Source: Brian Calkins
Date: 09/30/2007

MERIDIAN, Idaho -- It was cold night for a championship but the fans came to support their favorite drivers in droves. The racing started an hour early due to the large amount of cars and classes running on Saturday night, September 29 th, and the racing ended an hour, or so, later than usual too. The first night of the two day event (Friday) was rained out and the track management decided to add Friday's races to Saturday's races bringing the total number of classes to eight and the car count to 126. Fans got a two for one deal as well with one gate admission for a combined two nights of races. The trophy dashes were eliminated to allow time for the heat races and the main events so the drivers could settle the points battles without distractions. More than eight championships were decided though, because several of the classes not only will award a championship but also award a rookie of the year award too. In addition the NSRA (Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association) and the ASA-Meridian Speedway winged sprints had two championships going at the same time on the track along with their respective rookie of the year awards.

The night started with the hornets reprising their qualifying from Friday with another Grand Prix style qualifying. (Grand Prix qualifying is when several cars qualify at the same time on the track.) Then all the other classes qualified in order. After NSRA driver Drew Church's last qualifying lap he piled in to the turn one wall and severely damaged his sprint car's front suspension and was hooked to the pits to lick his wounds. Church and his team got the car back together and ran a few test laps before the heat races and the Mains started.

The Mini Stocks kicked off the min events with a 35 lap race. While Jason Sanders, championship points leader, started near the back, "The Caveman", Cody Mitchell and "Mountain Man", John Ellsworth shared the front row. At the drop of the green Ellsworth on the outside began to fall back while Mitchell tried to hold off Donavan Parker from Twin Falls, Idaho. Parker took the lead and then had to contend with Ernest Dodson, Josh Pitz, and near the end of the race, Jason Sanders too. Sanders had quietly worked his way to the front, as he has all season long, and then after passing Dodson, Pitz, and Ray Bolinger went to the high side of Parker with five laps to go. The next time they crossed the finish line it was too close to tell but the transponders and the score board gave the lead to Parker. Parker and Sanders stayed side by side with Sanders leading on the back stretch and midway through the turns and Parker leading on the front stretch, where it counts, until the last second of the last lap when Sanders edged ahead by less than a tenth of a second. Sanders led only once in the race but led where it counted most giving him his second consecutive main event win and his second championship.

Another championship battle was waiting in the wings. The non winged sprints entered the track with ten cars and two battles going on. Johnny Giesler needed to make up a 14 point deficit to catch Cory Lockwood for first place while Wyatt King needed to hold off Tyler Bailey for third place in the championship. Giesler qualified faster than Lockwood allowing him to make up four of the 14 points needed but in the heat race Lockwood gained back one of those lost points. At the drop of the green Jeff Russell had the pole and Tyler Bailey moved up to second on the first lap. On lap six Giesler went around Lockwood for third and set his sights on the leaders. Lockwood passed everyone Giesler did and stayed no more than one position behind even though he couldn't catch or pass Giesler. The 35 laps ended with Russell in the lead with Tyler Bailey, Johnny Giesler, Cory Lockwood, and Wyatt King behind. Championship results were not yet available but it looks like Giesler was not able to make up enough points to catch Lockwood in the championship.

The Street Stocks did not have a championship points battle so much as a regular race. Any four of the top five could have could have stayed home with out upsetting the results but racers race even when they don't have to. Terry Lydell had a 90 point lead over Darrell Lankford but another trophy would look good in the den. Lydell started from the middle of the pack and worked up to the lead by lap 15 of the 35 lap event. Ben Frisbee, quick time of the night, started near the back and with eight laps to go had put down every car but one. Lydell had a good lead of over a quarter lap but lapped traffic blocked Lydell allowing Frisbee to catch up with five to go. The faster Frisbee could not get around Lydell and even though the race was close Lydell crossed the finish line first to take another win at Meridian Speedway. Shawn Hansen, Rodney Houpt, and Keri Sigman rounded out the top five.

The Grand American Modifieds brought out 17 cars for the 35 lap main event. Several spins and wrecks marred the early laps of the race with a spin at the start and a stack up on turn one at the restart and a five car wad up on turn three of the fourth lap. Travis Milburn and Tim Lawrence restarted at the rear because of the wreck and two others did not return from the pits. Shortly after the race resumed Shelby Stroebel took the lead with Lee Hackney behind. The race continued to the checkered with Stroebel about a third of a lap ahead of Hackney and Chris Fenton, Jeff Hill, and Dennis Wurtz behind. The championship points are yet to be determined.

The NSRA winged sprints came on the track with the sounds of over 14 thousand combined horsepower to shake up the crowd. Bryan Warf, part time driver in the series, had the pole with Matt Hein on the outside. Warf took off and left the others in the dust and quickly caught lapped traffic. In fact lapped traffic was the order of the day with 22 cars on the track. Fast qualifier Brandon Johnson started in the middle of the pack with the partial inverted start and moved to fifth in the first ten laps but some of the fastest drivers in the northwest were still ahead. Andy Alberding, NSRA regular and points leader, held his position in third place behind Matt Hein while Justin Mack attempted to hold off Johnson. Johnson passed Mack and then with 18 laps to go passed Alberding for third. When Johnson passed on the inside of Matt Hein Alberding followed for to gain back third. With eight to go Warf had a quarter lap lead but Johnson was slowly creeping up behind. Time ran out for Johnson with Warf in a solid two second lead at the finish. Alberding came in third with Matt Hein, and Justin Mack following.

The Super Stocks returned to race when Friday's race was rescheduled for Saturday. Charlie Stout and David Harris shared the front row at the start but Stout passed Harris on the outside on the first lap and ran away with the lead. Les Schild came out in his spare car and passed for second place. The entire field changed position except for Stout in first place and when Schild was holding off the cars behind he got loose and a chain reaction caused a pile up in turn one. At the restart Rick Baldwin was in second behind Stout but Charlie Hamm Jr. was working his way up. Hamm, the runaway points leader, could not get around Baldwin or Stout. Charlie Stout held on for the win but finished several positions down in the points. Baldwin probably passed Dan Lowther for second in points but official results are not out yet.

With the Hornets there was a runaway points champion also but the lower positions were still up for grabs. Josh Jackson, points leader, started on the pole with Ronny Tipton on the outside. The entire race it was Jackson and Tipton in the lead and running away from the competition. An upside down car on the back stretch brought out a red flag and a restart. A smart move by Jackson gave him a momentary three lapped car cushion form Tipton but Tipton passed them also to keep the pressure on. At the end it was Jackson followed closely by Tipton with Josh Culley Tony Johns and David Tankersley following.

The Hornets were immediately followed by the Thunder Stocks in a non points trailer race. Two of the "thunders" were pulling camper trailers which were extremely top heavy and soon toppled over stalling the tow vehicles. The race was red flagged to right the trailers and when the race continued the trailers again tipped over and came off the frames. After the checkered flag came out the campers must have looked more like targets than obstructions because several of the Thunder Stocks plowed in to them making the track look like a tornado zone. After all the fun and games Verlon Wright took home the trophy along with his completely intact boat and trailer.

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