8/18/2025
Magic Valley Speedway
Kleyn Outlasts NW Super Late Model Field for Hall of Fame 150 Win
Magic Valley Speedway honored the five newly inducted members of the Magic Valley Motorsports Hall of Fame Saturday, August 16, with the first annual running of the Magic Valley Motorsports Hall of Fame 150. The Northwest Super Late Model Series blistered the asphalt in the night’s headline feature, while the NASCAR Trucks, McDonald’s Street Stocks, Budweiser Thunderdogs, and Fast Lane Automotive Hornets rounded out a full night of short track thrills and spills.
This year’s Magic Valley Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees included Magic Valley Speedway staples Gary Young, Chuck Geska, Jeff Devey, Steve Jones, and Shane Prince. Each inductee was honored during a pre-race celebration held in the speedway’s Hospitality Area before they were invited to be on track for the Magic Valley Motorsports Hall of Fame 150’s opening ceremonies.
Thirteen Northwest Super Late Model Series competitors roared to green for the first annual Magic Valley Motorsports Hall of Fame 150. On the break pole sitter Zach Riehl motored past younger brother Andrew Riehl to put his McClintock and Turk Mechanical Contractors, Lakes Auto Body racer out front. Deep in the pack things went wrong for points leader Ken Bonney almost immediately as a stack up spit his Bonney’s Ag-sponsored car into the turn three wall hard. Bonney was somehow able to limp his battered machine to the pit area but was forced to retire from the event on lap one.
With Bonney’s incident cleared the race restarted with the elder Riehl out front. But Riehl’s lead wasn’t safe as his rearview mirror was soon full of Kasey Kleyn’s Thaemert Farms, Farmer Bean and Seed machine. Kleyn settled into the runner up spot as he studied Riehl and waited for his time to pounce. That time came when the pair entered lapped traffic and Kleyn blasted around the high side to take the lead. Riehl fought back on the inside line, but couldn’t match Kleyn’s speed up high, and eventually settled into the runner up position.
Long-time Northwest Super Late Model Series supporter Chris Kalsch received an award for starting fifty straight NWSLMS features during pre-race ceremonies. Unfortunately for Kalsch his Kalsch Machine mount would suffer a right front suspension issue that sent him to the turn three barriers and ended his fiftieth consecutive feature early.
At the race’s halfway point it was obvious that Kleyn and Zach Riehl were going to settle the race amongst themselves. Or so it seemed. But one lap later Riehl entered turn three and lost a right front tire in a shower of sparks. Riehl clipped the end of the turn four wall as he regained control of his racer and limped to the pits under caution.
Riehl’s night continued to be rowdy as on the restart he tangled with Dan Lowther’s Lyda Lawncare and Landscaping LLC, AR Bodies Racing machine and spun in turn three, which had become calamity corner for the event. The calamity continued throughout the race’s second half with tire failure after tire failure claiming car after car.
Even Kleyn wasn’t immune to the tire issues, but between himself and his spotter the youngster adjusted his line and was able to keep his right front tire intact. When the checkered flag waved Kleyn had cruised to victory by 4.9 seconds over runner up Bryce Benzanson, Ryan Phipps, Andrew Palmer, and Adam Crow. With Bonney’s early exit Phipps took over the point lead. For further information about the Northwest Super Late Model Series Magic Valley Motorsports Hall of Fame 150, log on to the Northwest Super Late Model Series’ website at www.nwslms.com or check their Facebook page.
The NASCAR Trucks started the beating and banging early Saturday night as Neil Boyle moved his way to the lead. Behind Boyle, Jon Harris and Bentlee Hillock came together in troublesome turn three. The contact cost Harris’ Gen B Electric, 4 Brothers Dairy Farm truck a right front fender and Hillock a hole in her Hillock Performance, Emissions Made Easy machine’s door.
On the restart Boyle fell to Jesse James Lawson’s Antler’s Boutique, Candor Pest Control truck. This dropped Boyle into a battle with Jeff Wade, which culminated in turn four contact that allowed Wade to take over the second spot on the McDonald’s scoreboard.
Wade’s charge forward wasn’t done there, and he immediately dove low in an attempt to squeeze his The Car Store of Twin Falls, Magic Valley Tires truck past Lawson. But try as Wade might, Lawson was too strong and the Caldwell, Idaho racer won the night’s first feature.
The NASCAR Trucks returned to action later in the evening for their second Magic Valley Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 Night feature. Boyle again shot to the early lead with a daring three-wide pass. But Lawson followed Boyle forward and soon found himself on Boyle’s tailgate.
Boyle willed his truck through the corners as he fought to stay in the lead, but Lawson was still too much to handle, and he took over the top spot just shy of the race’s halfway point. This dropped Boyle into a short-lived battle with Wade that ended with Boyle spun backwards in turn two.
Now, essentially unopposed, Lawson took the green flag and set sail from the pack. When all was said and done Lawson parked his truck in the winner’s circle and collected his second DataTel trophy of the night.
McDonald’s Street Stock competitors Zaine Newberry and Ronn McClimans entered Saturday’s action deadlocked atop the division point standings. Newberry would power to his second feature win of the year while McClimans and his Advantage Archery, Kidd Performance machine endured an adventurous outing that included heavy contact, a spin, and a late race charge through the field up to second place. With the one-two finish Newberry and McClimans remain within a handful of points to one another.
A strong field of fourteen Fast Lane Automotive Hornets rolled to green for a 25-lap feature. After an action-packed scramble Ryan Adams piloted his machine to the checkers and collected the DataTel trophy.
Bobby Hill took the fight to the Budweiser Thunderdogs on Saturday night and won his first Magic Valley Speedway feature of the season.
The thunder rolls back into Magic Valley Speedway this Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23, as the Speed Tour Winged Sprint Cars descend on the third-mile for the 2025 Stinker Skunk Cup. The Speed Tour Modifieds and Speedway Midgets join the Speed Tour Winged Sprint Cars for both days on the high banks, while Friday features the Snake River Legends and Speedway Bandoleros and Saturday sees the Western Mountain Inc. NASCAR Latemodels, Southern Idaho Mini Stocks, and Budweiser Thunderdogs fill out an action-packed weekend.
General admission to each night of the 2025 Stinker Skunk Cup is just $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and military members, $8 for kids 7-11, and free for kids 6 and under. Gates open at 4:45 p.m. both days with racing slated to start at 6:30 p.m. Log on to www.magicvalleyspeedway.com to purchase your tickets before they’re gone. Live, flag-to-flag coverage of both nights of the 2025 Stinker Skunk Cup will be available to stream live or on demand with a FloRacing.com subscription. We’ll see you on the high banks this Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23, for the 2025 Stinker Skunk Cup at Idaho’s fastest NASCAR Home Track, Magic Valley Speedway.
Submitted By: Tyler Schild