Holcombe Repeats In East Bay Modified Action

 Night number two of the East Bay Winternationals  for the UMP Modifieds took place on Tuesday night, January 30th at the East Bay Raceway Park in Barberton Florida. Just like on Monday night, the program would consist of four at a time qualifying and then the field would be split into three groups which each getting to run just a twenty five lap feature event. Opinions varied depending who you talked to on whether the new format was a good or bad idea and even the drivers seemed split on the decision, but the only opinion that really mattered was that of race promoter and track owner Al Varnadore and he wanted to use the same system at least one more night. 

In visiting with him, his thought on going to this form of a race program was two fold. One was to allow everyone to run a feature race each night, as perhaps in the last year of this track's history Al wanted every driver to be able to say that they had run a feature at East Bay. 

His second thought was by going to a feature races only format it would make for a faster program during the week, but that didn't happen due to the multitude of yellow flags that would fly after a tricky track and over aggressive driving mixed together to provide a colossus of chaos. Several UMP officials have spoken to him about a change but he had already decided to give the current format one more try so that is what Tuesday will be all about.  

I got to meet track announcer Larry Jewitt on Tuesday for the first time. Many will remember Larry on the masthead of a number of racing magazines and newspapers over the years as Larry was one of the most highly decorated people in the racing information business who ended up here in Tampa and became the voice of EBRP. Larry is one of the "old school" type announcers who is all about information and keeping the fans informed, and not one of the "new" types of entertainment announcers that know it all and spin a bottle on their nose when things get slow or anything else to draw attention to themselves. Larry is an "easy listening" type which I enjoy. 

Only one new car showed up for Tuesday night's program as several of the local drivers high in 2023 track points still haven't arrived for one reason or another. However, the one new driver is an interesting story. His name is Michael Leach and he is from Sun River Montana. He is a racing machine, having raced from nearly coast to coast in the last month. 

He started out racing IMCA Modifieds in Arizona at Cocopah and then moved over to Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande to race both Modifieds and Late Models. That action wrapped up last Saturday after which he flew to Charlotte and then jumped in the hauler that was headed here to East Bay where he will race his UMP style Modified both here and at Volusia. After having raced crate and spec engine Late Models, an open Late Model is likely in his near future as his father co-owns Longhorn chassis with Steve Arpin so the resources are available. 

He would race well in the loaded third feature on Tuesday, moving up to fourth at one point before an over aggressive driver speared him in the left rear which messed up his car and he was forced to pull off. For a young driver, he shows much ability driving different types of cars and I think he will be one to watch in the years to come. 

In talking to drivers, a large part of the issues last night, other than the much over aggressive driving, the other issue many had was visibility. The track was wet and slimy and the timing of the high tide didn't help plus the coolness and dampness of the night all factored together to produce a track that even the veterans had a tough time figuring out. But that slime and dampness produced some difficult issues seeing with many drivers reporting that they ran out of tear offs by either the first lap or before their feature race actually started! And of course, no one would pull off though so they used the Louis Braille style of racing which is to go like heck until you feel contact and then slow down, maybe. But this certainly was a big factor in the multitude of yellow flags. Tuesday night the tide comes in sooner and track officials have eased off on the water so perhaps things will be smoother. 

Many drivers were using high tech devices in their efforts to repair last night's damage but then there was Illinois driver Dave Wietholder. A crash last night gave his car a bent frame so to try and remedy the problem he chained his car to a tree on the property and pulled on it, a strategy used for as long as there has been racing. Apparently it worked at least to some degree as he was back on the track later running a feature. 

Seventy two drivers signed in to race on Tuesday night with just a few not able to make repairs after the Monday night rugby races. And at least for the first part of the program, drivers had learned from the first night. Qualifying went much smoother than for the opening night with drivers doing what they were supposed to and following orders better so that whole portion of the program went better. Chris Wilson, Cole Czarneski and Kyle Strickler would be the fastest in their groups with Strickler fastest overall. Interestingly, only one of the three would end up in victory lane. 

Overall, things did go much smoother on night number two although it would be fair to say that there were still a lot of yellow flags(eighteen in three features) and some grinding collisions that actually may have done more car damage than the opening night including one grinder that saw a front end loader needed to scrape off the track because so much radiator fluid had been dumped by multiple cars who's radiators were shattered. The racing overall was better and a few more cars were able to make it to the checkered but most cars were again covered in mud by race end as the track remained tricky and slippery. 

Austin Holcombe is not complaining so far about track conditions or anything else as he drove to his second victory in the series so far, the only driver to not have tasted defeat. He would lead the opening feature from start to finish, a race that would put questions in our mind right off that things were going to be unchanged from Monday night as this race had eight yellows and it took only one lap to produce an eight car grinding crash in turn three. Only half the field would finish this race but things would improve after that. 

After each of the many restarts, Holcombe would again pull away as he was not challenged during the twenty five lap event. Fast qualifier Wilson would battle back and forth with Will Krup for second with Krup moving into second on lap night and holding that spot for the rest of the race, despite challenges by Wilson following each of the many yellows. 

Through patience and attrition, Allen Weisser would move up to fourth after the "A-Dog" started twelfth with Mike Potosky finishing fifth despite sporting a car body that had been pummeled. 

The surprise of the night would see young Cole Czarneski back up his quick time effort with a win in the second twenty five lapper. Czarneski, who normally races IMCA Modifieds and Stock Cars and was also in Arizona racing earlier this month, would make one of his first efforts in the open motor Mods a successful one. 

Michael Turner would get the jump on Czarneski and lead the first eleven laps but it seemed that the more laps Cole would run, the better he would get as he found out just what his car was capable of doing. Turner was guarding the inside line and as Czarneski discovered, he could roll around the outside of Turner and on lap eleven he drove right past the Tennessee racer to take over the lead. 

And once in front, he would have to deal with two more yellow flags that bunched the field but each time he would pull away, showing great speed and increasing comfort at running this tricky track. The last half of the race would go nonstop and Cole would pull away, even navigating lapped traffic smoothly as he built a full straightaway lead over what was likely a somewhat stunned field as they tried to figure out just who this "Cheesehead" was! Czarneski's father, by the way, is one of the two owners, along with Toby Kruse, of 141 Speedway in Wisconsin. 

Turner would settle for second with Ray Bollinger driving up to third at the finish. Treb Jacoby and Seth Daniels would complete the top five with only eight drivers on the lead lap at the finish and twelve on the track. 

 The third feature, at least from appearances, would be the most stacked of the night. The first three rows would consist of Stickler and Lee, Garner and Skaggs and then Wing and Leach. 

However, this didn't seem to bother Lucas Lee who would take the lead on the opening lap and then hold that advantage for all twenty five laps. Strickler would run second for the first four laps until Wing moved up to pass him and then one lap later Strickler would explode a tire and be done. 

It seemed that Wing moved up to second quickly and might be a threat but Lee would have none of that and would pull away on every restart of which there were six during the race. Lee was clearly the class of the field, never moving off the bottom like he often does but making the "ditch" work for him exclusively. 

Leach would move to third by the halfway point of the race until he was passed on lap twenty by Skaggs and then later eliminated when he got stabbed by another driver. There was quite a battle going on behind the top three with some real wild driving going on as the concrete outside wall was under fire from Modifieds slamming off it but somehow both Jimmy Lennox and Todd Nieheiser would keep their cars in one piece and complete charges to round out the top five. 

I was quite surprised to learn that because they had gone to a multi feature event program, the purse money had to be divided up to more racers and I was shocked to learn that each feature race winner was only receiving $600 to win and it was only $50 to start both Monday and Tuesday. 

The program was completed about a half hour earlier than the previous night and all racing was completed by 9:30 pm on what was another unseasonably cool January night by the Bay. 

Later in the evening I got a bulletin from race management at the track that starting on Wednesday night, the old format will go back into play which means that drivers will be divided into heats, they will only qualify against their heat race opponents and that a certain number will make the main from each heat and from following B Features. In other words, only one feature race per night and no participation medals. 

Also, points will be calculated starting on Wednesday with the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday shows added together to determine lineups for the races on Saturday with no qualifying on Saturday. Apparently the grand experiment is over. 

Garver, Wing and Holcombe Top East Bay Demo Derby

 It was a good run in New Mexico and Arizona for us, but now it is time to move on and see some different sites, experience some new adventures and see some different race tracks and drivers. 

We leave behind the brown, dry,  generally sunny and spectacular views of the desert and instead trade it for the lush green, sometimes humid and stormy and always swampy region of the Southeast. However, to get from one extreme to the other, a few hours of seat time in the vehicle is needed. 

We left right after the races on Saturday at Casa Grande and drove for a few hours before we stopped for the night. Sunday was a long day of driving as he managed to get all the way from New Mexico to Mobile Alabama before throwing in the towel for a few hours and then finishing up the trip on Monday in time to get to the first show at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton. The final total. two thousand, one hundred and twelve point seven miles from track to track. The trip was interesting, boring and hair raising from time to time. Texas is the most over rated state in the nation as many of us in the Midwest already know. Traffic clowns in San Antonio and Houston made the driving even more unsettling than it needed to be. But we made it anyway and in time to stroll the pits at East Bay before Monday night's racing began. 

The Florida Speed Weeks journey for us would begin on Monday night, January 29th at the East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton Florida. This week it would be the UMP Modifieds racing in a solo division program all week. As most everyone knows by now, this is the final season of racing for East Bay and thus their final Speed Weeks ever. The track was sold several years ago and following an abbreviated season this year and a fifty thousand to win finale for the Lucas Oil Late Models this Fall, the track will be closed forever with the mining company next door taking over the property. 

