REIF PREVAILS AT TRI-CITY FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE VICTORY
Brandon White, ARCAracing.com
Tyler Reif and crew celebrate a second consecutive ARCA West victory, Aug. 10 at Tri City Raceway. ARCA West photo.
WEST RICHLAND, Wash. (Aug. 10, 2024) — Race fans who waited more than two decades to witness an ARCA Menards Series West event at Tri-City Raceway were provided a glimpse into NASCAR’s future during Saturday’s NAPA Auto Care 150.
Tyler Reif and Sean Hingorani, who entered the evening separated by five points in the West Series standings, were the two cars to beat through all 150 laps. Reif would be the one to prevail, by .485 seconds, besting Hingorani during a late-race restart to earn his second consecutive West Series victory.
Trailing Hingorani for most of the night, Reif didn’t think he’d be able challenge him if the race had gone uninterrupted to the checkered flag.
One last restart with 18 laps left gave Reif the opening he was looking for. A perfectly timed restart from the outside line allowed him to make the race-winning pass on Hingorani.
“The laps were counting down faster and faster,” Reif said. “Those cautions surprised me, but we did what we had to do during those last 75 laps. We practiced on the outside a little bit this weekend and it definitely paid off tonight.”
Jack Wood settled for third in the NAPA Auto Care 150 with Todd Souza and Kyle Keller completing the top five. NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, a previous Tri-City track champion, ran in the top five for most of the night, but finished ninth after a late spin.
Notable locals in the field included Ephrata’s Kasey Kleyn in sixth finishing all 150 laps, Jeff Havens from Spokane also finished all laps and was eighth while Danica Dart, also from Ephrata, was two laps down and 14th in the 15-car field.
This was the first appearance of the series at Tri City Raceway since June 21, 2003 when Jason Jefferson won the race. Then the series was known as NASCAR Winston West.
TELLSTROM MAKES HISTORY IN ‘IDAHO 208’ VICTORY
From NWSLM and NW Motorsports News Services
Meridian, Idaho (Aug. 10, 2024) — Duplicating the feat of Jeremy Doss in 2020, Kyle Tellstrom doubled down on his “Idaho 200” win at Stateline Speedway with a victory in the “YMC Mechanical Idaho 208” at Meridian Speedway just weeks apart.
He also won the Pro Late Model portion of the “Idaho 208” weekend to sweep the Late Model portion of events.
Tellstrom, from Ukiah, Calif., picked up over $37,000 for those wins. He took home $10,000 for his victory on Saturday, making him the only repeat winner in “Idaho 208” history. Tellstrom brought home the win in a Senneker Performance Super Late Model owned by Lee Hackney.
Jason Jefferson, John Newhouse, Aubree Cristiani and Wyatt King rounded out the top five.
“Honestly it is relieving”, Tellstrom stated about becoming the first two-time winner of the “Idaho 208”. “We have really worked hard this year, and it has been a lot of work between my crew and my guys.”
Tellstrom started off his winning bid by setting the AFCO Racing / Longacre Racing Products Fast Time with a 13.211 second lap on the 1/4-mile oval. The reshuffled start saw Tellstrom start eighth but he moved carefully through the field to fifth by the break.
He eased past Jefferson on lap 117 to chase Newhouse for the lead in a hotly contested battle that ended in contact on lap 124 allowing Jefferson to regain the top spot.
Several laps later on lap 132 and following a caution, Tellstrom took the lead and survived a number of cautions that repeatedly tightened the field for the win.
After his win, Tellstrom recalled the lap 132 winning pass that saw he and Jefferson battling side by side with fenders banging and spark flying.
“It was a little wild”, Tellstrom recalled. “Meridian is a lot different than most tracks and I respect Jason a lot and the Jefferson guys a lot. He caught me by surprise on that one restart and we started tagging. Meridian is really tight. I feel when I run the bottom, I am pretty nice and pretty disciplined. He kept squaring the exit off and it just doesn’t work here this way. I couldn’t go any lower.”
Jefferson recalled the action with Tellstrom, as they battled for the lead on multiple restarts over the last 75 laps of the race.
“I really don’t know what I was lacking”, Jefferson speculated. “I think it may have just been a lack of experience here, is what it was. Obviously, he had a better car, and he’s got a lot of laps around here.”
NWSLM points leader Kasey Kleyn had his three-race series win streak snapped because he was hundreds of miles away racing at the ARCA West event at Tri City Raceway.
The next series race is Sept. 1 with the Labor Day Spectacular 125 at Hermiston Raceway, Oregon.
Kyle Tellstrom (center) in the “Idaho 208” winner’s circle with Jason Jefferson (left) and John Newhouse (right) after victory Aug. 10 at Meridian Speedway near Boise. NWSLM photo.
