10/3/2020
Magic Valley Speedway
A night of great racing and Destruction!!
By DJ Everett
We closed out the month of September with the ICCU Modifieds, Denny’s Minis, Cactus Petes Streets, Valley Office System Hornets and ended the night with Quales Electronics Trailer Race Of Destruction that will be talked about for a long time.
The night kicked off with the Denny’s Minis first main event of two for them. The field took the green and pole sitter Danny Gilliam led the field into turns 1 and 2 when his back end went around on him and spun to the infield grass bringing out the caution right away. On the restart, Mike Audet was now the leader with Chad Everett filing into the second spot and Cecil Miles following through into third. The top three ran in close formation with Zach Rydalch, in Adam Roth’s mini this week, joining the trio running fourth. Everett made an inside move on Audet to be scored as the next leader of the race clearing the way for Miles and Rydalch to move into the second and third spots. Miles wanted more as he put it down low on Everett and they ran side by side for the lead for a few laps until Miles decided to fall in line behind Everett. Miles regrouped for a number of laps and mounted a charge on Everett again. With just a few laps to go, Miles dove down low again on Everett and as the two exited turn 2 in tight formation, contact between both cars sent Everett slightly bouncing off the backstretch wall and that opened the door for Miles to take the lead and drove it all the way to the checkers. Miles added another win to his impressive total for 2020.
The ICCU Modifieds were the next main event on the schedule and as the field charged under the green flag, it was outside front row starter Lynn Hardy leading it through turns one and two with Zach Webster, Eric Rhead, and Jason Quale filling up the next three positions. Webster was right there eating away at Hardy’s rear bumper looking for a way around to take the lead with Eric Rhead doing the same on Webster’s rear bumper. All three cars were nose to tail with some looking on the inside of the competitor in front of them. Halfway through the race, Hardy started to pull away with Eric Rhead at times throwing it to the inside of Webster but Webster was still able to use the high line to hold him off. Hardy held onto his lead all the way to the checkers with Webster doing a great job holding off Rhead for the runner up spot.
The exciting R&A Trucking Big Wheelz race took place with our future stars of Magic Valley Speedway. Kylie Acosta was the first under the checkers as the crowd gave all of our young racers a big cheer!
The second Denny’s Minis main event of the night took to the track and as the green flag flew from our Jr Flagger of the night, Dakota McClimans, it was Danny Gilliam and Chad Everett battling side by side for the lead on the opening lap. Going into turn 1, Mike Audet went into the spin cycle with Jon Quinton getting a piece of Audet while driving by. Quinton suffered body damage to the right side of his car while Audet’s rear bumper was dragging the asphalt. A quick yellow and the field was back to racing. Gilliam and Everett were side by side once again for the lead with Everett moving his machine in front when they hit the start/finish line. Quinton moved into second with Kris McKean and Zaine Newberry moving into the next two spots. Everett extended his lead on the field but behind him a great battle was shaping up between Quinton, McKean, Newberry, and Gilliam. Coming off of turn 4, Audet again went for a spin to the infield bringing out the caution. On the restart, Quinton got a great run on Everett and moved on by for the lead. Everett wasn’t going to let Quinton get away as he put it to the high side with Newberry directly behind both of them. The white flag flew with Everett and Quinton still side by side and as they rounded turn 4 it was Quinton beating Everett to the line by 6 inches for the win. Jr Trophy Presenter, Parker Marolf joined in on the festivities in victory lane.
The Cactus Petes Streets rolled out next for their main event. Pole sitter Josh Cuff led the field on the opening lap but Jeff Peck rode it on the high side to work his way to the lead bringing Willie Dalton up into second. Dalton started to work on Peck for the lead looking high and low. Dalton found the opening down low and moved himself into the number one spot. Behind them, Shawn Lester and Ronn McClimans started to work their way forward. Up front, Dalton started to drive away from everyone and took it all the way home to the checkered flag. Dalton was very thankful in victory lane to many people who has supported him this year.
The ICCU Modifieds were on the speedway for their second main event of the evening and when the field roared under the green flag, Mitch Pehrson led the way. Pehrson looked impressive out in front early on but Jason Quale found the opening down low to move on by for the lead. Eric Rhead moved into second in which he also found the hole on the inside of Quale to be the race’s third different leader. Once out in front, Rhead was untouchable but there was some great racing going on mid pack with Lynn Hardy and Zach Webster starting to show some strength moving into third and fourth. Hardy was able to close in on Quale for second but was unable to get by. Rhead was able to cruise it to the checkers and after the field crossed the line, contact between Quale and Hardy sent Hardy into the turn one wall with a heavy impact. Hardy was able to drive away with considerable damage to his car. Rhead’s win total is now in the double digits for this year.
The Valley Office Systems Hornets were next on a road course configuration that featured many left and right hand turns. Wally Pierson led the first half lap but Scott Gilligan had different thoughts as he snuck by for the lead. Gilligan pulled away from the pack but Pierson was under heavy pressure from Shelby Dalton and Malaki Juarez for the second spot. Dalton and Juarez were able to work their way by Pierson but Juarez wanted more. As they snaked their way through the infield portion of the racecourse, Juarez made an inside move on Dalton on the front stretch where the two made contact. Juarez was able to drive out of it with the runner up spot. The deficit between Juarez and Gilligan was too great as Gilligan was on a Saturday night drive where he drove it to the checkered flag to add another win to his impressive total for 2020.
The long awaited Quale’s Trailer Race of Destruction was next with many vehicles towing boats and one towing a camper. The huge field took the green flag and the destruction ensued. Many boats were getting slammed into the wall around the speedway and some disintegrated upon impact. Some boats were getting ran over by other vehicles and boats. Ike Miller in his pickup towing a camper eventually disintegrated as well. After many laps, much of the field retired with the track littered with boat and camper remnants on the racing surface but 5 vehicles with boats were still running at the end. A fan vote was next with the finalists of Trump Nation and Bronco Nation facing off. The crowd made the most noise for Trump Nation and John Hankel as the winner in the Quale’s Trailer Race of Destruction.
We would like to congratulate other winners on the night with Chuck Yocum winning the free Shari’s pie and Chantelle Whalen, Gingerlynn Hansen, and Rich Kingston our selfie winners. This Saturday night is Shari’s Café & Pie Night featuring the ICCU Modifieds, Project Filter Bombers, Valley Office Systems Hornets, Quale’s Electronics Jr Stingers, and the Extreme Staffing Double Deckers. We are in the homestretch for the 2020 racing season so you will definitely want to attend the remaining races and watch the year ending points battles in all of the remaining divisions. We will see all of our friends this Saturday night at the speed palace……………..Magic Valley Speedway!!!
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