9/22/2025
Meridian Speedway
Humphries Rockets to Pink Lady Classic Win
The best winged sprint car pilots in the West descended on Meridian Speedway on Friday and Saturday, September 19 and 20, for the 11th running of the Les Schwab Tires Pink Lady Classic. Friday night’s action featured the Elliott Sportsman Classic presented by Rod Panike at Select Properties for the Speed Tour Sprint Cars, plus a NASCAR Truck double feature, a Speedway Midget showdown, and a wild Idaho Asphalt Services Hornets feature. Saturday night saw the Speed Tour Sprint Cars run the 100 lap Les Schwab Tires Pink Lady Classic alongside another double dose of NASCAR Trucks, the final Speedway Midget feature of the year, and a hard-hitting Idaho CDL Training Street Stock feature.
Twenty-one of the wildest speed machines from five states and British Columbia roared to life for the 11th annual Les Schwab Tires Pink Lady Classic. A pair of vintage Pink Lady sprint cars paced quick-qualifiers Jeff Montgomery and Aaron Willison as the field lined up for the green.
When the green flag waved Willison blew past Montgomery to take the early lead. Behind Willison the field jockeyed for track position. Soon Casey Tillman and Bryan Warf settled into the third and fourth positions.
Winged sprint cars lined the entire quarter-mile course as twelve second lap after twelve second lap wound off the Pepsi-Cola scoreboard. With Willison’s blazing speed and no caution flags to slow and re-rack the pack only nine sprinters remained on the lead lap after the race’s first forty lap segment.
In the pit area Willison drew an 8 pill, which inverted the top eight drivers’ finishing positions. This left the front row to Eric Humphries and Evan Margeson.
On the restart Humphries erupted off the line and took the top spot with Margeson and Mike Murgoitio’s GM Land and Cattle, Timber Creek Recycling sprinter in his tire tracks. Further back Willison tried a pair of three-wide moves in an attempt to move forward. While neither of these passes were completed the shocking attempts broke apart the Tillman, Colton Nelson, Warf logjam and soon Willison sped into the fourth spot.
But Willison wasn’t done there and the Langley, British Columbia native got up on the wheel, zipped around Murgoitio for third place and set his sights on Margeson’s Westlake Properties, Frankie’s Pizza sprinter. As soon as Willison arrived on Margeson’s tail tank the pair caught a knot of slower traffic. The pair cleared the traffic halfway down the backstretch and Willison used the opportunity to dive inside of Margeson. Contact was made, Willison spun, and with just six laps left the defending Pink Lady Classic winner was relegated to the back of the pack.
This restart again saw Humphries pilot his Harvest Supply Inc., Revcon sprinter back to the top spot while Willison planted his Tri-X Group, BrickLok entry on the high side and passed racer after racer. Willison made it back to fifth by the end of the segment and comfortably advanced.
On the cool down lap Mike Murgoitio lost power and came to a stop at the entrance to turn three. A similar fate befell Willie Ginn as the Boise, Idaho driver suffered a left front shock failure that left him to limp his Therman Truck Repair, Grip Suspension entry home in twelfth, the final transfer spot to the final segment. Unfortunately, neither Murgoitio nor Ginn would be able to effect repairs and they were credited with an eleventh and twelfth place finish respectively. This left ten cars to take the green flag, with Humphries and Margeson on the front row, Tillman and Montgomery in the second, and Nelson and Willison in the third.
Humphries surprised Margeson on the start and immediately roared to a two car length lead. As Humphries pulled away Willison threw caution to the wind, pitched his car sideways, and tore around car after car on the outside. Margeson arrested Willison’s charge, but could only watch as Humphries pulled further and further away.
With three laps left Willison staged another attack on the second place runner and this time would take over the second position. But nobody could catch Humphries as he flashed across the Caleb’s Chop Shop Victory Stripe to win the 2025 Les Schwab Tires Pink Lady Classic.
“We weren’t the fastest car at all this weekend. But the cards fell our way,” Humphries admitted. “If you had asked me if we were going to win today, I’d have said ‘no.’
“I feel like we had the best car here tonight, just keep getting burned on that pill draw deal,” said Willison.
“We didn’t quite have the car that we needed all weekend,” said third place Margeson.
