The fifteenth annual Wild West Shootout kicked off on Saturday afternoon, January 9th at the Arizona Speedway near San Tan Valley Arizona. This race, that started out rather humbly with the thought to give racers from all parts of the country something to do in the Winter and an excuse to get away from the cold and snow in the Midwest has grown at a huge rate, particularly when it moved here to the Phoenix area from its last home down in Tucson. Tucson is a fun city to visit but the racing in that area has suffered over the years from some shaky track promotion which turned off the drivers and they lost much of their local fan base. It also seemed that many of the racers had more connections to the Phoenix area which also included the visiting drivers and their families and particularly the spectator participation has really taken off after the move to Arizona Speedway.
So far this year it seems like the very early season races have all been big hits this year as it feels like both racers and fans have been waiting nearly a whole year to "bust out" and do things and that was reflected once again here this afternoon by the opening race which drew a tremendous field of cars and a packed grandstand full of fans.
Car counts were very strong with forty six X Mods, sixty six Modifieds and fifty nine Late Models signing in for the opening night of action. The X Mods are a mixture of WISSOTA Midwest Mods, USRA B Mods and the Las Cruses rules for their X Mod class, which used to be the dominant provider for cars when the racing was held at Tucson. That is not the case any more however as that group is in the minority but their more open rules have caused things to become a mess in this class. You now see perfectly legal Mid Mods and B Mods but unfortunately a growing number are using this opportunity to "cheat" out their legal cars to X Mod rules with many now running tall spoilers and "tricked out" bodies that would never fly back home. This class is currently out of hand and needs to be reined in soon before it is perfectly crazy. I am told that next year Vado Speedway Park will be fully USRA sanctioned and then the X Mod rules will go away and perhaps some sanity will be restored as legal MidMods and B Mods seem to race perfectly well together without a lot of the other added sheet metal. It has gotten so bad that none of the local Sport Mods even show up and the entire field is made up of visitors so in that regard it is amazing that they have as many cars as they do.
The Modified field is really a power house one this year with awesome numbers and quality perhaps unsurpassed for any previous series events. Every qualifying event is a battle ground for this class and certainly not one for the weak of heart. I do applaud that they use passing points here as opposed to the draw/redraw method which quite frankly is just not fair when dealing with large and balanced fields such as this one. At least under the passing points formula drivers have the ability to race their way into the main event, even if their draw is an unfavorable one.
Of course, the Late Models could not be as progressive in that regard as they still are stuck in the "old ways" with qualifying and then running the heat races straight up. But as long as we talk about this issue, it will never likely change unless someone comes along with lots of money for a series and brings along a few progressive ideas about making the racing more interesting, such as promoting passing rather than trying to discourage it.
The Late Model field too is one of the strongest that they have had in years too. The World of Outlaw Late Model races next weekend in Florida took away four or five of the strong runners in this event but fears about the strength and numbers of the field in the aftermath of that decision were unfounded as there are plenty of the biggest names in the sport on hand plus a bunch of new and refreshing faces that have joined the field this year. All in all, there is just about everything that a race fan could want and that is whey this series just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Practice was held last night with I'm told blazing speeds attained and much money flushed down the drain also. At least two name Late Model teams had to change motors last night or today with problems already and folks, that's about one hundred grand spent to not earn a single dime! Late Model racing is definitely not a poor man's game anymore and that is probably why local and weekly racing in this class struggles these days.
Qualifying events consisted of heats and B Features for all three classes. They like to move the program along here and thus the heat races and B Features are all jammed with many cars. Jeff Broeg would have been in his glory here with only two B's in each class which meant that most of the B Features had nearly twenty cars in them fighting for a very few spots. Difficult odds for most and also the formula for wrecks and such but it does help to move things along.
X Mods came to the track first for their main event and it was two Minnesota drivers, Brock Gronwald and Parker Hale, from opposite ends of the state, battling for the lead in the early going. North Dakota's Preston Carr was challenging them on the high side until he overshot a corner, clobbered the wall and was done.
Gronwald and Hale continued to press for the lead until they were joined by North Dakota's Jory Berg, making his first appearance at this event. He dove to the low side and was able to pass both his challengers for the top spot and then held on for the win. Several yellows slowed the action and following every one Gronwald press to repass, one time turning Berg sideways on the front stretch after contact but both raced on and Berg held on by a couple car lengths for the win with Hall followed by Shane Sabraski(running both open wheel classes) and Jake Smith.
Here is where I get to brag just a bit as four of the top five cars and seven of the top ten were regular WISSOTA racers, the drivers that I get to see every week at home in the upper Midwest although winner Berg's car didn't look too much like it did at home with its big spoiler, engine cover and other somewhat radical looking sheet metal. I doubt that made the difference but that big spoiler probably didn't hurt.
The Modified feature was dominated by East Grand Forks Minnesota's Dustin Strand. Strand started on the pole and led the entire twenty five laps and he was strong from start to finish as he maintained a several car length advantage throughout, no one was truly able to press him and even restarts didn't bother him against the strong competition.
Early on he was challenged by Tyler Wolff and Rodney Sanders and then Lucas Schott moved to the high side to take over second. It looked like he might provide the ultimate challenge but once he got to about three car lengths behind Strand, he just couldn't get any closer, no matter what he tried. Late in the race Sabraski was on the move and he drove past Sanders to get third and was coming on Schott when the checkered flag waved. Tyler Peterson rounded out the top five.
Once again I "honk my own horn" here as finishers one, three and five were WISSOTA weekly racers with five of the top ten also being from that sanction.
"Super Man", Jonathan Davenport led all forty laps to win the Late Model main although he was under constant pressure from adopted Iowa son Ricky Thornton Jr from start to finish. Thornton Jr was all over Davenport, getting beside him several times and one time making a pass for the lead that was negated when Davenport crossed him back over before they reached the scoring line. Garrett Alberson had a good run early until he faded following a restart and Brian Shirley than make a strong push to get to third.
Tyler Erb, Bobby Pierce and Mike Marlar were all slightly disappointing as they had strong starting spots but really didn't do a whole lot. Chris Simpson, one of those that had to change a motor, was steady in his charge and on the last corner he dove under Cody Laney to get fourth at the line. Laney was certainly the surprise of the event with a solid top five finish for the former Modified racer.
Conditions are tough right now here in Arizona health wise and I was concerned right up to the last minute that this whole event could be cancelled due to the health concerns surrounding it. Masks are required both in the pits and in the grandstands and everyone was required to have their temperatures taken.
They are serious indeed about the masks and I was told that security, after several warnings, told one team if they didn't mask up that they were going to escort them right off the property. The problem here is that this track is on government land thus all the rules of various governmental entities must be enforced. Someone with a "score" to settle against racing, the local track and their ongoing noise issues or any one of a hundred other reasons that makes a complaint for not following the masking rules could get this whole thing shut down. But still there are jack asses that roam the grandstands blatantly not following the rules and putting the whole show in jeopardy due to their own ignorance and selfishness.
Opening night was a good one yet they will continue to push and try to get the show done just a bit earlier the rest of the week. It was about 11 pm last night, not bad, but with the early starting time I know that Chris Kearns and crew would like to be done just a little earlier.
One thing that still surprises me about this speedway is that with all the big time races held here with sanctioning from USAC, ASCS and others, this track is one of the few around that doesn't have a scoreboard or at the minimum at least a lap counter. I can't believe with all the sponsor billboards at this track, some smart business hasn't yet caught on to the idea of putting their name on a scoreboard or lap counter.
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