5/14/2021
Magic Valley Speedway
Repeat winners and first time winners are the theme of the night!!
By DJ Everett
The fans filed in through the gates and settled in to what was going to be an exciting night of racing on Conrad & Bischoff Night featuring the Gibson Diesel Super Late Models, ICCU Modifieds, Cactus Pete’s Streets, Project Filter Bombers, and the Magic Valley Pipe Hornets. Tons of racing with a lot of laps, the fans were in for a treat!
The night kicked off with the first of two ICCU Modified main events and when the green flag flew, Devin Burdette and Mitch Pehrson battled side by side for the lead on the first lap when Burdette went wide coming out of turn 4 which got him squirrely down the frontstretch and spun in turn 1 collecting Gary Luck, Matt Egley, and Natalie Waters. All the drivers were able to continue except Burdette. Back to green flag racing and Patrick Gold was the new leader. Gold has been running well early in 2021 and it showed as he started to pull away from the field. Waters filed into second with Zach Webster and Tim Fahrner battling for third. Caution flew again for Justin Westmoreland who got sideways coming out of turn 4 and ended up in the infield entering turn 1. The restart again saw Gold back out in front with a battle starting to develop for second between Waters and Webster. Those two made slight contact coming out of turn 2 sending Waters for a spin and bringing out the caution once more. The restart saw Gold and Webster on the front row with Eric Rhead in row two. When the green flew, the three drivers occupied the first three spots with Gold still leading. Gold looking very impressive in this race started to pull away again but this time from the two heavy hitters of Webster and Rhead. Rhead found an opening down low underneath Webster and those two battled side by side for a few laps before Rhead was able to wrestle the position away from Webster. All of that would be for nothing as the caution flew one more time for a spinning Gary Luck in turns 3 and 4. The final restart saw Gold back out in front and Lynn Hardy with an amazing move to get by Webster and Rhead for second. Rhead driving like a man possessed got by Webster for third on the high side and immediately switched lanes to get by Hardy on the low side for second. Rhead was still on a mission as he tried to track down Gold for the lead. Rhead was soon on the rear bumper of Gold and Hardy wanted to join the party as well making it a three car race for the win in the last few laps. As the trio took the white flag, Rhead made a move down low underneath Gold entering turn 3, Hardy was still right there in third hoping something would happen with the top 2 so he could capitalize on the situation. Coming off turn 4 and heading for the checkers, Hardy got loose and headed for the infield combined with a photo finish at the line between Gold and Rhead giving the win to Gold by merely inches for his first win of the year.
The R&A Trucking Big Wheelz race took place during opening ceremonies and Justin Rodriguez came home with the win and the trophy.
The next main event of the night was the Project Filter Bombers with Jr Flagger Samuel Woodward taking his place with Jeff on the flagstand. When the green flag came out from Samuel, Jeremiah Shope grabbed the early lead over Jonathan Rich, Misty Gilliam, and Brandon Adams. Rich tried his best to catch leader Shope but Shope was too strong on this evening as he kept his machine out in front for the entire race and took the checkered flag. Trophy Presenter, Clyde Hamilton handed the hardware over to Shope and joined in on the victory lane celebration.
The Magic Valley Pipe Hornets rolled onto the speedway for their main event with Peggy Dean, Brayden Sweatfield, and Zach Rydalch ready to do battle. Dean grabbed the top spot early on with Sweatfield and Rydalch running close behind. The three put on a great race running nose to tail throughout the entire affair. Rydalch tried numerous times to get by Sweatfield for second but didn’t have quite enough to get the job done. The same could be said for Sweatfield as he made many attempts to get by Dean, but Dean held her own to keep the lead of the race. She held that lead all the way to the checkered flag and scoring the win that was redemption from a week prior where she was involved in a nasty wreck in turn 3 of the 1/3 mile oval. With bumps and bruises from that wreck, she stood tough in victory lane on this night.
