Fourth Wins For Thornton and Starry Highlight Thursday Winter Nationals at CAR

 As the IMCA TV Winter Nationals at the Central Arizona Raceway at Eleven Mile Corner near Casa Grande Arizona starts to wind down, some drivers are now starting to assert their dominance over the rest of the competition. Leading the way in those drivers who have "spanked" the field on multiple occasions are Modified driver Dylan Thornton and Stock Car pilot Cameron Starry. 

On Thursday night, the Iowa from California Thornton and Texas driver Starry both won their fourth feature races of this two week series and did so in fine style, despite both having to weather some strong challenges before crossing the line as winners and heading to victory lane. 

The other two divisions saw first time feature winners as North Dakota driver Nathan Speten topped the Sport Mods and with a late pass, Minnesota's Zach Bierman edged out as the winner in the Hobby Stock feature. 

The car count remains solid as he edge through the middle part of the second straight week of racing as one hundred and seventy seven drivers in four classes signed in to race on Thursday night , including five teams making their initial run of the series. 

Using a rotating order of presenting the racing action, on Thursday night it would be Stock Cars up first for their twenty lap main event. Twenty six drivers took the green flag with outside pole starter Dillon Richards taking the initial lead. Chaz Baca Jr was on the move early, driving from the third row into the runner up slot quickly, with the first yellow coming with four laps complete when top five racer Braden Richards plunked the turn four wall and ground to a halt. 

On the green, Richards continued to lead with Baca Jr all over him as eventual winner Starry was already up to fourth spot. Just one lap later, Baca Jr leaned on Richards in turn four and wedged himself into the top spot. By lap seven, when the yellow waved once again for a stalled car, Starry was up to second place. 

Cameron was good using both the low and high side of the track and Baca Jr simply didn't have enough speed to hold back Starry and on lap nine he drove past Baca Jr to take over the lead, just before a grinding crash in turn two eliminated Jim Horejci, Kaden Woodie and Dayton Ullrich. 

The final half of the race would click off nonstop and Starry pulled away from the pack with no one able to stay up with him, much less provide any kind of challenge. He crossed the line with room to spare with Baca Jr coming home second. Curt Lund elbowed his way into third at the midpoint of the race and would remain in that spot the rest of the event with Justin Luinenburg and Dillon Richards completing the top five. 

Thornton won his fourth Modified feature of the series but it was a hard fought battle and he didn't make the winning pass until lap twenty two as he argued for the front spot most of the race with Brandon Beckendorf. 

Thornton started on the pole and took the immediate lead with Beckendorf quickly advancing a row and moving into second. Only two laps into the race, a wild multicar accident in turn three found Troy Morris III sitting upside down on top of another car with several other cars stacked in the pile. All drivers were fine but not so much for several race cars. 

Thornton continued as the leader for only three more laps as while he ran the low side, Beckendorf moved up to the cushion and buzzed right past Thornton on lap five to take over the top spot. He then began to put distance on the pack as it looked like he might secure his first win of the series. Ethan Braaksma moved into third by the halfway point of the race with Kevin Williamson and Justen Yeager next in line. Those two would not stay there however, as Williamson soon after suffered from rear end problems in his car while Yeager faded back into the pack. 

The leaders came upon some slower traffic but Beckendorf navigated them well and continued to maintain his lead. The race changed dramatically however, when a yellow was triggered on lap nineteen by a spinning driver on the front chute. Ironically, Justin Erickson spun off the front bumper of Thornton who was trying to lap him when he inadvertently spun him out. 

Accident or not, the yellow was a huge benefit to Thornton, particularly when Beckendorf, who was so fast on the cushion, opted to race low after the green came back out. Thornton took advantage of this decision, moving to the cushion and building up momentum and with just three laps to go, blasting back into the lead. Beckendorf pushed as hard as he could, but the opportunity had been lost and he had to settle for second behind Thornton who visited victory lane once again. 

Braaksma ran third virtually the whole race with Logan Drake and an eighteenth starting Bryson Yeager completing the top five. 

Bud Martini started on the pole and took the early lead in the Sport Mod main event with Cole Suckow and Nathan Speten moving in behind him. Martini, however, was quick and he was able to build up a nice sized lead in the early going. All this ended however, when top five runner Bubba Stafford Jr spun in turn three and the yellow waved. 

Speten got a great restart as he was able to get to the inside of Martini driving into turn one and he came out of the corner as the leader. Speten opened up a comfortable lead as Martini faded and eventually dropped out of the race. Tyler came a long way through the pack after starting eighteenth, moving into second by the halfway point of the race and seemingly a strong challenger to Speten. 

Speten, however, would have none of that as he pulled away from the pack and no one was able to get near him and provide a challenge. Late in the race, Payce Herrera found extra speed and he passed Johnson to get the second spot. Previous winner Trevor Noonan came home fourth with Suckow rounding out the top five. 

The Hobby Stock feature ran off green to checkers and saw a four car breakaway from the rest of the pack. Joel Magee got the jump on the field and was the early leader. Zach Bierman, Austin Jahnz and Morgan Olmstead lined up behind Magee and the top four pulled away from the field in a high speed train. 

All were running on the top side up against the wall with one or more drivers periodically trying to drop down a lane and break the chain, and while they tried, they found it didn't work and they quickly settled back in line. They continued in this fashion deep into the race where late in the contest, Bierman was able to make a little more progress when Magee bobbled just slightly. 

Bierman got to the inside of Magee and was able to squeeze past him as they came to the white flag. Showing he was indeed faster, he then pulled away on the final circuit uncontested to take the win. Magee settled for second with Jahnz, Olmstead and Tyler Thompson finishing up behind him. All sixteen drivers that took the green were still on the track at the finish. 

Sunny skies and seventy degree temperatures are predicted for the final two rounds of this year's Winter Nationals.  

 

Braaksma, Noonan and Magee New Winners at CAR

 Week number two of the IMCA Winter Nationals at the Central Arizona Raceway began on Wednesday night, January 28th and three first time winners found victory lane in racing action conducted on the three eighth mile oval. Ethan Braaksma, Trevor Noonan and Joel Magee were all first time winners here this year while Cameron Starry continued his strong run with his third win of the series so far. 

One hundred and seventy drivers signed in to race in what is now a four division program through the conclusion of the series on Saturday night. Typically the Modified division looses about twenty to twenty five drivers from the first to the second week and that was the situation again this year with sixty five signing in to race on Wednesday. The Sport Mods and Stock Cars generally hold pretty consistent from week one to week two although last year the Stock Cars had their largest car counts for the second week of the series but that is not the case so far this year. The Hobby Stock numbers have been down from start to the present in 2026 and that continued. It should be pointed out though that thirty drivers signed in to race on Wednesday night that hadn't been here at all for week one so there is different look so far to week two fields. 

The format would remain the same for the conclusion of the series with drivers drawing for their starting positions in heat races and the top fourteen automatically making the feature which guarantees heat race winners a starting spot in the mains plus the highest passing points drivers to make up the top fourteen. Everyone else runs a B Feature with twenty six drivers starting the main events except for the Hobby Stocks were everyone running gets to be in the feature. 

The series is in a nice rhythm now with one class hot lapping each night to get the track ready and then the green flag drops, generally somewhere between 3:45 pm and 4 pm. The only stoppage is for track prep before the last set of B Features and then its straight through to the conclusion with the show, depending on yellow flags etc, normally concluding somewhere around 8:30 pm. 

The lineup for the Modified feature, which was first up, looked to be serving up a two car battle between Braaksma and Dylan Thornton who would start in the first and second rows of the main and for much of the contest, that was indeed how it played out. 

However, late in the race, there would be a couple of other drivers that would insert themselves in the battle and down the wire, it was a four car battle for the win. 

Braaksma led early with Thornton moving to second behind him and riding in close formation. Kollin Hibdon, who moved from eighth to fourth on the opening lap was also a factor with Jonathan Mawhinney and Brandon Beckendorf next in line. Chaz Baca Jr, considered a factor in the outcome, was instead in the infield early with mechanical issues. 

Braaksma continued to lead but Thornton moved in close and was making some preliminary moves for a strike in the final few laps when the yellow waved for the first time with just four laps remaining. 

The restart, as restarts often do, completely changed things with both Hibdon and Beckendorf putting a strong challenge on Thornton and Braaksma used that opportunity to pull away from the field. Hibdon threw the first slider but then Beckendorf was able to get past both drivers and he closed rapidly on Braaksma on the last couple laps. One late charge came up just short as Braaksma won by a half car length, or .036 seconds. Thornton was able to hold off Hibdon by a half length for third with Mawhinney rounding out the top five. Only four drivers didn't finish in the quick race. 

The nonstop Stock Car feature saw Starry and Jordan Zillmer trade the lead back and forth before Starry assumed control. Starry took the early lead from the outside of row one with Zillmer, Bo Partain and Payce Herrera close behind. Starry was running the low line and Zillmer was the first to find the top side groove. 

Once he moved to the cushion, he began to quickly close on the leader and on lap seven, he buzzed past Starry on the front stretch to take over the point. Curt Lund, Kaden Woodie and Shelby Williams moved into the top five at this point. 

Zillmer continued to lead but he started to struggle just a bit in the corners, having to back down on entry and losing a little speed and Starry saw this, dropped down a groove and was able to squeeze past Zillmer to retake the lead on lap thirteen. After that ,Starry began to pull away as Zillmer was taking much heat from drivers behind him looking to pass. 

While Starry was gone and drove on for the win, there was quite a scramble on the final two laps as Zillmer couldn't fight off all the challengers with Lund getting past him for second and then Woodie and Partain on the final lap as well. All but two starters were still around to take the checkered flag. 

The Sport Mod feature got off to a rocky start as while Mike Goodwin took the initial lead, only one lap was completed before a collision on the front chute saw Chad Dolan jump the wheel of another competitor and take a hard flip in front of the crowd. He was OK but the car was clearly not. 

Two more laps were made before the yellow flew for a spin with Herrera moving into second at this point. The final seventeen laps, however, would go green to checkers with Bud Martini moving into second and then three laps later, passing Goodwin to take over the lead. 

However, Martini soon had a challenge to his lead as Trevor Noonan, who started ninth and one row behind Martini, moved in to challenge for the top spot. Using the higher line on the track, he was able to drive past Martini on lap eleven and then quickly pulled away from the field. The top three in fact, really got stretched out from the field, all riding comfortably in their positions. 

They would finish in that order with Tyler Johnson and Herrera completing the top five. All drivers finished on the lead lap but there were eight in the infield by the time the checkers flew. 

