Speed Tour Modifieds driver Kyle Tellstrom saved his new K1 RaceGear fire suit and Bell RS7 helmet for a special occasion. The colors reflected those that NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon made so iconic. It seemed to work. Tellstrom won the Idaho 208 at Meridian Speedway.
“Science would prove that the Jeff Gordon flames are worth a tenth or two on the racetrack,” Tellstrom, of Meridian, Idaho, said. “I wasn’t the fastest car in practice. I put on the suit and helmet and turned the quarter mile in 13.853 — 14 thousandths faster than the second-place car. It was the flames that made me faster.”
As a kid, Tellstrom idolized Gordon.
“He was my childhood superhero,” said Tellstrom. “I had the suit for two months since Rocket Science Concepts designed it, and the helmet for a month. That’s my superhero outfit — so I waited to wear them until I felt I needed them and will probably put them away until the next time I need them.”
This isn’t the first time Tellstrom won the storied Idaho 208. It’s his third, but his first in a modified.
The event began in 2018 as race for what’s now called the ARCA Menards Series West. Tellstrom made his only career ARCA start that race, finishing 15th. In 2019, it turned into a Big 5 Late Model event. Tellstrom won the late model race in 2022 and in 2024.
“It was an unbelievable win [in 2022],” Tellstrom said. “I built the car for $12,000, won $20,000 that day, and turned around and sold the car for $20,000 — profiting $28,000.
“I used that money to buy a Senneker chassis that went on to win both the Idaho 200 at Stateline Speedway and my second Idaho 208 in Meridian in 2024.”
Now fresh from his third Idaho 208 victory, Kyle Tellstrom plans to race a tripleheader this weekend in a Legends car: Magic Valley Speedway on Friday, Meridian Speedway on Saturday, and the Motorplex at the Mill on Sunday.
“With the opening of John Wood’s track [Motorplex at the Mill], there is so much potential here,” said Tellstrom. “It is an exciting time to be racing in Idaho.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