The ICCU Modifieds came out next for the second main event of the night and Devin Burdette jumped out in front early with battles behind him starting to develop. Natalie Waters, Lynn Hardy, and Eric Rhead were making their way through the field when the first caution came out for Gary Luck spinning in turns 3 and 4. On the restart, Burdette resumed the lead with Waters now running second but that was short lived as Rhead was able to get underneath and by Waters for the spot. Rhead wasn’t wasting time in this race as he caught Burdette and immediately made an inside move on him to grab the lead. Webster was next to make his way through the field as he did the same to Burdette to move into second. Behind those two, Hardy and Patrick Gold were able to move their way into spots 3 and 4. Caution flew again for Waters who spun exiting turn 2 with Justin Westmoreland and Mitch Pehrson also spinning to avoid the car of Waters. Back to green flag racing and Webster from the outside front row tried to challenge Rhead for the lead through turns 1 and 2 but Rhead was able to power back out in front. The yellow flew for Gary Luck again spinning in turns 3 and 4 which seem to be Luck’s trouble area all night long. As that was happening, Hardy’s machine slowed in the same corner and was done for the night. The green flew again and Rhead got a great restart this time as he was able to get back out in front of Webster quickly. Tim Fahrner also got a good restart getting by Gold for third. The field entered turn 3 and Matt Egley started to spin. Waters was trying to avoid a spinning Egley but made very light contact. She was able to continue after the contact but the yellow was out again. Under the caution, Webster’s car came to a stop on the frontstretch and he also had to retire from the race with mechanical issues. The restart again saw Rhead squirting back out in front with Fahrner running second and a great battle between Gold and Burdette for third. Gold was able to grab the spot and started to track down Fahrner for second when the yellow flew for the final time with Pehrson spinning and Luck making contact with Pehrson trying to avoid. Luck’s evening was done with damage to his car resulting from the contact. The attrition was starting to show in this race with the field shortened from all of the incidents. Rhead was able to hang on to the win with Fahrner putting in a great performance coming home in second. Burdette had third on the final lap when Gold was able to get by in the final corner to get the position.
The Cactus Pete’s Streets made their way onto the racetrack with Josh Cuff coming out with the lead entering turns 1 and 2 on the first lap but Shawn Lester had other thoughts as he took it away from Cuff entering turn 3. Steven Edens Sr and Willie Dalton closed in fast on leader Lester making it a great three way battle for the lead. Dalton didn’t want to stick around as he got by both Lester and Edens Sr within a couple of laps and checked out on the rest of the field. Edens Sr moved into second and Ronn McClimans moved into third. Those two put on a great race for the runnerup spot but Edens Sr was able to win that battle keeping it in front of McClimans for the entire race. Dalton made this one look easy taking his fourth consecutive main event win making it a perfect season so far for the Twin Falls driver.
The final race of the night was the Gibson Diesel Super Late Models with 100 laps ahead of them. Fireworks happened immediately at the start of the race when everyone nailed the throttle when the green came out and Bruce Quale’s car jumped sideways and then came in contact with Aubree Wartman. Everyone behind was able to scatter around the melee with Wartman needing a wrecker back to the pit area ending her night. Cold temperatures and cold tires were making this race a tricky one for everyone. Back to green flag racing and the battle between Ashton Cristiani and John Newhouse was a good one. The two raced side by side for the first couple of laps but Eddy McKean broke up that party as he stuck his nose between the two drivers and was able to thread the needle to the lead. Zach Telford was trying to follow in McKean’s tire tracks trying to do the same but couldn’t get passed Cristiani and Newhouse as fast. By the time Telford landed himself into second spot, McKean already had 3/4 of a straight away lead. McKean and Telford ran the whole race in the top two spots with Telford at times starting to close in on McKean and McKean stretching his lead back out over Telford. Telford didn’t have the aid of a caution to bunch the field as the 100 laps was ran caution free after the opening lap incident. McKean was able to take the checkered flag for his second super late model win in a row at MVS. Telford was second and Newhouse came in third. Other notables in the race were Tyler Bailey who always turns in a good performance in his super late model wherever he races brought it home in fourth and veteran super late model driver Jeff Hillock was coming up through the field early in the race but had to retire his car due to mechanical issues. The tough luck award of the weekend goes to Nick Gibson who went through two cars without turning one green flag lap in the race. He also experienced mechanical issues in his primary car during practice on Friday and the same to his backup car during practice on Saturday which forced him to load up early and make the long trek back to Nampa.
We would like to congratulate our selfie contest winners who were Angela Morton, Jeremee Elting, Candice Beilke, and Miranda Edison. This Saturday is Mountain Dew Night featuring the Brennan’s Carpet Midgets, McClimans Racing Engines Minis, Project Filter Bombers, Quale’s Electronics Stingers, and the Double Deckers. Gates open at 5pm and McDonalds Racing at 6pm. We will see all of you at the fastest 1/3 mile oval in Idaho……………..Magic Valley Speedway!!!
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