A mechanical issue greatly affected the outcome of the Hobby Stock feature that saw seventeen drivers take the green. Austin Jahnz started on the pole and took the early lead with Zach Bierman following in his tire tracks and Morgan Olmstead moving into third. 

One lap ten a grinding two car collision took place in turn one that produced a red flag as Wesson Edwards-Miller took a hard hit that shook him up. He walked to the ambulance with some assistance and the race was able to continue. 

Joel Magee had moved past Bierman into second as the first half dozen or so drivers were lined up in tight order, all rolling the high groove around the track. Suddenly, in turn four on lap thirteen, Jahnz's car started smoking badly, he immediately lost power and the field drove past him. He was able to limp  to the infield but that incident gave Magee the opportunity to take over the lead. 

The last seven laps were a two car battle with Bierman pushing hard in the corners, trying to get a run at Magee but he just couldn't get the momentum he needed and Magee would keep him at bay and drive on for the win. Nick Biggs had a strong run to finish third with Tyler Thompson and Olmstead completing the top five. 

All four classes will be back in action on Thursday night as the IMCA Winter Nationals continues.  

Madrid Wins Eichelberger Clash at CAR

 Week number two of the DeVilbiss Racing Chassis, IMCA TV Winter Nationals powered by Pitt Stop Motorsports & Dynamic Drivelines began on Tuesday night, January 27th with the running of the Amber Eichelberger Hobby Stock Clash. Along with the Hobby Stock special, the Gene Freeman Memorial Pit Crew Challenge was held along with the second race of the year by the Figure Eight group of drivers. 

The Pit Crew Challenge is always a fun event with about two dozen teams in various classes entered. The competition requires each team to change a right rear tire with just two crew members as the race car rolls to a halt and then the car makes one lap of the track with the entire process timed. The winning team managed to break the fifty second barrier with the Madrid team taking the gold. 

Seventeen drivers took the green flag for the Hobby Stock special held in tribute to Amber Eichelberger. This race was the only one held on the circle track on Tuesday so the Hobby Stock drivers found the racing surface to be much different than it had been for their previous races run last week. It was much heavier and a bit on the wet slick side, giving some of the drivers fits in the early going 

Three different drivers led this thirty three lap race at some point with Nick Biggs drawing the outside pole and leading lap one. However, he slipped up the track in turn four with Drew Barry sliding to his inside and taking over the lead. Biggs then assumed the runner up slot and he closing followed Barry for a number of laps. 

Anthony Madrid had started seventh but he was on the move, getting past both Joe Peterson and Morgan Olmstead to assume the third spot. He continued to charge as he got by Barry for second, only to slide up  the track on one of the remaining slick spots and give Biggs back the second spot. 

Austin Jahnz moved into the top five by the halfway point but he was nearly a half lap behind as the field was spread around the three eighth mile track. This all ended with seventeen laps completed when Gage Curran slowed with overheating issues, triggering the first yellow of the event and bunching up the top five. 

Barry continued to lead with Madrid and Jahnz, who had moved up to third, closing following him. Madrid looked to the inside of Barry on several occasions but Drew continued to hold his line and maintain the top spot. 

Barry was just five laps away from victory when everything unraveled for him. As he drove into turn four, his car pushed way up the track and he saw Madrid and Jahnz pass him. Barry then rolled to a halt and needed a wrecker to leave the track as a right front suspension issue ended his race and his chance for victory. 

Madrid inherited the lead but he had Jahnz following him closely. Jahnz looked to the inside of the leader, pushing hard into the corner. The outcome was delayed once more when a two car pile up in turn three slowed things with just two laps to go. 

The restart saw Jahnz give it his best effort as he drove hard into  the corners but Madrid held his line and would cross under the duel checkers with several car lengths on the field as the winner. Jahnz took home second with Zach Bierman charging up to third. Peterson and Biggs completed the top five. 

Winner Madrid and the Madrid Racing Team donated their first place winnings of one thousand dollars to the Eichelberger benefit fund as victory lane proved to be a very emotional place for many. 

The evening concluded with an open practice session for all classes of cars racing the Winter Nationals which resumes on  Wednesday night with a full program for four IMCA divisions. At least twenty drivers that did not race during the opening weekend were on hand Tuesday to get some laps in advance of week two. 

Four New Winners as Winter Nationals Reaches the Halfway Point

 The IMCA TV Winter Nationals at the Central Arizona Raceway reached its halfway point with the running of its fourth straight night of racing here on Saturday night, January 24th. When all was said and done, four drivers, two of them local competitors, won for the first time here this week and a couple of winning streaks were halted at the same time. 

Along with two Arizona drivers, Chaz Baca Jr and Eric Winemiller who won for the first time, Nebraska driver Morgan Olmstead and Texas' Shelby Williams also earned their first victories of the Winter Nationals. 

The car count was again outstanding as for the fourth straight night there were well over two hundred drivers that signed in to race in the four classes plus the Mod Lites that competed. Comparing this year's turnout to that of 2025 for the opening week of the series, all four nights have seen the Modifieds top the biggest night of last year while the Sport Mods and Stock Cars have run very similar to last year's turn out. Only the Hobby Stocks have lagged from last year and that number has been relatively small. 

For the second straight night, rain showers have skirted the track with there actually being a few sprinkles that have fallen from time to time but nothing that has slowed the action. And just after the final checkered of the night waved, it did indeed start to rain just a bit harder so we managed to avoid what was considered to be a major weather outbreak for the area. 

Qualifying would be similar to previous nights with B Features needed for all classes except the Hobby Stocks and twenty six drivers would make the main for all classes. 

Stock Cars hit the track first for their twenty lap main event, a race that would eventually see three different leaders before the checkers waved. David Pearson held the pole position but as has been the case often so far this week, the outside pole has been the place to be and it was again as Curt Lund, a previous winner so far this week, used that outside line to take the early lead. Mike Vondrak, Cameron Starry, going for his third straight win and Dillon Richards battled hard for second. Richards eventually was able to grab the runner up slot as the top ten or so drivers ran in tight formation. 

Lund looked to be in good shape as the race neared its halfway point when suddenly he pushed up the track in turn one, opening the door for Richards who drove past to take over the lead. Starry, Shelby Williams who started seventh and Vondrak were all close behind as the halfway point was reached. 

Williams was gaining ground as he moved up to second and when Richards pushed up the track in turn four just two laps later, Williams was right there to take over the lead. Two laps later the first yellow of the race slowed the action when Starry slowed on the back chute. 

Back under green, a big pileup occurred that slowed the race once again and eliminated Vondrak from the running. This set up a four lap dash to the finish and Williams pulled away from the field as he was strong on the restart. He would not be challenged as he then went on for the win. Richards faded back just a bit, losing spots to a hard charging Chaz Baca Jr and Lund who made a comeback after falling back a bit. Mike Albertsen completed the top five. 

Baca Jr quickly exited his Stock Car and jumped into his Modified and the results were excellent for him as he then led from start to finish to take the Modified feature. Joey Price started on the pole but when he left Baca Jr a sliver of and opening on the inside, Baca Jr jumped right at the chance and he led the opening lap. After that, he was gone with no one to challenge him. 

Ethan Braaksma moved into  the second spot with Kollin Hibdon next in line as the top three put distance on the field. This race had a long period of green flag racing which saw the field start to stretch out with Kevin Williamson and Troy Morris III moving into position behind the top three. 

It looked like this race would go green to checkers but a late spin set up a two lap sprint to the finish. Baca Jr was not about to slip up at this point as he again pulled away from the pack and opened up some distance on the field, not about to misstep as he drove on for the win, making for a very successful evening's racing. 

The green flag restart was beneficial to Hibdon as he got past Braaksma to take over the second spot and Ethen was not able to regain that position before the checkers. Tom Berry Jr put on a charge from start to finish as after starting fifteenth, he was able to get all the way up to fourth at the finish with Troy Morris III completing the top five in a finish that could be seen at any central Iowa track all Summer where all five could be found in 2025. 

Three time winner Dylan Thornton had a tough night. He drew poorly for his heat and was the last guaranteed starter in the main that didn't have to run a B Feature. He started fourteenth in the main and was only able to gain one position before the checkered flag fell. 

While the Modifieds were not able to accomplish a green to checkers feature race, the Hobby Stocks stepped to the track next and did just that with twenty five of them going nonstop for twenty laps. 

After coming close to victory earlier this week, Morgan Olmstead was not about to let his brother or any one else keep him out of victory lane on Saturday. He started on the outside pole, quickly built up a sizable lead and with no yellows to bunch up the pack, drove for the win. 

In the early going, Austin Jahnz was fairly close but Olmstead gradually pulled away from him and they would run alone, comfortably unchallenged in the top two spots. 

While the top two spots were settled early, a dandy battle for third lasted much of the race with Greg Kohl fighting with Joel Magee and Nathan Kohl. They raced in tight formation for much of the race and in the last couple laps, Nathan was able to drop down a lane on the track and drive by both Magee and Greg to take second with Magee doing the same to Greg to complete the top five. 

The Sport Mod feature got off to a terrible start when in turn one on the opening lap, a big scrum in the pack sent former feature winner Tyler Johnson flipping where he was then slammed by another car. Fortunately no injuries were the result but several drivers were eliminated. 

After a second yellow for a two car spin, the first lap was finally completed with Matthew Frazier jumping into the lead. He was quickly challenged by Eric Winemiller and two laps later Winemiller drove into the lead. 

Two more yellows in the first six laps kept the field bunched but finally all out racing broke out and Winemiller continued to lead with Trevor Noonan, who started fifth, driving into the second spot. Payce Herrera moved into third with Troy and Nathan Speten next in line. 

Noonan began to reel in Winemiller and closed to his rear bumper just after the halfway point and on lap thirteen he slid under Winemiller to take over the top spot. This, however, seemed to ignite Winemiller and he came back strong, returning the favor with his own slider and retaking the lead. 

At this point, Winemiller seemed to find another gear and he started to pull away from Noonan and open up a lead. As Noonan lost ground, he then began to be challenged for second by Troy Speten who had started ninth and as Winemiller drove home for the win, somewhat of a surprise as he has been mostly on the "struggle bus" until tonight, Speten moved into second with Noonan settling for third. Completing the top five were Herrera and Cole Suchow. 

Despite the threatening weather, the biggest crowd of the week was on hand for Saturday night's show and they were rewarded with another competitive and swiftly presented program. A note in passing here that since there are a very large number of Canadians on hand, both in the pits and in the grandstand it would seem only fair that their anthem also be played. Back in my own upper Midwest where there are often Canadian drivers on hand racing from either Ontario or Manitoba, the Canadian National Anthem is routinely played weekly. 

