Weiss Wins a Bizarre Wild West Shootout Finale

On a mostly sunny but cool late Sunday afternoon, the thirteenth annual Wild West Shootout concluded at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway between Queen Creek and San Tan Valley. It was one final shot for all three classes for the glory and cash of feature wins plus point titles(and bonus cash) were on the line in all three classes.

With several of the race cars done for the week due to various mechanical issues and a few of the drivers heading home early to avoid an impending snow storm in northern New Mexico, the car counts were down slightly in all three classes. However, with one hundred and eighteen cars signing in to race, there was plenty of talent in all three classes and the only noticeable difference was that there was only one X Mod B Feature and one less heat for that class.

Like the Toilet Bowl in Clarksville Tennessee and a few other big races, the winners of the feature races and the point champions all receive some very unique, one of a kind, trophies that are probably just as valuable in the long run as the cash they win. Especially impressive were the whiskey barrel trophies that the point champions won and all three feature winners on Sunday got their pictures taken and they had the chance to ride on a pair of Wild West steers. However, only Cole Searing showed that he has the moxie of a Wild West cowboy as he jumped right on to his steer while the other two feature winners and point champions struggled to mount up.

Drivers and crews battled right down to the wire as they made every attempt imaginable to get their cars back on the track for one more race before everyone packs up and heads home. Austin Kuehl, who flipped his car wildly earlier in the week, surprised when he returned to run the Sunday portion of the event and Jess Brekke, who spent all day Saturday working on his car while he missed both ends of that doubleheader, got his car repaired and raced one more time, rather than head back to Devils Lake North Dakota raceless this weekend. Justin Duty missed the second half of Saturday's show with a blown engine in his Late Model. However, they changed it and he was ready to race Sunday, only to plow the wall in time trials and end his Wild West Shootout. Don Shaw, who swapped cars because his new car was just not up to speed and then lost a driveshaft in his other car, had more problems in qualifying Sunday and missed that chance. However, he returned for racing later and would eventually qualify for the main event.

Track officials called for the wheel packing to begin a little earlier on Sunday than scheduled, recognizing that many people hoped to either get home early for the dreaded Monday morning work call or to get on the road early on their many hour drive home. With the qualifying complete and everything ready to go, they called for the show to begin early and many of the spectators that cut it close to the scheduled 5 pm start, found out that they had missed the makeup Modified feature that was rained out on Saturday night when the first green flat dropped at about 4:20 pm.

That makeup feature race provided a great three car battle for the lead and the win. With Ricky Thornton Jr on the pole, one would assume that if he could keep his car running, he would be the favorite as mechanical issues have cost him dearly this week. However, while Thornton Jr did take the early lead, he was soon challenged by Darrell Nelson for the top spot and then soon after that by Rodney Sanders. A great three car battle broke  out for the lead, only to see Thornton Jr again bail for the pits as they were racing three wide. Later we would find out that his motor was running hot and he was trying to save it, a plan that would later prove to be the smart choice.

Nelson then edged ahead of Sanders and despite Rodney's best efforts to squeeze back in front, Nelson would hold on for the win. Dustin Strand, still using a borrowed motor after two of his own failed him this week, drove from nineteenth to finish third with Matt Leer and Kody Scholpp completing the top five. Strand's run was even more impressive given that the race went nonstop for twenty five laps.

Nelson has been impressive all week but Sunday he finally got that feature win, trophy and black hat that he had been desiring. Nelson is driving an MB Customs car that Jimmy Mars raced last Fall in some area  events in the Wisconsin/Minnesota region and sports and engine from Tim's Automotive Machine in Bloomer Wisconsin, a combination tough to beat in "Cheesehead" country.

The X Mod feature was equally impressive with a great three car battle for the lead right down to the wire. In the early going, it was Canadian Austin Hunter and Cole Searing going wheel to wheel for a number of laps as the front row competitors remained locked together. Eventually, Searing was able to edge into the lead but he had Hunter challenging on the low side in every corner. Suddenly, Carriington North Dakota's Preston Carr came flying to the front as he was driving a very aggressive line on the high side of the track and making it work as he quickly reeled in the two leader.s

While they were busy battling each other, he continued to pound the cushion and with a bold move, blew past both of them to take over the lead. However, lapped traffic would be his downfall as he got stuck on the high side of some slower cars and slid high up against the turn four wall, which cost him two positions. Searing took back the lead and held off Hunter while Carr was just able to nip Sketter Estey at the line for third.

For the second straight year at the WWS, Searing has had a remarkable week. Three feature wins last year during the series seemed remarkable but this year, against an extremely strong field, he even upped that with four feature wins and the point title for the series. And even more remarkable is the fact that he just drives this car for the WWS and few other specials while focusing his Summer racing on his WISSOTA Super Stock, in which he has finished in the top five in national points the last two years.

It was another good year at the WWS as the WISSOTA Midwest Mods completed the week by gaining the top eight spots in the main and if it weren't for the huge delegation of northern cars in both the open wheel classes, there wouldn't be much else to run. And the northern group also brings their fans in droves too.

Rare too was the fact that on Sunday, not only did the X Mods run a twenty four car non stop twenty five lap main, but the nineteen car B Feature also went green to checkered!

Thornton Jr's decision to pull off in the first feature of the afternoon and save his motor proved to be a good one when he was able to win the nightcap for the Modifieds and become the only double feature winner in the division all week. Early on, it was Tyler Wolff and Dereck Ramirez battling for the lead until Thornton Jr moved in to challenge them. Wolff slid high, Thornton Jr took the spot and then did the same to Ramirez to take the lead. Once in front, he gradually pulled away and even when Rodney Sanders raced into second, He didn't have anything for the leader.

A late race yellow set up a three lap sprint to the finish but Thornton Jr pulled away for the win over Sanders and Ramirez. Strand and Nelson completed the top five with their solid runs and Nelson claimed the point title for the week, a proud moment for him in his long and distinguished career racing in the Minnesota and Wisconsin area.

The finale was the fifty lap Late Model main event as the field all chased the fourteen grand top spot while Bobby Pierce could harvest another twenty five grand in bonus money if he could take the win. And after redrawing to the pole, it seemed like Pierce was indeed in great position to earn some extra bucks. After Brandon Overton led the first lap, Pierce slid under him in turn one and took over the lead.

He then started to slip away from the field as he was running strongly. Scott Bloomquist, who started sixth, was on the move too as he used his low line to drive up to second but he was still a ways behind the leader. However, it seemed that mechanical issues were the only thing that could stop Pierce all week and once again it happened to him when he suddenly slowed down the front stretch on lap twenty eight, trailing rear end lube from his car. A quick check in the infield by his father Bob and it was the end of the night for "The Smooth Operator."

Bloomquist inherited the lead for the restart and he quickly pulled away from the field. Ricky Weiss had made some strong moves as he came from eleventh to race into second but he had nothing for the leader. However, then the unthinkable happened which gave this race its bizarre conclusion.