Normally the UMP Mod portion of the program is a five night stand but track owner Al Varnadore decided to all one additional night to the series in its farewell season. Thus the Mods will be racing six straight nights, weather permitting with the finale on Saturday scheduled to pay five grand. Not much has changed at East Bay for its final season. No new projects or touch ups were apparent as what you see is what you get at East Bay. Numbers have been put on all the seats this year and as opposed to all previous years when just the top few rows were reserved seats, the entire facility except one cheesy section near the pit gate is reserved, top to bottom. Apparently this presented one last chance before closing down to rake in just a few more bucks. The sign on the back stretch wall has been updated to indicate that EBRP was started in 1977 and will end in 2024. 

I got a surprise at the driver's meeting when I learned what the format would be for the racing program on this night and the two following nights. Instead of the format that has been followed for years and years here where the drivers qualify, they run heat races straight up with a few moving into the main and then the rest run B Features to determine the last few entrants into the main. 

Not this year though. Following qualifying, the drivers would be split into three groups of about twenty five a piece. They would run three feature races and that would be the program. Yep, a three race program. Surely not much of a show for the fans. The first few nights of this series have always been lean when it came to crowd size, but now there is a real reason not to show up until the weekend. This is not much to see, at least in my estimation. But apparently this is what they did last week for the Crate Late Models too and Volusia does it for their opening nights of the Mods also. However, that still doesn't mean it's right. 

In previous years, one of the reasons that the drivers raced hand on the opening nights was that points were calculated for each night and that is what lined up the races on Saturday night. Now, that too has been eliminated for the first three nights too so in reality, the drivers are just testing the first three nights with the results meaningless, especially considering that they are running for fairly small purses on the first three nights. Perhaps for the first time in the history of this race, we will see teams move in on Thursday night and be contenders for the win on Saturday and that has never happened here before because of the format, and there are several teams that usually race here that were not seen on opening night. I guess we will all find out together if that occurs.  I never saw this change in the format posted and from the reaction of the drivers, most didn't know it either. The car count was up substantially for the farewell year of this event as last year there were upper fifties for cars and this year, seventy six drivers signed in to race for the opener, making for three big feature races. And just like  the Sunny Day's Little League kid's baseball tournament, all drivers that sign in will get their participation trophy by being allowed to start a feature race, no matter how slow they were. If you sense a bit of sarcasm on Positively Racing, you would be correct. 

The only good thing that can be said about a three feature race program that offers only time trial qualification as a prelude is that it should be a short night of racing. Of course, that would be an incorrect assertion in this case as a combination of the tricky East Bay surface and a lot of ridiculous driving by many, who apparently thought that the winner's share had a couple more zeros on the back end of the number than there really was, would lead to a smash fest that would see twenty three yellow flags in just those three races and less than half the field around for the checkers in all three races. After such smooth racing seen in Arizona and New Mexico, this demo derby of a night was a shock to the system. 

Twenty five cars would start the first of the three feature races with quick qualifier Lucas Lee on the pole. Lee would lead the first three laps of the race which would also include the first two yellow flags. The track was very difficult to assess as it had black patches in the corners but was slimy up against the wall and every time the yellow would wave, it would seem to get slicker and slicker and this quite cool and damp feeling night. Jason Garver and  Brian Skaggs would close in on the leader and on lap four, Garver would get around Lee for the lead and the outside on the restarts seemed to be the best option and some drivers had all kinds of trouble getting their machines to turn in the corners and with no one giving an inch, lots of collisions took place. 

Kyle Strickler and Kevin DeYoung both moved into the top five and Strickler looked like he might be a challenger, moving into third before he broke just after the halfway point of the race with DeYoung also following him to the side lines shortly afterward. Lee and Skaggs would continue their scrap for second for much of the race with the last of seven yellows waving with just four laps to go. 

Garver pulled away once again and he would drive on for the win with Lee fighting off Skaggs for second. Ray Bollinger, after triggering a first lap yellow, would fight his way back through the field for fourth with Seth Daniels fifth. Only ten cars were running at the finish with most looking like they had lost a small war to get to that point. 

Another twenty five would hit the track for war number two with this event being even rougher on the equipment as the yellow would wave ten times and only eight cars would be operable at the finish of this one. 

Rodney Wing, former excellent Late Model driver and track owner in Mississippi, would be driving for Jeff Mathews this week and would start on the outside pole where he got the jump on EBRP point champion Brian Bernhardt to take the early lead. It took three attempts to get just one lap in but Wing and Bernhardt had some of the best racing of the night as they went at it with Bernhardt throwing the kitchen sink at Wing but Rodney continuing to fight him off. 

Will Krup moved up and with Bernhardt trying so hard for the lead, he left the door open and Krup would sneak past him for second.  They would continue to run in this fashion through the halfway point which would include eight yellow flags for one car spins and some big crashes. Local driver David Pollen and North Dakota's Joseph Thomas would close into the top five and as drivers dropped back and slipped up, Thomas was particularly adept at taking their spots. 

Krup would spin with just two laps to go after he got plenty of help from Bernhardt and that will something to watch the rest of the week as Krup was justifiably upset and with no protection rule in place, he had to go to the back while Bernhardt continued to race in second. Wing would pull away on the final restart but Bernhardt tried too hard and slipped up in the slime and Thomas would drive past him to take second as the finish. Behind Bernhardt, it was Mike Potosky and Pollen at the finish with only eight cars still on the track. 

Austin Holcombe would lead from start to finish in the third feature which would have plenty of issues of its own. Holcombe, even though he would win the event, would cause his share of problems as he was having mechanical issues that would cause his car to bog on the starts and restarts and he created a stack up on the first attempt when he didn't fire and several collided behind him and then later the same things happened once again with him somehow being lucky enough to avoid being tagged for his problems. 

Later he would figure out how to adjust and it wouldn't be an issue further and once he was rolling, he was fast. He did get a fairly stiff challenge from Chris Wilson several times but each time he would fight off the push. Oscar McCown was on the move near the halfway point and was challenging for second until he spun and triggered the last yellow of the night which was a dandy as four cars smashed into him and each other. 

After that, with the field reduced, they actually ran the longest stretch of green flag racing all night as the last thirteen laps would go green to checkered. Holcombe would pull away to take the win with Wilson second and Jeremy Rayburn driving as smooth and steady as was possible on such a night, moving up to take third. Treb Jacoby and Travis Varnadore would complete the top five. Ten cars would still be mobile at the finish of this event. 

With qualifying being held, of course the program would not start as advertised with the first green flag happening just before 8 pm. With all the yellows it took just at two hours to run off the three features so it wasn't as early an evening as some would have hoped on a down right cool evening with Winter coats being advisable. 

Hopefully, by Tuesday night, everyone will have simmered down just a bit and also hopefully all the damaged equipment can be repaired so the Modifieds can put on a show that they are capable of and can be proud of instead of Monday night's fiasco. 

Bluhm Shocks Late Model Competitors; Four New Winners For Series Finale

 One hundred and twenty nine drivers signed in to race on the sixth and final night of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw on Saturday night, January 27th at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande Arizona. 

There was plenty of drama and some surprise winners as the final round of the series was run under sunny skies but with windy conditions prevailing in the desert. This night would see the biggest purses of the week paid out and certainly the biggest surprise would be in the Late Model division where Dustin Bluhm from Kindred North Dakota would top the thirty five lap Late Model feature and take home three grand for his efforts. Bluhm is very much a part time racer as his occupation as a crop duster pilot does not allow him much time to race during the Summer but he makes appearances at special events as his allows but this win was by far the biggest in his career. 

There were three other first time winners in the finale of he series as North Dakota driver Brock Beeter, new to the Stock Car class, would take a hard fought win in that division. Troy Morris III put on one of the most spectacular rim riding efforts of the night as he came from the sixth row to top the Modified feature. Boddie Parker won not only his first Sport Mod feature of the series but also won for the very first time racing in the class. On the other side of the spectrum, the winningest driver of the series added to his total when Lucas Rodin won for the fifth time in six tries to top the Limited Mod main event. 

The program would run under the same format used for the previous five nights of racing witThe h drivers drawing for heat race starting slots and then passing points being used to se the lineups for the rest of the racing events. Once again, the Late Models and Modifieds would need B Features to finish qualifying while the other three classes would see all drivers running able to start the main event. 

As has been the case for the five previous shows, no hot laps were held with management moving right into racing action at the scheduled time. And they have done a great job of starting right on time and running off some very prompt programs. Tonight the first green flag would fly at 5:04 pm and the only break would be for some track prep just before the Late Model main. 

The Stock Car feature would take to the track first for their main event and the opening lap would provide some drama that would change the course of the entire event. Just before the Stock Car feature, the water truck laid down some moisture on the high lane of the track and while the cars ran it in to the satisfaction of race officials, when they dropped the green flag, outside front row starter Brock Beeter would go flying off the first turn, triggering a yellow. However, track officials ruled the track wasn't quite ready for racing and Beeter was allowed to return to his spot in the front row, instead of going to the tail. This would become a huge call later. 

Jordan Zillmer would take the early lead  but Beeter would be running close behind him. Jason Storbakken was also on the move along with Trent Grager and at that point, North Dakota drivers would hold the top four positions in the running order. 

Beeter was making that high groove work now that it had dried off some and on lap nine he drove past Zillmer to take over the lead. The top three would continue in that running order for the next several laps with Grager eventually dropping out with issues while Bo Partain and Ken Schrader would both climb into the top five. 