Everyone now gets just a little time to relax and refresh. Practice is scheduled for next Tuesday with the final four nights of racing scheduled for next Wednesday through Saturday. Four classes will be in racing action with the Mod Lites on their way to Florida to race. 

Thornton Remains Perfect at CAR Winter Nationals, Martini Joins List of Winners

 Night number three of the IMCA TV Winter Nationals at the Central Arizona Raceway at Eleven Mile Corner near Casa Grande saw some dominating performances made by winning drivers. Dylan Thornton, Cameron Starry and Bud Martini all led from start to finish to win their feature races while Zach Olmstead was just a single lap away from continuing his sweep of Hobby Stock action when the win was stolen from him by Austin Jahnz with a perfectly executed slider on the final circuit. 

Car counts for the event continued to remain strong with two hundred and seventeen drivers, plus the Mod Lites, signing in to race on Friday. In fact, the car counts in the Hobby Stock, Stock Car and Sport Mod classes were the highest of the week so far with fifteen drivers making their first runs of the week. The race teams are doing tremendous work returning crashed and rolled cars to the track to race while for the first time this week we see drivers like Zane DeVilbiss, Mike Petersilie and Wyatt Maxwell going to either back up rides or borrowed rides to continue racing. 

To clarify some information from the Thursday night show, apparent fourth place finisher Ethan Braaksma was disqualified for losing a muffler during the race, a malady that also hit a couple of competitors in Modified action during the Wild West Shootout. Ethan told he that he saw it fall off and to the credit of the tech inspectors, they are doing their job and being consistent about the enforcement of the rule. 

The Mike Wedelstadt team, that is supplying the car that Tom Berry Jr is racing this week, did not lose a motor during the Thursday night show. A fitting failed that allowed the oil to leak out of the motor, causing the big smoke that ended his night. They believe that the motor wasn't damaged but will find out when the racing starts. As it turned out later, everything was fine with Berry Jr. racing from eighteenth to sixth in the main event. 

I must say it is amazing just how intolerant many race drivers are. Thursday night's track was indeed overwatered, leading to a choppy and "elbows up" track but despite having been served up a fine track for every other show, a number of the drivers were whining like they had been racing in a plowed field all week! Well, that one night hiccup was cured on Friday with the track being back on point again, as it has been for much of the last three weekends of racing. 

Among the strong performances by drivers this opening week of racing, Thornton's has stood head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd, taking all three of the Modified feature races presented so far and only being challenged during the Thursday night show. 

Total domination was again the order on Friday as Dylan started on the outside pole, grabbed the immediate lead and then drove away from the field. A yellow was triggered before a lap could be completed when Texas driver Jared Maupin, starting on the outside of the second row, went head on hard into the first turn concrete, slowing the action. 

A second attempt saw Thornton again power away from the field with Braaksma moving into second. Chaz Baca Jr. and Kollin Hibdon were both on the move from the fourth and fifth rows respectively and by the halfway point of the race, had moved into third and fourth. 

A lap fourteen yellow saw Tate Johnson, having his best run with a top five going, roll to a halt and be done for the contest and on the green, while Thornton again pulled away, both Baca Jr and Hibdon were able to get past Braaksma for position. They would finish in that order with Bryson Yeager cracking the top five at the end. 

Only five drivers failed to finish the contest and all were on the lead lap at the finish with just the two yellows to slow the action. 

While Thornton has been very fast for all three shows run so far, it is only fair to note that he has also been incredibly lucky when it has come to starting positions. With nearly one hundred Modified drivers in the pits, starting positions for qualifying races and features are incredibly important and in that regard, Thornton has been one lucky driver. In six races run so far, counting heats and features, he has only had to gain five positions in total to claim six wins and has started on the front row for five of the six races, with only the Thursday night feature not the case and in that race, he started third! It will be interesting to see just how fast he is when he has to come from mid pack in an event, if and when that happens this week. 

Cameron Starry started on the outside pole and led the entire distance to win the Stock Car feature race and make it his second straight victory after also winning on Thursday night. Early on he was challenged by Shelby Williams driving a team car with the Texans running first and second after Williams got past Mike Vondrak for the spot. 

The race was slowed three times in the first six laps including a big pileup in tricky turn one and a Braden Richards wall pounding  but then the last fourteen laps ran off green to checkers. Vandrak and Williams had a nice battle for second, swapping the spot a couple times before Vandrak settled in at the halfway point. 

Bo Partain moved up to third and that is how they would run the rest of the race with Starry holding off a couple of mild challenges from Vondrak. Chaz Baca Jr rounded out the top five with his second straight top five finish of the evening. 

The Hobby Stocks again ran third in the running order on Friday with some familiar participants beating on each other in the early going. However, Zach Olmstead got the jump on Joel Magee to lead the first lap as he tried to get away from the madness going on behind him. Tyler Thompson made a strong move as he got past Magee to take second in the early going. 

They would run in that order for the first half of the contest with Austin Jahnz, who started seventh, up to fourth at the crossed flags. A yellow with five laps to go for a spinner slowed the action and bad luck struck Thompson under the yellow as his car died on the back chute and needed a tow to the pits. This moved Jahnz, who had gotten past Magee, up to second when the final sprint took place. 

Olmstead continued to lead but Jahnz remained close as the leaders rode the wall in the final few laps. However, Olmstead, who seemed to be in control, suddenly and surprisingly "cooked " the first turn, going into and over the berm and with his pause, Jahnz drove under him to take over the lead just as the white flag flew. 

To prove the point that you just never know what's going to happen, with Olmstead seemingly in full control, suddenly there was Jahnz to collect the checkers as the winner with Olmstead several car lengths behind in second. Magee finished third while local driver Charles McDaniel III was next in line while Morgan Olmstead came from twenty fifth to round out the top five. 

Bud Martini just rolled into town from Minnesota yesterday but it took him little time to thaw out his equipment and put a spanking on the Sport Mod crew. Martini, who does have a record of success at this track in recent years, added to that as he started on the pole for the feature, drove away in the early going and led the rest of the field far back in his wake in what turned out to be a nonstop main event. Cole Suckow moved into second early but had nothing for the leader. 

The top five drivers lined up early and spaced themselves out, with the midpoint running order of the event being carried all the way to the checkers. However, no one had anything for Martini, who built up a lead that was nearly a full straightaway over the rest of the pack. Suckow would finish second with Danny Wagner, Danny Concelman and Tyler Frye completing the top five. 

Rain showers skirted the Pinal County Fairgrounds for much of the racing program and while they brought a chilling wind and falling temperatures, they did not hamper the racing program which was the quickest one run to date this week. 

Racing will resume on Saturday with another full program of IMCA racing. 

Thornton, Johnson and Olmstead All Repeat Winners at CAR

 With one hundred and sixty three drivers between three classes looking to unseat Wednesday night winners, you would think that someone could get the job done. However, that proved to not be the case in second night racing action during the IMCA TV Winter Nationals at the Central Arizona Raceway as Modified driver Dylan Thornton, Sport Mod driver Tyler Johnson and Hobby Stock driver Zach Olmstead all repeated their opening night victories with only a new face in victory lane for the Stock Cars with Cameron Starry, who finished as the runner up on opening night, taking the win. 

The pit area was swelled with race teams once again on Thursday with two hundred and twelve drivers signing in plus the Mod Lites with an incredible ninety four Modifieds topping the list. Numbers in the other three classes continue to run very similar to what last year's event brought but the Modifieds continue to grow and grow. 

Thursday produced the first significant change in racing conditions for this track in two weeks of racing. The track had stayed remarkably consistent for the entire Wild West Shootout and had started this event very much the same. However, Thursday found the track much wetter with lots of traction as the cars were pulling hard all the way around the big three eighth mile oval and the corners got quite choppy. Heat race action was white knuckle as the drivers found much character, particularly in the corners. Massive track prep action following the heat races by two graders and lots of other heavy equipment returned the racing surface to a more expected state for the track which is a high speed oval, no matter what condition the dirt may be in. 

Whether it was the condition of the racing surface or just an occurrence of the day, the racing was also much rougher than on opening night. There were plenty of grinding wrecks through the course of the evening and much equipment torn up and the B Features continued to test the patience of both drivers, track officials and spectators with their frequent yellows and misadventures. There also seemed to be increased aggressive efforts by some drivers with the Hobby Stocks being especially guilty in that regard, with much rough driving that bordered on the dirty side and led to some major issues. 

The program was very much similar to the opening night action with the Stock Cars shrunk down to four heats and they opened up the action. Everything else was on par with Wednesday night's program. 

Stock Cars hit the track first for their main event, the only feature race that would prove to have a different winner. The outside line appears to be the best at getting an early jump and Kaden Woodie used that groove to take the early lead. He was chased by Dillon Richards and Cameron Starry in the early going as opening laps in the Stock Car event proved to be smooth. Richards soon closed on Woodie and on lap nine Woodie was a bit slow through the corners and Richards motored past him to take over the lead. Starry continued to run third with Chaz Baca Jr in the Gallaher car and Bo Partain  following as the race reached its halfway point 

While Richards still led, now it was Woodie that had picked up the pace as he closed to the rear bumper of the leader. With a strong move in turn three, he slipped under Richards to grab the lead, only to meet the yellow flag that was flown for a stalled car, negating his pass for the lead. 

Richards maintained on the restart but things went deeply downhill for Woodie who spun in turn one on the restart, came down across the track and with the field tightly packed, triggered a massive pileup that included many of the top ten racers. Seven drivers were eliminated in the grinding crash including challengers Justin Luinenburg, Mike Vondrak, Shelby Williams and Woodie. 

Richards still was the leader but the restart of the restart gave Starry a chance to get the jump on Richards and with a bold move, Cameron drove under Richards one lap later to take over the lead with just four to go. He then pulled away for the win with Richards fighting off challenges from Partain to finish second. Opening night winner Curt Lund drove home fourth with Baca Jr. completing the top five. 

The Modified feature saw Thornton lead from start to finish but it was a much better race than that would indicate, and indeed, produce the closest finish of the week so far. Thornton started on the outside pole and jumped into the initial lead with Jonathan Mawhinney moving into second as the yellow flew after only one lap for a pair of spinners. 

Baca Jr was on the move and he drove into second and began to close on Thornton. The top runners moved to the cushion that appeared to be the fastest route around the track with slide jobs the best way to make passes. By the halfway point of the race, Baca Jr was pressing Thornton for the lead with a couple of slide jobs attempted but Thornton always crossing over and keeping the point. 