Bloomquist had already taken the white flag and was racing down the back straightaway by himself. However, going into turn three, R.C. Whitwell had spun his car which slid up the banking and when Bloomquist couldn't get stopped or turned fast enough, he slammed into the side of Whitwell's car hard. Bloomquist was able to get his car fired, but it had heavy body damage but didn't seem to be affected otherwise. However, per track rules, if you stop on the track you automatically go to the back and Bloomquist, without arguement, went to the tail of the cars on the lead lap.

Weiss inherited the lead with only two laps to go and he easily held off Brandon Overton and Brandon Sheppard for the win with Chase Junghans and Jimmy Mars completing the top five.
While Weiss was happy for the win, he seemed more stunned than anything else in victory lane as did much of the crowd and the Bloomquist "haters" seemed to even feel that he was deserving of the win except for bad luck.

So, the Wild West Shootout ended on a strange note but the finish will certainly give folks plenty to talk about over the course of the rest of the Winter for those not lucky enough to be headed for Florida.

It was a late arriving crowd on Sunday but it turned out to be a very good one for a date that typically doesn't draw quite as well as some of the other nights. Overall, the crowds were spectacular this year even with the weather issues and this racing series continues to grow by leaps and bounds every year. Dates for next year's event were announced on Sunday with Jan 11th, 2020 through Jan. 19th encompassing the six race series and rumors that the event may move to another track next year seem to be unwarranted A special "shout out" should go to all the track employees who worked above and beyond this year as they battled with the weather issues to make this the great event that it is as well as track management and the promoters who made the best of what was handed them by the weather. . 

Dillard Gets Impressive Win as Pierce's Hopes Blow Up(Literally)

Track officials led by Kevin Montgomery and the track prep crew did a great job following the afternoon race number four of the Wild West Shootout as they prepared the track for the night show. With the afternoon event getting done even earlier than planned, the hopes were to be able to start the evening event just a bit earlier than scheduled but it did some extra time to get the track ready for the evening race as they did some pretty major excavation to the surface which had to endure a tough afternoon of racing on it.

So, racing did not begin until just at the original advertised time of 6 pm, even though they had hopes to start perhaps up to an hour earlier than that. In retrospect, the hour difference would turn out to be huge later as events played out. It was not enough that the promoters had to worry about all the issues involved with the doubleheader program but now an additional monkey wrench was thrown into the works as rain was on the way. Seriously!!! What has happened to the sunny, warm weather that this event used to be graced by as rain as caused multiple problems for this series over the least couple of years. It's not supposed to rain in the desert, is it?

In any event, forty five X Mods, forty six Mods and forty three Late Models signed in to race on Saturday night with several casualties over the course of the week now being eliminated from competition for various reasons. And a couple of entries would be missing Saturday night racing as they made repairs for one last shot on Sunday.

Once again Bobby Pierce was quickest overall qualifier and would set the pace for his heat race which is certainly one of the keys to his success so far this week. The X Mods and Mods would go back to a draw/passing points format for the evening show with only the fender cars qualifying.

Heat races clicked off quite nicely and things were moving along at a smooth pace as the qualifying events continued. The track started to narrow up and the racing was somewhat uneventful. That is, until the water truck came out and misted the upper groove and that immediately opened things up and improved the racing exponentially, making for some very interesting . In fact, the second X Mod B Feature, won by Sketter Estey, may have been one of the best races of the entire week.

So things looked optimistic as the main events started. It was early, the track appeared fast and it looked like some good main events were on tap.

And then it happened. Just as the X Mod feature started, it started to rain. Light at first, it never truly was more than a hard mist for most of the time. The X Mods tried to race their way through it but the track started to get slick and after six yellows in the first six laps, they were finally forced to throw a yellow flag for conditions. I felt sorry for the X Mods and they continued to circle the track for what it seemed like forever. It was raining just enough to make the track  too slick to race on but wasn't truly what you would call a real rain either. So on and on the X Mods went, until they finally waved them to the infield. They almost got started once but just as they were ready to chase the maintenance vehicles off the track, the intensity picked up just a notch again. Finally they sent the X Mods to the pits.

Still we waited, as management was intent on getting the races in and after about forty five minutes of delays, during which many in the stands headed to their vehicles in the parking lot, the cars were called back on to the track to continue. The early scrambles of yellows had shook up the running order and by the time they got racing again, it was Cole Searing who had taken the lead. He was chased by Josh Cain but Searing was strong and never gave up his command of the event as he became a repeat winner this week. Skyler Smith had another strong run as he finished a strong third with the other #16 of Jason VandeKamp next in line and Steve Muilenburg completed the top five.

After a rushed victory lane ceremony the Late Models rolled on to the track. By this time the wind, which seems to switch directions at a moments notice out here, was blowing strongly right into the grandstand and watching the Late Models was a miserable experience with most fans huddled under their hoods, hats or other protective devises.

This was a potential money night for Pierce, as he was on track for his fourth feature win of the week which would have put him in line for a significant bonus and also bettered his chances for a weekend sweep. Pierce quickly grabbed the lead from Jimmy Mars and he looked to be in good shape early. He maintained a slight lead as he led Cade Dillard with Scott Bloomquist moving up to third.

Pierce's night turned into a nightmare as he blew a tire heading into turn four with seventeen laps in the book and he rolled to a halt, visions of dollar bills flying away like resolutions dropped on January 2nd. Dillard inherited the lead and things really got interesting then as Bloomquist sized him up and looked for an opening. The pressure was on for Dillard as he negotiated his way through lapped traffic.

Two big moments came up for the leaders as the laps rolled off. The leaders came up on Terry Phillips as they raced down the back chute with Dillard going high and Bloomquist trying to slip by on the bottom. Dillard was able to get to the banking through in turn three and fought off the challenge.

And then, with just a few laps left, Chris Simpson slowed on the front chute as he prepared to exit the track. Dillard dived to the inside of him and nearly got run right into the infield by accident but he managed by inches to slip through. He controlled the last couple of laps as he drove home for the popular win over Bloomquist and Hudson O'Neal. Ricky Weiss and Brandon Sheppard completed the top five while Pierce was able to race his way back up to ninth.

It was a very emotional victory lane ceremony for Dillard who was overcome with the realization that he has just won his most important feature race to date.

The Modifieds were last on the card on Saturday night and they tried to get their main event in also. However, after entering the track and making some preliminary attempts to start the race, the rain picked up just a little and at this point, everyone was ready to call the long day complete. The Mods will run their main off at some point on Sunday along with the finale for all three classes, with all classes running for their biggest purses of the week. Ricky Thornton Jr is slated to start on the pole for the Modified race after missing the afternoon show due to changing a motor.

Interesting to note from Saturday nights show: Terry Casey made the Late Model feature in what has been his first week of driving in the last eight years. Also, Cole Anderson had his best finish in the X Mods on Saturday. Anderson is a former winner in the Super Late Models on asphalt and a former winner during Speedweeks at New Smyrna Beach in Florida along with being a ARCA competitor before leaving the blacktop as being too expensive and moving to dirt which he said is much more fun!!!

