7/13/2021
Magic Valley Speedway
Multiple winners making for a history making year!!
By DJ Everett
(07/03/2021)
More drivers were getting their first wins of the year last Saturday that has added to the total of over 35 different winners in 2021 at the halfway point of the year. This happening on Pepsi Night featuring the ICCU Modifieds, McClimans Racing Engines Minis, Project Filter Bombers, Cactus Pete’s Streets, Magic Valley Pipe Hornets, Double Deckers and we ended the night with the Pepsi Fantastic Fireworks Show! The fans were in for a treat on this very busy night of action!
The McClimans Racing Engines Minis were the first group on the track for their first of two main events. Andrew Prince led the field early as they took the green flag and opened his lead by a large margin immediately. Roy Boots Jr jumped past Zain Newberry for second when the yellow flew for a spinning Danny Gilliam on the backstretch. The restart saw Boots Jr and Prince side by side for the lead when the yellow flew again for Chad Everett spinning to the grass off turn 2. Cecil Miles entered the picture on the restart filing into third and started to chase down the top two. Miles was able to get by Boots Jr and Prince for the lead and hold off a hard charging Chad Everett all the way to the checkered flag to add to his multiple win total for this year.
The ICCU Modifieds rolled out for their first of two main events on the evening. Mitch Pehrson led the early laps of the race when Lynn Hardy caught him and made the inside move for the lead. It’s good to see Pehrson running up front as he has been making gains on his car. Jason Quale moved his way into second and chased down Hardy in a couple of laps and eventually got by Hardy for the lead. Quale started to leave everyone behind him with great battles going on in the middle of the pack. Eric Rhead had Zach Webster in tow as those two drivers made their way into second and third spots. Speed Tour Modified regular Donovan Barr making a rare weekly show appearance at MVS cracked the top five and was also in contention. Natalie Waters looped it in turns 1 and 2 to bring out the caution and put the heavy hitters of Quale and Rhead on the front row for the restart. The green was back out and action was happening again with Patrick Gold and Pehrson touching wheels going into turn three sending Pehrson into the wall and collecting Dan Root Jr, Matt Egley, and Waters. Everyone was able to drive away except for Pehrson who received damaged and was done for this race ending his great drive. Restart once again and Quale was back out in front. Webster and Rhead started to race hard for second with Barr in fourth looking on. Caution was flying again for Waters spinning in turns 1 and 2 making for a very long race for the young Grantsville, UT driver. Quale controlled the restart again and started to drive away from Rhead and Webster. Looking very fast in this first modified main event, Quale held it to the checkered flag getting his first win of 2021.
The R&A Trucking Big Wheelz took place and we would like to congratulate Bentley Edens with the win. We would also like to thank Brothers in Christ motorcycle ministries for making an appearance and saying our prayer during opening ceremonies.
The Double Deckers had a full field again to entertain the crowd. Always a delight to see so many double deckers which provides for tons of side by side racing. The team of Brayden Sweatfield and Zach Rydalch were the best double decker team on this night able to cut through the traffic and score another win for both of those drivers. Our Jr Flagger for this race was Sophie Wilson doing a great job flying the flags and Ileana Wood was our trophy presenter handing the trophies to Brayden and Zach in victory lane.
The Magic Valley Pipe Hornets also had a good field of cars with Peggy Dean rocketing off with the lead at the start of the race. Brenden Radabaugh was holding down the second spot with Brayden Sweatfield ready to make a move. Sweatfield got by Radabaugh with Zach Rydalch and Steve Edens Jr making their way forward. Edens Jr riding on a two race win streak was trying to make it three in a row. While all of the battling was going on, Dean was out in front and pulling away. Dean drove it to victory scoring a class high three wins in 2021.
