MERIDIAN, Idaho -- Chris Ratterree showed off Saturday the reason he is the defending Mtn. Dew Winged Sprints champion at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway.

The Nampa, Idaho, racer rolled to a six-second victory in the second of two sprintcar feature races during Preacher Feature night at the speedway.

Ratterree began the 20-lap main event in third place and then had to pass fellow Nampan Chris Adams to grab the lead before cruising to his first win of the season.

In the showcase event, Neil “Not Jim Bailey” Evans of Middleton Baptist Church captured the Preacher Feature and was named the Fastor Pastor in a battle with nine other Treasure Valley pastors racing borrowed Hornets.

In other main events, Nampa’s Shelby Stroebel crept a little closer to ESI Express ASA Modifieds points leader Tom Hill of Eagle, Idaho, by winning the division’s 40-lap feature; Jason Sanders of Caldwell, Idaho, held off Dell Scott of Nampa, Idaho, to win the 40-lap Mini Stocks feature; and Nampa’s David Tankersley found a way around fourth-generation driver Colton Nelson of Meridian to win the 30-lap Tates Rents Hornets feature.

Ratterree passed Adams for the lead on Lap 8 of the 20-lap second Winged Sprints main only to have to do it all over again when a spin by Boise, Idaho’s Kirk Wartman brought out a caution flag on the same lap.

Ratterree grabbed the lead for good when he went low to pass Adams in Turn 3 midway through the race.

In the first Winged Sprints feature, veteran Boise racer Dave Parrie held off points leader Mike Murgoitio of Meridian in the first of two Mtn. Dew Winged Sprints feature races. A veteran racer from Boise, Parrie flashed by Adrian, Ore.'s Darren Spiers two laps into the 20-lap race and then built a big enough lead to thwart Murgoitio's attempt to take another checkered in a feature race.

Middleton, Idaho's Sierra Jackson rebounded from falling out of the top five early in the race to finish on the scoreboard. Jackson, who won the Fast Dash, fell back when she had to check up twice during the first main.

Meanwhile, Murgoitio moved up two spots in one lap from fourth to second on the 12th lap.

Ratterree passed Wartman on the last lap to finish third.

Stroebel started the night 62 points behind Tom Hill in the Meridian Modifieds standings. Hill’s hard luck turned into Stroebel’s good fortune with 13 laps left in the 40-lap feature.

After Stroebel had worked his way into the lead, the man he passed, Meridian’s Chris Fenton, lost control of his racecar on the backstretch and crashed hard into Hill’s No. 12 racer, sending both cars into the wall and out of the race.

On the restart after a lengthy delay, Stroebel pulled away from Charlie Ham Jr. from Kuna to claim the checkered flag. Stroebel could make up some ground in the standings after Hill’s failure to finish and points second-place driver Jeff Hill of Meridian finishing out of the top five.

Sanders’ victory in the Mini Stocks 40-lap main event didn’t come without a scare from Scott, who entered the night sitting second in season points. The two veteran drivers raced side-by-side after two different yellow flags, including a four-lap drag race with 21 laps left.

Scott grabbed the lead after that first duel, but Sanders found his way to the front with 12 laps to go.

Sanders widened his lead only to see Scott creep back before the Nampa driver got loose and lost momentum in Turn 4 with three laps to go.

With a little help from some guys who do it full-time, Middleton Baptist pastor Neil "Not Jim Bailey" Evans looked like an old pro in winning the first Preacher Feature.

Evans, one of nine pastors from around the Treasure Valley who strapped into borrowed Hornets for the 15-lap race, drove a car owned by Boise's Larry Hull to victory.

He also gave Bailey credit for helping him in the pits. Bailey is a Project Filter Pro-4 driver who counts Middleton Baptist as a sponsor.

Evans inherited the lead with five laps to go when Dangerous Double-Oh Darrel Wiseman of Boise First Community Center and Battlin' Benjamin Bridgewater of the Parkcenter Church in Boise wound up spinning around while racing for the lead. Wiseman was in front at the time. Both drivers went to the rear of the field after triggering the caution flag.

It was the second time in the 15-lap race that the race leader spun out. Mad Mark Finley of Holy Trinity Charismatic Episcopal Church went around before the first lap was completed, giving Wiseman the clear sailing early on. Wiseman maintained his lead despite smacking the front-stretch wall five laps into the race.