Afternoon Delight For Ricky Weiss

Saturday afternoon, January 12th was the first half of an unusual day/night doubleheader at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway as the Wild West Shootout continued. Caused by an unfortunate rain out last Sunday, the doubleheader was the best way to get all six of the series events completed, giving the Late Model drivers a full chance to earn all the bonuses available for feature wins and also giving the Mod and X Mod drivers the maximum chances to race in this mini series.

However, it would be a very taxing day for everyone from the drivers and crews and fans to all the employees of the track who would be working some long hours both in getting ready to Saturday's doubleheader, having just raced the night before in a program that was one of the latest running ever in this series, to putting in all the hours during Saturday plus then getting things ready for Sunday's finale. It was a grueling day indeed.

Doubleheader events like these are rare indeed and usually created by some sort of weather phenomena although I can remember "back in the day" when some tracks would run day/night doubleheaders, often as part of a holiday event. Either way, they are fun but also stressful too.

The short turn around from Friday night's show had the unsung people of this whole enterprise, the pit crews, working ferociously on their cars to get them ready as the pit area was a beehive of activity. Many of the crews were asking each other when was the last time they were up so early in the morning on the night after another race! However, there was plenty of work to be done.

Another unsung group was the track prep crew who one wonders when in the world did they ever get any sleep at all this week? The track would have to be redone after Friday night's show plus extra prep would be needed throughout the day on Saturday with the demands to the surface from daytime racing. And then later in the evening the weather would throw another monkey wrench into things and even more stress would be placed on the prep crew for an entirely different reason.

Noted as I toured the pits during the morning was the fact that Chris Simpson had rolled out a back up car after his hard trip into the turn one concrete on Friday night. That car was just covered with a tarp and pushed off beside the trailer.

Also noted was the fact that Sketter Estey had repaired his X Mod after a wild flip on Friday night and that he would be back in action for Saturday afternoon's round. They told me they traveled too far to just sit and watch so they did the best they could to straighten out the car, which I'm sure will need more complete repairs at Mark Roine's TRC Race Car shop on Minnesota's Iron Range when they get home before they head to Humboldt Kansas to defend their B Mod title would last year. With only father Kelly Estey and members of the Jerry Vesel crew, who they shared a transporter with on the way down for help, they did quite an amazing job putting the car back together.

Sketter was hurting a bit himself as he felt that he either bruised or broke some ribs in the Friday night crash as he was more than a bit tender but he would later still tighten up the belts and go at it again.

The other two cars involved in big flips on Friday night did not fare so well. The cars of Jonathan Olmscheid and Austin Kuehl respectively, either got shoved into the trailer for the rest of the week or they loaded up and headed home.

Matt Gilbertson has proven himself to be the most versatile driver on the grounds this week. Reporting to "The Valley of the Sun" with just his helmet bag, first he drove the back up X Mod of Lance Schill to a fine feature race finish. When Schill wrecked his own car and took over Gilbertson's ride, Schill sent home for his Modified, which Gilbertson then drove to a top five finish too.

With Stoney Kruk taking over the Modified for this weekend, Gilbertson today took over the ride in the second X Mod from the George team out of South Dakota that Cole Searing has been driving for along with Brandon George in the second car. Once again, Gilbertson put on a fine show as he secured a top five finish in his third different car of the week with the only common denominator being that all three cars sported MB Customs chassis and that Gilbertson's own personal race car is also an MB.

Saturday afternoon's program would sport an unusual format in many respects. While the Late Model portion of the show was unaltered from normal, the Mods and X Mods would time trial and then both classes of cars would be split in half with no heats and two feature races for each group, started straight up from qualifying. This was done to help speed the show up, hoping for a quick afternoon program so that there would be more time for track prep between the two shows and for the most part, it worked out just fine and did save considerable time.

Things started out a bit shaky though as the X Mod and Modified drivers, many of them perhaps qualifying for the first time in their careers, needed a little time to "get their groove on" and figure out just how things were supposed to work. It didn't help when a water truck pulled on to the track right in the middle of a group qualifying session to do some track misting, not realizing that the group waiting to qualify was qualifying against the group that had now run on a totally different track! But eventually things were ironed out and the program started to flow better.

In fact,I'm thinking that next year they might consider using this format for the midweek show for a couple of reasons. The qualifying is something different for these two classes and something, that while I would dread to see it used too much, might be kind of fun for these drivers. But much more importantly, it gives every driver in the pits a chance to race a feature event and with the competition being so tough, there are a number of drivers that don't make a feature race all week. And this would be their chance to have a crack at it. I hope management would consider this for next year. 

Despite the best efforts of the track prep crew, the racing surface quickly became just what you might expect for day time racing on a sunny day. It managed to retain a wide racing surface for the first events but gradually got blacker and blacker with the low groove the preferred line. However, the racing slowed down considerably and so did the wrecks and yellows with at least two of the feature races going green to checkered. The lower speeds were much easier on the equipment and the successful driving styles were much different than at the previous shows.

With over twenty X Mods in each of their feature events, that would sound like a formula for disaster, particularly on a black and slick track. However, that was not the case at all with one of their two mains being a green to checkered finish. After having shown signs of speed but with mechanical issues plaguing him, Brock Gronwald, the "Brockstar" from Fergus Falls Minnesota drove to a win over this year's most successful X Mod driver once again, Cole Searing. Searing put on considerable pressure after Austin Ellis' bid to win the race ended when he tattooed the back stretch wall and Gronwald, who is "cushion pounder" normally, settled for the middle groove which teased Searing but he could never make a successful pass. Missouri's Steve Muilenburg finished third with Schill and Gilbertson next in line.

The non stop X Mod feature was dominated by New Mexico's Jaime Torres who started on the pole and drove away from the field, winning by nearly a straightaway over Minnesota's Skyler Smith, who just got into town to race this weekend's races as Matt Sparby brought his car down for him. Lucas Rodin, having a good week also, finished third with sore ribbed Estey next in line and Jason VandeKamp completing the top five.

The Modified mains also saw some different drivers grace victory lane. Perhaps the best drive of the entire day was carried out by California's D.J. Shannon. He started ninth in the first main event, the other feature that ran off nonstop, and he came charging through the field. Despite the fact that the track was pretty much low side dominant by the time the Mods raced, Shannon found a way to pass cars readily and charge to the front. Rodney Sanders had started on the front row and had built up a considerable lead but after Shannon got into second, he quickly closed in and Sanders was no match for him as Shannon blew past and opened up a big lead. It is very seldom indeed when you see Sanders with a lead like he had and then to be tracked down and passed. It was an impressive performance by Shannon. Joe Duval, who started on the pole, ended up third. Dustin Strand, who wasn't even going to race after suffering motor problems in both his engines, was offered a "loaner" motor at the last second and they were scrambling around in the pits until the last second completing the swap. However, he was rewarded for his trouble with a fourth place finish ahead of Bumper Jones.

Darrell Nelson started on the pole for the second main and it looked very much like he might secure his first win of the week. However, his car was just a touch off in the corners, enough so that Dereck Ramirez could get under him and then drive away for the win. Tyler Peterson had his Black Widow running well too and he grabbed the second place ahead of Nelson with Jake Gallardo and Alex Stanford completing the top five.

