Dirty Cup racing wraps with tight title decisions

by Jon Brown

MERIDIAN, Idaho — The racing moved from pavement to dirt this weekend at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway, but the results were just as thrilling as fans had come to expect throughout the 2011 season.

Six of the nine inaugural championships for Al Russell’s Dirty Cup of Outlaw Karts were decided by six points or less after Saturday’s second night of racing on the 1/9^th-mile high-banked dirt oval.

In fact, one championship was actually split with the children of Meridian pavement racers sharing the Hot Rod championship. Adrian, Ore.’s Aiden Spiers – son of sprintcar driver Darren Spiers – and Boise, Idaho’s Daytona Wurtz – the daughter of Dennis Wurtz II – finished the weekend with 135 points apiece.

Although Wurtz finished second ahead of Spiers in Saturday’s 25-lap main event, Spiers collected more points in the Trophy Dash and qualifying to catch Wurtz in the overall standings. Ethan Jones of Meridian, Idaho won Saturday’s feature.

The Open Flat Karts championship essentially was decided Friday night, when Mountain Home, Idaho driver Richard Jarrett outscored Charlie Ham Jr. of Boise by one point. The two men scored 81 points apiece in Saturday’s racing, with Ham taking the main event checkered flag ahead of Jarrett only to lose the overall title, 144-143.

Outlaw Kart racing promoter Ron Ratterree of Greenleaf, Idaho, cashed in on Caldwell, Idaho driver Matt Whittaker’s bad luck to win the Desperados 500cc Dirty Cup. A fourth-place finish coupled with Whittaker’s rough exit from the track as the checkered flag flew in Saturday’s main event nailed down the title for Ratterree by one point. David Broome of Nampa, Idaho won the feature.

Joe Cook held off fellow Nampan Robert Rendo for the 250cc Midgets Dirty Cup. Ron Hollis of Payette, Idaho won Saturday’s 25-lap main event with Cook finishing third just ahead of Rendo.

Brenna Patton of Boise capped a Dirty Cup championship in the Bandits/Pee Wees in classic style. Patton won the youngest age division after winning Saturday’s 12-lap main event. Her closest rival, Tyler Stock of Boise, finished third and was five points off the pace overall.

Kuna’s Chase Parker roared to the Boxstock championship by winning Saturday’s 20-lap main event with a half-track lead.

In the Jr. 500cc division, Dylan Stacy of Caldwell was runner-up in the 20-lap feature to Nampa’s Justin Segura but won the Dirty Cup by nine points over Boise’s Tyler Henderson.

Winston, Ore., youngster Kyle Alberding walked away with the 125cc Dirty Cup. The son of former ASA Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association champion Andy Alberding was one of only three racers to finish Saturday’s 18-lap feature, grabbing the checkered flag in front of overall runner-up Michael Scott-Miller of Nampa.

Trevor Miran of Meridian won the 500cc Open Dirty Cup after Caldwell’s Matthew Whittaker couldn’t catch him on the final night of action. Whittaker won Saturday’s 30-lap feature, but finished second in the overall, 15 points behind Miran.

The collection of hardware began early Saturday with a round of trophy dashes for each of the Kart classes run for the Dirty Cup.

Dayne Amyx, who raced in the Late Model Sportsman division at the track in 2011, won the 500cc Open trophy dash on the 1/9^th-mile high-banked dirt oval carved into the north infield of the quarter-mile asphalt oval.

Charlie Ham Jr., a veteran ASA Modifieds driver, collected a trophy in the four-lap dash for the Flat Karts.

Ron Ratterree showed that a promoter could get the job done, too, as a driver. The Outlaw Kart track owner won the Desperados trophy dash. The Desperados division included drivers 30 and older.

Outlaw Karts resembled dirt winged sprintcars, but they are powered by motorcycle engines. Racers as young as 5 raced Saturday night.

In other trophy dashes, Steve Hopkins of Caldwell, Idaho, won the 250cc Midgets; Tyler Henderson of Boise, Idaho, won the Jr. 500cc race; Meridian, Idaho’s Riley Rogers won in the 125cc event; Nampa, Idaho’s Riley Gonzales won the Box Stock trophy dash; Meridian’s Ethan Jones won the Hot Rods trophy; and Friday night main event champion Brenna Patton of Boise won the Bandits trophy dash.

