Track officials led by Kevin Montgomery and the track prep crew did a great job following the afternoon race number four of the Wild West Shootout as they prepared the track for the night show. With the afternoon event getting done even earlier than planned, the hopes were to be able to start the evening event just a bit earlier than scheduled but it did some extra time to get the track ready for the evening race as they did some pretty major excavation to the surface which had to endure a tough afternoon of racing on it.
So, racing did not begin until just at the original advertised time of 6 pm, even though they had hopes to start perhaps up to an hour earlier than that. In retrospect, the hour difference would turn out to be huge later as events played out. It was not enough that the promoters had to worry about all the issues involved with the doubleheader program but now an additional monkey wrench was thrown into the works as rain was on the way. Seriously!!! What has happened to the sunny, warm weather that this event used to be graced by as rain as caused multiple problems for this series over the least couple of years. It's not supposed to rain in the desert, is it?
In any event, forty five X Mods, forty six Mods and forty three Late Models signed in to race on Saturday night with several casualties over the course of the week now being eliminated from competition for various reasons. And a couple of entries would be missing Saturday night racing as they made repairs for one last shot on Sunday.
Once again Bobby Pierce was quickest overall qualifier and would set the pace for his heat race which is certainly one of the keys to his success so far this week. The X Mods and Mods would go back to a draw/passing points format for the evening show with only the fender cars qualifying.
Heat races clicked off quite nicely and things were moving along at a smooth pace as the qualifying events continued. The track started to narrow up and the racing was somewhat uneventful. That is, until the water truck came out and misted the upper groove and that immediately opened things up and improved the racing exponentially, making for some very interesting . In fact, the second X Mod B Feature, won by Sketter Estey, may have been one of the best races of the entire week.
So things looked optimistic as the main events started. It was early, the track appeared fast and it looked like some good main events were on tap.
And then it happened. Just as the X Mod feature started, it started to rain. Light at first, it never truly was more than a hard mist for most of the time. The X Mods tried to race their way through it but the track started to get slick and after six yellows in the first six laps, they were finally forced to throw a yellow flag for conditions. I felt sorry for the X Mods and they continued to circle the track for what it seemed like forever. It was raining just enough to make the track too slick to race on but wasn't truly what you would call a real rain either. So on and on the X Mods went, until they finally waved them to the infield. They almost got started once but just as they were ready to chase the maintenance vehicles off the track, the intensity picked up just a notch again. Finally they sent the X Mods to the pits.
Still we waited, as management was intent on getting the races in and after about forty five minutes of delays, during which many in the stands headed to their vehicles in the parking lot, the cars were called back on to the track to continue. The early scrambles of yellows had shook up the running order and by the time they got racing again, it was Cole Searing who had taken the lead. He was chased by Josh Cain but Searing was strong and never gave up his command of the event as he became a repeat winner this week. Skyler Smith had another strong run as he finished a strong third with the other #16 of Jason VandeKamp next in line and Steve Muilenburg completed the top five.
After a rushed victory lane ceremony the Late Models rolled on to the track. By this time the wind, which seems to switch directions at a moments notice out here, was blowing strongly right into the grandstand and watching the Late Models was a miserable experience with most fans huddled under their hoods, hats or other protective devises.
This was a potential money night for Pierce, as he was on track for his fourth feature win of the week which would have put him in line for a significant bonus and also bettered his chances for a weekend sweep. Pierce quickly grabbed the lead from Jimmy Mars and he looked to be in good shape early. He maintained a slight lead as he led Cade Dillard with Scott Bloomquist moving up to third.
Pierce's night turned into a nightmare as he blew a tire heading into turn four with seventeen laps in the book and he rolled to a halt, visions of dollar bills flying away like resolutions dropped on January 2nd. Dillard inherited the lead and things really got interesting then as Bloomquist sized him up and looked for an opening. The pressure was on for Dillard as he negotiated his way through lapped traffic.
Two big moments came up for the leaders as the laps rolled off. The leaders came up on Terry Phillips as they raced down the back chute with Dillard going high and Bloomquist trying to slip by on the bottom. Dillard was able to get to the banking through in turn three and fought off the challenge.
And then, with just a few laps left, Chris Simpson slowed on the front chute as he prepared to exit the track. Dillard dived to the inside of him and nearly got run right into the infield by accident but he managed by inches to slip through. He controlled the last couple of laps as he drove home for the popular win over Bloomquist and Hudson O'Neal. Ricky Weiss and Brandon Sheppard completed the top five while Pierce was able to race his way back up to ninth.
It was a very emotional victory lane ceremony for Dillard who was overcome with the realization that he has just won his most important feature race to date.
The Modifieds were last on the card on Saturday night and they tried to get their main event in also. However, after entering the track and making some preliminary attempts to start the race, the rain picked up just a little and at this point, everyone was ready to call the long day complete. The Mods will run their main off at some point on Sunday along with the finale for all three classes, with all classes running for their biggest purses of the week. Ricky Thornton Jr is slated to start on the pole for the Modified race after missing the afternoon show due to changing a motor.
Interesting to note from Saturday nights show: Terry Casey made the Late Model feature in what has been his first week of driving in the last eight years. Also, Cole Anderson had his best finish in the X Mods on Saturday. Anderson is a former winner in the Super Late Models on asphalt and a former winner during Speedweeks at New Smyrna Beach in Florida along with being a ARCA competitor before leaving the blacktop as being too expensive and moving to dirt which he said is much more fun!!!
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