When Grager slowed with a flat tire with just four laps to go, this would set the stage for a wild finish. Beeter would hug the low groove on the green with Zillmer tucking in behind him. Storbakken, who had slipped back to fourth then decided to try the open high side and he made it work and he pulled himself back into contention. He got by Zillmer for second and took a shot at Beeter on the final lap. Beeter would get just enough speed off the final corner though, to edge out Storbakken by a half car length in a tight finish. Zillmer would finish another car length back in third. 

However, post race tech inspection would trip up Storbakken and he would be disqualified, elevating Zillmer to second ahead of Partain, Schrader and Josh Cain. 

The Late Model field would number thirty drivers for the finale, set to go for thirty five laps. Some impressive pit crew work that lasted all day would set the cars of Billy Moyer, Thomas Hunziker and Clayton Stuckey all repaired and ready to race after the grinding first lap crash of Friday night. Only MIchael Leach wasn't able to get his car repaired and of the three who made it back, all three would be rewarded by making the main event. 

Dustin Bluhm would start on the pole for the feature and he would get the jump on Ricky Weiss, leading the opening lap. Bluhm would show great speed early as he would stretch his lead on Weiss as Ricky had his hands full with another Canadian driver, Shane Edginton. Those three would pull ahead of the field while Dustin Strand, Moyer and Collin Winebarger would fight for position behind them. 

This race would continue under the green and at the halfway point the top five would remain the same with the exception that Scott Ward had climbed up to fifth. Bluhm would continue to hold his lead as the race moved into its second phase and while most expected Weiss to being to move, he still run back of Bluhm who continued to maintain a frantic pace. 

Even as lapped traffic was reached, Bluhm wasn't bothered in the least as he made strong moves both high  and low and never faltered. Late in the race, Edginton made another push on Weiss but both were a half straight behind the leader and Bluhm was clearly the class of he field as he drove on for a resounding win. Strand would fight his way back up to fourth and Winebarger would edge past Moyer to round out the top five. The Late Model feature would go nonstop for its distance with only five drivers not completing the contest. 

Three weeks before this race, Bluhm didn't even have a race car and Weiss helped Dustin find one of his Sniper chassis in good condition in Illinois. With the help of Weiss and Sniper, Bluhm got the car ready for this series and then promptly went out and won his biggest race ever. 

Ricky Alverado looked for all the world like he was on his way to his second straight IMCA Modified feature win until Troy Morris III came out of the woodwork to drive past him late in the race with probably the most spectacular moves of the night. 

Alverado had started on the outside pole and got the jump on Braxton Yeager to take the early lead. While Alverado started to pull away, Yeager had his hands full with Jordan Tocci and Braxton's brother Bryson. 

Nearing the halfway point, the running order was much the same when suddenly, it was hard not to notice Troy Morris III who had started twelfth and suddenly found great speed right up on the cushion. Using a line that many drivers had tripped on all week and went hurdling over the banking. Morris was making it work beautifully as he passed cars at will like he had another gear. 

He flew to the front, somehow keeping the car on the banking as he raced up to second by the halfway point of the race. One lap later he blew past Alverado coming out of turn four like Ricky was in neutral. Morris would then extend his lead until he encountered quite a pack of slower cars, battling for position. This would allow Alverado to close back up and he was within a couple car lengths and just ready to make a move when bad things happened. 

Coming out of turn two, a car slowed suddenly with mechanical problems and the pack came upon that car quickly. Another driver got out of shape and spun and with no where to go and a full head of steam, Alverado plowed into the spinning car with a very hard hit. Ricky would eventually exit his mangled car but it was a hard blow. 

This would set up a three lap sprint to the finish and Morris would pull away for the win. Tocci would get around Braxton Yeager for second but Yeager would not be allowed to hold that spot after a problem in technical inspection. Chaz Baca Jr, who started seventeenth, would find himself in third in the official running order with Jeff Taylor and Spencer Wilson completing the top five. 

The Limited Mod feature would be another race to go green to checkered and it would be Lucas Rodin who would shine once again. Rodin would take the early lead from Jake Smith and then just ease away from the crowd. Smith lost second to Jess Brekke but Brekke had nothing for his fellow North Dakota driver as Rodin powered away from the field. 

It would be an awesome week for Rodin, with five wins in six outings and a second place finish in his lone non victory. Brekke would finish second on the final night with Smith running third. Hector Barraza had his best finish at fourth with Travis Saurer rounding out the top five. 

For the second straight night, there would be a first time winner in victory lane for the Sport Mods. Boddie Parker would start on the pole and lead all twenty laps to record his first win here at CAR since a 2019 Mod Lite win. 

Parker would have to fight off the competition with three yellows in the first half of the race but three times he was able to hold off and then drive away from Cam Reimers, who dominated the first half of this series with wins on three straight nights. However, on Saturday, Reimers couldn't catch Parker who had a solid line and made not mistakes, even as he navigated traffic. 

Parker would have a substantial lead through the second half of the race and would drive on to a uncontested win. Parker would finish second with Friday night's first ever winner Tyler Johnson finishing third. Clay Erickson and Kaden Woodie would round out the top five. But the tech inspector would have more to say on that as for the third time on Saturday, another was disqualified as Woodie was found wanting and was disqualified, giving Eric Winemiller a top five finish. 

As has been the case through the whole series, brevity has been our friend and the final checkered flag on Saturday once again waved before 9 pm. The Mincy Early Thaw is now complete and what a total success this series has been. Car counts were up significantly over the first series last year, the racing was good and the crowds were up enormously compared to last year. Positive comments have come from racers, crews and fans as everyone has enjoyed the series and the racing. 

Much credit for this successful series must go to race promoter Don Shaw from Ham Lake Minnesota who brought his great crew from his I-94 emr Speedway in Minnesota to run the program. Providing much help was regular track promoter Brad Whitfield, a reigning Promotor of the Year from the western region of this county. More and more racers are looking for a Winter alternative and this series has now caught the eye of many racers and I look for this event to just get bigger and bigger in coming years. And it's pretty tough to beat the weather here this time of year. thanks to all for their help. 

Weiss, Schrader and Youngsters Top CAR

 Round five of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw was held on Friday night, January 26th at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande. On another sunny and comfortable day, an interesting night of racing action in five classes would be held. The results would see a Canadian ex-patriot, a racing legend and two youngsters not yet old enough to hold valid drivers licenses among those to visit victory lane as winners. After a series dominated by repeat and multi repeat winners. Friday night would produce new winners in all five divisions and would also see all five feature winners their main events from start to finish. 

One hundred and thirty six drivers signed in to race on Friday night which was the highest car count so far for the series in 2024 including the biggest car count in both the Sport Mods and Modifieds along with the Limited Mods that tied their high of the series to this point. 

The program would be similar to that presented during the series with the Late Models and Modifieds both needing B Features to set their line ups for the main events with the Mods needing double B's on this night. 

The running order would also be unchanged as they have found a running order that allows the racing surface to be at its best for all five divisions without excessive track prep. They run all the qualifying events, including the B Features and then go right into the Stock Car feature. When that race is completed, the track is redone with water and scraping and even a quick blading if needed and then the Late Models hit the track for their main, followed by the other three feature races. 

Stock Cars would be first up for their main and racing legend Ken Schrader would start on the pole. Schrader just arrived at the track on Wednesday night for the second round of practice as he was appearing at a racing show on the East Coast during the opening weekend of racing. He would be driving the Stock Car owned and occasionally driven by track promoter here and at Cocopah Speedway, Brad Whitfield. Schrader took one session of practice on Wednesday night and deemed the car ready to go and he proved that on Friday, leading from start to finish in the twenty lap main event. 

He would out battle Josh Cain in the early going to take the lead with Cain and Brock Beeter battling for the second spot. Kevin Roberts pulled in to challenge for that spot while Jason Rogers was also on the move as the second spot was highly contested. 

Spins on laps four and seven kept the field bunched but each time Schrader would again pull away from the field. By the halfway point of the race, Schrader had built up an eight car length gap over the field with Rogers moving into the second spot although he and Roberts continued to trade that position with Jordan Zillmer also moving into contention. 

Schrader looked to be in good shape for the win when one late yellow with just four laps to go would slow the action one last time. However, that didn't bother the Missouri veteran who once again pulled away from the field as he had things under control. The battle for second would take a turn as Roberts suffered a flat tire and was out of the contest. 

Schrader continued on without a challenge, driving to the impressive win which he reported in victory lane was his first in many years of racing in Arizona. Rogers would cross the line in second with Zillmer third. However, that order was changed when Zillmer failed to complete tech inspection properly and was disqualified. This moved the dominant driver in this class, Bo Partain, into third at the finish. 

Partain had taken a trip off the end of the track in his heat and was forced to start sixteenth in the main, thus making a great run to the front. Cain and Trent Grager would complete the top five. 

The Late Model action had been dominated so far by Billy Moyer and Tyler Peterson but it was 2023 champion here Ricky Weiss that finally broke through for his first feature win of this year's series. Ricky would start on the pole and lead all thirty laps to gather the win, unchallenged for most of the contest. 

Things would get off to a bad start in the Late Model main with a four turn stack up on the opening lap collecting a number of cars with the machines of Moyer, Clayton Stuckey, Michael Leach and Thomas Hunziker all heavily damaged and removed from the track by wreckers. 

There would be two more first lap yellows for spins before the event could finally complete a lap as the drivers were running on the edge on Friday. Once everyone settled down, Weiss would quickly pull away from the field to take the lead with Collin Winebarger moving into second and fighting off challenges from Scott Ward for that spot. 