Of course, the big question in the Late Models was whether or not Bobby Pierce could win his fourth straight main event and harvest more of the bonus money being offered. However, that issue was truly settled early when, despite the fact that he held the pole for the first heat after being quick qualifier, he let Brandon Sheppard beat him in that heat. With track position being so important for the main, a third row starting spot would later make it hard to get to the front.

Speaking of Sheppard, he then redrew the pole for the feature on a track that started taking rubber in the low groove but he couldn't keep his car anchored to the bottom and Ricky Weiss was able to get under him and take over the lead. Once in front, Weiss led comfortably the rest of the way to beat Sheppard, Simpson, Chase Junghans and Pierce for his first win of 2019, a year in which much is expected of him. One only yellow was required in the race, for a medical emergency in the pits and surprisingly, only four drivers dropped out of the main, despite the tire burning exercise it turned out to be.

It was a quick show, just what management was hoping for so as to have more time to reinvigorate the track and from a spectator standpoint, a decent show for an afternoon event. There was no dust in the stands nor for the drivers, normally the largest concern for a day time race and certainly a better option than to just go with a five race series. For that the promoters should be thanked, as adding the extra race made for much more work for them. It should be mentioned that a big afternoon crowd was on hand and many more than I would have predicted, if asked. 

Pierce Continues To Roll In The Desert

Friday night, January 11th was round three of the thirteen annual Wild West Shootout at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway and for the first time ever in the history of this event, a driver dipped into the rich bonus money offered as Bobby Pierce won his third straight main event during this Winter series. With the tough competition that this series draws, the bonus money seems like it would be hard to earn, and indeed it has been for the years that it has been offered with to this point, no one able to harvest any of the extra money. That is, until Friday night when Pierce cracked open the bank for an extra ten grand with his third straight win and he is now half way home to the quarter million dollars on the line if he can win three more feature races here.

Friday night is typically the night when the car count is one of the highest of the entire six races series and so it was again this year. A total of eighteen drivers made their first appearance of the series so far and both swelled the pits and increased the competition level. With forty eight X Mods, fifty one Mods and forty six Late Models, it was the largest car count of the week so far with the Modified car count even topping any night from last year's run.

The difficulty level in the Mod class was also ratcheted up with Kenny Wallace, the Gallardos, Jimmy Ray, Alex Stanford and Zane Devilbiss making things that much tougher to both make the main and to indeed walk home as the winner. With that being said, both of the open wheel classes saw first time winners to go along with the sweeping Pierce.

As far as updates on cars being wrecked from Wednesday night and efforts to repair them, here's what shook out. Two out of the three cars that flipped were back in action on Friday. Both Casey Arneson and Kody Scholpp got their Mods fixed and both made the main event on Friday night. In fact, Scholpp made one of the best drives of the night, coming from twenty second spot to finish sixth in the main.

However, the X Mod of Adam Unrau, the other car to flip on Wednesday, was literally junked. They stripped off all the usable parts and pieces, picked up the frame and literally threw it in the trash back behind the track so If you're looking for a starter car for the Mods, there's one all waiting for you!

In other moves for Friday night action, Don Shaw gave up on his new car and rolled out the car that had served him so well last year. After a rocky start when he lost a driveshaft in time trials, he was able to rebound and qualify for the main. Ricky Weiss also rolled out a second car to use on Friday and he finished just out of the top five. Dustin Strand, who finished a smoking second in the Modifieds on Wednesday did indeed lose a cylinder that wrecked a piston so he was on motor number two on Friday. Unfortunately, just as he took the lead in a Modified heat, he had more motor trouble and his night was done.

With bigger car counts, management did go to a double B feature qualifying format but they still only ran four heats in each class. That made for a dozen or more cars in every qualifying race of the night and with only eight laps and passing points being used for the open wheel classes, it makes the heat races pretty brutal and every driver's mentality is to go to the front now which results in some wild action but also some torn up equipment. In fact, the double wrecker tows had to be used twice in the heats alone.

Pierce's win tonight was his toughest challenge of the week so far. He actually had dropped back to fourth early in the race after starting on the pole but he was able to fight his way back past Jimmy Mars and Hudson O'Neal and then set his sights on the front running Kyle Beard. Beard was having a great run and looking strong but Pierce gradually reeled him in as the race ran a number of consecutive green flag laps.

Beard's undoing was when he came up on a lapped car down the back chute and he couldn't decide whether to go high or low around the slower car. Eventually he dropped to the low side but he killed his momentum and Pierce stormed around the banking and had just enough room to squeeze past on the high side and take over the lead. Once he got in front he was able to stretch his advantage to take the win over Beard, O'Neal, Brandon Sheppard and a fading Mars.

Rodney Sanders has started out a little bit show this week but he got things going again in a positive direction Friday night with his first win of the week. He and Ricky Thornton Jr battled in the early going as they swapped the lead back and forth until Thornton Jr's car lost power and he was done for the night. There were several restarts during the race and on each one Darrell Nelson would challenge but Sanders would fight him off each time. Nelson had to replace the rear end in his car after breaking it on Wednesday night but he again ran strong.

Most spectacular was Tyler Wolff who started in the eighth row and in no time at all was in the top five and still going forward. However, he lost control and spun in turn one with a trip to the tail of the field his reward. However, that didn't slow him down and once again he made a strong drive back up through the field. He made a spectacular move down the back chute between Nelson and Devilbiss to take over second and he maintained that position to the finish. Nelson, Matt Leer, with his best run so far with his new MB and Devilbiss completed the top five.

The WISSOTA domination of the X Mods was finally ended with a strong run by Josh Cain who led nearly the entire event for the win. The point champion at Las Cruces, Cain started on the outside of the front row and after a brief battle with Lance Schill, took over the lead and maintained it through several yellow flags. Schill, who put the front end of his car back together after clobbering the wall on Wednesday night was finally rewarded with his first solid finish.

Things went from back to worse for WISSOTA two time champion Sketter Estey. He was battling for second when he hooked a bump in turn four that rolled his right rear tire off the wheel and in the resulting slide, his car turned over on its roof where it was then clipped by another car passing by. It was a scary looking wreck but Sketter was OK. However, his title winning car from last year did not look good and his week of racing may have ended prematurely. As the defending champion of the big B Mod race in Humboldt, he will want to either get this car fixed correctly or perhaps put a new one together.

Cole Searing made a charge from twelfth to get to third and it looked like he might get his third straight win too, but once he got to third, he couldn't challenge any farther. In fact, he had to fight off a determined challenge by Austin Ellis to even claim that spot with Steve Muilenburg, from twentieth, to complete the top five.

Besides Estey, Jonathan Olmscheid and Austin Kuehl both went for wild rides as the open wheel cars had another tough night of it and the numerous wrecks drove the show seriously late into the evening; much later than programs here typically run.

Tomorrow will be a grind for drivers, crews, fans and track workers with a doubleheader event slated. This rare combination, the result of a rain out last Sunday, will see the first round of racing begin at Noon with the evening show to commence as quickly as possible so as to beat off the chance of more rain coming in on Saturday night.

