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.
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