Thursday, January 5, 2023

Ward Returns Home to get Opening Night Win at Cocopah

 The Playa Azul Seypet Resorts IMCA Winter Nationals powered by Yuma Insurance, Inc. and the RV World Recreation Vehicle Center opened up on Wednesday night, January 4th at the Cocopah Speedway in Somerton Arizona and for Tim Ward it was like homecoming week all over again. The former Arizona resident, now living and racing out of  Iowa, made a lap ten pass on Brandon Beckendorf and would then go on to lead the rest of the laps to win the IMCA Modified feature on opening night of the record setting event here in the desert. Other winners on opening night would include Jim Horejsi, Shane Paris, Thomas Daffern and Kevin Reuter in the all IMCA sanctioned event. 

With two hundred and thirty six race drivers signed in for the five class program, the old record for this event, set last year, was surpassed by twenty one. Interestingly, the counts were all over the place as two of the divisions actually had fewer cars on hand than for last year's opener while  the Modifieds had a significant increase. Both the Stock Cars and Sport Mods actually had fewer drivers on hand than for last year's opening night with both the Sport Compacts and Hobby Stocks showing modest increases. However, there were twenty one  more Modified drivers on hand for the 2023 opener and that boosted the car count over the top. 

If you like lots of racing, than this is the place to be as Wednesday night's program consisted of a mind boggling forty two races, topped off by the five main events. Passing points were used to determine the starting lineups for the main events with  the heat race winners guaranteed starting spots in the main event. Multiple heat races were held for all five divisions with only the Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts not needing B Features to set their main event lineups. 

The one spin rule was used for all heat races which helped move the show along some but all the feature races were plagued with multiple yellow flags, a number of crashes and several drivers asked to leave their respective events when over aggressive driving saw some of the race leaders taken out and for just being the opening night, it seemed like many of the drivers were driving like it was the last chance to make a main, not the opening night when typically drivers run a bit more conservatively to save their equipment for the long haul. 

Logistically, things looked a bit different at the track this year. Apparently due to some safety concerns that appeared during the 2022 season at Cocopah, the exit of the track from turn three was blocked off and replaced by a continuous concrete wall that filled the former hole where the drivers used to exit the track. This creates some logistical issues with drivers leaving and entering the track all using the same gate in turn four and some nifty traffic management issues were raised because of this with drivers entering the track while others were leaving following the completion of their events all crossing over each other in a race car ballet. While it is a novelty to see this out here, Midwestern fans will recognize this drill from East Moline and many of the Illinois bullrings where this is done on a weekly basis. 

To get this many races done and run a complete show each day, racing starts in the middle of the afternoon which is a very rare thing. Racing under sunny skies and seventy degree temperatures, one would think that the track would be brutalized but it actually holds up quite well. It certainly does change over the course of a long day though, going from fast and heavy to slick and over again with the groove moving around quite a bit. Track prep is required a couple of times during the show and the first big watering and track ripping session is timed to when the setting sun blinds the drivers racing down the back chute and about a half hour is used to grade and water the track while the sun sets. A couple of misting sessions are then also thrown in from time to time and the track appeared to be at its best for feature time when it was black and slick from top to bottom and drivers seemed to be able to move around in different lines, which is just what one would hope for. 

With a full evening of practice on Tuesday, there were no hot laps on this night and the drivers don't even have to help roll in the track with the first Stock Car heat lined up on the front chute, the National Anthem played and racing commencing just after 3 pm. Just over eight hours later, the final checkered would wave over the hood of Sport Mod driver Reuter and the night would be completed. Multiple wrecker operators of "The Hook" team, who I first saw way back in the days of racing at Tucson were on hand with wreckers and roll backs and unfortunately, all would be needed in what turned out to be a rough night of racing. "The Hook" guys are some of the quickest around with their equipment and unfortunately, they got plenty of practice with multiple big wrecks, the most prominent being during the Stock Car feature when over a dozen cars were piled up on the back chute. 

Twenty eight cars would start the Stock Car feature and while Paul Stone would get the jump on the field, before one lap was completed Curt Lund had rode the high side to grab the top spot. Stone would spin one lap later, triggering the first of  what would be a four yellow and red flag race. Lund was quickly challenged by Zach Madrid and Jim Horejsi who had charged up from the fourth row quickly. '

Madrid was quickly moving on Lund and would attempt a low side pass in heavy traffic for the lead He would hold the top spot for one lap before Lund would get back around him and the top three put on a show as they diced for the top spot. Lund and Horejsi were particularly exciting as the two Minnesota drivers took turns "White Castleing" each other with slide jobs. A yellow for a Madrid spin with seventeen laps completed would bunch the field and set  up the big wreck on the back chute.

Lund got a bit high in turn two, opening the door for Horejsi and as Lund tried to get back to the bottom, there was contact with another car and with the field so tightly stacked and under full throttle, the result when a couple of cars got hooked together and "cracked the whip" down the back chute saw drivers going in all directions and into each other and the wall. Rick Diaz nearly got turned over but instead ended up stacked up on top of a couple of other cars. At least a dozen cars were involved and Lund was one that could not continue, thus turning the lead over to Horejsi who would lead the final eight laps to collect the win and back up his opening night win from 2022. 