At the halfway point of the race, one final yellow would wave for a slowing car with Tyler Peterson having worked his way up to fourth after starting tenth and Josh Zimpel in the top five two. 

Weiss would pull away again for the field with Ward fighting his way into second and Dustin Strand, who started thirteenth, on the move. As Winebarger dropped back, Peterson would pass him and then Strand would pass both as he moved into third. In the closing laps, as Weiss worked through traffic, Ward would gain some ground on him and would close to within several car lengths but Ricky worked the slower cars well enough that no major challenge broke out as he drove on for the win. Spec engine cars of Ward, Strand and Peterson would finish behind him with Winebarger completing the top five. A native of Winnipeg, Weiss had the many Canadian fans on hand cheering for him even though he now lives in Tennessee. 

The Modified feature would go nonstop on Friday and it would be Ricky Alverado, who has run consistently well here this week, leading from start to finish to take the win. Alverado would take the early lead from Kollin Hibdon with Jeff Taylor, who just arrived to race on Friday, moving into the third spot. Hibdon would put the pressure on Alverado, moving to his inside on several occasions but not quite able to make the pass for the lead. 

At the halfway point, he remained second with Taylor , Spencer Wilson and Troy Morris following. However, just past that point, Hibdon went for the win but overshot turn one, went flying off the end of the track and was done for the event. This moved Taylor into second but he was never able to mount a charge as Alverado would drive on for the win without any severe pressure. 

Taylor, Wilson, Morris and and Winebarger, pulling double duty, would complete the top five in the final running order. 

The last two events of the night would find the youngsters come to the front as the Limited Mods and Sport Mods would see winners that are both in their middle teens and not yet legal to hold drivers licenses. 

The Limited Mod feature would see four time and undefeated driver Lucas Rodin start on the pole with Preston Carr to his outside. The race would get off to a wild start as Carr, in his efforts to get the jump on Rodin, would go flying off turn one on the opening lap, thus necessitating a restart. This would allow fifteen year old Blake Adams to move to the outside beside Rodin. 

Rodin, who saw his perfect week of racing end in a heat race where he finished second but still earned enough passing points to start on the pole, would see that streak also end as after two more tries to start the race that were aborted due to spins, Adams would get the jump on Rodin and take the lead. 

Adams would pull away from Rodin by several car lengths early in the race and would be comfortably in front by the halfway point with Hector Barraza moving into third ahead of Jake Smith and Jess Brekke. 

However, the rash of yellow flags would start once again with three of them just past the halfway point of the race. These would allow Rodin to close right in behind Adams once again but each time the youngster from Cameron Wisconsin would make solid laps and pull away slightly. Barraza would suffer as after one of the restarts, he would get crossed up and lose a number of spots. 

Rodin would push for all he was worth in the closing laps, but Adams continued to make solid laps and Rodin could not close on him as the 2023 WISSOTA National Rookie of the Year in the Midwest Mod class would drive on for the win. Zach Johnson, driving his son's car after he had to go back to high school and play hockey this week in Minnesota, would drive forward after starting ninth to close to third with Brekke and Smith completing the top five. 

And the evening would conclude with another dazzling performance by a young driver as fourteen year old Tyler Johnson would win his first ever Sport Mod feature race as he held off a series of challenges by Boddie Parker to take the win. 

Johnson and Parker would start in the front row, side by side and battle for twenty laps for the win. Parker would get up beside Johnson several times coming off turn four but each time Johnson would fight him off down the chute to hold on to the lead. 

Several yellows would keep this race close including a hair raising one lap sprint to the finish after a yellow forced a one lap race to the checkers. Parker would again pressure but Johnson was up to the task and would hold off Parker for the win. Point champion here Clay Erickson would finish third with Jesse Johnson fourth and James Meile completing the top five. 

The sixth and final round of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw will be run on Saturday night, January 27th and can be seen on IMCA TV. 

Peterson Tops Intense Late Model Battle; Rodin Remains Perfect at CAR

 After a four day break, the second round of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw restarted on Thursday night, January 25th at the Central Arizona Raceway located near Casa Grande Arizona. Under sunny skies and pleasant temperatures, the same five classes that raced in the opening three nights of racing action last week would again gather for three more nights to conclude the Early Thaw Series and determine series champions. 

In what was likely the most intense and highly competitive feature race of the series seen so far, North Dakota's Tyler Peterson would edge out Louisiana's Clayton Stuckey for the Late Model honors in a race that saw those two drivers swap the lead three times during their twenty five lap main event. Several other drivers would continue to maintain their upper hand over the competition with Chaz Baca Jr, Bo Partain and Lucas Roding once again visiting victory lane while the lone first time winner was Minnesota's Kaden Woodie who would top the Sport Mod main. 

One hundred twenty three cars would sign in to race for night number four of the series, up just slightly over the Thursday night opener of a week ago with twenty nine drivers making their first appearance of the series including at least a half dozen drivers that towed in from Montana to race. 

The program would be similar to that held last week with passing points used to determine the feature race starting lineups and B Features required for the Late Models and Modifieds while the other three classes would run everyone that started a heat race in the mains. 

Some record breaking rains fell in the Valley of the Sun over the break but promoter Don Shaw and his crew or workers, primarily from his track, I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls Minnesota would have the track in fine racing shape with multiple grooves available to the drivers and just a few "character" bumps in the more troublesome corner one and two. The combination of a good track and some good driving by the racers would allow for a speedy program that would be completed at an early hour, ideal for weeknight racing. 

The Stock Cars would come to the line first for their main event. This race would be highlighted not so much for the battle for the lead but for positions right behind the leader. Bo Partain would start on the pole and would lead every lap as he has done for much of this series in the Stock Cars, but there would be a great battle for position behind him. 

Partain would step away from the field right from the start and maintain quite a comfortable lead from start to finish in the race, even in the face of two yellow flags that would bunch that field behind him. In the early going, it would be Trent Grager, the lone winner other than Partain, that would move into second and try to track down the leader. Tommy Fain was having his best run in second with Jordan Zillmer close behind him. 

At the halfway point, a car would fly off turn one, triggering the first yellow of the race and resulting in quite a shuffle of positions once the race restarted as Kevin Roberts, not even in the top five to this point, would suddenly take off like a rocket and move all the way up to third, passing cars in rapid fashion. One more yellow for a spinning Zillmer would slow the action and result in a six lap race to the finish. While Partain would again pull away, Roberts continued his charge, moving up to second as he got by Grager for that spot. But no one had anything for Partain, who would drive to his third feature win in the four contested so far. Roberts would have his best finish at second with Grager behind him. 

Ken Schrader, driving promoter Brad Whitfield's Stock Car, would move up at the end to finish fourth after starting seventh and Fain would complete the top five. 

The Late Models would highlight the evening with an intense twenty five lap main that would have the fans on the edge of their seats as Tyler Peterson and Clayton Stuckey would put on an entertaining show, swapping the lead back and forth as they weaved in and out amongst lapped traffic. 

Peterson would start on the pole and take the early lead with Bricen James following closely. Dustin Strand, Stuckey and Billy Moyer would quickly close in and make it a group of five battling early. The yellow would wave with three laps complete with a couple of cars off turn one. By this point, Strand had moved into second with Moyer quickly up to third after starting eighth. 

However, from this point on, it would be twenty two laps on nonstop, green flag racing and while Peterson would again take the lead, Stuckey, who had dropped back to fifth, suddenly became a force as he drove by James, Moyer and Strand to move into second and began to pressure Peterson for the lead. The front cars were already catching the tail end of the pack, making it even more interesting and on lap eleven, Peterson gave Stuckey room on the inside of turn four and Clayton drove under him to take over the lead. 

However, Peterson got up on the wheel and closed back in on Stuckey and they went three wide with a lapped car into turn three on lap thirteen and during one of those "hold your breath" moments, Peterson was able to squeeze under Stuckey and the shower car, with all three coming out the other end of the corner in good. 

Peterson would lead the rest of the way but Stuckey was right there, nosing under Tyler several times but not quite able to edge past again. To complicate matters, Strand had picked up the pace and he would attempt several inside moves on Stuckey for second as the top three leaders ran in very close formation. They would finish in that order in a very hard fought and intense race with Ricky Weiss driving past Moyer in the late going for third. 

Peterson and Moyer have now split the four feature races run so far in the Late Models with plenty of fast cars still trying to crack victory lane. 

Chaz Baca Jr would take his third IMCA Modified feature win of the series on Thursday but along with a fast race car, he had a couple of big breaks go his way that certainly helped him on a night when he looked beatable. 

Baca Jr would start on the pole but would be edged out in the early going by Mike Wedelstadt for the initial lead. Mike would be driving his son Tony's Lethal chassis on this night in his first appearance during the series and would pull to three car length lead upon the green waving. 

However, things were short lived for Wedelstadt as the leader as pushing into turn four, the car would come around on the Wisconsin driver and he would spun into the infield and out of the lead. However, before that lap could be completed, Jerry Flippo would drive past Baca Jr and be scored the new leader once racing would start again. 

Flippo looked fast and he would pull to a slight lead on the next four laps. However, good luck was to turn to Baca Jr once again as just as the yellow flag waved for a spin, Flippo would lay a streak of oil all the way down the front chute and he would retire to the pits, giving the lead to Baca Jr. 

With the lead, Chaz now had to deal with Ricky Alverado Jr who had started tenth and had moved into second in front of Michael Leach. Alverado pushed hard for the lead but Baca Jr seemed to then gather himself and he began to pull away as Alverado couldn't keep up with him. Leach would move into second and Kollin Hibdon would then also be a part of the action. 

