After a quick turnaround, racing continued on Sunday, January 8th with round number two of the Wild West Shootout at Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley. It was a little warmer on Sunday and the sun also shown quite a bit more throughout the day. Speaking of the sun, when it starts to set at the Arizona Speedway it creates a real problem. The track faces roughly West to East so that when the sun starts to set, it is blindly bright. I spoke to a few of the drivers who said that the billboards on the back chute and into turn three seem to help as they didn't report any problems with visibility. That is not the same in the main grandstands however, as the sun is so bright it makes watching the action almost impossible for a few short minutes just before the sun drops below the horizon. However, I will not complain as the last time I checked at home, the temperatures were still struggling to crack the "goose egg."
Car counts were very close to those of Saturday with a few new drivers and some that didn't return for various reasons with all classes being within a car or two of where they were on Saturday.
A slightly different strategy was used on Sunday for track prep with the top side of the track receiving a little less water and the lower groove getting a bit more. The intention was to slow down the top side and try and balance the track out a little better. For the most part it worked and I think we saw more side by side racing on Sunday, although that's not to say that Saturday was that bad either. Still, they were trying to keep everyone from riding the rim as they had done for the opening night and for the most part, they were successful doing that. Toward the end of the night, the top side again started to dominate and most of the successful cars were running up against the guard rail by the end of the action, but that groove never was the sole way to get around the track. What I am most encouraged about is that they are making a concerted effort to keep the track the best they can for everyone without spending too much time fiddling with the surface. They do it when it is necessary but don't overkill the spectators with misting, watering and packing.
Is Keyser Manufacturing Co. starting to sweat? Is their quarter million in danger? For the second straight night, it was Bobby Pierce in victory lane in the thirty lap Late Model feature. Despite the fact that he started on the pole, he had his work cut out for him as he gave up spots to both Garrett Alberson and Brandon Overton but was able to fight back and pass both of them. What was impressive to me was that he was able to overtake Overton by using the low groove on a restart but then when he saw how fast the top side way, he was able to jump up there and then pull away. His car seems so smooth where ever he puts it on the track and he wasn't "bucking around" like most of the others that were riding the top side.
Unlike the opening night, the action got a little rough on Sunday with Ricky Thornton Jr. heavily damaging his car and Jason Rauen reportedly bending the frame on his car. Oregon's Justin Duty also flipped after winning the dash on Saturday. A few more cars are expected midweek and they may be needed to replace those damaged beyond repair.
Dustin Strand has been making a name for himself with his appearances at the Wild West Shootout the past two years, and he added to that Sunday when he led the Modified feature from start to finish. It was a remarkable night for the northern delegation as the top five finishers were all WISSOTA racers. Running someone else,s rules and on a tire they are unfamiliar with, their collective finish was very impressive. For runner up David McDonald, this was the first week that he has run a Modified in several years, having moved to Late Models several years ago. MB Customs cars finished second through fourth with McDonald, Matt Leer and Matt Gilbertson all running that same chassis. Shane Sabraski had his second top five finish of the weekend as he has his SSR chassis running great. Shane will move to a Lethal chassis from David Stremme as some point this year.
Four of the top five in the X Mods were again northern drivers. Chad Olsen had his second top five finish as he dominating the main event. North Dakota drivers Preston Carr and Rusty Kollman both had top five finishes and last night's feature winner Travis Schulte spun, went to the rear and then raced his way back up to fourth. Shawn Strong, the top USRA driver from Missouri, finally got the kinks out after a back run on Saturday. Barely making the show on Sunday, he raced from twenty third to finish second in the main. He'll be one to keep an eye on the rest of the week. Other than Thornton Jr, the best finish by a local so far was Sunday when Tyler Mecl finished sixth in the X Mod feature. Mecl, by the way, hauls his car North to Minnesota and races there during the Summer.
Track officials continue to present a solid and quick moving race program for the fans. They start right at the advertised time and in an effort to move things along even quicker, they took more cars from the heats so that they could reduce the number of B features, which also has a way of help saving the race track. Sunday the show was done by 9 p.m.
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