Ethan Braaksma had moved up to third with Troy Morris III and a charging Brandon Beckendorf next in line as the yellow waved for the second and final time right at halfway. Thornton continued to lead back on the green and he was able to maintain his advantage but as the laps started to run down, Baca Jr again closed up. 

Things got very interesting in the final few laps as the two leaders caught a pair of slower cars. It seemed that Thornton had the action covered with the lapped cars down low but somehow Baca Jr found round to throw a last corner slider once again on Thornton who appeared to be a bit surprised to see Baca Jr. Thornton crossed him over, they raced to the line and Thornton was able to edge out the win by .021 seconds over the hard charge of Baca Jr. Beckendorf came from fifteenth to finish third and Kollin Hibdon from eighteenth to fourth with Morris III completing the top five. 

Tom Berry Jr was scheduled to start ninth in the main event but engine damage down while winning his heat saw him sidelined for the main event. 

Another repeat performance saw Tyler Johnson win his second straight Sport Mod main event. He started third on the grid but slipped back behind Kaden Woodie to third in the early going with everyone chasing Tyler Frye. However, it took Johnson just three laps to drive under both Woodie and Frye and take over the top spot which he maintained the rest of the way. 

The last fifteen laps of this race ran off green to checkers and Johnson, just like Wednesday night, pulled away from the pack to let them fight it out for second. Frye had some struggles with the cushion with slowed his efforts as Woodie moved past him for second. A good race for that position saw Trevor Noonan pass Woodie for second but then Woodie returned the favor by the midpoint of the race. 

As Johnson was gone, attention turned to the attack of Jake Sachau who started seventeenth on the grid  and was not even in the top five by the halfway point of the race. But soon after that he really picked up speed. Lap after lap, he would slide job drivers into the corners, gaining position after position with clean Sprint Car like action. 

He made the top five, getting past Matthew Frazier and then Dakota Girard and he just kept coming. He got Noonan for second and on the final lap, while Johnson was long gone, he drove past Woodie to take the runner up slot. 

There was plenty of rough and tumble action in the Hobby Stock feature and unless officials intervene, I have the feeling its just going to get worse as the week progresses. Anthony Madrid took the initial lead from the pole while Joel Magee and Nathan Kohl were banging on each other before the first lap was completed. 

Madrid continued to lead with Magee, Kohl and Bingston Rogers tight on his tail as the leaders ran in tight, single file formation. Magee was using his bumper to alert Madrid to the fact that he wanted by, and several times that action got to the edge of over aggression. 

Finally, a tap going into turn one on lap eight saw Madrid spin to the inside of the track. Madrid appealed to track officials but got no satisfaction and went to the tail with Magee now inheriting the lead. Kohl was right on his rear bumper with Morgan Olmstead now up to third. 

On the move was Wednesday night winner Zach Olmstead who started fifteenth but gradually moved his way into contention by grabbing spots as others either dropped back or took each other out. A massive pileup when Rogers spun in turn one following a lap eight yellow really changed the running order. Two more yellows followed and by lap thirteen, Zach was up to second, having edged past his brother for the spot. 

And he appeared to be the only driver with the speed to drive under Magee and when Joel got hung up a bit on the cushion with just five laps to go, Zach did just that as he drove into the lead. He then pulled away to take his second straight win while Magee was able to hold off Morgan for second. 

Austin Jahnz and Charles McDaniel III completed the top five with almost half the field either in the infield or pits by the time the checkers flew. No doubt there was plenty to hash over in the pits following this race. 

Friday night will see the same classes once again in action. Just a note: While I am not charting the Mod Lites, it should be noted that at least six of them have rolled over already in the first two nights of racing action, with several of the crashes being of the "breath taking" variety. Just my opinion, but I believe this track is just too fast for these cars and it is not safe to be racing them here. Hopefully they find another venue for them in 2027.  

Thornton Tops Opening Night Modified Field at CAR IMCA TV Winter Nationals

 The Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande is the place to call home if you want to see lots of racing in the month of January. Coming off a spectacular six night series for the Wild West Shootout, the track and its workers took just a very short break before turning right around to present another mid Winter spectacular, this time the IMCA TV Winter Nationals with potentially another eight nights of racing. 

With just a one day break followed by a large practice session, on Wednesday night, January 21st the speedway was back in action as sit hosted a five division program of IMCA racing with well over two hundred race teams filling the large pit area at CAR. Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks were all racing a full program plus the Mod Lites were also in action. 

The opening night car count proved to be very similar in numbers to last year's event with the Modified and Stock Car fields up slightly while the Sport Mod and Hobby Stock class both saw a slight dip for 2025. The biggest gain was in the Modified class where eight more drivers signed in to race than last year's opener. Just over two hundred drivers in total plus the Mod Lites were in opening night action. 

The format for this year's event would find all drivers drawing for starting positions with the heat race winners guaranteed a starting spot in the main event. The rest of the guaranteed starters would be based on passing points with either fourteen or sixteen pulled from the heat races, depending on the class. The remainder of the fields would be determined by B Features with twenty six drivers starting all main events. The exception on opening night was the Hobby Stocks where with twenty seven drivers signing in, all drivers would be running the main event. 

There was plenty of racing for the fan who certainly gets his money's worth at a show like this with twenty night qualifying races proceeding the main events. Fortunately, the one spin rule was in effect for both the heats and B Features and they all moved along at a quick pace, making for a fast paced program despite the vast numbers of competitors. 

All feature races would be twenty laps in length and Modifieds would be up first for their main event. Zane DeVilbiss used the outside pole to take the initial lead with Troy Morris III and Thornton moving in behind him. Four laps were completed before the yellow flag flew for debris on the track. 

On the green, Tom Berry Jr, who had moved up into the top five, spun in turn one and the yellow flew once more. On the green, Thornton picked up the pace as he dropped to the low groove and was able to get past both Morris III and leader DeVilbiss on the following lap to move into the lead. 

He then began to put distance on the field as the laps clicked off and with no yellows to gather the field up behind him, he gradually began to expand his margin. By the halfway point, Thornton had a comfortable lead as Chaz Baca Jr. was the driver on the move. He started sixteenth but by the halfway point had moved up to fourth and continued to press forward. 

With Thornton and Morris III comfortably holding their positions, Baca Jr continued to hustle and during the last few laps was able to pass DeVilbiss for third as Brandon Beckendorf completed the top five at the finish. Remarkably, only one driver failed to finish the race. 

Despite the Stock Cars normally being one of the most competitive classes around, Curt Lund has found a way to stink up the competition early during this Winter series here at CAR. After dominating and winning the Prelude on Sunday night by a large margin, he turned right around and did the same thing again on Wednesday during the opening round of the Winter Nationals. 

It took him seven laps to move forward from his third row starting spot, but once he got the lead he checked out on the field, much as he had done on Sunday. 

Chaz Baca Jr. jumped out of this Modified into the Gallaher X car and took the initial lead in the main event, leading the first few laps over Justin Luinenburg and Lund who quickly moved to the front. The yellow waved with four laps completed for a slowing driver and on the green, Lund pressed. He tried the outside on leader Baca Jr but found that line to be blocked so he simply changed directions, dove to the inside and drove past the Arizona driver to take over the top spot. 

After a second yellow with seven laps completed for a spinning car, things came unglued for Baca Jr who spun in turn one and collected several other cars in the biggest mess of the event. Baca Jr would be done in a wreck that also collected front runners Shelby Williams, and Cole Suckow. 

The last thirteen laps of the race ran off nonstop and Lund simply drove away from the field, building up a big lead and running home unchallenged. There was, however, some excellent battles going on behind him for top five positions and Luinenburg held off a late charge from Cameron Starry, who started tenth, to finish as the runner up. Mike Vondrak and Dillon Richards also battled hard behind them with heavy contact on the final corner finding Vandrak taking the fourth spot. 

It was a regular competitor at CAR, Tyler Johnson, that would dominate the Sport Mod feature. He led from start to finish, grabbing the lead from the outside pole and then pulling away from the field for an easy win. 

The yellow waved three times before two laps could be completed but then after that it was green flag racing for the next nineteen and Johnson motored away from the field. With no challengers in the first half of the race, he built up a comfortable advantage. 

Eventually Payce Herrera, who started on the pole and battled with Braydon Whitfield early, would claim second and under the long green flag scenario, seemed to be closing the gap on the leader slightly. However, as the race continued, that margin seemed to stabilize and in the final few laps, Johnson was still comfortably in control. 

Whitfield held off a late charge from Cole Suckow to claim that third spot with Danny Wagner completing the top five. 

Zach Olmstead was in charge from start to finish to claim the Hobby Stock feature. While he had a comfortable lead for most of the contest, his brother Morgan made things interesting in the final few laps. 

Zach took the early lead from the outside pole and built up a nice working margin as Austin Jahnz, Eric Knutson and Joel Magee battled for second.  Nathan Kohl hung with this group with the first yellow waving with eight laps completed. They stayed in the same running order until the halfway point when Morgan appeared for the first time among the top five after charging up from the twelfth starting position. 

As Zach continued to lead, Morgan continued to charge as he got past Knutson, Magee and Jahnz to move into third. And just what he was looking for occurred with just three laps to go when a spin slowed the action once again. 

However, he would find his brother just a bit tougher to pass and despite pushing hard, Zach was still in control and refused to yield the lead as the brother combination finished first and second. Jahnz, Knutson and Magee completed the top five. 

All racing was complete shortly after 9 pm in the fast paced program. Round two of the Winter Nationals is schedule for Thursday night with the same divisions again in racing action. 

Pierce Finally Visits Victory Lane During WWS Finale

 During what has been a most successful Wild West Shootout at the Central Arizona Raceway, Bobby Pierce, the winningest driver in WWS history had yet to visit victory lane as the winner. That changed during the finale of the six night series on Sunday, January 18th as he topped Jonathan Davenport and Hudson O'Neal is what can be described as a "spirted" contest that left some hard feelings after the checkered flew and plenty for folks to talk about as the Late Model troops now heard to Florida. 

In other action, Jeremy Payne scored his second straight victory in the Modifieds, Jake Smith cemented his point title in the X Mods with his second win and in the initial appearance of the IMCA Stock Cars in a preview race for this week's upcoming IMCA TV Winter Nationals, it was Minnesota's Curt Lund who took the win. 