Pierce and Searing Repeat in Round Two of WWS

Round two of the Wild West Shootout returned to the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway on Wednesday night, January 9th. Without the postponed Sunday race, it fills like it has been an eternity since the last race here and in many ways feels like the series opener all over again. Under partly cloudy skies and cool temperatures, the drivers assembled again for another three division program climaxed by twenty, twenty five and thirty lap features respectively.

Car counts for night two were thirty nine X Mods, forty Mods and forty five Late Models. While the X Mods numbers remain higher for the second race compared to last years rounds, the other two division remain slightly down from last year. Unlike most of the years past, the number of new drivers that showed up to start their rounds for the midweek show was considerably smaller with only  six first time racers including just one in both the Late Models and X Mods. Actually, the Russ King prepped Late Model for Big Block Modified ace Mike Maresca has been on hand since last Saturday, waiting for the driver to make an appearance.

Track conditions were again fast but the issue of the bumpy corners still persisted. The first and second turns seem fine while the bumps continue on the other set of corners. They did move around a bit on Wednesday night though with some new ones appearing on the approach to turn four and while they are still there, it appears that the drivers have learned how to avoid them for the most part except for situations when they weren't able to avoid them. Mike Montgomery, who does the track prep for this series, has been working hard to rectify the situation but as they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day" and they continue to spend many hours doing track prep. A practice session slated for Thursday night may help to pound in the track too.

Let's discuss the Late Models first. As it does for most shows of its type, qualifying remains a paramount issue in having a successful night. With the fast cars starting up front in the heats, not putting down a good qualifying effort generally means a long night is ahead. Three of the four Late Model heat races were won right off the pole and of the sixteen available qualifying positions for the feature, only two were "stolen" by drivers not starting in the front two rows of each heat race. Therefore, while the X Mod and Mod heats have been scintillating with much passing and action, the Late Model heats have been high speed contests to get in line and follow each other around the track. While it can be said that the Late Model features have both produced some exciting racing when we have gotten to that point, one can only wonder what kind of action the Late Models could generate if they were allowed to run "mixed" up heats. Of course, this series started out with passing points in all classes back in the Tucson days, but a couple of "whiners" cried out loud enough and backed management into a corner that they were forced to change the rules and now of course, both of the biggest complainers no longer come out to Arizona anyway!

Pierce was again right on point from start to finish on Wednesday to earn his second feature win in a row. He qualified quickest for his heat, won that event and then redrew the outside pole for the main. After letting Chase Junghans get the jump on him for one lap. Pierce flew by for the lead and then led the remaining twenty nine laps in the nonstop contest. Brandon Overton moved into second and gradually reeled in the leader until he was within a couple of car lengths as the laps ran down.

He made a sliding attempt on the final lap but couldn't pull it off in turn one and then was the race as Pierce remained clean on the final circuit and drove home for the win. Amazingly, with the tough competition here, the top five finishing positions cars were the exact same five as on Saturday, although their finishing order was somewhat juggled.

As Pierce pointed out, now he is racing for fifteen grand to win on Friday night, as the bonus money starts to kick in for him if he can get to the three win plateau which only he has a chance at. Scott Bloomquist, a recipient of a wicked "slider" from Overton in the early going, fell back into the pack but then worked his way back up to third at the finish. Bloomquist has been trying to work the bottom groove of the track, along with a few others in an effort to make some passes, but again on Wednesday finally gave up and went to the cushion. I have been hearing from several drivers that the reconfigured corners have picked up the speeds but they are finding that the low groove is so flat that it is hard to pass down there and if everyone lines up along the cushion, it's a fast freight train but a freight train nevertheless.

Cade Dillard continues to impress in his MB Customs car while the stars of last year's show, Ricky Weiss and Don Shaw continue with their struggles. Weiss has been a mid pack finisher both nights while Shaw failed to even make the show on Wednesday.

You knew it wouldn't take Ricky Thornton Jr too long to figure out his new Modified and Wednesday night he made an early race pass on Tyler Peterson and then led the rest of the way for the win. There were numerous yellow flags in the race and that allowed Dustin Strand and Matt Gilbertson chances to catch up but on each green it was Thornton Jr who pulled away as he controlled the action to take the win.

Both Strand and Gilbertson were, however, noteworthy for their performance. Stand dropped a cylinder in his motor and it was making some bad noises and well as smoking heavily the last half of the race but somehow it hung together and he finished second. Earlier, Strand was electrifying the crowd as he came from tenth to second, utilizing a line through the corners that no one else thought to run and making it work very successfully.

Gilbertson proved that he is a master of both open wheel classes. Arriving in Arizona with just his helmet bag and no car, he caught a ride in Lance Schill's back up X Mod for Saturday's show and promptly finished a strong second in it. When Schill wrecked his own car on Saturday, he moved over to the car that Gilbertson had driven on Saturday for tonight's show. But being a man of many resources, he had his Modified trucked down to Arizona for tonight's show and Gilbertson was behind the wheel of that car tonight. Showing his moxie, he turned around and drove that car to a third place finish. The interesting thing is that Gilbertson was driving a WISSOTA legal Modified which means he was probably giving up a hundred horsepower to the open motors but he was still right there to challenge for the win.

A number of contenders didn't last until the checkered flag on Wednesday with Darrell Nelson, Rodney Sanders and Dereck Ramirez all dropping out with mechanical issues. Even worse, Saturday night's winner Casey Arneson, who fought through problems to even make the feature through the B, ended up going for a flip on the back chute after some cars got bottled up in front of him and he was launched into the infield and up and over. 

The X Mod field seems remarkably balanced, yet for the second straight night it was South Dakota's Cole Searing who took the win. He came from the third row to challenge early and it probably didn't hurt that challengers Brock Gronwald, Scott Bintz and Schill all dropped out early with various issues. For Schill, it was the second straight race where he hurdled his X Mod into the concrete wall and this car, the one that Gilbertson drove on Saturday, was heavily damaged also. New Mexico's Josh Cain, probably tired that the WISSOTA cars have been stealing all the glory, made a concerted charge from eleventh to second but on an open track, he couldn't keep up with Searing. Jason VandeKamp had a strong run too as he claimed the third position.

Only one more car than half the field completed the X Mod feature as unlike Saturday, there was much damage in both the open wheel classes. Many cars were dealing with major damage and there will be a lot of teams working hard tomorrow to get their cars back on the track for Friday night. In fact, there were three flips on Wednesday night as along with Arneson's wreck, the Mod of Kody Scholpp and the X Mod of Adam Unrau were both involved in flips with much damage to both and the two Canadians were treated rather rudely.

In an effort to speed up the show which is a big consideration for the midweek shows particularly due to neighbor complaints, all the Mods and X Mods were combined into just one B Feature in each class. This proved to be a big mistake as both events were caution plagued which dragged out the length of each but of greater concern, resulted in a high number of torn up cars. One particularly hates to see cars getting wrecked so early in the series which is both expensive and potentially can end a team's participation artificially early.

