With carnival rides peeking over the grandstands Meridian Speedway hosted the College of Western Idaho Dairy Days Races Saturday. The College of Western Idaho Super Stocks, TEAM Mazda Mini Stocks, TATES Rents Hornets, and Thunder Dogs closed the month of June with a full set of fast features.
The College of Western Idaho Super Stocks were first on the quarter-mile asphalt for a 35 lap main event. Boise, Idaho’s Ron Hayes got to the gas pedal first and drove his RC Willey, Boise Spring Works machine to the lap one lead. Behind Hayes the battle for second heated up as Gale Carter wheeled his Integrity Concrete, Oregon-Idaho Diesel racer hard to stay ahead of Caldwell, Idaho’s Daniel Johnson.
Johnson no sooner had his Darlene’s Printing, Real Estate Unlimited entry in second place than he came under fire from Melissa Arte. Arte planted her Marv’s Tire Service, Dillon Auto Craft Performance Engines machine in the outside groove, and on lap six swept past Johnson to take the runner up spot.
Now Arte set her sights on Hayes, and after two hard-fought laps Nampa, Idaho’s Arte steamed to the lead in turn one. Johnson followed Arte around Hayes, which dropped the Boise, Idaho driver into the clutches of Ben Crow and his Excel Equipment Company, Main Street Motors entry. Hayes pedaled his car hard to stay ahead of Crow, then harder still after second place runner Johnson retired from the race with a mechanical issue.
As Arte crossed the finish line to claim victory, Crow dove hard into turn three in a last ditch effort to take second place. Contact was made and Hayes spun into the turn four wall while Crow scooted across the line in second place.
The TEAM Mazda Mini Stocks brought a full field of racer to their forty lap feature. When the green flag waved Melba, Idaho’s Billy Shipp raced his way to the lead. Shipp wasn’t safe up front as Nampa, Idaho’s Fred Vigil pulled free of the pack and put his Ben’s Auto Glass machine in the lead on lap three.
On the move early were heat race foes Ian Michael Pedersen and Terrell Daffron. Pedersen led the charge through the pack in his Iron Built Sports Nutrition, Men’s Wearhouse machine, but it was Daffron who sliced his way past Shipp’s Riparetti’s Cylinder Head entry to take the runner up spot on lap five. With clear racetrack ahead of him, Daffron erased Vigil’s advantage and on lap eight Daffron put his Gilmore Meats of Weiser, 208tire.com machine in the lead
As Daffron motored to a comfortable lead, Pedersen and Vigil battled for second on the Pepsi-Cola scoreboard. Pedersen got the best of this battle on lap fifteen as he led quick qualifier Ray Bolinger and trophy dash winner Jason Sanders past the early leader and into the top four. This trio raced bumper to bumper through the last half of the contest, but could only watch as Daffron sailed across the Caleb’s Chop Shop Victory Stripe first.
A huge pack of TATES Rents Hornets rolled to green for a thirty lap feature. Will Ostrum was quick off the blocks and sped past Boise, Idaho’s Cole Kelsay to lead lap one. Contact was nearly constant through the race’s opening stage, and on the end of lap two Kelsay found his Western Idaho Freightliner, Snap-On Tools by Shane Duncan machine stuffed into the front stretch wall. Nampa, Idaho’s James Pahl slid his Raceway Video, Printcraft entry into the melee, and both he and Kelsay would retire from the event.
On the restart Ostrum came under heavy attack from Cody Garrett, who raced his way to the lead on lap three. Behind Garrett and Ostrum, trophy dash winner Josh Parkkila, quick time Tommy Harrod, and defending division champion Josh Randolph navigated their way through a vicious pack to the top five.
Nampa, Idaho’s Randolph was the first to get restless as he worked his Hungry Onion machine around Harrod for fourth, then Parkkila for third. As this trio sped past Ostrum, Garrett’s machine expired in a cloud of smoke, which left Randolph in the lead with Boise, Idaho’s Parkkila second and Caldwell, Idaho racer Harrod third. On the restart Randolph sped back into the lead, but Parkkila kept his H&H Accounting, Goodwill Finance entry glued to the leader’s rear bumper and waited for his opportunity to strike.
A restart with eight laps left proved Parkkila’s best shot at the lead, and when the green flag waved Parkkila dashed into the top spot. Desperate to retake the lead Randolph tried everything he could think of to make up ground, but Parkkila proved too strong and sped to the checkers.
Bumper Sniffer cruised to victory in the Thunder Dog division to close Saturday night’s main event action.
Meridian Speedway keeps the short track racing thrills coming with Fan Appreciation Night presented by K&N this Saturday, July 1. Don’t miss the on-track fireworks as the Pro Trucks, NASCAR Whelen All-American Modified Series, Teleperformance Claimer Stocks, College of Western Idaho High School Tuners, and Domino’s Legends kick off Independence Day week with a bang. General admission to Saturday’s full night of action is just $11 for adults, $8.50 for seniors and military members, and $6.50 for kids 7-11. Skip the line at the gate and purchase your advance tickets online at meridianspeedway.com. Gates open at 4 p.m. Saturday, with qualifying at 5 p.m. and racing at 6:30 p.m. We’ll see you Saturday night, July 1 for Fan Appreciation Night under the big yellow water tower at your NASCAR Home Track, Meridian Speedway.
Meridian Speedway PR