Meridian Speedway

Al Russell’s Dirty Cup

Saturday’s unofficial results

Main events

500cc Open (30 laps) — 1. Matthew Whittaker, Caldwell, Idaho; 2. Tanner Broome, Nampa, Idaho; 3. Kyle Hossfeld, Boise, Idaho; 4. Brenna Lee, Boise, Idaho; 5. Dylan Stacy, Caldwell, Idaho

500cc Open B main (15 laps, top four to A Main) — 1. Dylan Stacy, Caldwell, Idaho; 2. Chris Ratterree, Nampa, Idaho; 3. Mark Cirelli Jr. Meridian, Idaho; 4. Charlie Fiscus, Star, Idaho; 5. Andrew Hardy, Parma, Idaho

500cc Dirty Cup final standings – Champion: Trevor Miran, Meridian, Idaho, 126 points; 2. Whittaker, 111; 3. Hossfeld, 108; 4. Lee, 107; 5. Amyx, 105

250cc Midgets (25 laps) — 1. Ron Hollis, Payette, Idaho; 2. Steve Hopkins, Caldwell, Idaho; 3. Joe Cook, Nampa, Idaho; 4. Robert Rendo, Nampa, Idaho; 5. James Standridge, Boise, Idaho

250cc Midgets Dirty Cup final standings – Champion: Cook, 143; 2. Rendo, 140; 3. Hollis, 127; 4. Hopkins, 125; 5. Anita Robertson, Payette, 90

Desperado, 500cc, 30 and older (25 laps) — 1. David Broome, Nampa, Idaho; 2. Ron Ratterree, Greenleaf, Idaho; 3. Adam Nelson, Meridian, Idaho; 4. Matthew Whittaker, Caldwell, Idaho; 5. Jason Hardy, Parma, Idaho

Desperado Dirty Cup final standings – Champion: Ratterree, 137; 2. Whittaker, 136; 3. Broome, 113; 4. Rick Bunch, Boise, 112; 5. Jason Hardy, Parma, Idaho, 108

Open Flat Karts (20 laps) — 1. Charlie Ham Jr., Boise, Idaho; 2. Richard Jarrett, Mountain Home, Idaho; 3. Robert Rendo, Nampa, Idaho; 4. Craig Anderson, Boise, Idaho; 5. Todd Moreda, Boise, Idaho

Open Flat Karts Dirty Cup final standings – Champion: Jarrett, 144; 2. Charlie Ham Jr., 143; 3. Anderson, 125; 4. Jay Cook, Nampa, 120; 5. Travis Anderson, Boise, 114

125cc (20 laps) — 1. Kyle Alberding, Winston, Ore.; 2. Michael Scott-Miller, Nampa, Idaho; 3. Makenzie Miller, Nampa, Idaho; 4. Jayden Eichelberger, Kuna; 5. Riley Rogers, Meridian, Idaho

125cc Dirty Cup final standings – Champion: Alberding, 157; 2. Michael Scott-Miller, 138; 3. Makenzie Miller, 120; 4. Rogers, 116; 5. Eichelberger, 57

Jr. 500cc (20 laps) — 1. Justin Segura, Nampa, Idaho; 2. Dylan Stacy, Caldwell, Idaho; 3. Andrew Clark, Kuna, Idaho; 4. Michael Jones, Nyssa, Ore.; 5. Tyler Henderson, Boise, Idaho

Jr. 500cc Dirty Cup final standings – Champion: Stacy, 133; 2. Henderson, 124; 3. Segura, 123; 4. Clark, 113; 5. Jones, 110

Hot Rod (20 laps) — 1. Alex Ruwe, Kuna; 2. Daytona Wurtz, Boise; 3. Aiden Spiers, Adrian, Ore.; 4. CJ Stirm, Nampa

Hot Rod Dirty Cup final standings – Co-champions: Wurtz, 135; and Spiers, 135; 3. Ethan Jones, Meridian, 132; 4. Cody Hollis, Payette, 119; 5. Ruwe, 105

Box Stock (20 laps) — 1. Chase Parker, Kuna, Idaho; 2. Kate Jackson, Middleton, Idaho; 3. Riley Gonzales, Nampa, Idaho; 4. Matthew Lee, Caldwell, Idaho; 5. Kamryn Ham, Boise, Idaho

Box Stock Dirty Cup final standings – Champion: Parker, 135; 2. (tie) Gonzales, 129; Jackson, 129; 4. Lee, 125; 5. Kamryn Ham, Boise, 111

Bandits/Pee Wee (12 laps) — 1. Brenna Patton, Boise, Idaho; 2. Katie Daw, Kuna, Idaho; 3. Tyler Stock, Boise, Idaho; 4. Alexis Pisca, Caldwell, Idaho; 5. Austin Latham, Boise, Idaho

Bandits/Pee Wee Dirty Cup final standings – Champion: Patton, 134; 2. Stock, 129; 3. Amber Lemrick, Middleton, 102; 4. Latham, 101; 5. Pisca, 100

Trophy Dashes

(Four laps each)

500cc Open – 1. Dayne Amyx, Boise, Idaho; 2. Austin Lev, Meridian, Idaho; 3. Trevor Miran, Meridian; 4. Tristan Spiers, Adrian, Ore.

