7/17/2023
Meridian Speedway
Saxton Dominant in Return to Concrete Jungle
Ladies packed the grandstand Saturday, July 15, as Meridian Speedway hosted Project Filter Ladies Night presented by RC Willey. The Domino’s Legends, Idaho CDL Training Street Stocks, Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Mini Stocks, Big Daddy’s Barbecue Hornets, and Firehouse Pub and Grill Bombers traded plenty of paint as they battled side-by-side for victory.
The Domino’s Legends feature started off with a bang, literally, as ten cars were swept up in a lap one, turn one melee. After the wreckage was cleared the green flag waved again and Las Vegas, Nevada’s Peyton Saxton, himself a part of the ten-car pileup, tore his way through the field to put his Third Gen Race Cars machine up front.
Behind Saxton, Leon Tridle wheeled his LaMoure Trucking, Straddles Industries car hard to keep in front of Cody Brown, another Las Vegas, Nevada driver. But Brown was too fast, and dispatched Tridle to third place. Brown reeled Saxton in over the race’s closing laps but didn’t have enough to keep Saxton from crossing the Caleb’s Chop Shop Victory Stripe first.
Michael Capps and Craig Taylor led the Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Mini Stocks to green for a 35-lap fight for the checkers. Capps got out of the blocks first but was chased down and passed by multi-time division champion Jason Sanders and his Valley Property Management, King’s Tire Pro entry on lap nine.
Capps made one more splash on Project Filter Ladies Night presented by RC Willey when his radiator hose failed entering turn three. Capps slid into the concrete barriers, climbed them, and rode to an abrupt stop against the frontstretch barrier. Despite heavy damage to his Boise Bath and Kitchen Company, Pro Source racer, Capps emerged from the crash unscathed.
When the green flag waved Ryan McCaul decided it was go-time, and the Caldwell, Idaho racer blasted forward through the field. McCaul, his Performance Signs and Graphics, David’s Racing Products car pinned to the inside line, dispatched everyone in his way en route to the top of the Pepsi-Cola scoreboard. Once there, McCaul set the cruise control and motored to victory. Sanders took the runner up spot, followed by Travis Pavlacky and Don Trafford.
Kendra Occhipinti the most of her Project Filter Ladies Night presented by RC Willey feature, as she led the 35-lap Idaho CDL Training Street Stocks feature wire-to-wire. Behind Occhipinti’s Marv’s Tire Service, Sonic Crush racer Scott Groom came home second, followed by Kendra’s brother Taylor Occhipinti, Jesse James Lawson, and dash winner Samantha Raymond.
The Firehouse Pub and Grill Bombers ran a slapstick twenty-lap feature that saw cars slide their way alternately through the front and back Blue Wrench Chicanes. The checkered flag waved over defending division champion Blaine Waller and his Two Idaho Mom’s Boutique, American Staffing machine.
The Big Daddy’s Barbecue Hornets closed Project Filter Ladies Night presented by RC Willey with a marathon steeplechase through upturned water barrels and both front and back Blue Wrench Chicanes. Ben Sommerfield navigated his way through the pack to the checkers, but behind him the battle for eighth went awry.
Kristy Marks powered to the outside of Stefan Meeks in a bid for the eighth position, but pushed too hard and pounded the wall in front of the Stinker Family Friendly Section. The hit catapulted Marks’ Timberlake Construction, Wilson’s Point S Tire and Auto Service car up and over, and she slid across the line upside down in ninth place. Marks was okay and, above all, glad to have crossed the finish line after her wild ride.
The action continues this Saturday, July 22, as the Weed Man Lawncare Lucky Rides for Kids takes over Meridian Speedway. General admission to Saturday night’s action is just $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and military members, $8 for kids 7-11, and free for kids 6 and under. Gates open at 4:45 p.m. Saturday with racing beginning at 6:30 p.m. Log on to www.meridianspeedway.com for more details and to secure your advance tickets. We’ll see you this Saturday, July 22, for Weed Man Lawncare Lucky Rides for Kids Night under the big, yellow water tower at your NASCAR Home Track, Meridian Speedway.
Submitted By: Tyler Schild