It has been a long week with lots of hard racing and for some of the teams, they were out of cars, patience and perhaps money by Sunday's finale with the smallest car count in all three classes which was not a surprise but the norm for this event. Still, with the addition of twenty eight Stock Cars there were one hundred and sixty five drivers that signed in to race for the finale. 

The format for Sunday would see one less X Mod and Modified heat while the Stock Cars would run three heats and a feature race, again using passing points that is the norm for this event. 

Hudson O'Neal was quickest at 15.060 seconds while Davenport topped the opening group just slightly slower as the track prep crew has been successful at producing a track that has remained remarkably consistent from night to night. 

In a night where there seemed to be more "fireworks" than normal, it started early when during the first Late Model heat Tyler Erb decided to plant the back half of his car on Davenport's hood while making a less than desirous slide job attempt. Davenport halted with damage and eventually pulled off the track while Erb went on for the win and expressed his opinion on the matter. There would be more than a few words spoken between the two back in the pits with track officials mediating but this would later result in one of the more interesting facets of the feature race, watching Davenport charge through the field after starting the back by qualifying through a B Feature. 

Pierce redrew the pole for the twenty four car, fifty lap finale for the Late Models with Bobby taking the early lead. Erb moved to second with O'Neal up to third while Davenport began his long journey to the front. Garrett Alberson was also working his way toward the front after starting eighth. 

After a quick yellow with a pair of laps complete, the next nineteen would go green and Pierce continued to lead but O'Neal worked his way to second as Erb started to slip back and Alberson up to third. O'Neal began to make big progress on Pierce and on lap twenty three he drove past Pierce to take over the lead. However, Pierce appeared to get up on the wheel at this point and two laps later, riding the cushion, he returned the favor to take over the lead. One lap later the caution flew and the field was bunched again. 

Alberson dropped out with motor issues while the battle for the lead continued. Coming off turn two with O'Neal moving past on the outside, Pierce threw a slider and the leaders got together. Somehow Pierce was able to keep going while O'Neal did a quick spin and also kept moving while the yellow flew. 

Track officials used the "blend rule" which allowed Pierce to maintain the lead while O'Neal got second back but he had some damage to the front end of his car which resulted in a couple of quick stops for track officials to assist him. 

Davenport continued his charge when the green came back out, dispatching Cade Dillard and Ethen Dotson for position and then thumbing his nose at Erb as he passed him and moved into third when the final yellow waved with thirteen laps to go for a slowing Jake Timm. Davenport moved up to  the cushion and blew past O'Neal for second but Pierce was long gone by this point. 

Davenport pushed hard over the last dozen laps but he wasn't able to close the distance as Pierce drove home for the win. O'Neal limped home for third with his damaged car and with restrained words let everyone know that he was not happy. Erb and Dustin Sorensen, who came from the back after an early flat, filled out the top five. O'Neal did earn the point title for the series. 

With bonuses and lap money, Pierce made out very well on Sunday, banking $51,500 for his win. So, leaving Arizona, Davenport is mad at Erb, O'Neal is mad at Pierce and there should be plenty of ammo available to hype the Florida events. 

It has been a great series for Smith, the St. Joseph Minnesota driver. He has finished in the top three for all six nights of the X Mods, no mean feat considering the size and quality of the field. Sunday he made another of his patented charges to the front after starting ninth on the grid as he easily passed many more cars than anyone over the course of six nights. 

Developments started early in this race when Christy Barnett, scheduled to start on the outside pole and a strong contender for the win, dropped out on the pace lap with mechanical issues and Keenan Glasser moved to the early lead. After a red flag stoppage when Blake Davis took a wild ride around the turn one wall,  another Canadian driver, Curtis Stieh, who has been a revelation this week, drove past Glasser to take over the top spot on lap three. 

When the yellow flew on lap ten for a Tyler Johnson spin, Smith was up to third with Rob Mosley and Jeremy Haddox next in line. Stieh tried but he simply couldn't hold off the charging Smith, who drove past him for the lead just two laps later. 

Bad luck struck a couple competitors as both Glasser and Bryson Yaeger, both in the top five at one point, both dropped out of the race with mechanical issues. However, there would be no challenging Smith who drove away from the field as the last fifteen laps of the race ran off nonstop. Stieh was firmly planted in second while the battle raged for third. 

Friday night's winner Lucas Rodin was making a charge for himself after starting fourteenth. He drove past Mosley with a few laps to go to take over third with the three WISSOTA drivers finishing in that order. Completing the top five was Haddox. 

Cade Dillard passed on one fast Modified for Jeremy Payne to drive the second half of this series and Payne made the most of it. After a point rich heat race allowed him to start on the pole for the feature event, he made short work of the field, leading from start to finish to win the twenty five lap finale and was never seriously challenged once the green flag fell. 

Talan Willis held the second spot for the first few laps until passed by Jake Gallardo with Lance Mari and Gabe Hodges close behind. There were a number of yellows in this race, six in all, but each time the green would wave, Payne would pull out to a comfortable lead as no one had anything for him. 

A driver on the move and charging forward following each slowdown was Hunter Sandy. He started way back in the eighth row and in fact was not even in the top five by the halfway point of the race but after that, he really started to shine as he passed driver after driver in the final few laps. He got by both Mari and Gallardo in the last five laps as he drove all the way up to second at the finish, a great run for the former X Mod driver. 

Hodges moved up to third at the finish with Gallardo and Dustin Strand rounding out the top five finishers. Rodney Sanders, a one time feature winner during the series, won the points title based on consistency. He dug out of a hole caused by a flat tire early in this race to move up to sixth at the finish. 

IMCA Stock Cars will be a part of the upcoming IMCA Winter Nationals that will staged at this same track in the upcoming two weeks and as a teaser, the Stock Cars ran their own program on Sunday. Twenty eight of them signed in to race and just for fun, they started their feature race in a three wide fashion!

That perhaps was not a wise choice for many drivers unfamiliar with this track as yellow flags plagued a division that often runs green to checkers. Dominating the action was Curt Lund who led from start to finish in the twenty lapper, again something that does not happen often in this class. 

On this night however, Lund was far superior to the field with no one able to even challenge him despite the numerous chances based on all the yellows. Local driver Bo Partain maintained the second spot for much of the race after getting by Jason Rogers who later dropped out. Miciah Hildebaugh and Modified star Chaz Baca moved up until Hildebaugh also pulled off. 

As Lund drove away from the field, the best battle was for second with Baca eventually passing Partain for that spot. North Dakota driver Chris Tuchscherer ended up fourth with "Wahoo" Mike Albertson finishing fifth. 

A sponsor provided gold nugget prizes for the Hard Luck award for each class with Tyler Peterson, Chance Kodet and Stephen Glenn the dubious winners. 

There was another large crowd on hand for the final night action, despite it being a Sunday which typically is not a great night to draw a crowd in Arizona and this entire series has been a smashing success with even the weather being even more outstanding than normal. 

Dates were announced for next  year's event as being January 9-17th and not surprisingly, the Central Arizona Raceway will again be a host as promoter Brad Whitfield and his staff provided a great venue for Chris Kearns and his all star staff of officials and workers to operate at. My suspicions are that someone his going to have to "hit it out of the ball park" to top this series for RPM race of the year. 

My thanks goes out to Chris and his crew for their help this week. I look forward to another couple weeks of outstanding racing here in the desert hosted by Brad starting next Wednesday. 

For Iowa Late Model fans, on another note. I received a phone call from Gary Webb on Sunday. He tells me that he has purchased a new Kryptonite Late Model and is very excited and looking forward to the 2026 racing season. He has one car done and will be having a second car finished. One car will have an IMCA crate engine, and one an IMCA spec. He plans on racing at Davenport and East Moline, along with some Malvern Bank and PRO Series races. 

His plan is to race for two more years which would make fifty six years of racing for the #56 car and then sell everything and retire. When asked about his car color for 2026, he said "wait and see."  

Alberson and Payne Wire Fields, Schrader Dazzles as WWS Continues

 The Wild West Shootout at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande continued on a warm and sunny Saturday, in the midst of the final weekend of racing for this event. Short turn around times are the rule this weekend with the final three races of this series packed back to back to back.

However, even at the frantic pace this final weekend provides, race teams are still going at it hot and heavy with no sign of the team numbers slacking off. One hundred and sixty two teams signed in for Saturday's show with both the X Mods and Modified numbers continuing to run much stronger than they had at Vado while the Late Model numbers have been very consistent with what Vado provided in recent years. I expect that to change by next year however with more Late Model teams expected to journey to the desert. 

A number of teams that will be running the IMCA .TV Winter Nationals the next two weekends are already starting to arrive with a number of them joining the field this weekend to get some practice while Stock Cars are also arriving in preparation for their chance to be part of this series on Sunday. 

On the track Saturday, a couple drivers showed dominance that hadn't been scene before this week as Garrett Alberson led from start to finish to win the Late Model feature and Jeremy Payne came out of mostly retirement to jump in Cade Dillard's Modified and lead the whole Modified feature. 

Ken Schrader showed that the veteran driver still has what it takes as he came from the fourth row to take the win in the X Mod feature as that class continues to show perhaps the best performance with more passing and charging through the field than any other. The refinements made to the rules package this year seem to finally have hit on the correct formula for great racing across the board from at least three different sanctioning bodies and next year this is no reason why any driver in any one of those three or perhaps other sanctioning groups wouldn't want to be a part of this great mid Winter break of racing. 

Hudson O'Neal was the quickest qualifier for the Late Model field at 15.039 seconds and Alberson showed off the speed he would use later when he topped the second group of Late Models in qualifying. A nice wide track for heat race action saw plenty of good racing as this events are critical to making the main event and with such large fields of entrants, the heat races are very demanding. 

The format was exactly the same as in recent nights with time trials and heat race results setting the Late Model fields while the other two classes draw a number and then passing points set the running order for their mains. Big B features provide the rest of the starting fields for the mains with plenty of good drivers left watching the action from the pits come feature time. 

The Pro Power Dash was a part of Saturday's program and Bill Schlieper continued to save his money when Terry Phillips opted to join the back of the feature field rather than taking the grand to the winner. He, along with the other Pro Power Dash winners, came here to race, not watch the features. 

Twenty five drivers started the Late Model feature which began on somewhat of a bizarre note. Outside pole starter Mike Marlar rolled to halt as the field was forming in their running order for the start of the feature. He then went to the hot pit in the infield which forced him to the tail of the grid but then pulled in and called it a night. What a tough break after earning such a prized starting position. 

