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By Rob Dorris

Eagle Idaho, June 21, 2003 - An explosion of speed blasted the Treasure
Valley from Chaparral Speedway on Saturday June 21st. More race cars (about
110) than the pits could hold and a capacity crowd created a festival
atmosphere like no other racing event in Idaho. 2,500 people filled the
grandstands; with about half of them being first time visitors to Idaho's
newest racing facility. Fire works, five main events, and seven forms of
racing cars kept Chaparral Speedway's race fans either laughing or sitting
on the edge of their seats. Before I get into the results of this fantastic
show, I've got to salute Adam Nelson and his people for the absolutely
perfect way to run a race track. From the race fan's perspective, they are
entertained all night long: from Adam's nutty antics on his four wheeler, to
his yelping in fear, after spinning out and hitting a dirt pile in the
infield. (He took a ride in a two seater race car with his microphone on.)
It goes on and on. Adam is gracious and grateful to his race fans and it
shows. Adam seems to know that race fans come not just for racing but for a
good time, a few laughs, a comfortable atmosphere, and they want their
moneys worth-Adam Nelson delivers. From the racers perspective, all
competitors get a feeling of respect and gratitude from Nelson's crew of
officials. Everyone knows the facilities are new and improvements are in the
offing. Visitors from other tracks are assisted in everyway possible and all
visitors leave knowing they are appreciated and are always welcomed back. It
doesn't hurt to have a race track where drivers get out of their cars
whooping for all the fun the track is to drive; big banks and straightaways
wider than Indianapolis by 10 feet. What other 3/8 mile track are Late
Models doing 100 mph going into the turns? (This speed was proven with
radar.)

Now on to the winners: Jeff Hillock was the main man in the Intermountain
Late Model Main Event, while Kelly Jamison, Roy Kirkland, Jeff Suemnick, and
Quentin Ward were winners in their divisions.

The highly anticipated Intermountain Late Model Tour finally came to town
this week and they didn't disappoint. Beautiful cars, and fast speeds were
on order. Local boy, Tony Ackerland, one of Boise's standout racers, started
tonight's event on the front row and it looked like he was on his way to a
big win. With each fast lap of roaring machines, Ackerland kept cranking the
excitement level up another notch. Had this been a fifty lap race, the race
may have been his, unfortunately it wasn't to be. Another local, Lee
Hackney, actually had some of the visiting teams scratching their heads.
During practice Hackney was turning times 2 tenths faster than most everyone
else. Hackney started the Main on the second row and was running in second
place behind Ackerland for about 30 laps before he began to fade. Tire wear
was the clincher and the guys that wore a soft shoe were the leaders in the
end. Jeff Hillock knew early on in the race, that if he could conserve his
rubber, he would be giving himself the best chance to win. A thinking man's
driver, Hillock put his theory to the test and ended up King of the Hill.
After starting in the fourth row, Hillock began his methodical march to the
front, running easy behind someone until a miscue was made. Cha-ching after
cha-ching, Hillock clicked off the competition until at about the 50 lap
point, he took over. The biggest mover of the night was Jeff Flynn who
started in thirteenth place; he finished as the runner up. Local racer, Mike
Marston, made the fans proud with a fine third place finish after starting
in ninth. Marston fought off the competition and ended-up the best Idaho
driver of the night. Pulling in closely behind Marston were Clint Kidd, Joe
Hood, Zan Sharp, and Tony Ackerland. It must be said that there wasn't a
bent Late Model fender all night. Excellent close racing and wheel-to-wheel
action was the order of the day.

The Pro-Fours Main Event was dominated by Steve Casteel, Neal Latham, Kenny
Chandler and Kelly Jamison. The early leader for the first half of the race
was Casteel. Latham and Jamison were always close behind Casteel, while
Chandler was moving through traffic. Chandler, usually the fast guy on the
track wasn't disappointing either. At around lap 10 our fast four were
running side-by-side. First and second then third and forth, and all four
cars were nose-to-tail. On the next lap, the race changed when Latham
dropped back some and Chandler and Jamison moved up making the cars three
wide flying down the back straightaway. Chandler went high and caught the
dirt above the racing surface. He went flying off the track stopping near
the fire-safety crew at the top of turn 3. This moved Chandler to the back
of the pack again. Up front, Jamison soon went to the lead while Latham
followed him to second. And, of course, Chandler was on the move. At first
it didn't look like he could catch the front cars but catch them he did.
With only two laps remaining he took second from Latham, but Jamison was in
a groove that even Chandler couldn't handle. The top five drivers were
Jamison, Chandler, Latham, Casteel, and Jim Bailey.

Skip Taylor lead for the first half of the fast paced Limited Stock Feature.
Roy Kirkland, in his El Camino, started on the fourth row and was headed for
the biggest win of his career in front of a packed house. Paul Occhipinti
made his debut effort and claimed a solid second place finish. The early
leader, Taylor, was able to maintain third. Taylor was followed by Charlie
Hamm and Troy Evans.

Jeff Suemnick won his first ever Street Stock Main Event and with a full
field of 18 cars, Jeff had to pass 15 of his fellow competitors to get the
win. Not a good night for axles, the cars of Chad Draper and a little later,
Vern Cornish both gave the fans a light show when their car's right rear
tires took off and left them. Taking second spot was Brian McDaniel; in
third was Darrell Lankford; with Ed Connell getting fourth. Congratulations
Jeff on your first win.

Quentin Ward came to Chaparral Speedway with a mission to win. At first, it
looked like Rick Brees was the guy to beat, because the fast cars were
starting way back in the nineteen car field; that is until there were only a
few laps remaining. With laps running out, Ward reached the front and took
over with Spanky Davis and Jamie Frostrom in tow. At the checkered flag,
Brees went from the lead to fourth.

The Hornets had the largest field of cars for the year so far and everyone
loved the experience. One scary moment occurred when the underside of Dan
Breech's car erupted in flames from on oil leak. Dan was unhurt and the
flames quickly extinguished themselves. Taking the win was Shirl Gager,
second was Rick Baldwin, and third went to Darrell Stogdale. 

I want to extend a huge welcome to the Thunder Mountain Motorsports
competitors that came this weekend to continue the "Grass Roots Tour"
between Chaparral Speedway and Thunder Mountain. Five cars made the
transition from Thunder Mountain's dirt track to Chaparral's asphalt.
Unfortunately two cars had motor problems. Rick Hite brought back a lot of
memories when he arrived with his 1930 something, "Hardtop" in tow. To bad
his motor problem put him on the trailer. This is a fun series and I hope
the dirt guys felt welcomed. The five names I have that made the trip were
Rick Hite, Randy Knadle, Mark Steel, Brad Attebery, Bryan Hartly, and Doug
Bergey. Please come back guys and bring some of your friends. 

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