Round three of the Player Azul Seypet Resort IMCA Winter Nationals was held on Friday night, January 6th at the Cocopah Speedway under more sunny skies and pleasant temperatures. Two more repeat winners for the week would emerge in night number three of the seven race series and the closest feature finish of the week would all be a part of Friday night's racing.
A number of new teams would arrive for racing action on Friday night as a part of their weekend plans and the total car count swelled to a week high of two hundred and forty cars including ninety three Modifieds and sixty Sport Mods, all a part of a record night for this series.
The Stock Car feature would be a thriller and produce the closest finish of the week to date as Zach Madrid and Jim Horejsi would battle it out right down to the finish line before the issue would be settled. Twenty eight cars would start the Stock Car main with Curt Lund, who has been strong all week so far, coming off the outside pole to take the early lead. Dylan Thornton would quickly move in to challenge Lund for the lead with Rick Diaz and Horejsi close behind.
Thornton would be very fast on the cushion and he was able to slip past Lund on lap four to take over the point. Madrid, who started seventh, would also quickly advance as he cracked into the top three. Thornton, who has been very fast all week but has been battling bad luck, saw things go against him once again as while holding the top spot on lap ten, his car suddenly slowed and he parked in turn two, done for the night.
Madrid, who had continued to charge up to second, would inherit the lead at this point and set up a great fifteen lap battle between himself and Horejsi to determine a winner. Madrid would ride the cushion and while Horejsi, not content to just ride behind the leader, would move to the inside lane and work that line. Lap after lap, Horejsi would poke a nose under Madrid in the corners but Zach would get a good run off the top and hold off Horejsi lap after lap.
Three yellow flags for minor spins would slow the action during the next ten nine laps but each time the green would fly, it would be those two pulling away while continuing their own personal battle for the win. The final yellow would set up a six lap sprint to the finish and the same scenario would take place with Madrid riding the cushion while Horejsi would work the low groove.
They crossed the line for the white flag side by side but Madrid seemed to get just a bit higher in turn one than he had planned and Horejsi was able to slightly nose ahead down the back chute. They would however, come off the final corner side by side but Horejsi got the better run off the bottom and he would nip Madrid at the line for the win, with the final margin of victory being .022 seconds.
Thursday night winner Shelby Williams would make a concerted charge up through the field, coming from fifteenth to finish third at the line as he nipped Bo Partain and Diaz.
The second repeat winner of the week would emerge in the Modified division where Wednesday night Tim Ward would score a dominating victory, leading from start to finish in a race stopped only once by the yellow flag. Ward would start on the pole and build an early lead as he was chased by Chaz Baca Jr and Chris Zogg in the early going. Ward would start to extend his lead as the leaders caught lapped traffic which was considerable but Ward did a fine job of managing the slower cars as he was able to increase his lead.
The driver on the move was Cody Laney who had started thirteenth on the grid and had cracked the top five by the halfway point of the race and he continued to charge. Meanwhile, Ward was comfortably in front when the first yellow flew with just three laps to go when Matt Crafton spun on the back chute.
The final few laps would see Ward up to the challenge as he would again pull away for the win while Laney continued his charge, easing past Baca Jr. near the end to claim the second spot. A fine run by Michael Leach would see him advance into the fourth spot, edging out Zogg for that top five finish. For Ward to have won two feature races already against this large field was and impressive feat.
Shane Paris' two race feature win streak in the Sport Mods would be snapped but Paris would go down with his guns blazing as he would charge up to the front but would have to settle for second. The winner would be Andrew Peckham however, who would lead from start to finish in the twenty five lap main event. Peckham would build up a big lead early and cruise home for the win in a race stopped only twice by yellow flags.
Peckham would move out to a big lead early and there would be no one able to cut into his large advantage as he drove on alone in front. Late in the contest, Paris would finally fight his way into second and start to cut down Peckham's advantage, but Andrew remained comfortably in front still at the checkered.
It was another good night for the Bannister's, Tyler and Jason as they would finish third and fifth respectively with Justin Erickson sandwiched in between the two at the checkers. Cam Reimers, after battling Paris two straight nights for the wins, had a tough night and only made the feature as a provisional, ending up eleventh.
A third different winner emerged in the Hobby Stock class with Zach Tate fighting off challenges from Thursday night's winner Thomas Daffern to get the victory. Daffern would be the early leader of this race, that saw three different drivers hold the point at one time or another.
Brandon Bombardo would charge up to challenge for the lead until he slammed the back stretch wall, ending his night and triggering the first yellow of the event. On the restart, it would be Josh Cordova who would take over the lead and he would hold the point for four laps until he was repassed by Daffern for the point. Tate had been hanging with the leaders and he saw his chance as he charged up to challenge Daffern, making the winning pass on lap fifteen and then pulling away over the final five laps for the win.
Daffern would slide high with a couple of laps left, and Eric Knutson would move up to take over the second spot with Scott Tenney also advancing past Daffern at the finish. Cordova would complete the top five.
The third different winner in the Sport Compacts in three nights would emerge as David Jones would lead from start to finish to take the win. He would start on the outside pole, withstand two yellow flags and then pull away for a convincing win. Wednesday night winner Kevin Reuter would move up from the eighth starting spot to grab second at the line with Jacob Cordova, D.J. Werkmeister and Chris Laff completing the top five.
A considerably larger crowd, by far the best of the week to date, would be on hand for Friday night's show and for the second straight night they would see a smoothly run program that was completed at a very respectable time.
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