It was reported that the Wednesday night crowd was the biggest in the event's history which is a positive sign. Certainly there seems to be a lot of fans following the series this year and the fact that the Sunday show was dampened may have caused some people that might normally skip the midweek show to get their racing "fix" tonight.

From now on, things get very serious and perhaps more work than fun as over the course of the coming days, there will be four full shows of racing to be completed in just over forty eight hours. Drivers and crews will be stressed the rest of the way to keep their equipment upright and operational.

Wild West Shootout; Round Two Postponed

Round two of the thirteenth annual Wild West Shootout at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway was postponed on Sunday due to wet grounds. This did not come as a huge surprise to me as it had started raining fairly hard before I called it a night on Saturday night and when I arose on Sunday morning it was still raining fairly steady. It did stop soon after but there were still a few times when it would drip for a few minutes and it remained very overcast and cool as the morning progressed.

I had talked to a track official on Saturday about what the odds of them racing on Sunday were, based on the amount of rain weather experts were stating would fall. He felt that they could race but the potential trouble areas would be the pits, not the track itself.

I'm not sure if it indeed rained more than they had planned for but there was certainly an issue with the pit area and the approaches to the track. We took a spin out to the track after the program had been postponed just to see how things looked and it was a muddy mess. There would have been no way that they could have gotten the cars through the pits and run off any kind of a program. Many of the haulers are currently stuck and won't be going anywhere, even if they wanted to head out.

I'm not a believer in all the "black helicopter" theories, but I'm being to wonder if the Arizona Speedway has some kind of a jinx over it. All the years I attended this event at the U.S.A. Raceway(or whatever name it was going by at the time) in Tucson and we never got rained out a single time. If fact, I remember one night when it was misting but it was so light that they ran the whole show off while it continued to do so. This is the third year for the event at the Arizona Raceway and this is the third time that the rain has already spoiled the action.

However, I was pleased and hopeful when they made their announcement and called it a postponement and not a cancellation as that indicated that they were trying to find an avenue to still hold the race at some point. Later in day they did indeed announce what plan B would be.

They will now hold a doubleheader event next Saturday with full programs in both the afternoon and evening to go along with already scheduled events next Wednesday and Sunday. However, due to time restraints next Saturday, that program will be slightly modified with the X Mods and Mods doing timed hot laps that will set their lineups. In an attempt to speed up the afternoon program, those two classes won't run heat races and B features and will instead run double feature races. This way, both classes will still get to run six nights of racing and the good news for both classes is that everyone will make a feature that afternoon with no one left on the sidelines and all getting to run a main event. While some will not like the fact that those two races will now be started heads up by time, at least there will be a complete number of shows for those two classes rather than perhaps dropping them from the Saturday afternoon event. The Late Models, meanwhile, will run a complete and full program using their normal qualifying procedures. Then, on both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, they will go back to their normal qualifying procedures.

It will make for a hectic time for the racers and their crews with three shows crammed in such a tight time window but that certainly beats the alternative of not getting to race at all. I'm suspecting that part of the reason they chose to run the doubleheader on Saturday was that typically the crowds are considerably larger for the weekend shows as opposed to the midweek shows and after all, the promoters are putting on this event to make themselves a few bucks(hopefully) too. They also stated that it is tough to get their track crews fully manned for midweek shows because of work commitments and that seems reasonable to me also, particularly on the short notice that this schedule change would require. And also the fact that they have moved their practice night from Tuesday to Thursday also tells me that they are afraid that things won't be dried off completely until Wednesday which would make a Tuesday night makeup a mote point.

Typically also there tend to be quite a few new entrants that show for the first time on either Wednesday or Friday night and this change might spur even more of them to come, knowing that they will get to race five of the total number of shows originally scheduled.

I give full credit to the promoters for working with the drivers an making their best attempt to make a tough situation work as smoothly as possible. Drivers pulled a long way out here to race, and they want to run as many times as they can. Fans have traveled a long way for the same reason. The promoters will likely come out better if they get the full number of shows in but this change also creates a number of headaches for them and we should all be pleased that they are willing to go through the work involved to make this all happen.

Now lets just hope for some drier weather, sunny skies and warmer temperatures. Is that too much to ask for?

Pierce, Arneson and Searing Top Night One at Arizona Speedway

Late Saturday afternoon, race number one of the thirteenth annual Wild West Shootout at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway took place and about four hours later three opening night winners had been crowned. Making their way to victory lane after the opening night action was completed were Bobby Pierce, Casey(Duece) Arneson and Cole Searing. All three feature races were highly contested with plenty of battling back for forth for the lead and for positions right behind the leader and the large crowd was very entertained by the opening night action.

Opening night car counts saw forty six Late Models in the pits along with forty Modifieds and forty six X Mods. Car counts were up four from the opening night event last year while the Mods were down eight and the Late Models down four although there was a car in the pits for New York's Mike Maresca but he has failed to show up just yet after completing some indoor racing on the East Coast over the weekend.

Weather was an issue for the opening night of this racing series with various agencies predicting that the rain could start any time from 7 pm to 11 pm (they covered their bases quite nicely) and race management was well aware of this possibility and did everything possible to keep the show moving. At the driver's meeting it was announced that the Late Model dash, which will be held on three nights of the series, had been postponed from tonight to be held during the Friday night meet just to keep the action moving. It was emphasized just how important it was to line up quickly both when starting races and when restarting events and they held to that credo, keeping things moving all night. The only "downer" was that neither Searing or Arneson got to shoot off the revolvers after their feature wins, a tradition of this event that was foregone again just to keep things moving with only Pierce getting to celebrate after all was said and done. They even started the races about ten minutes early as everyone was ready to go so they dropped the first green and those fans who like to cut things close probably missed the first couple of heat races before they found a seat.

Other topics covered at the driver's meeting included a new set of "firing cones" in turn three that drivers had to fire at and if they hadn't "pulled the trigger" by the time they crossed the second cone, Race Director Kelly Carlton was going to call for the green whether they fired or not.

Mufflers are a big issue here this year as the track continues to get complaints about noise issues even though the nearest houses seem to be miles away. Apparently the sounds carry a long way on the desert. In any event, the mufflers and tires will be the big issues this year and "Super Fan" Ron Rodda tells me that the rules are much more liberal here on decibel levels than they are in California where a trash compactor may be dq'd for being too loud!

The other big thing was to make sure that the teams stayed herded in their "penalty box" on the inside of the front chute if they felt the need to signal with their "sticks" to the drivers as they raced. Noted was the fact that there was only one X Mod that chose to go that route, no Modifieds but an infield packed with "seeing eye dogs" for the Late Model drivers when they hit the track. Another "monkey see, Monkey do" strategy that is so prominent in racing.

