike Ford(56). He was pursued by Cody Veenstra(17), Jim Tartaglia(83), Ron Burger(89), Ken Hamilton(1), and Matt Elliott(77). Ford led from the start followed by Tartaglia, Veenstra, Burger, and Hamilton. Hamilton moved to fourth on lap two and up to third on lap three. Tartaglia and Hamilton both passed Ford on lap five as the 56 car lost the handle. Burger was up to third by lap six, and Veenstra nabbed fourth on lap seven. Finishing order was Tartaglia, Hamilton, Burger, Veenstra, and Ford.
The forty lap main event lined up the surviving twenty cars with the fast eight inverted. This put Jim Birges on the pole followed by A.J. Russell, Ron Burger, Eric Silsby, Rick Veenstra, Ken Hamilton, Jeff Russell, and Troy Regier. Staright up behind this group were Jim Tartaglia, Mike Murgoitio, Bobby Dalton, Cody Veenstra, Harry Stone, and Jim Hamilton. Mike Ford, Rick Cameron, Steve Freeman, Matt Elliott, Fred Kohlmeier, and Mike McCann rounded out the field.
Birges grabbed the lead at the drop of the green followed by A.J., Silsby, Burger, and Hamilton. The yellow flew on lap 3 for debris in turn three and Kohlmeier exited to the pits with a misfire. The race then went nonstop through lap thirty four with the leaders bobbing and weaving through constant lapped traffic from lap six on. Regier managed to pass a car lap after the restart until he lodged in third place. By lap ten, the order was Birges, A.J. Russell, Regier, Sislby, and Hamilton. Back in sixth, Tartaglia was stalking the leaders after making several outside moves to gain ground. The order stayed the same at the front as the leaders continued to lap cars. On several occasions, Russell moved up next to Birges but was never able to complete the pass. On lap 24, Russell stuck the nose inside as the two came up to lap McCann. Birges went three wide into turn one as the two split the lapped car. They entered turn two side by side and then encountered another lapped car down low which gave the advantage to Birges.
The yellow finally slowed things down when Harry Stone spun on lap 35. The restart showed Birges, A. J. Russell, Regier, Hamilton, Tartaglia, J. Russell, Sislby, and R. Veenstra still on the lead lap. Regier managed to get alongside Russell on the restart and completed the pass on lap 36. Although Regier made a couple of runs at Birges, he was unable to pass and Birges won his first of the year. Following Jim to the checkers were Regier, A.J. Russell, Hamilton, and Tartaglia. All in all, it was a very entertaining race with a lot of passing in the pack and some very serious moves by leaders as they made their way through the lapped cars. From the Valley of the San Juaquin, I am The Racing Widow's Husband.
