Kyle Tellstrom Becomes First Two-Time Winner of Idaho 208 at Meridian

Kyle Tellstrom became the first two-time winner of the Idaho 208 at Meridian Speedway Saturday night, scoring the victory in the seventh race of the Northwest Super Late Model Series season.

A couple of weeks ago, Tellstrom won the Idaho 200 at Findlay Stadium Stateline Speedway. Saturday's win added to the hot streak, marking him as the first driver since Jeremy Doss in 2020 to win both Idaho long-distance races. Tellstrom is also the first repeat winner of the event, which started as an event in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (now ARCA Menards Series West) before transitioning to a Late Model race.

No matter how you slice it, the long-time Modified competitor is on a roll in his Super Late Model. However, he thinks there's still some more speed to find.

"I think we have a little bit more to go still," said Tellstrom in victory lane. "We made some good changes at the break, and I knew we had a good piece. It didn't fall off, it did everything we needed it to do.

"It means a lot," added Tellstrom. "Man, we work really hard and have a great group of people. The last couple of months, we've worked our nickels to the ground. It's been a lot of work. This is the peak of our season, I feel. This was a good way to go out on top and we can start taking a break and enjoy it."

Tellstrom took the lead with 65 laps to go from Montana 200 winner Jason Jefferson and led the rest of the way. Jefferson ultimately finished in the second position, giving him podium finishes in back-to-back Northwest Super Late Model Series events.

"It was a good run," said Jefferson. "I certainly couldn't do it without all my crew guys, that's for damn sure. Amee, Dave Reed, Bremerton Collision, everybody that helps me out. We just wouldn't be doing it. We'll take this second, move on and go to the next one."

John Newhouse led much of the first half and was in the mix for the top spot with Tellstrom and Jefferson nearing the lap 130 mark. However, contact with Ryan Phipps while battling for position sent Phipps into a spin in turn two and relegated Newhouse to the rear of the field.

Newhouse rebounded for a third-place finish, but admitted being able to run the high line was a larger factor in his recovery than raw pace.

"I pinned everybody on the bottom," said Newhouse. "That was it. I didn't have a good car at the end. It was dump truck tight. I didn't mean to spin the 5, but I got pinned against the wall and it bounced me off the wall, and I came back down into him. That's a long ways to go back through the field without tires. I'd rather start over at the start of the race than [do that at] the end of the race."

Aubree Cristiani finished fourth, with Wyatt King crossing the line fifth.

Hermiston Raceway is the next stop for the Northwest Super Late Model Series, racing in the Labor Day Spectacular 125 on Sunday, September 1.

YMC Mechanical Idaho 208 Unofficial Results