One late yellow set up a four lap race to the finish and once again, Baca Jr would pull away as he would visit victory lane for the third time, with Tom Berry Jr being the only other winner so far in the series. Hibdon would make a late rush and get past Leach for second with Berry Jr. and Alverado completing the top five. 

Speaking of domination, Lucas Rodin would win his fourth straight Limited Modified feature to remain the only undefeated driver of the series after Cam Reimers couldn't match his efforts in the Sport Mod main. Not only that, but Rodin is also four for four in heat race action as he has not had to taste defeat yet in this series. 

Rodin would start on the pole but get beat to the first turn by Jake Smith as the former national champion in this division in WISSOTA would lead the opening three laps. However, Rodin seemed to let things settle in and then he took off, quickly reeling in Smith and then just driving under him and pulling away from the pack. 

This race would go green to checkers for twenty laps and Rodin would build his lead to a full straightaway as even lapped traffic would not slow his charge. Rodin has had an amazing run with his SSR chassis with this being the same car that he won a national title in two years ago. Jess Brekke would move into third early and would maintain that spot for the entirety of the race. 

Hector Barraza would move into fourth and challenge Brekke for third until he faded in the late going, allowing both Blake Adams and Travis Saurer to pass him for top five positions. 

The question was, could Cam Reimers maintain the pace set by Rodin and win his fourth straight IMCA Sport Mod feature but the ultimate answer was no. And the reason was that Kaden Woodie would start on the pole and pull away from everyone as in his first race here of the series, he would lead from flag to flat for the win. 

Woodie set a blistering pace with Boddie Parker moving into second early and holding that spot for most of the race. Reimers would move into third early but spend most of the race just trying to catch Parker for second. 

A late yellow with just three laps to go would give him that opportunity and he would get past Parker for second. However, Woodie was long gone and  there would be no catching him as he drove on for the win. Parker would also get passed by Clay Erickson in the late going for third with Tyler Johnson completing the top five. 

Thursday night's program was run in front of a decent sized crowd and provided some good racing action on a track that once again was dust free. The icing on the cake was that the final checkered flag waved at 8:50 pm, perfect for those that needed to get home and get to work on Friday. I'm not sure how many of those there actually were though as it seems like this crowd is dominated by "Snow Birds" and folks here for the races primarily. 

Peterson Tops Late Models, Rodin and Reimers Continue To Roll at CAR

 Night number three of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw was  held on Saturday night, January 20th at the Central Arizona Raceway  near Casa Grande. A new winner would emerge in the Late Model division on Saturday as after seeing Billy Moyer Jr win on both of the first two nights of racing, Saturday it would be North Dakota's Tyler Peterson that would take home the largest paycheck of the first weekend of racing on a cloudy but comfortable night to be racing in the desert. 

The other four winners are already veterans of the CAR victory lane. Both Lucas Rodin and Cam Reimers kept their streaks alive with their third straight night of racing success while both Chaz Baca Jr and Bo Partain took their second wins of the series, with Baca's coming back to back this weekend. 

The car count continues to rise as the racing week rolls on with one hundred and thirty two cars signing in to race on this Saturday night. Some have wondered why the car counts haven't been even  bigger, particularly in the classes that race at CAR all season. Interestingly, in the three IMCA classes that race at this track and are in action this weekend, no more that a half dozen drivers in any class that appear in the top twenty five from the 2023 point standings at CAR have been on hand so far. 

In the car counts in the other two classes where the vast majority of the drivers have been asked to pull to Arizona all the way from the Midwest, the car counts have been solid with the Late Models particularly outstanding with nearly forty cars in action so far and only five of them even from the state of Arizona. IMCA travelers in the other three classes have been the majority of those racing so far while meanwhile, we wait for the local racers to find their way to the pit gate!

Nevertheless, the car count still keeps creeping upward and because of that, the race schedule was changed in that the Modifieds ran a pair of B Features instead of just one and the Sport Mods had one more heat race added to their program. 

So after a program that contained nineteen qualifying events for the five classes, it was time for feature race action. The Late Model feature would be the biggest event of the weekend so far with the biggest paycheck and prestige involved so let's talk about this race first.

Twenty seven cars would take the green flag for the thirty five lap main event with Manitoba's Shane Edginton grabbing the initial lead. Terry Carter would move into second with Tyler Peterson and Dustin Strand following him. The first yellow would be a killer for Strand, who seemed a likely challenger for the win. He had a tire go down and triggered a yellow, after which he would tail the field for the green. Strand would then put on a charge of epic proportions, eventually ending up seventh at the finish. 

Edginton continued to hold the lead as Peterson moved into second with Carter following. Suddenly, iin a shocking development, Edginton, who was running so good, suddenly shut down with major difficulties, forfeiting the lead and dropping out of the race. 

Peterson would inherit the point then with Carter again in second but he would soon be overtaken by Billy Moyer who had started tenth. The green would stay back out until lap fifteen when Thomas Hunziker would slow with problems, slowing the race once again and by this time Ricky Weiss had moved up to third with Clayton Stuckey and Ryan Corbett running in the top five as the halfway point was reached. 

The second half of the race would prove to be a three car battle with Peterson leading and both Moyer and Weiss trying to track him down. However, Peterson was very strong and neither of the two drivers would have much success cutting into his lead. Peterson's Rocket chassis was handling great and he was able to drop high or low to pass slower cars and at several key moments, he was able to make moves in traffic that didn't allow Moyer to close the gap. Everyone was waiting for the late Moyer charge but it was not to be on this night as Peterson maintained nearly a half straightaway that he didn't allow to shorten. 

Moyer Jr would finish second with Weiss, the big winner here last year still waiting to visit victory lane. Stuckey would finish fourth and Michael Leach would drive from seventeenth to round out the top five. 

It would appear that the motor package here is working quite well in balancing out the different engine combinations presented as Peterson would take the win in a WISSOTA spec engine, Moyer, Weiss and Stuckey would use open motors with plates while Leach ran a 525 crate engine. 

An interesting story needs to be relayed here. Scott Ward from Watertown South Dakota raced the first two nights of this series. On Saturday morning however, he had to fly back to South Dakota for the funeral of his racing buddy and fellow Watertown resident Tim Waba. Waba raced Modifieds and Late Models at tracks in South Dakota for many years and was well liked by all but was recently felled by a very aggressive form of Cancer. 

Ward flew back in a plane supplied by fellow racer Chad Olsen who was racing at CAR and also had a son racing there. Ward was a pallbearer at the funeral but after it , in the plane supplied for his use, he attempted to fly back to Arizona in time to race that same night! However, the flight was delayed and Ward missed both his heat and B Feature. He did get back though, and promoter Don Shaw added him to the field where he started twenty seventh and finished thirteenth. Even more remarkable, Ward had wrecked his car the night before and he would race a brand new Longhorn on Saturday that had never seen the track before. 

A shocking development would see Bo Partain come from the back of the pack to win his second straight Stock Car feature, a scenario that happens almost never but did on this night. Aaron Olson would take the early from the pole with contact with another car giving Partain a flat left rear tire, which he quickly changed under yellow and then went tail back in the twenty car field. 

Olson would continue to lead despite challenges from Jason Rogers and Nate Warren. Rogers was turned on lap two and the yellow flew with Jason returned to his position while the other driver left the track. Olson continues to lead but Rogers was pressing him very hard, trying lap after lap to get under him. 

Finally, on lap twelve, Rogers pushed too hard in turn one and spun which elevated track promoter Brar Whitfield into the runner up slot. When racing resumed, Mike Albertsen was able to take that spot from Brad and just four laps later the final yellow flew for another spin. However, after not appearing in the top five until that point, Partain came charging up to third and following the final double file restart, he blew past Albertsen and pulled up beside the leader Olson, passing him on the outside with just three laps to go. 

Olson responded by getting up on the wheel like he hadn't the whole race and he was able to pull back up beside Partain on the outside, nipping him at the line by inches as they saw the white flag. They raced side by side on that final lap but Partain was able to gain an edge in turn three and he would come home the winner by a car length over the North Dakota driver. Kevin Roberts would charge forward to nip Albertsen for third with Chris McCurdy Sr also in the top five. 

Cam Reimers had been the dominator in the Sport Mods and that continued on Saturday as he won his third straight feature race. Bud Martini would be the early leader in a race that would try the patience of even a saint as the yellow flag waved seven times during the twenty lap main, almost entirely for spins by either solo drivers or in combinations. For this reason, the race was broken up badly with the six lap sprint to the finish the longest green flag period of the race. 

Martini would lead through all seven yellow flags with Taylor Kuehl chasing him for most of that time. On each green, however, Martini would pull a few car lengths away from the pack and continue to smoothly run in front. Reimers would run second until the halfway point when he was finaly able to drive around Kuehl and take over the runner up slot. 

Cam would then put the pressure  on Martini, staying right with him after the final yellow and three laps later, on lap seventeen, he would drive past Bud and take over the lead. Martini would have no answer and Reimers would drive away from the field for the win. Martini would finish second with Kuehl third. Joe Docekal and Tyler Johnson would round out the top five. 

Even outdoing Reimers' performance so far has been that of Limited Modified driver Lucas Rodin. Not only has Rodin won all three features run in the class, he is also undefeated in heat race action, meaning that six times on the track so far this week with this car, the result has been six checkered flags. 

It did take him a few laps to cement the win though. Travis Saurer got the jump on pole starter Blake Adams to lead the early laps, actually controlling the point for four laps. However, Rodin has been so smooth and so fast this week that holding him back it a tough preposition. He would drive past Saurer on lap five and then gradually pull away from the field, aided by a long green flag session in the last half of the race. 