With less than half the field still running following the wreck, the final running order was scrambled at the finish. Chase Berkeley would drive a smooth race and advance and advance from seventeenth. He would make a late race pass on Mike Albertsen to get second with Albertsen running with the leaders all race long to get third. Jerry Flippo, from deep in the field and Bo Partain would complete the top five. 

The Modified feature would be one of the smoothest of the night with only three yellows and all for minor one car spins, this race was the quickest of the night. Brandon Beckendorf would use the outside line to take the early lead and would hold the top spot for the first nine laps of the race. Ward would start fifth and quickly move to the front as he was successful running a lower line on the track. With the first eight laps of the racing going green, Ward would quickly climb into second and close on Beckendorf when the first yellow would appear. 

Beckendorf would try and use the cushion on the green again, but Ward was quick on the inside and he would scoot past Brandon leaving turn four and that in essence, was the pass of the race as Ward would lead the rest of the way and not be challenged again for the top spot. There would be two more yellows for minor spins but neither would give the competition a chance to catch Tim who would pull away from the pack on each occasion. 

The race for second would get good as Chris Zogg would move in and also use the low side of the track to take over the runner up slot and despite Beckendorf's efforts, it would turn out to be an Iowa sweep of the top two spots with Ward racing home unchallenged. Charging up and appearing to be about the fastest car on the track at the end, Ethan Dotson would fight his way up to fourth, just ahead of Canadian Kody Scholpp. 

The Sport Mod feature would provide the closest race of the night with again a pair of Iowa drivers slugging it out for the win. Ty Rogers would take the early lead after starting on the pole and would hold the top spot for the first eight laps. He was challenged hard by Shane Paris, Jacob Mallet Jr and Cam Reimers. The two Iowa drivers would sweep past Rogers with Paris leading for one lap before Reimers used the cushion to blow past Paris and grab the lead for himself. Those two would then pull away from the field and produce an exciting battle as Reimers would run the cushion with Paris looking to dive under him in the corners. Several times, Paris would get up beside the leader but each time Reimers would fight him off.

The key moment would be following the final yellow on lap nineteen. Paris would then get back beside Reimers and they would race side by side again but with the white flag being shown, Paris would finally get a big enough run off turn four that he could nose up inside Reimers and take over the lead. Cam tried to fight back on the final lap to no avail as Paris would drive home for the win. Shane would be driving a second car for local racer Miles Morris and the new car proved to be unstoppable. Mallet would get third with Tyler Bannister and Matt Sanders completing the top five. 

The Hobby Stock feature had all the makings of an excellent race with a strong field of drivers as all twenty eight on hand would take the green. However, over aggressive driving would take its toll and instead of a good race, what we had to endure was an eight yellow flag, time shortened event that saw at least two contenders dumped and a couple drivers sent to the pits for over aggressive driving. Cody Daffern would take the initial lead from the outside but his hold on the top spot would last only one lap before he was passed by Zack Tate for the top spot. 

On the move was Brandon Bombardo and Joe Peterson as both moved into contending positions. Peterson was working the low side of the track and with a strong move, he ducked under Daffern to take over the lead. However, his run in front was very short as he was dumped by Daffern on the front chute one lap later with Peterson sent to the tail for his spin and Daffern to the pits for rough driving. 

This would give the lead back to Tate but he would only hold the top spot for a single lap until he was passed  by Thomas Daffern who would then lead the rest of the contest. While T. Daffern would pull away from the field, there was an intense battle for second with cars swapping spots all over the track. All this hard racing led to multiple yellows for various spins and wrecks. Eric Knutson was a contender until he crashed out of the event and Josh Cordova had worked his way to second until he became the next and last contender to get dumped and sent to the rear. 

Finally, after eight yellows, the time limit expired and the final two laps would be completed, marking a  race shortened by two laps. T. Daffern would pull away easily on the final restart and would take the win. Tate and Bombardo, in contention the whole race and somehow able to avoid the maladies that befell many other contenders, would finish second and third. Ryan Dimick would come from thirteenth to finish fourth and early spin victim Peterson would climb back into the top five as the Hobby Stock drivers need to take a collective deep breath and chill out a little instead of conducting a private war on the track. 

And wouldn't you know it, the Sport Compact drivers would conduct the cleanest main event of the night, with only a single yellow to slow their twenty lap main event. Jacob Cordova would take the early lead as he fought off Billy Foultz in the early going. Hudson Morris would move into second and start to track the leader down. However, Morris would suffer mechanical issues and pull off, leaving Kevin Reuter in second. 

The first eleven laps of this race would go nonstop with Reuter gradually reeling in the leader. D. J. Werkmeister was also moving up along with Maci Constance. The yellow flew for a bizarre incident when Leonard Manos and Jason Hollingsworth both lost wheels at exactly the same time in turn one, causing the field to be forced to dodge multiple loose wheels rolling down the track. 

This was the opening that Reuter was looking for and just one lap after the race restarted, he would dive under Cordova and take over the lead. He would then pull away from the field during the last nine laps to win easily. Cordova would slip back to fourth, being passed in the late going by both Foultz and Werkmeister with David Jones completing the top five. 

Somewhere around 11:30 pm the final checkered flag would wave on a complete night of racing. Crews will be extremely busy as they try to repair a lot of damaged equipment to race with the next green flag flying less than sixteen hours from now. 

Special thanks to all the workers working the pit gate on this opening night as with all the expected hub bub, they still took time to answer all the questions from a solidary traveler.  


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