The Hornets’ main got off to a rough start, but once things smoothed out, there was plenty of excitement to keep fans enthralled.

Nelson shot to the lead with a high pass in Turn 1 against early-race leader Gary Kyle Jr. of Boise. Nelson then withstood a challenge from fellow teenager Colin Parker of Kuna, Idaho, when a fuel leak forced Parker off the track while he was running in second.

With 12 laps to go, Nelson looked to have a little help to grow his advantage as Boise drivers Shane Parkkila and Larry Hull went three-wide with Tankersley in a battle for second.

Tankersley, who has one multiple main events this year, got the final advantage when Nelson was slowed by the lapped truck of Weiser’s Ron Johnson. Nelson lost momentum with Johnson weaving all over the track, and Tankersley completed his charge from near the back of the pack with a pass with seven laps left.

Tankersley pulled away when Nelson ran into more bad luck with a racer off the pace. Nelson was blocked from getting closer to Tankersley with three laps left when Amber Rodgers of Meridian couldn’t get out of Nelson’s way.

Next Saturday, the Modifieds are back for a double feature in the continued pursuit of the ASA national championship. The drivers will run two main events as Wild 101.1 and V99.1 present EXI Express Night. Other classes on the track will include the Pepsi Sprintcars, College of Western Idaho Professional Truck Driving School Street Stocks and the Tates Rents Hornets.

Gates open at 4 p.m. with racing starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7.50 for senior citizens and military personnel with ID and $6 for children ages 7-11. Children 6 and younger get in free, as always.

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

MERIDIAN, Idaho -- Kenny Chandler Jr. was the picture of consistency -- or was it survival? -- during a crazy crash-filled Saturday night at ASA-sanctioned Meridian Speedway.

The veteran Boise, Idaho, driver -- a 2003 inductee of the Western Idaho Racing Association Hall of Fame -- won two of three segments, including the penultimate 100-lapper, to capture the Project Filter Pro-4 All-Star Challenge perpetual trophy.

He joins Joe Barton as a winner in the two-year-old 150-lap segment race.

Other main event winners on Military Appreciation Night included Chris Fenton of Meridian, Idaho, in his first start in the NAPA Latemodel Sportsman class; Boise's Tim Elam in the College of Western Idaho Professional Truck Driving School Street Stocks; defending series champion Travis Anderson of Boise in the Domino's Pizza Legends; and the Winged Snot Rod, piloted by Boise's "Crazy" Chris Carlson in the Thunder Dogs;

The all-star challenge began with 18 Pro-4s, including a driver from Lewiston, Idaho, and another from Hermiston, Ore., battling for the second annual championship. Only nine cars were on the grid at the end of the feature 100-lap race.

And only three of those cars were on the lead lap thanks to a dominating performance by Chandler in the No. 33 Fairly Reliable Bob's Corvette.

Driving his familiar yellow Vette with a white nose devoid of sponsor stickers, Chandler took the lead three laps into the final 100-lap segment and never looked back. In the process, he also padded his speedway series points lead.

Three laps after the first restart of the 100-lapper, Chandler had built a lead of three car lengths. Two-thirds of the way through the race, he was on cruise control with a seven-second lead as Jim Bailey of Middleton, Idaho, drove hard to try to catch him.

With Chandler running a 15.30-second lap on the 67th circuit of the race, Bailey seemed to have no chance of making it a contest. He cut into the lead, but never got closer than four seconds behind.

Elam won the Street Stocks class's rain-postponed Dee Forrey/Don VanSchoiack/Robert Manwill Memorial to cap the night.

Sgt. Pat Tully of the Idaho National Guard led for nearly half the race on Military Appreciation Night. Starting from the front row, the Caldwell driver pushed his No. 90 Camaro to the front and stayed there until Elam's car came into its own about 10 laps into the 30-lap main event.

Elam passed Tully on Lap 17 and stretched out to a two-second lead. Elam won by eight seconds, with Tully holding on for second place in a clean green-flag race.

"This is a lot of fun," Elam said. "I want to thank the fans for coming out. I really appreciate that. I hope you enjoyed the show."