Eston Whisler also had trouble before the green dropped and also pulled into the infield. When things were sorted out, it was Alberson who jumped from the inside pole to take the early lead over Jonathan Davenport. Alberson was setting a very quick pace and he rapidly pulled away from the field, leaving Davenport, O'Neal and Bobby Pierce to battle for second. Drake Troutman moved into the top five as the race reached its halfway point.

With no yellow flags to slow the action, Alberson continued to set a hot pace and he was soon dealing with lapped traffic. However, with the high line seemingly the fast way around the track on Saturday, the slower cars were doing a good job of staying out of the way and Alberson continued to dominate. 

The battle for second was entertaining and at one point Davenport was able to get slightly closer to Alberson who temporarily got hung up in traffic, but once he broke free again he again stretched his margin, moving out to nearly a full straightaway lead over the field. 

At the finish, Alberson had four lapped cars and a considerable distance over second place finisher O'Neal, who had made a very late race pass on Davenport for second. Pierce and Troutman rounded out the top five in a race that saw seven drivers not finish and another seven a lap down at the checkers. It was by far the most dominating run in the Late Model class this week and the first nonstop main. 

Twenty four drivers started what was a wild X Mod feature race. Local driver Tyler Johnson jumped into the early lead driving his Sport Mod that has been converted over to a WISSOTA legal car for this event with Josh Cain close behind him. Cole Suckow, Tyler Potter and Schrader ran early in the top five. 

A grinding crash on the back chute which resulted in a couple of hard high speed hits and a flip by Remington Budd triggered the red flag with three laps complete. Along with Budd, severe damage was done to the cars of Brandon Rehill, Jaden Christ and Brennan Davis with all done for the night but luckily, no injuries. 

Johnson continued as the leader with Suckow and Cain putting heavy heat on him for the lead. Suddenly, Johnson got high in turn two and clobbered the concrete wall, grinding to a halt and ending his night. 

Cain inherited the lead but one lap later Suckow was able to pass him and take over the top spot. Meanwhile, Schrader, Christy Barnett and Scott Bintz were all on the move, cracking the top five. Schrader continued his charge, battling his way past Barnett and taking over second at the halfway point of the race. Schrader had discovered a higher line on the track that worked for him as he drove first around Barnett and then, just three laps later, around Suckow for the lead. 

After that, Schrader slowly pulled away from the field as while there was much battling for position behind him, Schrader continued to put distance on the field. Jake Smith was making yet another charge up through the field as he has been forced to do just about every night so far this week. He had yet to crack the top five by the halfway point but shortly after came storming forward. 

At the finish, Schrader was alone in front to receive the checkers, to the approval of the crowd. Smith, who started nineteenth, completed yet another impressive drive as he nipped Barnett for second. Christy had done plenty of passing herself as she had started fourteenth. Suckow settled for fourth while Friday night winner Lucas Rodin came from sixteenth to complete the top five as it was clear this class provided lots of passing. 

As promised before this series started, Jeremy Payne came out of what has been a mostly retired career in recent years to drive Cade Dillard's Modified for the later half of the series and he certainly showed that there was not much rust to be knocked off his skills. 

He started on the pole and proceeded to drive away from the field for a start to finish Modified feature win. In the early going, Tyler Davis and Tyler Wolff chased him but then Davis triggered a lap three yellow when his car broke and he was out of the contest. 

Payne started to put some distance on the field while Wolff, Reece Solander and Gary Christian had a good battle for position behind the leader. Dustin Sorensen moved up to challenge them also and that group ran together for much of the mid portion of the race. 

Dustin Strand, who had started in the second row but faded back early suddenly came to life, using the low line to drive up into contention. A late yellow set up a six lap sprint to the finish and while Payne again pulled away the battle for second was close. 

Solander and Strand went back and forth for the spot with Solander edging out the Minnesota driver on the last lap for the runner up honors while Payne was long gone as the winner. Wolff followed while Rodney Sanders edging into the top five at the finish. Only four drivers failed to finish and everyone was still on the lead lap at the conclusion. 

Again, the program went off smoothly with the final checkers flying shortly after 9 pm which allowed for the live concert to get an early start. Live music was been presented on two nights of the series and again on Saturday we got to see some barrel racing in the infield while track prep was being done. 

The crowd was gigantic and perhaps the biggest of the series as no doubt this event seems to have found a permanent home. In fact, I was told that the announcement that the race would return here in 2027 would be made on Saturday but it wasn't but I believe it to be a done deal with just the dates , which I would assume would be similar to this year, yet to be announced.   

O'Neal First Repeat Late Model Winner During Round Four of WWS

 After a one night break, night number four of the Wild West Shootout was held on Friday night, January 16th at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande. It was another beautiful day for racing in the desert and a fine field of one hundred and fifty seven drivers signed in to race in the three division program including fourteen drivers that had not yet been to one of the three series races held to date. 

When the final checkers for the night had been waved, the series produced its first repeat Late Model winner with Hudson O'Neal repelling every challenge thrown at him by Bobby Pierce to take his second win while Lucas Rodin in the X Mods and Rodney Sanders in the Modified class won their first races of the series. 

The track prep crew brought in to prepare this race track for this series seems now to have figured out just what this track needs. They have been able to get it ready for an early start time without a lot of extra track packing needed, and kept the track racy without it being too "hammer down" while at the same time keeping the dust to a minimum. Everything has worked to a charm the last two nights and that has allowed the program to be completed at an early hour, good for the fans on hand and good for FLO Racing broadcasting to the world. 

O'Neal started out the night showing that he would be quick in the Rumley car that he has been driving in the WWS, setting quick time with a lap of 14.988 seconds, knowing that by dipping into the fourteen second bracket on this track he is really motoring. 

The Late Model car count has remained consistent to this point of the week and four heat races and a pair of B features were needed to set the twenty four car field for Friday night's thirty lap sprint. In this short of a main event, no one is holding back either on strategy or  saving tires and these relatively shorter races have produced some very intense racing action. 

Friday night's feature race for the Late Model saw three different leaders and the final pass to secure the top spot not completed until lap twenty four. Ryan Gustin started on the outside pole and got the jump on Tyler Erb for the early lead. O'Neal started four, quickly moved to third and then got by Erb to take over second. He then closed in on Gustin and on lap twelve made the pass to take over the lead. 

Bobby Pierce was also on the move after starting fifth as he followed O'Neal to the front. On lap seventeen, following the second yellow of the race for a slowing Brandon Sheppard, he got past Gustin for second and then began to close down on O'Neal. Another yellow on lap twenty bunched the field once again and this led to some great battling for the lead as Pierce was all over O'Neal for the lead and they engaged in some wild slide job action for the top spot. 

Pierce edged past briefly for the lead on lap twenty three after a turn four slider but then O'Neal came back to do the same one lap later and retake the top spot. O'Neal then "went to school" it appeared on the line that Pierce was running as he adjusted and while Pierce was able to stay close the last six laps, he was never able to make another attempt to take back the lead. Gustin would run third the entire second half of the race while behind them there was a mad scramble for position with Erb holding off Dustin Sorensen to complete the top five. 

All three yellows in the race were for flat right rear tires which has been an issue all week with six drivers parked before the checkered flag waved. 

Blake Adams returned to Wisconsin after having dominated the X Mod field on opening week, so this opened up the race to some other drivers with another WISSOTA driver, Lucas Rodin, a long time participant in the WWS at various locations, coming on to edge out Christy Barnett and take the win. 

The X Mod have provided the most feature race passing of any of the classes and this was the case again on Friday night as winner Rodin started ninth on the grid and Jake Smith made another of his strong charges, coming from eleventh to battle Barnett for second on the last lap. 

Scott Bintz led the opening lap with Barnett challenging strongly for the lead along with Tyler Johnson. Barnett showed lots of speed as she was able to drive past Bintz on lap four to take over the top spot which she held for the next ten laps. Meanwhile, Rodin was working his way up through the field as he utilized the low groove to make a number of passes, working his way up to second by the halfway point with Smith and Bintz following. 

Rodin continued to charge, slipping by Barnett on lap fourteen for the lead but Christy turned right around again and edged past "The Nightmare" one lap later to regain the top spot. With Barnett blocking the low line, Rodin made the move of the race as he went to the top side and drove around Barnett one lap later to regain the top spot. Christy remained close and as Smith caught the top runners, it was a three car battle on the final lap with Rodin nipping Barnett by less than a car length and she doing the same to Smith. Josh Cain and Johnson completed the top five as although the race was slowed five times by yellows, only five cars failed to complete the twenty laps. 

Gabe Hodges started on the pole for the Modified feature and eased away from Dustin Sorensen in the early going to take the lead. Rodney Sanders moved into second and tried to cut into Hodges' lead but did not have much success. In fact, Rodney was pass by Jeremy Payne, utilizing the car driven by Cade Dillard earlier this week to move in and challenge Hodges for the top spot. 

The yellow flew just one lap short of the halfway point when Travis Saurer slowed and what a difference this slow down made. Sanders did not appear prior to the yellow to have the speed to stay with the top two drivers but on the green, he launched off the top side of the track, got a great restart and drove past both of them to take over the lead. 

The yellow flew quickly again but most importantly, a lap had been completed which gave Rodney the point for the restart. He then pulled away from both his previous challengers, and they found that they couldn't keep up with Dustin Sorensen, who moved into second. 

The last few laps of the race saw Sorensen close up on Sanders but Rodney kept his line and maintained a narrow lead that he would carry to the checkers for the win. Reece Solander, Wednesday night's winner, showed lots of speed as he started fourteenth, passed lots of cars and was still moving forward in third when the race ended. Tyler Davis drove up to fourth with Hodges completing the top five. It was a smooth race to complete the night with only two minor yellows, no crashes and only four drivers not finishing and none lapped. 

The final checkers waved shortly after 9 pm and another large crowd was on hand for the rapidly completed show. With weather so much superior to what fans had to endure in New Mexico, the crowds have been substantially bigger this entire week, with the smallest crowd for the midweek show still much bigger than any at Vado which should cause promoter Chris Kearns to smile. There seems to be no doubt then unless there are some unknown entanglements that this race will certainly return to CAR in 2027. 

Three New Winners During WWS Round Three

 The Wild West Shootout continued after a two night break with round three of the week long series being held on Wednesday night, January 14th at the Central Arizona Raceway. As the series reaches its halfway point, three new winners emerged with Ethan Dotson, Reece Solander and Jake Smith all finding victory lane for the first time. Two of the three led from start to finish although both were under heavy pressure by the end of their races while the Late Model event won by Dotson saw three different leaders during its thirty lap run. 

