10/6/2025
Magic Valley Speedway
Triumph, Heartbreak Punctuate Championship Saturday
Magic Valley Speedway welcomed a full grandstand Saturday, September 27, to the 2025 Magic Valley Speedway Championship Finale. The Speed Tour Modifieds, NASCAR Trucks, Western Mountain Inc. NASCAR Latemodels, McDonald’s Street Stocks, Budweiser Thunderdogs, and Fast Lane Automotive Hornets went wheel-to-wheel to settle their division champions, but also for the night’s Willow Real Estate Group trophies.
Having already clinched the Speed Tour Modified championship Donovan Barr entered Saturday night’s feature content to take it easy. With the championship wrapped up and extensive plans to race in the offseason Barr could afford to slow down and save his equipment. He did not.
Instead, the youngster navigated his way through the pack and in just a handful of laps he moved his IBEW Local 291, Allied DCS Electrical modified into the top spot. Behind Barr the battle for third went sour at the race’s halfway point as Jason Quale climbed the backstretch wall then slammed the turn three barriers. Quale was okay but disappointed after his hard hit, yet he still mustered a wave to the crowd as he was chauffeured to the pit area.
With Quale’s car cleared the race resumed and Barr again blazed his way to the lead ahead of Rosalee Weller and Chris Cook. Barr wouldn’t falter over the race’s closing laps, and he took the checkered flag a full five and a half seconds ahead of second place Weller and her Idaho State Towing, Roots Bar and Grill entry.
The Western Mountain Inc. NASCAR Latemodels brought six strong competitors to their final feature of the year. As he has all season Shawn Lester made quick work of the pack on his way to the early lead. But Lester’s Jackson Spuds, Turn Key Realty machine wasn’t safe up front as Andrew Palmer broke free of traffic and raced to Lester’s rear bumper.
Palmer worked his Bobby’s Transmission Center, Freedom Payments racer to the inside of Lester on lap ten, but slower traffic thwarted this run. Once back in clear racetrack Palmer tried again, and this time dispatched Lester to the runner up spot. Palmer never looked back on his way to the feature win. Lester’s second place finish only added to his point lead and he was crowned the division champion.
In Saturday’s first NASCAR Truck feature Ron Lawser jumped to the early lead but was tracked down by championship rivals Jeff Wade and Jesse James Lawson late in the going. A three-wide pass put Wade’s The Car Store of Twin Falls, Graphx Signs truck out front, where he would stay for the rest of the race. Lawson settled in second ahead of Lawser, Bentlee Hillock, and John Harris.
The second NASCAR Truck feature of the night saw Jesse James Lawson tear through the field in the opening laps to put his Antler’s Boutique, S Porters, Inc pickup in the early lead. Lawson had a reason to hurry as his primary points challenger Wade also made his way to the front of the field and planted his truck right on Lawson’s rear bumper.
Wade wheeled his machine hard around the inside of the track in a desperate bid for his second victory of the night. But Lawson held firm no matter how much pressure Wade exerted, and he took the win and the division title.
McDonald’s Street Stock racer Zaine Newberry was poised to win his first division championship as he rolled into the 2025 Magic Valley Speedway Championship Finale. Newberry held a two point lead over defending champ Ronn McClimans as the two entered the night, a gap that held steady through qualifying and the night’s heat race.
The feature began as expected as Newberry and McClimans worked their way forward. But all at once Newberry lost pace and began to fall back through the pack. Newberry’s issue became apparent as water started to pour out of the car and all over the right front tire. Newberry held on as long as he possibly could but was forced to retire early from the event.
McClimans, meanwhile, worked his Advantage Archery, Kidd Performance machine to second place behind Scott Groom at the checkers. This finish was enough for McClimans to overcome Newberry and claim his second-straight division title.
Thirteen Fast Lane Automotive Hornets took the green flag for their final feature of the season. While Tiffany Moen moved her Fast Lane Automotive, The Beach Tanning Company racer to the early lead chaos erupted behind her as cars dove three and sometimes four wide in their bids to move forward. No sooner had the pack settled down then the battle for first heated up as Zach Rydalch dove low and, after a three lap battle, took over the top spot.
A late caution flag gave Moen one last chance to get back around Rydalch, but his machine was too strong and Rydalch flashed across the finish line first ahead of Moen and Brayden Sweatfield.
With a fourth place feature finish Alex Fitterman put an exclamation point on his successful 2025 championship run.
As is tradition the Budweiser Thunderdog feature became a pell-mell battle as competitors bumped, swerved, and spun around the big track, the shortcut, and the little track seemingly at random. Once the white flag waved Project Freedom and Knight Rider found themselves in a mono-y-mono fight for the year’s final feature. Knight Rider blasted around the high line to eek ahead of Project Freedom in turns three and four, but Project Freedom looked to counter that move with an old-fashioned door check. But Knight Rider had too much momentum and it absorbed the impact and scooted to the victory. Project Freedom slid across the line second ahead of The Enforcer.
With his third place finish The Enforcer with Benson Weaver at the controls clinched the division title.
On behalf of all of us at Magic Valley Speedway, thank you for joining us this season. We appreciate your patronage and are already working to ensure we bring the best short track auto racing in the Northwest to the greatest race fans in the country. Stay tuned to the Magic Valley Speedway website and Facebook pages for offseason news and notes. We’ll see you again on the high banks in 2026 at Idaho’s fastest NASCAR Home Track, Magic Valley Speedway.
Submitted By: Tyler Schild