Promptly at 3:30 pm the first set of hot laps takes to the track and after the X Mods and Mods hot lap the Late Model forgo practice, instead moving right into group qualifying. Pierce, as the third car out, would serve notice that he was quick as he timed in at 14.769 seconds to set the standard for the night. Late Models would line straight up for their heats and qualify in that manner while the X Mods and Mods would draw numbers and then use passing points to determine their starting order for the mains and last chance races. And this does make a difference. While we did see some spirited battles for position in the Late Model heats, it was drivers racing side by side to hold their positions while in the other two classes we saw some real charges from the back of the pack to the front. For example, Arizona rookie driver Austin Ellis started eleventh and charged all the way up to fourth in his X Mod heat that allowed him to earn a second row starting spot in the main event while we saw no such charges like that in the Late Models. But that's the way the Late Model drivers wanted it and management acquiesced several years ago and that horse will never be led back into the barn again.

After a series of heat races that included four for all three classes and B Features, the fields were set for the three main events. Some sprinkles started to fall during the X Mod feature from time to time and again returned later but none were of the heavier variety and the few times it did start to drip, it was not nearly hard enough to affect the racing. But it did reinforce the fact that the show must move on quickly.

Heat winners redrew in the Late Models and the front row showed Hudson O'Neal and Chase Junghans up front. After a first lap yellow, nearly half the race was completed before the yellow waved again and there was some intense racing going on among the top eight or so drivers with Junghans holding the lead but being pressured by Pierce,  O'Neal, Chris Simpson, Brandon Sheppard and others. Soon they were joined by Jimmy Mars, Cade Dillard, Scott Bloomquist and Ricky Weiss who started to join the top group also as there was some real heavy battling going on.

Pierce was able to drive into the lead and as Junghans slipped back slightly, Sheppard moved into second and looked to be ready to charge. Then it was Dillard who picked up the pace and he looked like he would challenge for the lead. A key moment took place on lap twenty five when Weiss and Junghans got together, triggering a yellow and also triggering Junghan's ire.

This brought the field back together and a challenge to Pierce by Sheppard was expected, but Bobby was up to the challenge as he was able to pull away slightly as he was riding the banking and extremely fast. Bloomquist then started to flex some muscle as he got under Sheppard for second while Pierce still had a little breathing room. However, Pierce was approaching lapped traffic and a particular car that he had actually side slapped earlier when he got into traffic loomed directly of him again. Things got very tight the last couple of laps as Pierce couldn't get by the slower car and Bloomquist reeled him in. Coming off the last corner, Pierce got stuck on the outside and Bloomquist made a heavy charge on the bottom and as they crossed the line, it was very close indeed. Since Pierce's transponder had stopped working mid race, it was up to the Dirt on Dirt crew to show the replay and it verified that it was Pierce by a nose for the win with Sheppard in third over Dillard and Brandon Overton, in his first ride in the Coulter car. It was an entertaining race with only three yellows to slow the forty lapper.

Bad luck struck Tyler Peterson as he couldn't get his car to fire and so the Modified feature field started twenty three cars for their twenty five lap event. This was another intense race with front row starters Arneson and Derrick Ramirez having a great battle for the lead as they fought back and forth,  trading the top spot between them. Ricky Thornton Jr was on the move and suddenly it became a three car battle for the lead. Just when it looked like Thornton Jr was ready to make a move, he slowed dramatically on the front chute and rolled into the pits.

While the top two continued to go at it, slowly moving forward was Darrell Nelson. A first timer here in the Desert, Nelson was driving a car owned by Jimmy Mars and one that Mars raced is a few races at special events back home in Wisconsin last Fall. Plain as plain could be, the car was nevertheless fast and Nelson is a veteran wheelman with accomplishments as long as his arm in the Upper Midwest area even though he might be unknown to local fans.

As Ramirez seemed to slip back just a little, Nelson drove past him to take over second and he seemed to be closing slightly on Arneson. And a late race yellow when Christy Barnett hammered the front stretch wall gave him his chance. However, Arneson was strong on the restart and on the final three laps he pulled away as he drove to a most impressive win in his Vanderbuilt chassis. Ramirez hung around for third and was followed by Dustin Strand and Tyler Wolff who looked very fast during preliminary action.

An interesting side note to Arneson's win was the fact that he was using a crate motor under the hood of his car. However, it was a 525 crate and not the motor that most IMCA drivers run these days. Still, it does give pause to those that are spending considerable amounts of money on open USMTS spec engines to run this sanctioned event.

The X Mod feature was also a very intense race although that intensity slopped over in the form of a considerable number of yellow flags needed to complete the twenty lap distance and the yellow bunting flew seven times for mostly spins and one hard crash.

In the early going it was wild with some unusual circumstances. The first corner was a cluster run with cars going in every direction as all lines around the track were packed like a Los Angeles freeway. Josh Cain, who came from the second row to make a wild dive into the lead, suffered a flat tire  and was forced to change it while outside front row starter Austin Hunter spun and went to the back too.

On the restart, Jason VandeKamp, a previous winner here last year had worked up to the second row when he suddenly headed to the pits also as the running order continued to shuffle. As some green flag racing took place, it was the team cars of Lance Schill and Matt Gilbertson battling with the likes of Cole Searing for the top spot.

Schill, always an aggressor, made a strong move out of turn two to take the lead briefly before the concrete wall came up to say hello, and he clobbered the wall and then was clipped for good measure by Dane Durbin which finished the night for both cars and may have put Schill's MB in the trailer for the week. However, Schill had loaned his back up car to Gilbertson who was without a car to drive this weekend and his "loaner deal" may have been a short one.

Suddenly, it was defending champion Searing that flexed his muscle and despite a number of yellow flags that bunched the field, Searing was always dominant on every restart and pulled away from Gilbertson to score the win. Lucas Rodin made a great charge from eleventh to finish third and was followed by two time WISSOTA national champion Sketter Estey  who came from thirteenth to fourth. Missouri veteran Steve Muilenburg rounded out the top five as WISSOTA drivers took eight out of the top ten finishing positions with nearly half the starting field gone by the time the checkered flag waved as the X Mod pit area will likely be the scene of much pre race activity on Sunday.

Searing dominated this division here last year and once again is off to a strong start with his MB chassis. The interesting thing is that Searing only races this X Mod here in Arizona and at a very small number of large events back home as he focuses on the WISSOTA Super Stock class at his area tracks where he is a very accomplished racer, finishing the top five in national points in both of the last two years. For those that don't know, a Super Stock is much like a Pro Stock or Limited Late Model with a 350 two barrel motor and a stock front clip.

Racing here is of the "elbows up" variety as there is no finessing a race car around the Arizona Speedway. While it doesn't look like a high speed track, the generous banking and wide corners allow many different lines to attack the track and they really make some speed here. Many in the pits afterward were commenting on how hard everyone has been racing so far this week. Somewhat surprising so far also has been the less than smooth nature of the track so far. That has not been an issue in previous years but there were some considerable bumps and holes in the track on Saturday but the trick was to avoid them as slowing down was not an option.

Still desperately needed at this track is a scoreboard, if for no other reason than to monitor the lap situation. It is very surprising with the number of special events that this track holds for both fendered and open wheel cars under various sanctioning bodies that there isn't some kind of scoreboard on site.

