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.
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