Ratterree wins NSRA main, Meridian series title
By Jon Brown
MERIDIAN, Idaho -- It was a big night for Hillbilly Racing at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway during Saturday’s
final event of the season.
Chris Ratterree of Nampa, Idaho, took advantage of the hard luck of fellow sprintcar racers to win the American
Speed Association Northwest Sprintcar Racing Association 50-lap main event and seal the deal on the 2009 Meridian Speedway
Winged Sprints championship. The owner of his racing team, Tom Hill of Eagle, Idaho, also came away with the track championship
in the ASA Modifieds.
Ratterree moved to the front on Lap 30 when ASA NSRA 2009 series champion Matt Hein and Nampa's Cory Lockwood
spun into the Turn 2 infield to bring out a caution flag. Both Hein, who was leading at the time, and Lockwood, were relegated
to the back of the field.
Ratterree pulled out to a four-second lead on his way to the checkered flag. Hein was an also-ran Saturday
night, but the Roseburg, Ore., driver held on to collect his second consecutive ASA NSRA series championship.
Other main event winners included Dennis Brodigan of Nampa, whose Super Stocks feature win helped him close
out a 2009 championship run in the class; Star, Idaho’s Tony Ackerland easily in the ASA Modifieds; Melissa Scott of
Nampa, in the Street Stocks; Travis Pavlacky of Fruitland, Idaho, wrapping up the season championship by winning the final
Hornets feature of the year; Jim Anderson in the Thunder Dogs Mini Main; and Tyler Saxton taking the Boat Race of Destruction
as the last driver to have a piece of fiberglass -- formerly a boat -- attached to his Hornet in the nightcap. The race was
supposed to be for Thunder Dogs, but Saxton volunteered to enter his smaller car against the best of Detroit Iron, including
full-size Ford, Lincoln and General Motors V-8 passenger cars, a couple pickups and a pair of mini vans.
Other season champions crowned Saturday included Kuna, Idaho, driver Jaramie Fuss in the Street Stocks;
and Tommy White in the Thunder Dogs.
Hein went to the front in the ASA NSRA main event when sentimental pick Matt Elliott of Meridian, Idaho,
pulled off the track with mechanical problems after leading the first 22 laps. Elliott, his family, pit crew and the Meridian
Speedway faithful paid tribute to his late father, Tom, all weekend long. Tom Elliott died unexpectedly on Sept. 7 after a
full weekend of Labor Day racing at the paved quarter-mile oval.
Nampa resident Dennis Brodigan, whose father Dave raced at Meridian Speedway for years, brought home another
championship for the family with his Super Stocks triumph.
Brodigan steadily pulled away from rival Phil Zubizareta of Boise during the 35-lap feature. Zubizareta
entered the evening running second to Brodigan in the season points standings.
Brodigan had to battle door-to-door with Zubizareta after Jeff Wilson of Mountain Home, Idaho, brought out
the last yellow flag of the night on Lap 25. After racing side-by-side with the closest threat to his title hopes, Brodigan
eventually put enough pavement between himself and Zubizareta to win by three seconds.
Brodigan worked his way from third to first in four laps after Wilson spun for the first time to bring
out a caution flag. After passing Greg Wright for second place on the 20th lap, Brodigan then went to the front by going low
to pass race leader Kyle Burrill of Boise on Lap 23.
Another second-generation driver, Tony Ackerland, literally left the ASA Modifieds field in his wake, winning
the 50-lap main event by a half a lap. Meridian’s Chris Fenton crossed the finish line as runner-up 10 seconds after
Ackerland.
“This place is just phenomenal,” Ackerland said. “The fans are wonderful. It’s just
fun to come out here and do a good job.
“And to race with Shelby Stroebel (of Nampa) and Tom Hill and the other guys in the class, it’s
a lot of fun.”
Hill thanked the new operators of the track -- Don Newman, Al Russell and Adam Nelson who wrapped up their
first year at the helm -- when commenting on his series championship.
“I’m just thrilled to be here. It’s been a great year. It’s been a lot of fun,”
Hill said. “I really want to thank Don and Al and Adam for what they’ve done at the track. And Chris Ratterree,
who sets up my car every week.”
Melissa Scott passed David Short of Meridian about 10 laps from the end of the Street Stocks 50-lap season
finale and drove to victory. Her father, Marv Weaver of Nampa, chased Short for a few laps before his daughter took control.
Weaver, who ran second to Jaramie Fuss all year long in the points chase, finished second in the main event.
Fuss, who was pulling double duty by trying his luck in the Super Stocks, was knocked out of the Street
Stocks main in a big front-stretch crash when the green flag dropped to start the race. But he had enough of a cushion in
the points lead to take home the track championship.
A late-season surge helped Travis Pavlacky pin down the Hornets series championship to punctuate a 2009
that featured a new nickname (Flyin' Pavlacky) when he jumped a car through a fifth-wheel camp trailer and also saw him race
a few laps with a windshield full of open hood because he forgot to secure the lid to his engine compartment.
His No. 29 car featured a little advice scrawled on the hood -- "Put in your hood pins."
With his hood securely fastened, Pavlacky flew past Nampa's Art Heath to take the lead after a side-by-side
restart following a yellow flag.
By winning the Thunder Dogs Mini Main, a 10-lap race to kick off the feature races, Jim Anderson gained
a little ground on series leader Tommy White of Boise. White didn't make it past the first lap, pulling into the infield in
Turn 2 when his Cadillac began to falter; he was able to hang on for the series crown, though. Anderson passed John Pinkston
late in the race to grab the checkered flag.
Matt Mansell of Victoria, British Columbia, had a productive night early, grabbing the first eight-lap heat
race for the ASA NSRA sprintcars in impressive fashion. His heat race victory reinforced a win in one of the night's trophy
dashes.
In the second heat race, Greg Ochs of Colville, Wash., out-dueled Matt Elliott for the checkered flag. Elliott
shadowed Ochs for the final few laps but could never find a way to the front. Meanwhile, Chris Ratterree made a strong move
midway through the race to pass Drew Church of Snohomish, Wash., to grab fourth place. Racing on the final night of his career,
Boise's Dave Parrie finished third. He announced earlier in the week that he was hanging up the helmet after the Meridian
double-dip.
Crowd favorite Brandon Johnson of Caldwell, Idaho, who hasn't made many appearances this season at Meridian
Speedway, made a triumphant return in the third heat race. He didn't race Friday night, but thrilled the capacity crowd by
sliding sideways and smoking his tires through every turn en route to a four-second heat race victory against a field of NSRA
regulars Saturday.
Mansell won the first ASA NSRA trophy dash, pulling away as the other three competitors -- Johnson,
Nampa's Chris Adams and Todd Coleman of Lynnwood, Wash. -- went three-wide into Turn 1 early in the four-lap heat race in
a battle for second place.
In the second trophy dash, another Canadian, Jeff Montgomery, jumped out to the early lead and cruised to
a victory. Two of the five cars on the track during warm-up laps -- Justin Mack of Benton City, Wash., and Boise's Jeff Russell
-- didn't see the checkered flag after experiencing problems. Mack never started the race, and Russell pulled off one lap
before the end of the race.
Both of the Canadians gave their trophies to the young children who were selected to present the hardware
to them.
