6/23/2025
Meridian Speedway
Wild Hornet Feature Tops 97th Dairy Days
Meridian Speedway capped the 97th Annual Meridian Dairy Days with the action-packed Idaho CDL Training Dairy Days Races and Carnival event on Saturday, June 21. The Zamp NASCAR Latemodels, Idaho CDL Training Street Stocks, Idaho Vintage Racers, Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Mini Stocks, and Idaho Asphalt Services Hornets dueled in front of packed grandstands for the night’s trophies, presented in memory of Sam ‘The Pirate’ Newcomer.
The Idaho CDL Training Street Stocks ran a 44-lap feature in memory of former Meridian Speedway racer Sam ‘The Pirate’ Newcomer. On the break Joseph Latham took the lead in his Conrad and Bischoff, Trophy Fuels racer while brother Anthony fell to mid-pack where contact sent the youngster around in turn two. Austin Savery, Kendra Occhipinti, and Sam Newcomer Junior also sustained damage in the ensuing stack up. Savery continued while Occhipinti was forced to the pit area with a dislodged fuel cell and Newcomer Junior was forced to retire his Antler’s Boutique machine due to heavy front end damage.
On the restart Kedrick Preston shot to the lead before he was overcome by Josh Parkkila for the top spot. Parkkila’s time at the top was short-lived as Palmer lit the wick on his Bobby’s Transmission Center, Freedom Payments car and stormed to the lead.
Behind Palmer, Scott Groom wheeled his racer hard to keep pace. As the lead duo stretched their advantage over the pack a battle for third place broke out between Samantha Occhipinti and Kane Thomasson. Occhipinti and her Beatbox, Magic Services entry would get the best of this battle but be greeted with a half a track deficit to second place Groom. Try as she might, Occhipinti couldn’t catch Groom, who in turn couldn’t track down Palmer as the emerging speedway star scored his second feature victory on the night.
Brady Williams and Dustin Millard led a strong group of ground-pounding Zamp NASCAR Latemodels to green for a 35-lap feature. Millard got to the front first while Williams stacked up the inside line. Shawn Lester provided some early drama of his own as fuel poured from his Jackson Spuds, Red’s Cleaning Service machine for the race’s first two laps before he pulled to the pit area.
With Lester off track Neal Latham sprang to the outside and took over third place on the Pepsi-Cola scoreboard, then second, and finally first. But Latham wasn’t safe up front as division points leader Andrew Palmer had followed him through the pack and now set his sights on taking the lead.
Palmer moved his Bobby’s Transmission Center, Freedom Payments machine high and low as he looked for a way around Latham’s Limitless Pressure Washing, Outlaw Excavation racer. Latham held on for a handful of laps, but eventually Palmer worked to the inside line and took the lead. This would prove the winning pass as Palmer set the cruise control and rode into the Caleb’s Chop Shop Winner’s Circle.
The Idaho Vintage Racers brought eleven lovingly restored sprintcars to bear on a 25-lap Idaho CDL Training Dairy Days Race Night feature. The green flag waved, and chaos ensued as racecars spread to all lanes of the track. Cody South was first to make his move to the top spot as the rest of the field struggled to settle into a race pace.
Quickest to slice his way through the beating and banging pack was Kenny Hamilton who arrived on South’s tail tank at the race’s halfway point. After a close call with two-wide lapped traffic hampered his first attempt at the lead, Hamilton regrouped and took over the lead with just nine laps left.
Point leader Joey Layman pressed his machine hard to keep pace with Hamilton but lost the handle on his machine after he made contact with South as he took over the second spot. South would fade to finish fourth behind Johnny Wiggington’s Bareeto Manufacturing, Dave Williams Welding mount with Dustin Budell bringing his sprinter home fifth.
Ten Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Mini Stocks took the green flag for their thirty-lap feature. Josh Lucero got to the gas pedal first to put his Trammel Construction, Scott’s Cageworks up front early, but soon came under attack from Morgan Trammel and his mechanical menace.
Trammel pinned his Trammel Construction, RPI Motor Sports Parts racer to the inside groove and got around Lucero to take the lead on lap four. Trammel would never look back on his way to the feature win. Last week’s winner Chase Parker finished second ahead of Jason Saners, Craig Taylor, and Travis Pavlacky, who had his hands full with a wickedly ill-handling machine.
The Idaho Asphalt Services Hornet capped Saturday night’s Idaho CDL Training Dairy Days Races with a wet and wild feature. Dale Bolinger, newly returned from a military deployment to Kosovo, made a splash early as he zipped to the lead along with Cris Endicott, Michael Bess, and Cody Ballantyne.
Tommee Harrod went for the wildest ride of the night as incidental contact sent her PBT Auto Sales entry headlong into the backstretch wall, then up and over onto her roof. Harrod was okay after her topsy-turvy incident and waved to the crowd as she walked to the pit area.
On the restart a bruising feud between Endicott and Bess broke out as they raced for the runner up spot. Lap after lap the pair traded blows while they also swapped back and forth with Bolinger for the lead. Bess landed the final punch as after contact through turns three and four he body slammed and spun Endicott at the end of the front stretch. Somehow both drivers maintained control of their vehicles and continued to race for the lead.
Next up for contact was Bolinger who zigged when he should have zagged in lapped traffic and smashed the front of his car in. Despite the buckled hood and dislodged bumper cover Bolinger soldiered on as Nick Durbin and Ron Clausen joined the front running festivities. Clausen’s run at the top spot fell apart when he led two laps in a row—a no-no for the event.
The white flag waved over six racers, and the first to make it back to the Caleb’s Chop Shop Victory Stripe was Durbin in his American Staffing machine.
The second half of the Meridian Speedway season kicks off with a bang Friday, July 4, with the Stinker Firecracker 50 and Fireworks Spectacular presented by the City of Meridian. General admission is just $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and military members, $9 for kids 7-11, and free for kids 6 and under to see six paint-trading classes celebrate our freedom before we light up the skies with a Fourth of July fireworks display like no other in the Treasure Valley. Gates open at 4:45 p.m. Friday, July 4, with the night’s first green flag thrown at 6:30 p.m. Skip the line at the ticket gate by logging on to www.meridianspeedway.com for your advance tickets. We’ll see you under the big, yellow water tower Friday, July 4, for the Stinker Firecracker 50 and Fireworks Spectacular presented by the City of Meridian at your NASCAR Home Track, Meridian Speedway.
Submitted By: Tyler Schild