At the halway point of the race, Adams would move by Saurer for second but he would have no more luck trying to catch Rodin that Saurer had. He would, however, lock down second and run there to the finish. Saurer would finish third with Jake Smith and Jess Brekke next in line. Rodin continues to amaze in a car that is several years old and has well over one hundred shows on it. 

Luck was not quite so kind to Rodin when it came to the Modified feature however. He was attempting to pull off the open wheel double header win and came within six laps of doing so before this week's dominant Modified driver would wreck that dream. 

Rodin would start on the pole and lead the first five laps with first Tyson Blood and then Jerry Flippo chasing him hard. Meanwhile, Chaz Baca Jr, Tim Ward, Tom Berry Jr and Kollin Hibdon were all charging toward the front. 

Baca worked up to third and following a lap five yellow, Baca would get a great restart and dive past Rodin to take over the lead. However, Rodin was not done and just one lap later, he would return the favor and reconnect with the lead. This set off some great green flag racing with Baca retaking the lead a second time, only to see Rodin back in front at the halfway point with Berry Jr, Ward and Hibdon all close behind. 

Restarts following yellow flag periods seemed to be a problem for both drivers and following the last yellow on lap thirteen, Baca Jr would again get a great restart, slide up beside Rodin and edge past him to take over the lead one final time. 

Baca Jr would then pull away. Things didn't go well for Rodin though as he was the victim of an ill conceived slide job by another competitor that knocked him right off turn two and out of the running. Berry Jr would find a hole with cars scrambling in front of him to drive into second at the finish with Ward, Hibdon and Bone Larson completing the top five. 

The crowd was even bigger than it had been for the opening two nights and it appears that this series has really started to take off with the hopes that it will get just bigger in the years to come. Unfortunately, Ernie Mincy was scheduled to be on hand Saturday to receive an award but was under the weather so his family represented him instead as he was honored for his contributions to starting this series back in the early 90's and promoting the first ten grand to win race in Arizona or the West for Late Models. 

 

Moyer, Rodin and Reimers Repeat at CAR Mincy

 Night number two of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw was held at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande on Friday night, January 19th. And despite the fact that there were nearly one hundred and thirty race cars in attendance, three of the race divisions would see repeat winners. 

For the second straight night it was Hall of Famer Billy Moyer Jr that would reach victory lane in the Late Models while the other repeat winners were Lucas Rodin in the Limited Modifieds and Cam Reimers in the IMCA Sport Mods. 

It was another warm and pleasant day in the Desert for racing or for soaking in the sun and car counts rose from opening night in all five divisions, led by a sterling thirty seven Late Models that signed in to race. This would result in an additional B Feature for that class while the other four classes would race an identical program to that contested on Thursday night. 

While there was not a lot of wrecks and damage created during the opening night program, the pits were busy before racing began as many drivers were making adjustments to their cars, finding things to improve upon after making their first serious laps at speed on Thursday night. 

One driver who had much work to do after flipping off the end of the track on Thursday night was North Dakota's Ryan Restad but he and his crew did a great job of fixing up their car and it was ready for action on Friday, looking none the wear for his aerial exit off turn four the previous night. For that, he and the crew would later be rewarded with a top five finish in the Sport Mod feature. 

New clay had been applied to the track late last Fall and in turns one and two, it did provide some character for the drivers to deal with on Thursday night. Event promoter Don Shaw and his crew were not happy about that though, and they spent long hours completely redoing the track for Friday night and their efforts were rewarded with a much smoother racing surface. This is a fast track too, and several of the drivers reported to me that during the show they were clocked at one hundred miles per hour just as they set up to enter turn one. The running order was adjusted slightly for the overall benefit to the drivers as well as giving the fans their best opportunity to see top notch racing and this resulted in the Late Models and Modifieds swapping positions in the running order. Stock Cars would still lead off the show but then the wide tired cars would hit the track to be followed by the Mods and then the two more restricted Modified classes. 

Seventeen qualifying races would be needed to shrink down the field for the main events but these races were clicked off amazingly quickly which then allowed the track prep crew one more quick shot at the track before the main events would start. 

Stock Cars would be out first for their main event and nineteen drivers would answer the call for their twenty lap finale. And after challenging but not being able to bring home the win on Thursday, local driver Bo Partain was not about to let that happen a second straight night. He would start on the pole and lead all laps as he drove to his first win of the series. 

He got the jump on Aaron Olson right at the start and pulled to a slight advantage. Olson, however, was locked in a tough battle for second with Jason Rogers and they circled the track side by side for two complete laps before Olson was able to edge into the runner up slot. After an opening lap yellow, the drivers were then able to put fourteen green flag laps together with Partain continued to hold the lead.

Tommy Fain went flying off turn three which broke the green flag trend and then the race was halted twice more almost back to back, the second of which was most damaging when third place Rogers over shot turn four and went flying off the banking. 

After Jordan Zillmer was pushed off the front chute and hit the outside wall, the last three laps of the event would be finished up. Partain would again take off and would not be challenged but Olson was passed by another local driver, Scott Sluka who would end up second with Olson settling for third ahead of Boone Evans.

Thursday night winner Trent Grager would spin off the track in his heat and have to start dead last on the field but he would drive through the pack to complete the top five at the finish. 

After a relatively smooth and calm Late Model main event on Thursday night, things would get wild in the Late Model feature on Friday. There would be three different leaders during the thirty lap main event and a whole lot of yellow flags, mostly for spins and minor issues. 

However, it was tough to keep the race under the green with five yellow flags in the first four laps plus two more before lap eight but the last twenty three would go green to checkers. There was also plenty of drama and surprise happenings that affected the outcome. 

Dustin Bluhm would take the early lead after he started on the pole but he was immediately challenged for that spot by Austin Kuehl as they went back and forth, fighting for the point. Rob Mayea would then move into second, taking that spot from Kuehl who fell back to third. These early laps were marked by several slow downs as the field would only again a lap at a time before the yellow would wave again as there was considerable over driving by a pack of drivers that all wanted to get to the front immediately. 

Moyer Jr. started eighth on the grid but in typical Moyer style he slowly creeped his way toward the front, gaining spots when the timing was right and not putting his equipment in jeopardy. By the fourth yellow he had moved up to fourth and continued biding his time. 

Mayea was driving like his hair was on fire and he went screaming around Bluhm on the high side with a bold move to take over the lead. Moyer continued to work his way forward and had moved into second by lap nine. Mayea was very fast  but was running what appeared to be a win or else line, running within inches of the drop off on the high side of the track. 

In fact, Mayea went way too high in turn four and dropped over the edge of the track but was saved when the yellow flew for another driver's mess. However, Rob just couldn't keep his car within the confines of the race track and on the green he went screaming into turn one way too fast and went flying over the edge, thus ending his night with Moyer then taking over the lead. 

Billy would then lead the last twenty laps, running just hard enough to keep the pack behind him. Bluhm and Kuehl would continue their war for second, swapping the spot on several occasions. They got into it one last time on the final lap as they fought for position down the back chute with them making contact. Ricky Weiss, who had started thirteenth on the grid and had been moving his way to the front, took advantage of their tangle and drove past both of them, racing into second at the finish. Kuehl would recover first and finish third with Clayton Stuckey sneaking into fourth at the line ahead of a limping Bluhm who had suffered front end damage in the final lap tangle. 

It has been quite a start to the racing season for Moyer with the veteran who limits his racing appearances these days already taking his second win here in January. 

The Modified feature would be quite the opposite of the Late Model main with only a single yellow flag and only two of the twenty six drivers taht took the green would not be around at the finish. Tom Berry Jr, who had a shot at winning the main last night before he went flying off turn one, would complete the task on this night with a late race pass of Ricky Alvarado Jr that would settle the issue. 

Alvarado would start on the outside pole and get the jump on Michael Leach to lead the early going. Kollin Hibdon would get past Leach for second and eventually Berry Jr, Chaz Baca Jr. and Spencer Wilson would all move into the top five. 

Alvarado would continue to lead past the halfway point with Berry Jr picking up the pace and moving into second. He then began to close on Alvarado and put the pressure on the Colorado driver. Berry Jr would try a series of slide jobs and finally, on lap fourteen, he would clear Alvarado and move into the lead. And just one lap later, the lone yellow of the event would fly for a stranded car off the back chute. 

Berry Jr would pull away on the restart with Baca Jr eventually getting past Alvarado also for second. The top three would finish in that order a few short laps later with Wilson and Hibdon completing the top five. Berry is driving the car of Wisconsin's Mike Wedelstadt this weekend and making a chassis different from what he is used to work just fine. 

The final two races of the night would also produce the second and third repeat winners from Thursday night's show. The Limited Mod feature would see Lucas Rodin and Blake Adams start side by side with Rodin pulling to the early lead. Although Adams tried to stay with him and was successful for several laps, Rodin was so smooth and strong that he would gradually pull away and widen his lead. Jake Smith would pull into third with Travis Saurer and Tate Johnson running in the top five. 

Those five ran that way at the halfway point of the race and would actually finish up in that same order. Near the end, Smith would catch Adams for second and make a couple attempts to pas him to no avail while Saurer actually appeared faster than both but just ran out of time to catch them with the green remaining out. 

Just as dominating was the performance of Sport Mod driver Cam Reimers who would also get his second win of the week in just two tries. He would start on the pole and would pull away from the pack, surviving three yellows for minor incidents and pulling away from the field each time the green came back out. 