250cc Midgets – 1. Steve Hopkins, Caldwell, Idaho; 2. Robert Rendo, Nampa, Idaho; 3. Joe Cook, Nampa; 4. Jason Hardy, Parma, Idaho

Jr. 500cc – 1. Tyler Henderson, Boise, Idaho; 2. Michael Jones, Nyssa, Ore.; 3. Dylan Stacy, Caldwell, Idaho; 4. Justin Segura, Nampa, Idaho

125cc– 1. Riley Rogers, Meridian, Idaho; 2. Micheal Scott Miller, Nampa; 3. Kyle Alberding, Winston, Ore.; 4. Jayden Eichelberger, Kuna, Idaho

Desperado– 1. Ron Ratterree, Greenleaf, Idaho; 2. Matthew Whittaker, Caldwell; 3. Jason Hardy, Parma, Idaho; 4. Rick Bunch, Boise, Idaho

Flat Kart – 1. Charlie Ham Jr., Boise; 2. Richard Jarrett, Mountain Home, Idaho; 3. Dustin Stephenson, Nampa; 4. Travis Anderson, Boise

Box Stock – 1. Riley Gonzales, Nampa; 2. Kate Jackson, Middleton, Idaho; 3. Kamryn Ham, Boise; 4. Chase Parker, Kuna

Hot Rods – 1. Ethan Jones, Meridian; 2. Daytona Wurtz, Boise; 3. Cody Hollis, Payette, Idaho; 4. Aiden Spiers, Adrian, Ore.

Bandits– 1. Brenna Patton, Boise; 2. Austin Latham, Boise; 3. Tyler Stock, Boise; 4. Amber Lemrick, Middleton

Nampa driver doesn’t mind losing car in big speedway payday

MERIDIAN, Idaho — He had to give up his racecar, but Art Heath rode the ebb and flow of a 100-mile race to a significant cash flow Saturday night.

The Nampa, Idaho driver pocketed $2,700 to win the Smoke, Steam and Cash Enduro 250 at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway.

The former Tates Rents Hornets season champion, won $2,000 for his victory in the 250-lap race, and then he picked up another $700 when race track officials claimed his winning Ford Escort. If Heath had turned down the track’s claim on the winning racecar, he would have lost the $2,000 and the championship trophy.

The decision was a little tough for Heath. After all, the racecar wasn’t his, but his sponsors gave the OK, and he was able to pull in one of the biggest amateur purses awarded in the 60^th anniversary season of the racetrack. Heath showed profuse gratitude to his sponsors, which included Nampa Gusher, VHR Photography, Karcher Mall and Wood River Painting.

Work Force, driven by James DeMello of Boise, Idaho, was a first-time winner as the Thunder Dogs ran their 2011 championship race.

“I sat here in the stands for half a season until Adam Nelson explained that anybody could drive in this,” DeMello said. “Yeah, I’ll be back next year. I’ll definitely be back next year.”

Catfish (John Pinkston of Meridian), which came into the night with a 357-point series lead over Sledgehammer (Dave Jolley, Nampa, Idaho), struggled to stay on the track through several flat tires.

Catfish managed a fourth-place finish and solidified the season championship. IP Freely (Bryan Duvall, Kuna, Idaho), which was third in the points, finished second in the 30-lap finale.

Heath finished the first 50-lap segment of the Enduro as the third-place car.

Segment No. 1 winner Jeff Pohlman, a championship driver from Twin Falls, Idaho, looked to have one of the strongest cars, but he quickly found himself in third place when the final 200-lap section of racing began and Larry Hull III and Heath passed him within the first nine laps.

With 50 cars on the track, lapped traffic became a factor quickly in the Enduro.

Hull got in front of the congestion and put eight cars between himself and Pohlman, who had wiggled back into second place by Lap 103. Hull fell out of contention, though, a few laps later after spinning out and cutting a tire.

Pohlman grabbed the advantage and held onto it through a harrowing four-wide ride through Turn 2 that actually saw him on the outside. He checked up to avoid disaster, and Heath grabbed the lead – for about a second. By the time the crowd had cleared Turn 2, Pohlman was back in the lead.

