Haeden Plybon Capitalizes on Cristiani's Spin to Win Idaho 208 at Meridian

Haeden Plybon, who has had a career year in the Northwest Super Late Model Series in 2023, landed a crown jewel win on Saturday night as he scored the victory in the Idaho 208 at Meridian Speedway.

But it was no easy task. Plybon suffered a blown engine early in the weekend, he was also involved in several early-race incidents, and he finally inherited the lead with 69 laps to go when Aubree Cristiani spun from the race lead.

But in the end, the roller coaster night and weekend ended with another victory, the fourth of the season, for Plybon after he held off Zach Telford for the race win.

"It was all over the place," Plybon said of his race. "Kinda sucks they took so many cars out, but I guess that's racing. First of all, I want to thank Brandon Real and his family for letting us borrow their motor for the weekend. We lost one on Friday, and we wouldn't be here without them."

Plybon, who scored three wins combined in 2021 and 2022, has already broken that total through just six races in 2023. The driver, who finished second in the overall Northwest Super Late Model Series championship standings feels he and his team are hitting on all cylinders.

"We finally got these cars figured out," Plybon explained. "It took us a little bit, but I think we've got them rolling. I'm glad we finally broke the second-place streak."

Plybon feels confident in his championship chances but says some conflicts in his schedule may cause him to miss a race down the stretch. But regardless, he's going to give it his all.

"Hopefully we can take it. We may have to miss a race, but we'll see," Plybon said.

For the 19-year-old Telford, this was his career-best finish in Northwest Super Late Model Series competition, besting a seventh-place effort at Tri-City Raceway last season.

Jonathan Gomez ended the race in the third position, and he was followed by Nick Gibson in fourth, however, Gibson's car did not pass post-race inspection, which meant Aubree Cristiani came home fourth.

For Cristiani, it was a tale of what could have been.

The mother of two was the dominant force in the event behind the wheel of her white No. 96 car. She led the race through the halfway break, and it looked like she was cruising to a victory in the prestigious event.

Then, the unthinkable happened. Cristiani spun from the lead with 69 laps to go. While it was a sad end to her victory hopes, Cristiani kept on digging and rallied back to finish fourth on the night.

Dave Garber, Thane Alderman, Kasey Kleyn, Zach Riehl, Andy Beaman, and Dan Lowther rounded out the top 10 finishers in the event.

Photo Credit: Shari Garber

Northwest Super Late Model Series Idaho 208 Race Results