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.
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