Despite the break, the car counts held up well for round three with one hundred and forty six drivers signing in for the three division program with a Baker's Dozen of new entrants on Wednesday night. One heat was trimmed from both the X Mod and Modified program to try and move things along just a bit quicker and the whole program was tightened up a bit which produced an earlier conclusion to the evening. Track officials still insist however in scheduled monster sized Modified B Features which again just produced some expensive multi car crashes and didn't speed the program whatsoever. 

The track was just a bit drier on Wednesday, slowing down the qualifying just a bit as Hudson O'Neal was quickest overall at 15.130 seconds with Jake O'Neil quickest in the second group. Heat race action clicked off quickly and quite frankly, the qualifying events were just a bit on the bland side but were more than made up for by three very entertaining main events. 

The Late Model feature would go off first and with the distance trimmed for the week night shows to thirty laps, the drivers had to make their move quickly. Bobby Pierce redrew the pole and would take the initial lead after he and Tyler Erb raced hard on the opening circuit. Only one lap was made before the first yellow flew for a slowing car. 

Pierce continued to lead as the race went back under green, but O'Neal made his move past Erb for second and seemed to be gaining ground on Pierce as a long period of green flag racing broke out. At the halfway point, Jonathan Davenport was up to fourth with Ethan Dotson running next in line. 

O'Neal was really pressuring Pierce for the lead and slide under him in turn one to take over the top spot. However, they inadvertently made contact as they were battling for the lead and O'Neal no more than passed for the point when he suddenly slowed with a flat tire, apparently from contact between the two. 

This gave Pierce the lead back under yellow with Ryan Gustin now moving into the top five. The green dropped and Dotson, who started on the top side of the track, used a great run down the front chute to blow past Erb and then in turn one, to also get past Pierce and take over the lead. 

With much of the passing these days coming right after yellow flag restarts, the challenge for Dotson was to then hold off Pierce but not only did he do so, he completely pulled away from Pierce, eventually building up nearly a full straightaway lead as the rest of the race ran under the green. 

At the finish, he was the uncontested winner, something that not many in the crowd could have predicted when the green flag first flew. Pierce had his hands full holding on to second but he managed t to stave off a challenge from Gustin, who had found the low groove to work for him as he advanced to the podium finish late in the race, passing both Erb and Davenport. 

Only five cars failed to finish the race with the green waving three times. O'Neal, after replacing his tire under yellow, managed to race up into the top ten before the checkers flew. 

The Modified feature was the first nonstop main event of the WWS in 2026 and while he led from start to finish, things got tight for Reece Solander before the final checkers waved. He beat Gary Christian to take the early lead with Dustin Sorensen moving up from the second row to slip into second quickly. 

In the early going Solander maintained a comfortable lead but as the race wore on, Sorensen gradually closed up the distance on him. By the halfway point of the race, Sorensen had closed to within a few car lengths of the leader with Christian, Joe Duvall and Rodney Sanders following. 

With the race staying under the  green and most of the field still racing, Solander hit some very heavy traffic during the final half of the race with Sorensen poking a nose to his inside several times but just not quite having enough room to make a pass. Lapped traffic was tough with the top two drivers weaving up and down the track as they looked for openings. 

Late in the race, Solander hit a pack of four slower drivers that he had to navigate through and this gave Sorensen one last opening. On the final corner he drove to the inside of Solander but just couldn't fine enough space to drive under him and to his credit, he didn't try a dirty slider that might have wrecked them both. Solander hung on for the win with Sorensen breathing down his tail pipe. Christian hung on for third with Sanders passing Duvall to complete the top five. Only two drivers failed to complete the distance. 

Jake Smith and Blake Adams, who had been dominating the X Mod class over the first weekend, went at it again during round three and this time it was Smith that came out the winner. Jake started on the pole for the twenty lapper with Jacob Hodges and Adams battling for second for the first half of the race. As Smith maintained a comfortable lead, Hodges had Adams all over him as he made repeated attempts to take over second. 

By the halfway point, Lucas Rodin had moved into the fourth spot and was close to those two in front of him with Scott Bintz completing the top five. 

There had not been a roll over so far this week but that quickly changed with a wild tangle in turn one on lap thirteen when a number of drivers got together and both Ken Schrader and James Trantina III ended up on their sides. At least five drivers were eliminated from the race at this point. 

Back under green, Adams, who edged past Hodges before the yellow flew, moved in to challenge Smith for the lead. Then Hodges broke, which triggered the last  yellow of the race and led to a three lap shootout. 

Twice Adams threw sliders at Smith, trying to take over the lead but both times Smith fought him off. One last attempt on the final lap saw Adams take the lead into turn one, only to have Smith cross him over down the back chute, retake the lead and then drive on for the win. Adams made one last attempt off the final  corner but came up short for second, with Rodin finishing a strong third. Rob Mosley advanced from the fourth row to nip Bintz for fourth. 

Despite it being a Wednesday night, a large crowd was on hand for the midweek run. Drivers will get one last short break before the WWS concludes with a back to back to back finish on Friday through Sunday. 

Not to rub it in, but Phoenix set a record high temperature of eighty degrees on Wednesday and the rest of the week promises more of the same!

O'Neal Dominates, Adams Repeats and Dillard Gets DQ as WWS Continues

 The second round of the Wild West Shootout at the Central Arizona Raceway was held on Sunday, January 11th on a sunny but extremely windy day. Second day winners including Hudson O'Neal in the Late Models, Blake Adams in the X Mods and after a disqualification in the Modified class, Tyler Wolff was declared the race winner.

The car count was very similar to the Saturday grid with one hundred and sixty one drivers signing in to race in the three divisions that are a part of the WWS. Five drivers participated in the Sunday event for the first time with a couple drivers dropping out due to mechanical issues and other commitments. Probably the biggest "no show" was Saturday night Late Model winner Ricky Thornton Jr who had moved on to Tulsa for practice for the Chili Bowl which starts on Monday night. In his absence, the Adam Racing Team loaded up his car but it would have been interesting to see if they would have put another driver behind the wheel, just to see how the car would have performed. 

With the relatively late finish to Saturday night's show, Race Director Kelly Carlton laid out a few new rules at the driver's meeting. They do have a curfew at CAR and they pushed the envelope on Saturday night so to try and move things along on Sunday, all races would be under a time limit. However, the only race they did shorten to my knowledge was an X Mod B Feature that crashed its way down to just four cars and therefore they only needed to run two laps to rule it complete. 

Carlton implored the drivers to try and get off the track if they had troubles and cause a yellow flag and for the most part, the drivers did cooperate. For the second straight night, however, there were some issues with starts with lots of drivers jumping and races being called back. I think a chalk line would help greatly with this issues instead of a "firing zone" that they are using. 

It proved to be an expensive opening night on Saturday as among those already going to second cars were Bobby Pierce, Jake Timm, Tim Isenberg and Justin Duty, either due to mechanical issues or performance issues. Upper Midwest fans were disappointed to learn that Tyler Peterson, the exciting driver from North Dakota who ran for the first time with an open motor on Saturday, would be done for the rest of the WWS when iron filings were found in his oil and they decided to park the car. If someone was looking for a driver, he certainly would be the first one to look up for the rest of this series. 

With a strong wind blowing directly into the grandstands for the second straight night, the track prep crew really put down the water on Sunday. Unfortunately though, because of that they weren't able to have the track in race shape when cars were scheduled to hit the track and they actually got started later than they did on Saturday, with the long shows being the only part of the move from Vado that has been a problem so far. 

The format was the same as that used on Saturday with an extra B Feature for the Modifieds to bring those races down to a more manageable size. The track was fast for qualifying and Mike Marlar was the quickest so far this week at 14.845 seconds with Ryan Gustin, tonight with no deck issues, quickest in the second group. This track has proven to be very fast and somewhat misleading to look at. 

The most impressive moves in qualifying were a tenth to first run in and X Mod heat by Jacob Hodges and Jake Smith's tenth to first run in an X Mod B Feature. For the second straight night, Late Model dash winner, in this case Sam Mars, opted to race the feature rather than take the grand for the win and call it a night. Bill Schlieper is making out well so far on his sponsorship of this event as it has cost him nothing so far!

After some more "farming" of the track, it was the Late Models who were up first again for their feature race with twenty five drivers going forty laps on Sunday. With his chief competition in Oklahoma on Sunday, Hudson O'Neal dominated the Late Model event. Bobby Pierce did take the early lead and was up front for the first ten laps but following a debris induced yellow, O'Neal blew past Pierce to take the lead and would then hold the top spot the rest of the way. 

There was some good fighting for position behind him with Jonathan Davenport moving into second by the halfway point of the race as he passed Pierce with Mike Marlar and Drake Troutman next in line. Marlar started to pick up the pace, moving up to second and becoming the chief challenger to O'Neal. 

Twice following yellow flags, Marlar got close and did put pressure on the leader but each time he just couldn't quite make the pass and once a few laps were completed, O'Neal pulled away and Marlar's  opportunity was ended. 

One late yellow with six laps to go bunched the field, but O'Neal stepped away again from the pack and drove on for the win over Marlar. Pierce had slipped back but with a last lap drive, edged out Garrett Alberson for third with Davenport completing the top five. 

Blake Adams became the first repeat winner during WWS 2026 but he had to earn the win after he came from the third row and tracked down legendary Ken Schrader for the win. After his impressive heat race run, Jacob Hodges started on the pole but in the first corner of the feature his car shot straight up the track in front of the entire field with Hodges hammering the wall and nearly turning over. Somehow though, he kept the car going and was able to limp to the infield as the race remained under the green. 

With the scramble behind him, this was great news for Schrader who immediately built up a considerable lead. Scott Bintz moved into second with Adams challenging him for the spot. Several times Adams got to the inside of Bintz, finally moving into second by the halfway point of the race with Scott Tofte and Tyler Johnson next in line. 

While Schrader had nearly a half straightaway lead over Adams, Blake put the hammer down and began to reel in the NASCAR star. He attempted a couple of inside moves before going to the top side of the track and was nearly by Schrader when the lone yellow of the race saved him. 

However, the pressure was still on and with the drop of the green, Adams again went to the top side of the track and blew past Schrader to take over the lead, after which the sixteen year old then began to pull away. Adams received no challenges after that as he drove to an impressive win. Schrader was also alone in the second spot. 

For the second straight night, Jake Smith made a huge charge in the feature race. After starting nineteenth on the grid and with just a single yellow to help him, he drove up through the field, nipping Josh Cain on the last corner of the race for third with Johnson completing the top five. 

