Saturday afternoon, January 12th was the first half of an unusual day/night doubleheader at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway as the Wild West Shootout continued. Caused by an unfortunate rain out last Sunday, the doubleheader was the best way to get all six of the series events completed, giving the Late Model drivers a full chance to earn all the bonuses available for feature wins and also giving the Mod and X Mod drivers the maximum chances to race in this mini series.
However, it would be a very taxing day for everyone from the drivers and crews and fans to all the employees of the track who would be working some long hours both in getting ready to Saturday's doubleheader, having just raced the night before in a program that was one of the latest running ever in this series, to putting in all the hours during Saturday plus then getting things ready for Sunday's finale. It was a grueling day indeed.
Doubleheader events like these are rare indeed and usually created by some sort of weather phenomena although I can remember "back in the day" when some tracks would run day/night doubleheaders, often as part of a holiday event. Either way, they are fun but also stressful too.
The short turn around from Friday night's show had the unsung people of this whole enterprise, the pit crews, working ferociously on their cars to get them ready as the pit area was a beehive of activity. Many of the crews were asking each other when was the last time they were up so early in the morning on the night after another race! However, there was plenty of work to be done.
Another unsung group was the track prep crew who one wonders when in the world did they ever get any sleep at all this week? The track would have to be redone after Friday night's show plus extra prep would be needed throughout the day on Saturday with the demands to the surface from daytime racing. And then later in the evening the weather would throw another monkey wrench into things and even more stress would be placed on the prep crew for an entirely different reason.
Noted as I toured the pits during the morning was the fact that Chris Simpson had rolled out a back up car after his hard trip into the turn one concrete on Friday night. That car was just covered with a tarp and pushed off beside the trailer.
Also noted was the fact that Sketter Estey had repaired his X Mod after a wild flip on Friday night and that he would be back in action for Saturday afternoon's round. They told me they traveled too far to just sit and watch so they did the best they could to straighten out the car, which I'm sure will need more complete repairs at Mark Roine's TRC Race Car shop on Minnesota's Iron Range when they get home before they head to Humboldt Kansas to defend their B Mod title would last year. With only father Kelly Estey and members of the Jerry Vesel crew, who they shared a transporter with on the way down for help, they did quite an amazing job putting the car back together.
Sketter was hurting a bit himself as he felt that he either bruised or broke some ribs in the Friday night crash as he was more than a bit tender but he would later still tighten up the belts and go at it again.
The other two cars involved in big flips on Friday night did not fare so well. The cars of Jonathan Olmscheid and Austin Kuehl respectively, either got shoved into the trailer for the rest of the week or they loaded up and headed home.
Matt Gilbertson has proven himself to be the most versatile driver on the grounds this week. Reporting to "The Valley of the Sun" with just his helmet bag, first he drove the back up X Mod of Lance Schill to a fine feature race finish. When Schill wrecked his own car and took over Gilbertson's ride, Schill sent home for his Modified, which Gilbertson then drove to a top five finish too.
With Stoney Kruk taking over the Modified for this weekend, Gilbertson today took over the ride in the second X Mod from the George team out of South Dakota that Cole Searing has been driving for along with Brandon George in the second car. Once again, Gilbertson put on a fine show as he secured a top five finish in his third different car of the week with the only common denominator being that all three cars sported MB Customs chassis and that Gilbertson's own personal race car is also an MB.
Saturday afternoon's program would sport an unusual format in many respects. While the Late Model portion of the show was unaltered from normal, the Mods and X Mods would time trial and then both classes of cars would be split in half with no heats and two feature races for each group, started straight up from qualifying. This was done to help speed the show up, hoping for a quick afternoon program so that there would be more time for track prep between the two shows and for the most part, it worked out just fine and did save considerable time.
Things started out a bit shaky though as the X Mod and Modified drivers, many of them perhaps qualifying for the first time in their careers, needed a little time to "get their groove on" and figure out just how things were supposed to work. It didn't help when a water truck pulled on to the track right in the middle of a group qualifying session to do some track misting, not realizing that the group waiting to qualify was qualifying against the group that had now run on a totally different track! But eventually things were ironed out and the program started to flow better.
