The seventh and final night of racing for the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw Series was held on Saturday night, January 28th at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande Arizona. Graced with the warmest temperatures of the week and with the largest crowd of the series on hand, it turned out to be a very interesting night of racing with plenty of drama taking place during the event and even afterward.
Rob Mayea, the long time racing veteran from Bend Oregon would get one of his biggest racing wins ever in an event that saw several dramatic turns during the thirty five lap Late Model feature. The Stock Car feature would also have a dramatic turn post race as apparent winner Montana's Jordan Tocci, along with two other drivers finishing in the top five would all be disqualified with the win awarded to North Dakota's Jordan Zillmer. More according to form, Chaz Baca Jr would lead from start to finish to win the Modified main event and Minnesota's Jake Smith would lead from start to finish to win the Limited Modified feature.
Despite the fact that Mayea would start on the pole for the Late Model feature, he would not take the lead for the first time until a lap twenty seven restart after the top two drivers got into a dust up that would send both of them to the back of the field.
Lance Schill would get the jump on Mayea and take the early lead in the Late Model feature with Mayea, Cody Laney and Cole Schill all moving into a challenging position. As Lance Schill continued to hold the top spot, the battle for second was a good one as Laney and Mayea traded the runner up position.
Putting on a show was four time feature winner this week Ricky Weiss. Ricky had a poor run in his heat race and would start the feature way back in the seventeenth Weiss immediately began to charge up through the field and was quickly able to work into the top ten. He continued to pick off drivers at a rapid rate as his charge to the front continued. At the halfway point of the race, Weiss had fought his way all the way up to third behind Lance Schill and Mayea with Cole Schill and Dave Mass also running in the top five.
Twenty one laps were in the book when the yellow was first triggered when Laney, battling to get back into the top five, slipped over the banking in turn one and was done for the event. Weiss was able to get past Mayea on the restart to move into second and then Ricky began to pressure Lance Schill for the lead.
Weiss looked high and low but Schill continued to hold back the former Canadian driver. Going down the back chute on lap twenty eight, Weiss tried to drive to the high side and get by Schill but he caught the right rear quarter of Schill's car and spun him around in front of the field. Several other cars stacked up behind them and the yellow flew. Track officials sent both drivers to the tail for the restart, Schill for stopping on the track and Weiss for questionable driving. After buzz bombing Weiss under yellow, Lance Schill would call it a race while Ricky would race back up to sixth at the finish.
Thus, Mayea, who was running third to this point, would inherit the lead with Dave Mass, Cole Schill, Josh Zimpel and Bricen James the top five. Cole Schill would get past Mass on the restart and would put the pressure on Mayes, at one point getting beside Mayea but not being able to complete the pass.
Mayea would fight off the Cole Schill challenge and then put a few lengths on Schill that he would maintain to get the upset win. Cole Schill would finish off the week with another solid run while Mass would drive the car previously driven this week by Billy Moyer and Don Shaw to a third place finish. Josh Zimpel would get his sixth top five finish of the series with Ryan Corbett completing the top five.
There was much craziness in the Stock Car feature which didn't end even when the checkered flag waved. Zach Madrid started on the outside pole and got the jump on Trent Grager to lead the first lap. As the week's top winner held the top spot, Grager went flying off the track in turn one in an attempt to pass Madrid and he would have to go to the tail of the field. . Jordan Tocci would move into second at this point while battling with both Scott Sluka and Jordan Zillmer
Shortly after, Sluka would also fly off the end and his race would be done. Tocci would then chase Madrid for the lead when suddenly, with eleven laps complete, Madrid would suddenly drive off the track himself with overheating issues suspected to be the problem.
Tocci would then inherit the lead just past the halfway point and despite Zillmer's best efforts, he couldn't cut into the lead of Tocci who would drive home for the win. After an emotional victory lane speech, the race seemed to be over. However, we had yet to hear from the technical inspection folks and they turned out to have plenty to say on this night. Not only did winner Tocci get disqualified, Fourth place finisher Speedy Madrid and fifth place finisher Scott Miller were also disqualified.
The official finish would give Zillmer his second feature win of the week and he would be followed by Ryan Satter, Grager from the back, Kevin Roberts and Grady Clements.
The Limited Mods continued to show the balance that marked their week of racing here. Jake Smith would start on the pole and lead all twenty five laps of the feature, earning his first win of the week and becoming the sixth winner in seven nights of racing. Smith would take the early lead over Lane Johnson and Jake Molitor while the driver on the charge, as he has been for much of the week, was Lucas Rodin. He started seventh on the grid but was soon up to third and challenging Johnson for second. Lance Schill, with plenty to prove after his Late Model problems, rode up to fourth with Terry Reilly next in line.
The last seventeen laps of this race would go nonstop and Smith would be able to maintain his lead without any serious challenges as the 2022 Midwest Mod WISSOTA champion would drive on for the win. Rodin tried his best but Johnson had a good line as he would hold on for second. Schill and Reilly would round out the top five.
Despite seven yellow flags that would slow the contest and keep the field packed, Chaz Baca Jr, who started on the pole, would lead all twenty five laps to score his second IMCA Modified feature win in three outings. While Baca Jr would run in front, there was a great battle for second that would see much trading of positions as the challenging drivers took turns throwing slide jobs at each other.
That group battling for second would include Zach Madrid, Jeremy Thornton, Shane Sabraski, Andrew Prearce and Kollin Hibdon. Also on the move was Tim Ward who started eleventh and would soon be in the top five and looking to move forward further.
The last yellow set up a five lap sprint to the finish and once again Baca Jr would pull away from the field. He would run a smooth race, holding his line and not being flustered by the multiple slowdowns. Hibdon would get a good jump on the final restart and get past Sabraski to nail down the second spot. Hibdon was in a strange car on this night as emergency moves found him in North Dakota's Brady Bjella ride. Sabraski had himself another solid run in an unfamiliar ride himself as the WISSOTA Modified star showed well in his IMCA runs. Ward and Grey Ferrando would complete the top five.
The return of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw is now complete at CAR. All seven races were completed as scheduled and very positive reviews were the norm from both drivers and fans. Drivers were happy with the purse and fans agreed that they had seen some good racing in all five classes that were on display this weekend. Many were happy to have Late Models return to the desert and the hard efforts of the promotional group were rewarded with some solid racing. Thanks to promoters Don Shaw and Brad Whitfield and their staffs who were both very hard working and great to work with. No word yet on whether the Mincy will return for 2023 but the hope is that it does as many feel the framework has been laid down for a series that will grow each year.
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