In the Latemodel Sportsman feature, the first time was the charm for Fenton, who has been running in the top five in the ESI Express ASA Modifieds series this season.

Making his debut in the class, Fenton nailed a fast time of 14.212 seconds and parlayed that into an easy main event victory as series regulars Dan Buckley of Emmett, Idaho -- the points leader -- and Star, Idaho's Tyler Monroe battled violently for the runner-up slot.

Monroe banged on Buckley's rear bumper all night long but could never get around him. The drivers wound up wrecking at the checkered flag.

For Fenton, the victory was the culmination of a long preparation process, including wrench-turning sessions into the early-morning hours in the days before the race.

"I haven't seen my wife in two weeks because we've been putting the race car together," Fenton said. "I don't know what to say. This is awesome."

Buckley took the lead five laps into the race, but began feeling heat from Fenton after Nampa, Idaho's Dylan Caldwell spun out on the backstretch while running in third place with 22 laps left.

Buckley and Fenton were side-by-side at the front row on the restart after the yellow flag. The newcomer grabbed the lead the next time the two racers crossed the start-finish line.

He would survive two more double-file restarts with Buckley at his door and roared out to a three-second lead in the waning laps as Buckley and Monroe battled each other.

Defending Legends series champion Travis Anderson rode comfortably to the win in the 30-lap feature. Newcomer Travis Archer finished second, and Austin Hager of Meridian passed McCall, Idaho's Brent Collins over the last half of the race to finish third.

Chris Carlson took his dad's words to heart in the Thunder Dogs feature.

"He said if you're not first, you're last," the Boise-based driver of the Winged Snot Rod said after jockeying -- rather roughly -- for a victory.

There is no official bump-to-pass rule in the Thunder Dogs, but after Saturday, one would think Carlson -- and the fans -- would be more than happy if it were instituted.

Sent to the back of the pack twice because of a Thunder Dogs rule that requires the lead car to be docked when the yellow flag comes out, the Winged Snot Rod crashed and banged to the front again and again.

Carlson finally sealed the victory when he bumped Cab Fare, driven by fellow Boisean Kennon Irons, out of the way heading for the white flag. Cab Fare went through the infield and got side-by-side again, but Winged Snot Rod was able to nose back in front and take the checkered in a fitting conclusion to a bump-to-pass festival.

After the race, Carlson -- who takes his nickname of "Crazy Chris" to the extreme -- announced he would donate all his winnings to help Cory Keegan. Keegan suffered a broken back earlier this season in a spectacular Thunder Dogs rollover crash while piloting Lightning Van into Turn 3.

Saturday's early action in the Project Filter Pro-4 All-Star Challenge was just as thrilling as the Thunders for the 2,000 fans at Meridian.

The first two segment races featured spectacular crashes.

Kale Freedman of Meridian rebounded from a wreck-abbreviated first segment to go wire-to-wire in the second 25-lap race.

But Freedman's win didn't come without some excitement behind him.

Nine laps into the race, 20-year-old Tyler Bailey found himself out of the action for the second straight race. The Middleton driver slammed into the Turn 3 wall as he and Neal Latham of Boise went three-wide in an attempt to get around the lapped car of Dave Latham, also of Boise.

A couple debilitating wrecks highlighted the first segment, too.

Chandler didn't want to see the final yellow flag of the race, which dropped with 11 laps left when Jordan Fitch of Meridian plowed into the Turn 4 wall, tearing off a front tire and destroying his fender.

But Chandler checked out within two laps of the restart. He led by as much as three seconds on the way to the checkered flag.

Just five laps into that first race, eight cars piled up in the middle of turns 3 and 4. Tyler Bailey and Meridian's David Short were knocked out of the race with the contact. Short returned later in the race, and both racers started the second 25-lap segment.

Next Saturday, fast men of faith will compete in the Preacher Feature to find the Fastor Pastor. Also on the track will be the Mtn. Dew Winged Sprints, the ESI Express ASA Modifieds, Mini Stocks and Tates Rents Hornets.

Also on tap is another round of Westby's Bike Races for Kids.

Gates open at 4 p.m. with racing starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7.50 for senior citizens and military personnel with ID and $6 for children ages 7-11. Children 6 and younger get in free, as always.