Calling the action for Dirt on Dirt and the live fans in attendance has been Ben Sheldon and Dustin Jarrett with commentary. They have been joined this year by Ruben Mireles who has been doing the X Mods. Sheldon remains the standard that all track announcers should strive to reach. 

Wild West Shootout Practice Begins

Friday night, January 4th, the thirteen annual Wild West Shootout at the F.K. Rod Ends Arizona Speedway near San Tan Valley began as over one hundred and twenty cars took to the oval for practice sessions that began at 6 pm and lasted for three hours. Drivers in the three classes participating in this six event series including Late Models, Modifieds and X Mods were all out on the track during the course of the three hour session with virtually every car in the pits taking at least one shot at the oval before they called a halt to the proceedings just after 9 pm.

All three classes were well represented during the practice sessions with drivers from far and wide on hand, including the usual hardy delegation from North of the border in Canada with drivers from both Manitoba and Saskatchewan on hand. Another particularly well represented area was North Dakota with many of their drivers in all three classes ready to go for this weeks worth of racing. Iowa race fans might be just a bit disappointed as so far only Chris Simpson is on hand to represent the Hawkeye State  with drivers such as Justin Kay, Jason Rauen, Ryan Gustin and Brad Dierks, who all raced here last year, not in attendance so far. Of course, there will also be a number of drivers that show up for tonight's first race and indeed, throughout the week, that have not been on the grounds yet this year.

It would appear that the Late Model field will be similiar in size to last year's group of fifty as unofficially, forty three Late Model drivers took practice sessions last night. The list of drivers on hand was a stout one including such names as Simpson, Pearson Jr, Alberson, Phillips, Sheppard, Junghans, Overton, Shaw, Pierce, O'Neal, Mars, Dillard, Bloomquist and Weiss all on hand along with plenty of other regional stars and local drivers from the Arizona area.

Arizona Speedway seems to prep their race track unlike any other in the country when it comes time for a night of practice sessions. Most tracks seem to run their tracks dry and slick on nights like this, certainly in part to help the tracks get firm and prevent ruts and bumps from forming as a prelude to a long week of racing. Not Arizona Speedway however. They till the track up beforehand and water it generously and it is bad and fast for practice sessions. In fact, the speeds turned by all classes of cars were blinding fast on Friday night(in fact, perhaps, too fast). Everybody is bad fast these days on a tacky track and it's only when the track dries out that drivers begin to find out just how their cars handle and what they need to do to make them so they can pass other drivers. What we mostly saw was a speed exhibition on Friday night and there were many that were flat out flying around the three eighth mile oval. In fact, the track built up a healthy berm as the evening progresses and how many times can you say you've seen that happen during a practice night? Usually it's just the opposite with tracks tending to get dry and slick up like ice.

However, Kevin Montgomery, who does the track prep here for this event, is a Sprint Car guy and he likes to prep a track so as that it builds up a healthy cushion which they periodically knock down and perhaps one of the few criticisms I've ever heard about this event is that they tend to "rip" the track too often to keep it bad fast and it gets just so fast that it is hard to pass on. However, since not a single lap of racing has been turned in competition yet, we'll wait to see just how this all plays out.

Among the quickest under the clock were Brandon Sheppard in his family's car, Brandon Overton in the Coulter car, Bobby Pierce back in his family's car, Hudson O'Neal and Cade Dillard. Of course, new to the desert this year is Scott Bloomquist and he finally came out for the last practice session of the night. Interestingly to me, he ran a groove totally different than anyone else as while all the other cars were pounding the cushion and getting big speed, he was experimenting with running the low groove which was not as fast on Friday night but will be where the passing will need to be done when real racing begins on Saturday if track conditions do not change. And with a cloudy and cool forecast for Saturday, this might very likely be the case as if conditions hold and the track builds up a berm, everyone tends to line up on the outside and blast around the track, making passing tough and the only way to gain positions is to drop low and work under other drivers. Stay tuned for Saturday to see how this plays out.

Of note, R.C. Whitwell was driving a car owned by Jessie Hoskins from Oklahoma and it was reported that R.C. is now residing in Longdale. USMTS star Stormy Scott was making laps in his new Bloomquist car and with both Stormy and his brother Johnny leaving Modifieds, USMTS head Todd Staley will be losing two of his biggest stars for the coming season. Wisconsin's Steve Isenberg, who hasn't raced in about three years has come out of retirement, having grown tired of spending his retirement hours fishing, he purchased a new Rocket chassis that he will drive in open shows as he desired. He will be teaming with Terry Casey, a driver many remember from the national tours from a few years ago himself as one of the most exciting drivers around. They will take turns driving the car will Casey likely to see most of the duty when they race in Florida. At this point they haven't yet decided whether that will be in East Bay or Volusia. Steve also noted that his son Tim, who also did much Late Model racing and got out of it just about the same time as his father, will also return to racing this year, doing mostly weekly shows and running other WISSOTA special events as Tim now runs the family business. Ricky Thornton Jr will be driving a car owned by Casey Skyberg from South Dakota this week. Colorado's Dean Moore has also come out of retirement to return to racing with a new Rocket chassis.

It is possible that the Modified field might be just a bit smaller this year than previous years. Approximately thirty three of them practiced on Friday night will others still likely on the way but a number of regulars from years past likely won't be on hand this year. Minnesota drivers Shane Sabraski, who hasn't received his new Lethal chassis yet and Matt Gilbertson, who sold his car, both will be missing this year. There will still likely be several Las Cruses cars show up that didn't practice on Friday. Iowa Modified fans, who have grown to enjoy the racing of Ricky Thornton Jr, may be interested to know that he has switched chassis brands once again, as he will be driving a new Lethal chassis by David Stremme this year. The Lethal chassis has come to be one of the hottest on the market recently.

It would seem that the X Mod field for 2019 will be larger than most years. With forty seven of them practicing on Friday, that is nearly as many cars as they had race any night last year and surely there will be a number of local and regional drivers that will be added to the field once real racing begins. Once again there are a large number of drivers from Minnesota, South and North Dakota in this class as they look to get away from Winter's blasts and get some early racing action in. Also, there appears to be one of the strongest fields of Las Cruses cars ever on hand this year with most of that tracks' high point cars from last year present as well as four of the top six drivers in WISSOTA national points last year on hand too. A new driver in the desert this year is 2017 WISSOTA national rookie of the year Calvin Iverson. He brought two cars to shake down as well as Modified ace Dave Cain to guide him this week.

Even though there was a lot of high speed practice sessions going on, the attrition rate was surprisingly small. Other than a couple of flat tires and a bent front bumper on Lance Schill's car, the only real mechanical issue observed was when South Dakota's Troy Randall spit out a driveshaft on his X Mod. It may also have damaged the transmission as there was a lot of liquid left on the track in his wake.

A large crowd of spectators was on hand for a practice session as there would appear to be many people from out of the local area on hand for the races. It was sunny but cool day and after the sun set it got quite nippy. Saturday brings the threat of rain showers at markedly different times of the evening, depending on the source one monitors so it will be incumbent that the track crew here, led by Chris Kearns, crack off a rapid program and that is one thing that they can do very well.