The Modified feature winner was not determined until a post race inspection. For all appearances, it was Cade Dillard that won the race. For the second straight night, he dominated the event, leading from start to finish. Despite an exceptionally strong field of open wheel cars, Dillard was dominant as he started on the pole after garnering heat race passing points and then pulled away from the field. 

Dustin Strand had a good run early, holding the second spot but he would eventually break down, with Tyler Wolff moving into the runner up slot. Four yellows in the first five laps slowed the action but then the last twenty went green to checkers. While Dillard was by himself, Wolff and Dustin Sorensen had a great side by side race for second, trading the spot back and forth. Blake Adams, who started twelfth, was also working his way to the front and was up to fourth by the halfway point with Jason Noll just behind him. 

The final half of the race saw Dillard pull away while the battle for second raged on. At the line, Wolff edged out Sorensen for second, or so it seemed. 

However, in post race technical inspection, both winner Dillard and third place finisher Sorensen had muffler issues and both were disqualified. The official finish then found Wolff the winner with Adams having quite the night as he was then ruled second. Following him were Noll, Rodney Sanders and Gabe Hodges. 

Post race inspections that result in disqualifications are always difficult, particularly when they are for non performance issues. However, I know that track promoter Brad Whitfield has had his share of issues with some of the neighbors since he took over the track and noise issues were among the biggest concerns. To allow him to continue operating what is now the most successful dirt track in Arizona, some concessions had to be made and mufflers were prominent in that resolution. And the rules regarding mufflers had long been posted before this event in the rules, so it should not have been a last minute surprise to the race teams. 

Perhaps a first for myself and probably the entire crowd, during the "farming" break before the main events, a barrel racing event was held in the infield of the track. Ten female competitors went at it to see who was quickest around the three barrels and then back to the finish line and the crowd seemed to find the unique activity interesting and entertaining. 

Racing was completed just about 10 pm and now the teams will take off a couple days to relax and enjoy some sun before a practice session on Tuesday night with round three of the WWS resuming on Wednesday. 

Thornton Jr Tops Wild West Shootout Opener at CAR

 Ricky Thornton Jr pleased the local crowd no end as he outdueled Hudson O'Neal in a back and forth battle to win the opening night of the Wild West Shootout held for the first time at the Central Arizona Raceway located near Casa Grande. 

Thornton Jr, originally from just up the road in Chandler, did much of his early racing at this same track and while it looks considerably different from when he raced here when he was starting his career, the folks on hand remembered him as he was a large crowd favorite here in the desert. 

Other winners included Cade Dillard in the Modifieds and Blake Adams in the X Mods. Drivers were on hand from a wide region for this Winter event with Dillard from Louisiana and Adams from Wisconsin. 

Most know of the significance of this year's race as the WWS moved back in 2026 to Arizona where it all started many years ago after having been held the last few years at the Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico. When Arizona again produced a first class racing facility for this show to be held, promoter Chris Kearns was more than happy to move the event to the region where it started over twenty years ago and had since moved around to several tracks in Arizona, with everyone of them now closed. 

Brad Whitfield's emergence as the promoter for what had been a closed Pima County Fairgrounds track and the significant improvements made by him and the Fair Board made it a no brainer to return this race to CAR, particularly after the weather was so dreadful last year at Vado that support for the event would likely have been very tepid if they were still there trying to fight off the snow. 

Even in the few years that I have been attending races at CAR the amount of improvements to both the track itself and the infrastructure have been eye opening. The latest round of improvements most eye opening were the new flag stand and its placement and the new gate in the middle of the back straightaway to the pits, thus eliminating the crossover back right under the pit stand that slowed things down as well as provided quite a safety hazard with so many people crossing right there along with all the cars. What is especially nice about the gate is that it is opened and closed when needed, thus not providing the hazard of an blunt opening that somehow, some racer always finds. 

One hundred and sixty four drivers signed in for the three class program on opening night of the WWS. As usual, there were a wide range of states represented for this event with many drivers from the Midwest joining the drivers from the Southwest region, primarily Arizona and New Mexico with a few California drivers sprinkled in also. 

Forty six Late Model drivers signed in for opening night, not at all different from the numbers we saw at Vado. The difference being that this year there were probably more nationally known traveling stars on hand with perhaps not so many regional drivers in the mix. 

The Modified field made a big jump with sixty eight drivers signing in. Both the number, which was one of the largest in recent years, and the quality was impressive. As in all the classes, just making the main event would be considered a success. 

The X Mod field would end up being just about the same, number wise, as last year. However, the make up was changed some this year. A rule change to try and even up the competition saw the Vado X Mods having to add one hundred pounds and remove their big spoilers changed things up a bit. Those changes perhaps, along with the distance from New Mexico saw the drivers from there down somewhat but this was balanced by an increase of WISSOTA drivers along with more local IMCA Sport Mod drivers in the field. Likely some of them will stay for racing the next two weeks for the IMCA Winter Nationals also. 

The pit area was busy, perhaps more than would be expected for opening night as both Reece Solander and Matt Micheli were changing motors in their Modifieds after problems on practice night on Friday. 

The format for the WWS would be the familiar one that they have used for years. The Late Models would qualify and then start their heats straight up with the top finishers moving on and the rest of the field added through a pair of B Features. Saturday would also be one of the days with the Pro Power dash and winner Kylan Garner would eschew the grand as the winner for the chance to race the feature. As he said, " I didn't come all the way from Missouri to watch the feature from the pits", or words to that effect. 

Both the Mods and X Mods would pull a pill for their heats and then passing points would be used for both classes. With the large fields, this produced for each class a pair of gigantic, Jeff Broeg approved B Features. 

Quick qualifier was a bit of a surprise as Eston Whisler turned a lap at 15.327 seconds as the third car out for qualifying with the track quickly slowing down after that. Thornton Jr was quickest in the second group but only after Ryan Gustin got penalized for a deck height violation that set him back a row for this heat race. 

Twenty one qualifying events would set the grids for the three main events with there being a major track prep session after all qualifying was over. The top two finishers in the Late Model heats redrew for their starting positions and then twenty five drivers rolled off the line for the fifty lap main event. 

Thornton Jr started on the pole and took the early lead with O'Neal moving into second and those two would pull away from the pack. The first fifteen laps went green until Ethan Dotson slowed with a flat tire, drawing the first slow down of the race. 

This would be an indicator that there would be tire issues for a number of drivers with Jake O'Neil, Tyler Erb and Garrett Alberson, all running in strong positions, also tripped up by flat tires. 

Following the first yellow, O'Neal made  a strong run up against the wall and blew past Thornton Jr to take over the lead. For over the next twenty laps, O'Neal would remain as the leader with Thornton Jr following, sometimes close and sometimes fading back a bit. It was tough to tell if he was just biding his time or was struggling to keep up. 

At the halfway point of the race, Erb was up to third ahead of Alberson and Drake Troutman but all three would later be out of the top five. 

The fourth yellow flew for Alberson on lap forty and following that, Thornton Jr turned up the wick, passing O'Neal and then pulling away from him as he continued to show the way through two more minor yellows, a pair of six in total, that slowed the race. 

At the finish, Thornton Jr was comfortably in front with O'Neal finishing second. The yellows, combined with bad luck from some of the front runners plus just good charges on their part saw Cade Dillard come from sixteenth to third, Gustin from eighteenth to fourth with Mike Marlar completing the top five. 

Only twelve drivers completed the fifty laps with many pulling off to save their equipment for the week ahead and now uselessly burn up tires. There was much bonus money on the line for lap leaders thus allowing Thornton Jr to go home with thirty eight thousand dollars for the win and O'Neal cashing twenty two grand for second. 

Rob Mosley, who dominated last year's WWS in the X Mod class, took the early lead in the twenty five lapper from the pole with Blake Adams quickly moving into second. Three quick yellows in the first four laps kept the field bunched but Adams, when racing resumed, began to pressure Mosley for the lead. 

On lap eight he would power past Mosley and then lead the rest of the way for a dominant win. Nearly twenty green flag laps of racing would follow Adams' pass and he gradually pulled away from the field. Canadian driver Curtis Stieh showed big speed early, coming from the sixth row to move into third by the halfway point ahead of another charger in Jake Smith followed by Josh Cain. 

As Adams sailed along, the long green flag stretch allowed Smith to continue to charge and he began to challenge the front runners, clicking off one after another. A late yellow bunched the field for a two lap sprint to the end, and while Adams remained in control, Smith continued his rush that saw him pass Mosley for second at the end. Cain worked his way up to fourth with Stieh completing the top five. 

For Adams, the sixteen year old that won over forty feature races last year plus a WISSOTA national title, it was a strong start to the season that would also see him finish strong in the Modified feature, teasing for a top five finish. Smith came all the way from eighteenth to second and with three of the top five finishers being WISSOTA cars, the Vado boys are probably already lobbying for a rules adjustment. 

Cade Dillard has been dominant at many Modified races in the past year or so and such was again the case here as night one wrapped up. He started on the pole after coming from the back to win his heat race and he led all twenty five laps to top the Modified feature. In this race, only two yellow flags slowed the progress and only three drivers failed to finish but Dillard was dominant. 

He led all laps with Solander starting and finishing second. Reece was strong enough to hold off all challengers for that spot but had nothing for Dillard, who ended up having a pretty successful opening night between his two feature races. 

On the change in this race was Tanner Mullens who was driving a car provided by Mark Dotson for this night's show. He started sixteenth in the feature race and gradually worked his way to the front. A late yellow with just five laps to go saw quite a scramble as both Gabe Hodges and Adams lost top five finishes to Dustin Sorensen and Gary Christian. 

Expectations of a large boost in fan attendance with the move to CAR this year were justified and a large crowd was on hand for the WWS opener with long lines of ticket purchasers surging the gates at 3 pm. However, out of towners were disappointed in the weather conditions as while the sun was shining, the temperatures were not that spectacular and with a wind warning for the areas and the unfortunate direction that it was blowing, it was as cold as an race I have been to in Arizona with all the Midwestern warm wear used and my feet still got cold! I did not check the weather at Vado but I don't think it could have been much different that what we endured on Saturday. 

Opening night stumbles led to a much longer race program than the usually tidy one provided by the WWS staff. The track was not ready at the advertised time and the track prep, probably needed due to the high winds, did take some time. The first race didn't hit the track until nearly 5 pm and it was almost 11 pm before the final checkers flew with much of the crowd having left the scene for the warmth of their vehicles by then. I am sure that quick measures will be taken by Chris Kearns to get things moving much better as the week progresses. 

Overall, the opening night was a big hit and did not disappoint.