With 92 laps left, Pohlman left the track while leading because he was dragging parts of his suspension.

Heath moved into the lead and never looked back.

By the end, The Animal had the entire field a lap down.

Boise’s Rod Marcum finished second after completing 249 laps. He was sent a lap down early in the race after starting the night in the second row of the 50-car field.

Next week, the historic speedway gets back to its roots in a way with Al Russell’s The Dirty Cup.

High-banked Outlaw Kart dirt track racing will take place Friday and Saturday with divisions for Pee Wee, Box Stock, Hot Rod, Jr. 500cc, 125cc, Open Flat, Desperados (500cc for drivers 30 and older), 250cc Midgets and 500cc Open.

The track is a 1/9^th-mile oval carved out of the north end of the racetrack infield.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and children ages 7-11, and children 6 and younger get in free.

Access to the event will be through the pit gate. The main entrance will not be open.

For more information, visit www.meridianspeedway.com.

Meridian Speedway

Smoke, Steam & Cash Enduro 250

Saturday’s unofficial results

Hornets Enduro Final 200 — 1. Art Heath, Nampa, Idaho; 2. Rod Marcum, Boise, Idaho; 3. Larry Hull III, Boise; 4. Ben Gunderson, Sedro Woolley, Wash.; 5. Jeff Peck, Twin Falls, Idaho

Hornets Enduro First 50 — 1. Jeff Pohlman, Twin Falls; 2. Larry Hull III; 3. Art Heath; 4. Jonathan Hull, Boise; 5. Colton Nelson, Meridian

Thunder Dogs championship race (30 laps) – 1. Work Force (James DeMello, Boise); 2. IP Freely (Bryan Duvall, Kuna, Idaho); 3. Buzz Kill (Jimmie Miller, Meridian); 4. Catfish (John Pinkston, Meridian); 5. Bucket List (Rob Bean, Kuna)

Thunder Dogs season champion – Catfish

Stroebel staggers field, wins dad’s Modified memorial

MERIDIAN, Idaho — The inaugural Allen Stroebel Memorial Modified Open Comp championship stayed in the family.

And there wasn’t a dry eye or an objection in the house Saturday at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway.

Racing just days after his father lost his battle with cancer, Meridian, Idaho’s Shelby Stroebel passed every racecar on the track in a dominating and emotional victory in the last ESI Express ASA Modifieds race of the year.

“This main event definitely has a lot of meaning to it,” Stroebel said. “We did a lot of things for my dad in this race. My family is town, and they made a magnet for me with his photo on it.

“He rode with me.”

And it was a fast and wild ride. Shelby completed passing the entire field when he inched past second-place Mike Reid of Meridian at the checkered flag. The win added to Shelby’s hardware in 2011; he had wrapped up the track championship earlier in the month to maintain his top-five position in the Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil ASA Member Track National Championship standings.

With Shelby’s blessing, race officials established a perpetual trophy for the memorial no-holds-barred Modified race after he flashed through 50 laps.

“It would be an honor. I know there are a lot of trophies that go around for this and there are a lot of great people in this racing community who have passed on,”Shelby said.

“And I would be honored to be the first on my dad’s trophy.”

Shelby’s night started fast as he roared around the quarter-mile in 13.107 seconds in qualifying.

In other main events, Meridian’s Mike Murgoitio led a top-three sweep by local drivers in the 50-lap ASA Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association main event; Chad Bess of Nampa, Idaho, posted a dominant victory in the College of Western Idaho Professional Truck Driving Street Stocks and Bucket List, driven by Kuna, Idaho’s Rob Bean, won its third feature of the Thunder Dogs season. It was the last feature win for Bean, who sold the car immediately after the race.

Murgoitio entered the night with a 27-point lead over Sierra Jackson of Middleton, Idaho, in the local Mtn. Dew Winged Sprints series. He and his crew battled through a mystifying sprintcar from jump street Saturday only to find the answer and get past Jackson for the victory.

“We wholesaled the thing,” Mugoitio said of the changes made throughout the day. “We were pulling apart shocks. We were pulling apart everything. We threw everything at it.”

Murgoitio had to pass Jackson twice to finally take control of the race with 10 laps to go. Jackson, who moved into the ASA NSRA series lead after Friday’s races, couldn’t hold off her rival on two side-by-side starts.

“Racing like these guys, I mean side-by-side and kicking it sideways you can only do that with a wing,” Murgoitio said. “What a great deal. That was fun.”

Murgoitio wasn’t the only Meridian open-wheeler to have a great night against out-of-towners. Johnny Giesler, who won an ASA NSRA feature earlier this year, ran hard after hitting the Turn 3 wall hard early on, picking up 19 positions to finish in the top five.