Taylor Kuehl would chase him for most of the race but Reimers had nearly a full chute on the pack. There was a nice battle for third as James Meile, Tyler Johnson and Casey Murdoch were joined by Joe Docekal in a good battle for position. 

Docekal, who had blown a motor on Thursday night, would start ninth in the main and eventually drive into third, passing this whole group in front of him. And then, following a late yellow for a spin, he would get past Kuehl for second but would have nothing for Reimers who would drive on for the win. Kuehl would settle for third ahead of Meile and Ryan Restad. 

Despite the issues in the Late Model feature, the track's goal of presenting a quick program was fulfilled once again with the final checkered waving shortly after 9 pm. And certainly, one of the most promising results of the racing so far this week has been the size of the crowds. 

Last year, this race series was put together on rather short notice. After having been dormant for a number of years, the Mincy Thaw was restarted at CAR, a track that had just started racing again itself after having sat dormant for a couple of years with previous management issues. And while the car count was decent with a number of drivers being pulled from the Midwest, the crowds were not too good, to the point that it became a question whether or not the race would be back this year. 

However, event promoter Don Shaw and track promoter Brad Whitfield went  forward with the race for another year and are now being rewarded with big crowds in the stands for the second straight night and much larger than any crowd for last year's show. With continued steady growth, this race series may eventually become a worthy alternative to Florida racing, particularly for the regional and weekly racers of the country. 

Moyer Wins Ernie Mincy Opener at CAR

 The second annual Ernie Mincy Early Thaw kicked off on Thursday night, January 18th at the Central Arizona Raceway at Eleven Mile Corner East of Casa Grande Arizona. And it would be a memorable night as Late Model Hall of Fame driver Billy Moyer Jr. would earn, according to his website, his eight hundred and fifty first feature win as he topped a wild Late Model main event. 

On a night when quality racing would produce some exciting action including two feature races decided in the last couple laps, other winners would include Chaz Baca Jr, Trent Grager, Lucas Rodin and Cam Reimers. 

The renewal of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw started in 2023 after this Winter series had been dropped for a number of years. Minnesota promoter and Winter resident of the Phoenix area Don Shaw, who also happens to race Late Models when he isn't promoting, was looking to keep Late Model racing alive in the Desert area so he, along with track promoter at CAR Brad Whitfield, came up with the idea of restarting the Mincy Thaw, a series of races that had been discontinued for a number of years. 

This series brought a field of quality Late Model drivers to the Desert for the first time in 2023 and it was successful enough that Shaw chose to do it again this year. One of Shaw's goals was to also provide some Winter racing for his WISSOTA drivers that he runs with and promotes races for in the Summer so his Late Model package here is much like that used by Joe Kosiski for his SLMR series with rules that try to equalize the open motors with the spec engines and even the 525 crate motors that are becoming increasingly popular. The series this year would see drivers running all three types of that motor package with reasonable success. With little support surprisingly from the area Late Models of Arizona, the drivers responded wonderfully from the Midwest with a number of drivers on hand from North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin plus Manitoba Canada providing a field of thirty five drivers, most than any night of last year's series. 

Shaw also wanted to provide some Winter racing for some of his other drivers so he has developed a Limited Modified class that races in this event that combines the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds along with the B Mods and X Mods from New Mexico and although there was only one of them, the Midwest Mods provided enough numbers to put on a good show. The other three classes racing at this event are the IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars and Sport Mods, a nod to the fact that this area is dominated by that sanctioning body and those classes and three of the classes that Whitfield runs weekly here. 

Unique to this event is that Shaw brings in most of the officials from his own track, the I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls Minnesota to administer this event and even hauls down some of his own track equipment for track prep. Shaw passes on racing at his own event and instead focuses on track prep and the other multiple duties that a race promoter has to worry about on race day. He brings in his own announcer, race director, track prep and tech folks and even the flagman, Mike Witherell who is the starter at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota. 

Locally, "The Hook" was on hand to work this race. They are the team of track recovery experts that work many of the special events in the Arizona area including here and Cocopah and used to be seen at Tucson and the Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek. 

CAR is a three eighth mile oval with long straights and tight corners with medium banking. It is a fast track but has no outside walls and one of the issues that continues to present itself is that lots of drivers seen to slide off the edges of the banking as often the fast line is right on the track with little margin for error. If the drivers are able to get back over the banking and continue to race, they are allowed to do so but if they are forced to go all the way around to try and get back on, they are black flagged and sent to the pits. A one spin rule was also in effect with this track having a curfew and urban growth starting to invade their space, such as it has at many tracks in North America. There used to be quite a large berm around the inside of the track that kept drivers from pulling into the infield when they slowed but that is gone now. New dirt was added last Fall in turns one and two and that would be a focal point as they say that part of the track would have some "character" on this night. 

One hundred and twenty cars would sign in for night number one of this six race series with the car count expected to rise for the weekend shows when local and area drivers would not have to make as many sacrifices to get to the track. No hot laps were held as Wednesday was the practice night so they proceeded directly into racing shortly after 5 pm. local time. 

The only classes of the five that needed a B Feature was the Late Models and the Modifieds with the Late Models topping the charts with a fine field of thirty five of them on hand with drivers representing nine states and two Canadian Provinces. 

Stock Cars would be up first for their main and it was outside pole starter, North Dakota's Aaron Olson that would take the early lead. He was chased by local fan favorite Bo Partain as the two battled for the top spot. On lap six, Jason Rogers and Trent Grager would get their bumpers locked and both would slide off turn one, triggering the first yellow of the race. Grager would get his spot back which was key based on what would happen later in the race. 

Olson would continue to lead to lead with Partain pushing his very hard at the halfway point with Boone Evans, Grager and Jordan Zillmer following. Partain would get a nose under Olson on several occasions but just couldn't complete the pass as the laps ran down. 

Buddy Wade would stall with just three laps to go when it appeared his motor blew up and this would set up a sprint to the finish. The Delaware restart would see Partain chose the low side for the green but as the race resumed, a shocking move saw Grager move to the outside of the track and pass both Partain and Olson as they raced out of turn four. And once in front, he would pull away over the last two laps to pull off quite the upset. Partain would also get past Olson for second on the final lap. 

However, there was still a tech inspection to deal with and unfortunately, both third place Olson and fourth place Evans would fail. The final running order would then see Grager trailed by Partain, Chris McCurdy Sr, Mike Albertsen and Zellmer. Grager would also a winner here in 2023 when the series was resumed. 

Four heats and a B Feature would set the running order for the thirty three car field of IMCA Modifieds with Tom Berry Jr starting on the pole driving a car provided by Wisconsin's Mike Wedelstadt. However, it would be Chaz Baca Jr, from the outside, that would take the early lead. A scrum before one lap was completed would trigger a yellow but then the drivers would go nonstop for the twenty lap distance. 

Baca Jr would be challenged by both Berry Jr and Jeff "Bone" Larson driving a Timmy Current car this week. The three would slice and dice for the lead with Larson passing Berry Jr temporarily for second and then nearly passing for the lead. 

But then Berry Jr got back on his horse and would charge up past Larson, close on Baca Jr and with a slider, take the lead in turn four for just a single lap. Then things would turn sour very fast for Berry Jr as he got into turn one too hot and slid over the banking and was out of the race as the green continued to fly. This turn of events gave Baca Jr a nice sized lead over Larson and he was able to maintain it the rest of the race which stayed under the green. 

Being a local favorite, his win was a popular one here. Ricky Alvarado Jr started sixth and drove up to third which he maintained over the final half of the race and was trailed at the finish by Michael Leach and Jerry Flippo. 

There were many twists and turns to the Late Model twenty five lap main with WISSOTA 2023 National Champion Tyler Peterson taking the early lead. Outside pole sitter Josh Zimpel lost much time on the opening lap when he slipped over the banking with Bricen James moving into third behind Scott Ward. Ward was pushing hard for the lead and then he too slipped over the banking, losing a number of spots. 

Peterson was fast in the early going and pulled to a considerable lead as James, Moyer Jr who started seventh and Dustin Strand battling for position behind him. Meanwhile, a driver to watch was Ricky Weiss who slipped over the banking in his heat race, had to qualify through a B Feature after being the big winner here in 2023 and then started twenty first in the main. But he was on the move early, driving by other competitors using the top side of the track and soon had cracked the top ten. 

James, while running second, would slip over the banking in turn one and lose that spot as Moyer Jr would then be scored second on lap sixteen with Strand up to third and Weiss now right behind him. Suddenly, Peterson started to struggle badly in the corners with his car pushing up the track and his lead evaporating rapidly. Soon Moyer Jr. was on his rear bumper with Weiss moving past Strand for third. And shockingly, as he drove into turn one, Peterson's car shot up the banking and off the end of the track and Tyler was done as the yellow flew one last time. 

The last nine laps would be a three car battle between Moyer Jr, Weiss and Strand. Ricky would make many attempts to get past Billy but Moyer Jr always had a counter move. Strand made life difficult for Weiss also as he drove under him several times in the corners and nearly stole the second place. Weiss made one last shot off the final corner, riding in high and turning down across the track but Moyer Jr had just enough speed to nip Ricky by a car length for a very entertaining win. Strand would finish a very close third with Shane Sabraski and Dustin Bluhm completing the top five. Moyer Jr, by the way, was driving the Longhorn that Shaw drove last week in the Wild West Shootout, not his own car. 

The Limited Modifieds would provide their own thriller with a last lap pass deciding the winner of that race. Jake Smith would pull into the early lead over Blake Adams with Jess Brekke and Lucas Rodin close behind also. Both of them would shuffle Adams back to fourth as the first yellow flew on lap seven for a three car collision in turn one. 

