Friday, January 15, 2016

More from Arizona

Racing continued from U.S.A. Raceway in Tucson with round three of the Wild West Shootout held on Wednesday, Jan. 13th. With a later start for the racing (7 p.m. as opposed to 5 p.m. for the weekend shows), another tacky track was presented to the drivers, although not as fast as it was for the opening round.

The car count was down slightly from the opening weekend but that always seems to be the case for this series. Several of the California drivers go home for work during the week and return by the second weekend along with some of the New Mexico and local drivers. There are always a number of haulers that remain in the pits on Wednesday but never unload with the teams either taking the night off or elsewhere. Still, with over fifty of the best Late Models around on the grounds along with about sixty Modifieds between their two classes, there was plenty of cars on hand to put on a good show.

However, with the way the lineups played out and the passing points distributed, three of the fastest Late Model drivers in the universe started right up front for their feature event, thus assuring that there wouldn't be a lot of passing in the main event. And for those that would wonder as 2016 started whether the rule changes in the Late Models would slow down Jonathan Davenport, the answer so far is no indeed.

Davenport continues to show tremendous speed in this series and the best cars around including Clanton and Lanigan simply haven't been able to stay with Jonathan so far. If not for his gaffe vs. the scales on opening night, we might all be talking about his chances of sweeping the series and pocketing the bonus money. Of course, if he manages to win out the rest of the week, he still is in line for a very nice bonus. And folks, we are talking about the competition being the best around and at a track that Davenport has never seen before!

Two other important stories to note in the Late Models Wednesday involved drivers new to the series. The first involved Donny Schatz, who arrived to the track Wednesday for the first time in the series, having just gotten back from Australia where he has already won five Sprint Car races to start 2016. I have had the opportunity to see Schatz race quite a few times since he started "playing" with a Late Model, mostly in regional shows near his home base in North Dakota. While I have seen him have some good runs, he never has stood out from the field and particularly so when he has tried to race the few open motor shows on his scheduled the past couple of years.

However, it seemed like a new Schatz Wednesday in the desert as he drove hard and with a purpose and where in the past he would have backed off in tight places, he dove the corners hard and with a goal of moving up. The result was a very impressive fourth place finish in the main after starting ninth.

The other driver who wowed in the Late Models was Ricky Thornton Jr. I have begun to wonder if there isn't anything on four wheels that he can't drive and look impressive doing so. Actually, he has made "magic" twice already this week here. His performance jumping behind the unfamiliar Modified of South Dakota's Terry Haven and carrying that car to a second place finish on Sunday was a mind blower to me. Now he has backed up that effort after switching to a Late Model.

He jumped behind the wheel of the #33X car owned by Wisconsin's J.R. Haley and formerly driven by Adam Hensel as a team mate to Ricky Weiss. Vic Hill drove the car last weekend as they fought a carburetor issue all weekend but Vic flew back to Tennessee and a driver was needed for the car this week. Haley tabbed Thornton Jr. to drive and from the moment he first ran the car in hot laps, he looked like he had been driving the car forever. Thornton Jr. made the feature field, started twentieth and drove up to eighth at the finish. Haley told me the ride had been offered as a one night try out but I'm guessing when I get to the track this afternoon that Thornton Jr. will again be behind the wheel.

A new winner was guaranteed in the Modified class when Cade Dillard dropped out of the event early with a suspension issue. With Ryan Gustin starting on the outside pole, you would suppose that the issue would not be in doubt and while Ryan did take the win, he was pushed considerably by Darren Fuqua as the Lakeside Speedway regular gave Gustin plenty of pressure.

Bad luck hit two WISSOTA drivers as Matt Gilbertson and Jake Hartung were having a great battle for second, with perhaps the most extended side by side racing that we have seen all week so far. Unfortunately, they got a little too close together, rubbed wheels and gave each other flat tires! A break with yellow flags allowed them to stay on the lead lap and they did a great job racing back up to fourth and fifth at the finish. Gilbertson was grateful to the Dillard crew, as he didn't have a spare tire to put on in the "hot pit" area and Dillard's crew loaned his a tire which allowed him to race back up to a top five finish. There was an unusual spate of flat tires in this race that saw seven yellows wave.

The X Mods saw Tyler Peterson continue his march as he won his second feature race in three outings, as his J Car continues to work terrific. He has really taken a liking to this track as every year he has been down in the desert he has been one of the few cars to beat. Wisconsin driver Grant Southworth made his second strong charge to the front in a row as he came from thirteenth to finish second with his MB Customs chassis working great in the second groove and in the second half of the race he was able to drive past car after car. Point leader Ron Schreiner struggled a bit with a bad heat race draw but he passed six cars to finish sixth in the main.

So far the temperature has remained well below average here in the desert and the one saving grace has been the quick shows that Chris Kearns and his crew put on. There is no messing around in his programs and an early finish to the evening shows can be counted on as long as the drivers cooperate. While there is a definite increase in the number of campers on hand for this year's show, most of them from far away, the overall crowds so far I would estimate as being about the same as last year, largely because if it is cool at all, the local race fans simply don't show up.

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