The McClimans Racing Engines Minis came out again for the second time for another main event. Tony Failes had the lead for the first half of a lap until Andrew Prince flew on by to take the top spot. Prince was out in front until Cecil Miles and Chad Everett were the next drivers to be at the front of the field. Miles trying to double up on main events this evening had Everett to his inside when the two made contact off turn 2 but both kept it going straight. One driver that didn’t keep it straight was Roy Boots Jr as he spun to the grass on the backstretch enabling the yellow flag to fly. Back to racing and the close battle between Miles and Everett continued as both came together off turn 4 sending Everett for a spin down the frontstretch bringing out the caution flag again. Everett was able to get his spot back for the restart and held his lead in which he crossed under the checkered flag for the win.
The Cactus Pete’s Streets were ready for their main event and polesitter Josh Cuff held the field at bay for the first lap when they entered the backstretch and Ronn McClimans made door to door contact with Cuff sending McClimans for a spin with great driving from the drivers behind to avoid McCliman’s car. The restart occurred and Jeff Peck was able to clear Cuff for the lead. Shawn Lester and Steve Edens Sr made their presence known challenging Peck for the lead. Lester put it up high and around Peck to be the next leader with Edens Sr taking the low road on Peck to moving into second. Edens Sr caught Lester for the lead and made the move down low to get past to be the race’s fourth different leader. Edens Sr cruised it all the way to the checkered to flag to pick up another win this year.
The ICCU Modifieds showed up again for their second main event and when the field got the green flag, outside front row starter Lynn Hardy launched out in front to the lead. Mitch Pehrson trying to rebound from his misfortunes in the first main event was in the runnerup spot and Natalie Waters in third challenging Pehrson. Waters was able to get by Pehrson for the position with Tim Fahrner, Patrick Gold, and Eric Rhead all battling for fourth. As the laps started to click away at a swift pace, Hardy extended his lead over Waters still holding down second spot but Jason Quale from the back of the pack was picking them off one car at a time making his way to the front. Quale was able to catch Waters, Gold, and Rhead to make it a fierce four car race for second. Gold put a wheel down low on Waters to get by into that position with Rhead and Quale following through. For the rest of the race, Hardy was out for a Saturday night drive all alone and out in front with Gold, Rhead and Quale still battling hard. Quale put a move to the high side on Rhead and was able to get by Rhead and was now challenging Gold for second when Quale’s car caught clipped the frontstretch wall and Rhead was able to regain third place. Rhead got by Gold for second but it was all Hardy from the green flag to the checkered flag to grab his first win of the year in a race that went caution free. Congratulations also goes out to Natalie Waters who was able to grab a season high 5th place finish in that race.
The final main event of the night was the Project Filter Bomber with them having a good size field of 8 bombers on the racetrack. National Guard member, Adam Roth led the field for the first few laps when the yellow flag slowed the field due to a spinning Jeremiah Shope off turn 4. Back to racing and Mike Miller in his #98 minivan made the outside move on Roth to be the race’s next leader. Miller kept his van out in front of a pack of hungry bombers that were starting to close in. On the final lap, a three-wide battle for the win between Miller, Adams, and Sweatfield raced towards the finish line with Miller crossing the line first and a popular main event win.
The fans were treated to a Pepsi Fantastic Fireworks Show that lit up the sky! A great way to celebrate Independence Day weekend at MVS!! We would like to congratulate Shannon Walters and Tara Winegar for winning our selfie contest and being awarded a free admission ticket to next week’s event. This Saturday night is our biggest race of the year! The Spud 150 featuring the first ever visit by the Northwest Super Late Model Series! Northwest super late model stars such as Garrett Evans, Tayler Riddle, and Kole Raz will be taking on our local stars such as Eddy McKean, Trevor Cristiani, and Zach Telford for 150 laps around the 1/3 mile oval! Also on the card will be the Cactus Pete’s Streets, McClimans Racing Engines Minis, Project Filter Bombers, and the return of the Snake River Legends. All of this happening on Magic Valley Pipe Night!! The stands will be packed so you will want to arrive early!! Gates open at 5pm with McDonalds Qualifying at 6:15pm and Racing at 7pm! We will see you all at Eddy’s Speed Palace………..Magic Valley Speedway!!
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