With a fifth place finish Bryan Warf earned the Speed Tour Sprint Car championship. Warf outpaced standings runner up Casey Tillman by 105 points to claim the title.
“We’ve had an amazing season,” Warf said. “I can’t thank everybody on this team enough.”
The night’s first NASCAR Truck race got off to a bruising start as John Wong and Sam Harris tangled in turn two and pounded the barriers. Both competitors would drive their battered machines to the pit area, but neither would return to action for the rest of the night.
Once the race restarted John Newhouse again flexed his muscles and ripped his way to the front of the field and for the third time on the weekend parked his The Car Store of Twin Falls, D.L. Evans Bank truck in the Caleb’s Chop Shop Winner’s Circle. Tanner Wong brought his Wong Farms, Champion Produce machine home second ahead of Jesse James Lawson.
Newhouse encountered stiffer competition in Saturday night’s final feature as he dueled with division point leader Jesse James Lawson. Lawson pinned his S Porters, Inc., Antler’s Boutique truck to the inside line and held Newhouse at bay until a caution flag re-racked the field and lined Newhouse up outside of Lawson for the restart. When the green flag waved Newhouse blasted past Lawson into the lead and, fifteen short laps later, to his fourth feature win of the weekend.
With his second place finish Lawson put the finishing touches on his 2025 NASCAR Truck championship run.
Brady Ransom dashed to the early lead in the Speedway Midget’s Saturday night feature. But Ransom couldn’t keep his YMC Mechanical, Zamp Race Products racer ahead of Chuck Groat, who zipped to the lead and pulled away. Groat and his Grip Suspension and Design, Idaho Powder Coat and Sandblasting midget would flash across the Caleb’s Chop Shop Victory Stripe a full three seconds ahead of runner-up River Merrill.
At the checkers young Brady Ransom clinched the Speedway Midget division championship.
Sixteen Idaho CDL Training Street Stocks took the green flag for their 35 lap feature. Contact throughout the pack was constant as the pack of stock cars thundered around the quarter-mile. Something had to give, and on lap ten second and third place runners Corbin Black and Austin Savery came together in turn four. Black spun up the track and collected Scott Groom who limped to the pit area for a new left front tire and some quick repairs.
Whatever repairs Groom’s crew made worked, and by the time ten laps were left on the Pepsi-Cola scoreboard Groom was back in the lead fight. A late restart lined Groom up abreast of Kane Thomasson. Groom wheeled his car hard to take the top spot and, with help from a Thomasson brush with the back stretch wall, Groom roared to the lead and the win. Jake Altman finished second ahead of Kendra Occhipinti, Thomasson, and Josh Parkkila.
In Friday night’s action Mike Murgoitio outran Josh Fanopoulos and Willie Ginn to win the Elliott Sportsman Classic presented by Rod Panike at Select Properties. The Elliott Sportsmanship Award was presented to long-time Speed Tour Sprint Car official Terry Benson.
Stacey Jensen raced his way into the Pink Lady Classic win a win in the night’s first qualifying feature.
John Newhouse kicked off his Les Schwab Tires Pink Lady Classic weekend with a pair of victories in the NASCAR Truck division.
River Merrill battled her way to the Speedway Midget feature victory Friday ahead of Chuck Groat and Brady Ransom.
The Idaho Asphalt Services Hornets saw Ben Sommerfeld fight hard to get past leader Ron Clausen in the closing laps. But try as Sommerfeld might Clausen’s PBT Auto Sales machine was too strong, and he cruised to yet another 2025 feature victory.
It’s main event mania this week at Meridian Speedway as the Project Filter Twin 35’s presented by Toyota Dealers take over the quarter-mile asphalt oval. Get your tickets now at www.meridianspeedway.com to see the Pepsi Sprintcars, Idaho Vintage Racers, Snake River Legends, and Speedway Bandoleros crown their season champions and the NASCAR Modifieds and Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Mini Stock battle for pivotal late season points. General admission to Saturday night’s Project Filter Twin 35’s is just $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and military members, $9 for kids 7-11, and free for kids 6 and under. Gates open at 4:45 p.m. Saturday with the night’s first green flag waved at 6:30 p.m. We’ll see you under the big, yellow water tower this Saturday, September 27, for the Project Filter Twin 35’s presented by Toyota Dealers at your NASCAR Home Track, Meridian Speedway.
Submitted By: Tyler Schild