Hornet 100 Heats Up Winter Series at Meridian Speedway

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With ice melting down the banking in turns one and two, the Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Winter Heat Series roared back to life for the second post-season showdown at Meridian Speedway.  The mostly stock commuter cars of the Big Daddy’s Barbecue Hornet division anchored the action Saturday, December 15, with a 100 lap endurance race, while the full-sized, built in a day Bombers and anything goes Open division held their own slick track grudge matches.

Six Open division speedsters took the green flag for their thirty lap feature.  On the break Monica Heath piloted her well-worn machine to the lead with Jody Moen, AJ Packard and Sean Young in tow. 

Back row starters James Pahl and Jeff Matuska wasted no time working their way forward.  Young was the first to fall on lap three, then Packard and Moen followed suit as Pahl and Matuska pulled into second and third on lap eight. 

With ten laps gone Matuska made his move and dove low on Pahl for second.  Pahl fought back on the outside as the runner up battle caught Heath for the lead.  Matuska made use of his inside position and stormed to the lead.  Pahl followed Mastuska past Heath and set to work on a way around the new leader.  But Matuska was too strong and he sped across the Caleb’s Chop Shop Victory Stripe first.

Jody Moen and newcomer Austin Pattan started the fifteen lap Bomber dash on the front row.  Moen was quick to the gas and rocketed to the lead while Pattan struggled to get a handle on his minivan. 

By the halfway point Pattan found a fast groove, but found himself too far from Moen to mount a challenge.  But a caution with six circuits left bunched the pack and gave Pattan one last chance to do something with Moen.  But when the green flag waved Moen was off and she cruised to the Bomber division victory.

Eleven hearty Big Daddy’s Barbecue Hornets competitors packed their former grocery getters onto the quarter-mile oval for a 100 lap feature.  Jason Harmon led the field to green, but it was Monica Heath who fought her way to the lap one lead.  Heath’s time at the front was short-lived however, as contact on lap two sent her and Chuck Youngblood head-on into the front stretch wall.  Both driver would retire from the race, which left Jeff Matuska and Sean Young up front for the restart.

Matuska got the better of the early restart and charged to the top spot, but Cody Garrett found the handle on his racer and blasted around the pack to take second on the Pepsi-Cola scoreboard.  Sliding sideways Garrett screamed toward Matuska, and on lap 25 took the lead in lapped traffic.

At the race’s halfway point Garret held a comfortable lead over Matuska and a hard-charging James Pahl.  Pahl made quick work of Matuska and by lap sixty filled the leader’s rearview mirror.  Pahl ducked around Garret to hold the lead for half a lap, but got trapped behind a lapped car, and lost the lead to Garrett.

A caution flag with 36 laps left caught the field up to Garret’s rear bumper, and on the restart Pahl forced his way low to battle once again for the lead.  Garret slung his machine hard around the high side of the track, but after two hard fought laps the young racer smacked the front stretch wall. 

With parts of his car littering the front stretch Garrett assessed the damage as Tommy Harrod passed him for second.  Confident that his car was sound Garrett charged back into the high line and flashed by Harrod to take back the second spot. 

Garret continued his comeback run as he flew around the high side and caught Pahl with thirty laps left.  But the strain proved to be too much, and with 24 circuits left Garret’s car expired in a huge cloud of smoke on the back stretch.  This left the lead and the win to Pahl, with Harrod and Matuska second and third.

Kick your New Year off right Saturday, January 5, with the next round of the Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Winter Heat Series at Meridian Speedway.  The low-buck, high speed Bombers, entry level racers the Big Daddy’s Barbecue Hornets, and the Open division rumble back onto the quarter-mile asphalt oval for their third post-season tussle.  All-access pit passes for the full afternoon of racing excitement are available at the pit entry gate for just $15.  Gates open at noon with qualifying at 2:30 p.m. and racing at 3 p.m.  Stay tuned to meridianspeedway.com for all the latest news from around the quarter-mile oval, and be sure to like our Facebook page and text ‘meridianspeed’ to 84483 to make sure you’re up to speed with your NASCAR Home Track.  We’ll see you Saturday, January 5, for round three of the Boise Bath and Kitchen Company Winter Heat Series under the big yellow water tower at Meridian Speedway.

Meridian Speedway PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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