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.
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