Jackson heads to Roseburg, Ore., at the end of the month in her quest to win the NSRA season championship. The season finale is Sept. 24 at Douglas County Speedway.

“We still have one more race,” Jackson said. “We’ve been struggling all weekend, so I’m glad we got two top spots this weekend.”

Bess lapped all but the top three cars to win the final College of Western Idaho Professional Truck Driving School Street Stocks feature.

Another Nampan, Melissa Weaver, had to finish the season in her father Marv’s Chevy Camaro, but according to unofficial results, she repeated as track champion in the Street Stocks division.

Bess and bad luck couldn’t deny Melissa Weaver a repeat performance in the Street Stocks.

Although she finished a distant second and was one of only two racers that Bess didn’t pass in the 40-lap finale, Weaver appears to have enough cushion to keep the series trophy for another year.

Weaver got a little help from her father, Marv, who surrendered his race car when the transmission failed on Melissa’s familiar No. 92.

“Tonight we started with a bad night,” Melissa Weaver said. “(Fellow street-stocker from Fruitland, Idaho) Bobby Riggs and Dad changed the drive line and then we dropped the tranny. I want to thank (Marv Weaver) for all of his help all year long.”

The track record-holder, Bess lapped all but the top three cars and was about two seconds away from passing third-place Tyler Nelson of Kuna, Idaho at the end of the 40-lap feature. Bess and Weaver led the field by three-quarters of a lap by the end of the night.

Hein and Caldwell, Idaho’s Ryan Newman finished first and second, respectively, in the eight-lap ASA NSRA B main to qualify for the 50-lap finale.

Middleton, Idaho racer Sierra Jackson did all she could to hang on to the NSRA series lead. In the first eight-lap heat race of the night, she sped her No. 25z sprintcar from sixth to third in the span of less than a lap. Jackson racked up valuable points by passing Chris Ratterree of Nampa, Idaho and then caught Roseburg, Ore.’s Vern Scevers near the checkered flag for third place.

Five-time series champion “Quick” Rick Brown of Springfield, Ore., took the heat race victory as he jumped out to a big lead early and cruised to a 3½-second cushion.

In the second heat race, Canadian Ron Larson proved that he could win in a strange sprintcar.

A night after totaling his racecar in a scary Turn 3-4 crash that sent his car high in the air and scattered parts everywhere, the Quesnel, British Columbia resident checked out for a four-second win in the eight-lap preliminary.

Four Treasure Valley drivers finished in the top five behind Larson, including former ASA NSRA feature winner Johnny Giesler of Meridian. Giesler roared into the top five late to register some points.

Meridian’s Mike Murgoitio, who entered the evening with a 27-point lead over Jackson in the local Mtn. Dew Winged Sprintcar series, picked up crucial points in the other heat race, roaring from fifth to third with daring low-side passes of Cody Veenstra of Emmett, Idaho, and Scott Aumen of Duncan, British Columbia. Justin Mack of Benton City, Wash., was able to stay a nose ahead of Murgoitio at the line to finish second behind Roseburg racer Andy Alberding.

In the ASA NSRA Trophy Dashes, Brown used his guile to hold off all-time track record-holder Andy Alberding of Roseburg, Ore., in the B Dash.

With Alberding bearing down on him on the final turns of the four-lap race, Brown slid up the track out of Turn 4 to preserve the victory at the checkered flag.

The A Dash wasn’t that close at all. Meridian, Idaho’s Mike Murgoitio, who holds the Mtn. Dew Winged Sprints track record for qualifying, checked out from the rest of the field. Murgoitio, who is trying to win a Mtn. Dew championship this season, won by half a straightaway over Jackson.

Jackson, who moved into the ASA NSRA series lead after Friday’s action, entered Saturday’s races just 27 points behind Murgoitio in the local series.

The ASA NSRA officials presented Jackson with a ladies diamond ring to signify her co-championship in the 96.1 BOB FM Diamond Cup presented by Hendrickson’s Fine Jewelry.

“I’ve been waiting for a while,” Jackson said before the presentation. “I’m ready.”

Not realizing a scoring error after the June race, NSRA officials declared Matt Hein of Roseburg, Ore., the sole champion.

But a second ring was created after the error was made, and the presentation was made Saturday night.

“When realized the mistake it really hurt us all, and we got together and did the right thing and we’re glad we could give it to her,”NSRA official Bill Birdsall said during the presentation after the trophy dashes.

For more information, visit www.meridianspeedway.comor call (208) 888-2813.