With racing resuming, Adams would make a sparkling move in turn one, splitting Rodin and Brekke and moving back into second. He would then challenge Smith for the lead on several occasions, running close behind despite emitting some smoke from the rear of the car. A debris yellow at the halfway point would find Rodin moving up to third with Jory Berg also getting past Brekke. 

On that restart, Rodin would drive around Adams and take over the second spot and he would then move in to challenge for the lead. As the laps ran down, Rodin would ride close behind Smith who had led the entire contest. As the leaders took the white flag, Rodin made a strong move into turn one right on the bottom, got under Smith for the lead and then crossed him over down the back chute. Smith made a strong move to the bottom in an attempt to return the favor, but Rodin had that line covered and Smith was forced to back off as Rodin, a big winner here last year, would drive under the finish line as the winner. Adams would break on the final lap with a tire exploding and Berg would finish third, ahead of Brekke and Josh Cain, the only X Mod in the field. 

The IMCA Sport Mods would complete the night's racing with another hotly contested feature race that also saw some adjustments after the final checkered flag flew. Minnesota's Bud Martini took the early lead from the outside pole with Cam Reimers, Taylor Kuehl and Boddie Parker chasing. 

The race had gotten off to a shaky start with a turn four tangle on the opening lap saw Ryan Restad cart wheel over the banking, suffering much damage to his car. 

Once racing resumed however, Martini was able to put some distance on the field as he led through the halfway point over Reimers and Kuehl. However, Reimers was picking up the pace as he gradually closed in on the leader and on lap fourteen, with a strong drive down the back chute, he passed Martini to take over the lead. And with the race remaining under the green, Reimers was able to pull away in the last six laps for a strong win. 

Martini would hold on for an apparent second over Kuehl. However, the tech area once again proved troublesome for a couple of the drivers. Both Martini and Parker were docked two spots for having short wheelbases so the official finish found Kuehl second and followed by Tyler Johnson, Martini and James Meile. 

All racing was completed just a few minutes after 9 pm with a very comfortable evening and so much more pleasant than what we had to endure last week in New Mexico. There was good racing in all features and perhaps the most positive note was that the crowd was perhaps the biggest for any event in what is now the second year of this series and for certain, the biggest week night crowd. 

Racing will continue on both Friday and Saturday nights before taking a break and resuming next Thursday night once again. 

Pierce Runs Out of Rubber, Larson Tops Vado Finale

 The eighteenth annual Wild West Shootout concluded on Sunday afternoon, January 14th at the F.K. Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park in Vado New Mexico. The biggest money of the six race series was on the line for all three divisions that were in action plus big bonus money was also available for Bobby Pierce if he could win his fifth feature race out of the six contested. 

That would be a tall task as a strong field of drivers was anxious to knock him off the podium on Sunday but when matters were settled, the only thing that kept him from winning the one hundred thousand dollar bonus was a right rear Hoosier racing tire that stopped holding air with just six laps left in the race .After dominating the fifty lap feature race, his only real challenge would come from Kyle Larson who had closed to within a few car lengths and was getting ready for a late race banzai run but just when Larson figured he'd have to go or else, Pierce suffered the flat tire after he apparently ran over some debris on the track and cut the tire. 

In other racing action, Cade Dillard continued his mastery of the Modifieds, winning for the fourth time during the series and Jesse Haynie became a repeat winner with a strong run in the X Mods to close out the series for that division. 

The car count for the opener was at a six race low but typically, that is the way it is for the final show. Some teams are blown up or wrecked by the finale while others, facing some likely wicked driving conditions on the way home, opted to get a head start on what might be a very challenging trip for them. 

One hundred and twenty drivers signed in to race in the three divisions with both the open wheel classes down back a dozen cars from Saturday. Most of the Late Models did return with a late scratch by Justin Duty after he reported a blown motor in Saturday action. With the reduced car count, a tidy four heats and two B features would be the order of events for all three classes and then it was right into feature race time. 

Qualifying would see Dustin Sorensen and Kyle Larson, as the second to the last car out, top the speed charts for the two waves with Larson quickest overall at 14.765 seconds.  

Twenty four cars would take the green flag for each of the three feature races with the Late Models again rolling out first following some track prep. Fifty laps would be the distance for the Late Models on Sunday with twenty six thousand dollars on the line for the winner and Pierce hunting for the hundred grand bonus. However, for the first time in six races, Pierce would not start on the front row of the main, having not drawn quite as well as earlier in the series. 

Mike Marlar would start on the outside pole and he would use that momentum to take the early lead over Cade Dillard. Pierce would quickly move into second and then begin to close on Marlar. Pierce was running a line on the track lower than most and that gave him an open lane to challenge the leader and with the speed he has shown all week, he was soon breathing down Marlar's neck for the lead. 

The two exchanged slide jobs but Pierce was just too strong and on lap fourteen he would drive by Marlar to take over the lead. Pierce would pull away at this point while Marlar fought to hold off Stormy Scott for the second spot. 

The first yellow flew with twenty three laps completed when Collen Winebarger would slow with a flat tire. Larson was riding fifth at this point but when the green was redisplayed, he would pick up his pace significantly, driving past Dillard, Marlar and then Scott as he pulled into second. 

Pierce would still maintain the lead with a decent advantage but around lap thirty five, Larson started to pick up the pace, apparently realizing it was time to go. He closed to within a couple car lengths of Pierce and was beginning to hunt a line past Bobby. What might have turned out to be a special finish was aborted however, when coming out of turn four on lap forty four, Pierce suddenly slowed with a flat tire and Larson nearly ran up under the slowing leader until he was able to steer by. As dollar signs danced in front of his eyes, Pierce headed to the work area for a quick tire change, and while he was able to race his way back up to seventh, his chance for the big money was gone. 

Larson fired for the restart as the new leader and he would comfortably pull away from the field, unchallenged for the win. Marlar would hold off a late challenge from Dillard for second with Garrett Alberson and Scott completing the top five. Only five drivers would not complete the feature and the tire wear issue, which some were concerning about, never did appear to be a factor. 

The X Mods would go twenty five laps for their main event on Sunday and regular season Late Model point champion Josh Cain would take the early lead. Cain would come from the outside of row one to take the initial lead over Rob  Moseley and J. C. Morton. Jesse Haynie would quickly pick up the pace however and by the time the first yellow waved for a multi car spin on lap seven, he was up to the second spot. 

Cain would protect the low line on the restart while Haynie moved up the track a lane and would slowly edge in on the leader. For several laps he laid in wait and finally, on lap twelve, he would drive around Cain and take over the lead. And once in front, he would not be caught. He had quite a comfortable lead when a spin triggered the yellow with just two laps to go. 

However, Haynie was not about to be passed on this night as he pulled away on the start and would drive home with his second win of the series over Cain and Morton. Reese Solander and Nick Rivera would complete the top five. 

The evening finale produced a field spanking by Dillard as he won his fourth feature of the series and did so in dominating fashion. He would start on the pole and lead all laps and never really be challenged. Chad Wheeler would attempt to hand with him in the early going but it was Tyler Wolff, up from the third row, that would move into second and try to flag down the leader. 

The single yellow of the race occurred just at the halfway point with three cars tangling in turn three. This bunched the field and gave Wolff, Gary Christian and Dereck Ramirez their chance at the leader. But as he has done most of the time this week, despite the opportunity afforded to the others, Dillard would simply get on the gas and pull away from the field one more time. 

While Dillard took no prisoners as he pulled away again for the win, there was some shuffling behind him in the final running order. Christian picked up the pace and took over the runner up slot while Dan Ebert, just fifth at the halfway point, would make a very late pass on Wolff to claim the third spot. Wolff and Rodney Sanders would complete the top five. 

Once again it was another quick show with the final checkered waving before 9 pm. on what was a pleasantly cool night but one of the better race nights of the series. And while the Sunday crowds aren't normally gate busters, this appeared to be one of the better Sunday night followings and based on the cheers when Larson won, I'd say he had many fans in the crowd. There is no denying that his presence on the track this week has been a big draw. 

It's hard to believe but this six night series has just flown by. It seems like we were just getting starting and the next thing you know, we are talking about next year. Speaking of next year, while no dates were announced, it was confirmed that the WWS will return to Vado Speedway Park in 2025. Every year, and particularly this year when the weather was without double the worst ever for this event, the rumors start floating around that the WWS will return to Arizona where it truly is a bit warmer this time of year, but that tale was again squelched by management of this event. The reason that specific dates were not announced is that there are some potentially big changes in the world of Late Model racing coming for 2025 in schedules by the big sanctioning bodies and The WWS must wait until these potential changes are sorted out before announcing dates. Next year this event could be run anywhere from possibly a week earlier to perhaps as much as two weeks later, depending on what happens with other events scheduled for Florida. Much is fluid right now but hopefully within a few weeks things will become clearer. 

Many people need to be thanked for their help and consideration during this six race series. Thanks go out to event promoter Chris Kearns, Ben Shelton, Dustin Jarrett and all the other folks from FLO Racing. Thanks also go out to Royal Jones and his great crew of employees. This track is a beauty and one that every race fans should see at least once and he has one of the nicest, most pleasant and friendliest staffs I have encountered anywhere.  

Special thanks goes out to Trudy and Ed Healy, a pair of the most amazing people I have ever run into and the whole Rancho Milagro Racing team. They treated us like family and made this whole journey so much nicer. Words cannot express the generosity they heaped on us. 

Race fans, by all means, put this event on your calendar to attend. Do remember to dress warm but you won't be sorry you visited the best track in the Land of Enchantment.