In fact,I'm thinking that next year they might consider using this format for the midweek show for a couple of reasons. The qualifying is something different for these two classes and something, that while I would dread to see it used too much, might be kind of fun for these drivers. But much more importantly, it gives every driver in the pits a chance to race a feature event and with the competition being so tough, there are a number of drivers that don't make a feature race all week. And this would be their chance to have a crack at it. I hope management would consider this for next year.
Despite the best efforts of the track prep crew, the racing surface quickly became just what you might expect for day time racing on a sunny day. It managed to retain a wide racing surface for the first events but gradually got blacker and blacker with the low groove the preferred line. However, the racing slowed down considerably and so did the wrecks and yellows with at least two of the feature races going green to checkered. The lower speeds were much easier on the equipment and the successful driving styles were much different than at the previous shows.
With over twenty X Mods in each of their feature events, that would sound like a formula for disaster, particularly on a black and slick track. However, that was not the case at all with one of their two mains being a green to checkered finish. After having shown signs of speed but with mechanical issues plaguing him, Brock Gronwald, the "Brockstar" from Fergus Falls Minnesota drove to a win over this year's most successful X Mod driver once again, Cole Searing. Searing put on considerable pressure after Austin Ellis' bid to win the race ended when he tattooed the back stretch wall and Gronwald, who is "cushion pounder" normally, settled for the middle groove which teased Searing but he could never make a successful pass. Missouri's Steve Muilenburg finished third with Schill and Gilbertson next in line.
The non stop X Mod feature was dominated by New Mexico's Jaime Torres who started on the pole and drove away from the field, winning by nearly a straightaway over Minnesota's Skyler Smith, who just got into town to race this weekend's races as Matt Sparby brought his car down for him. Lucas Rodin, having a good week also, finished third with sore ribbed Estey next in line and Jason VandeKamp completing the top five.
The Modified mains also saw some different drivers grace victory lane. Perhaps the best drive of the entire day was carried out by California's D.J. Shannon. He started ninth in the first main event, the other feature that ran off nonstop, and he came charging through the field. Despite the fact that the track was pretty much low side dominant by the time the Mods raced, Shannon found a way to pass cars readily and charge to the front. Rodney Sanders had started on the front row and had built up a considerable lead but after Shannon got into second, he quickly closed in and Sanders was no match for him as Shannon blew past and opened up a big lead. It is very seldom indeed when you see Sanders with a lead like he had and then to be tracked down and passed. It was an impressive performance by Shannon. Joe Duval, who started on the pole, ended up third. Dustin Strand, who wasn't even going to race after suffering motor problems in both his engines, was offered a "loaner" motor at the last second and they were scrambling around in the pits until the last second completing the swap. However, he was rewarded for his trouble with a fourth place finish ahead of Bumper Jones.
Darrell Nelson started on the pole for the second main and it looked very much like he might secure his first win of the week. However, his car was just a touch off in the corners, enough so that Dereck Ramirez could get under him and then drive away for the win. Tyler Peterson had his Black Widow running well too and he grabbed the second place ahead of Nelson with Jake Gallardo and Alex Stanford completing the top five.
Of course, the big question in the Late Models was whether or not Bobby Pierce could win his fourth straight main event and harvest more of the bonus money being offered. However, that issue was truly settled early when, despite the fact that he held the pole for the first heat after being quick qualifier, he let Brandon Sheppard beat him in that heat. With track position being so important for the main, a third row starting spot would later make it hard to get to the front.
Speaking of Sheppard, he then redrew the pole for the feature on a track that started taking rubber in the low groove but he couldn't keep his car anchored to the bottom and Ricky Weiss was able to get under him and take over the lead. Once in front, Weiss led comfortably the rest of the way to beat Sheppard, Simpson, Chase Junghans and Pierce for his first win of 2019, a year in which much is expected of him. One only yellow was required in the race, for a medical emergency in the pits and surprisingly, only four drivers dropped out of the main, despite the tire burning exercise it turned out to be.
It was a quick show, just what management was hoping for so as to have more time to reinvigorate the track and from a spectator standpoint, a decent show for an afternoon event. There was no dust in the stands nor for the drivers, normally the largest concern for a day time race and certainly a better option than to just go with a five race series. For that the promoters should be thanked, as adding the extra race made for much more work for them. It should be mentioned that a big afternoon crowd was on hand and many more than I would have predicted, if asked.
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