The 2024 racing season is under way! Yes, you would have to drive quite a distance to catch this opening night of racing, but two hundred and fifty racers and scores of race fans traveled from near and far to catch this opening race series at the Cocopah Speedway near Somerton Arizona.
The Playa Azul Seypet Resorts IMCA.TV Winter Nationals presented by Yuma Insurance, Inc. and RV World Recreation Vehicle Center has become a destination event for racers to start off a new year and five divisions of IMCA racing would bring racers from many different regions of the country, all to compete in Modified, Stock Car, Sport Mod, Hobby Stock and Sport Compact racing. However, when all the racing was complete, Iowa drivers would be standing tall as racers from the Hawkeye state would take three of the five main events.
Two Hundred and fifty drivers would sign in for the opening night of racing at Cocopah, under the direction of race promoter Brad Whitfield. Car counts from 2023 would be up in three of the five classes with the Stock Cars taking the biggest jump while two of the classes would dip in car count from last year, with the Modifieds taking the biggest dip with twenty two less than saw opening night action last year. However, with the late sign in of Tony Toste, the total car count would be up sixteen from the opening night action of 2023.
A full night of racing would see forty one races clicked off at a very rapid pace with track officials sending out the next race almost before the last car had crossed the finish line in the previous race. Only an issue with the weather kept this event from being a quick night of racing.
Passing points would be used in 2024 to set the lineups for the main events with heat race winners also locked in and given top priority when setting the main event lineups. The track was never touched once the first green flag was waved and while it went from heavy and slick to black and slick by the time the night was completed, drivers were still racing all over the track and there was no evidence of any rubbered up situation.
A one spin rule was used for both the heats and B Features which certainly helped speed things up but the drivers did a great job of racing on this opening night. Despite many driving brand new cars that had not as yet have seen the race track, drivers from different regions racing together and many never having seen this track before, they did a great job of racing hard but not causing yellows as only two races of the forty one saw as many as three yellow flags.
Two long standing beliefs were challenged during the course of the night. The first, and biggest, was that it never rains in Yuma. Well, that is wrong and we were near having the first rain out of 2024 at the first event of the year! A line of mostly light showers with some bursts of strong winds that took care of the victory lane banner hit the track just before racing was scheduled to begin. It did not rain hard but it was definitely rain in a city where they brag that three hundred and fifty days of the year the sun shines. Actually it did shine both before and after the line of showers moved through and track equipment remained on the track, working it even as the showers continued. It is surprising that with as little moisture as did fall, the track did get quite wet. However, they kept working the track and it never got away form them and racing was able to begin with a ninety minute delay and there would be no stoppages after that.
The other long standing belief is that if doesn't get cold in the desert and that would be incorrect also as with the temperature dipping to the mid 40's by the time the last checkered waved at Midnight, it was cold! It was also a rare damp night which made things just a bit more uncomfortable with only the toughest of fans sticking things out to the end.
It was a great night for the Iowa racers as they were able to top three of the five main events. Perhaps the biggest would be in the Modified main where Chris Zogg would lead all twenty five laps to score the win. Seventy Mods would be whittled to twenty seven that would take the green flag with Zogg and Tim Ward sharing the front row.
Surprisingly to me, Zogg would get the jump on Ward and lead the opening lap with Jason Noll and Grey Ferreando slipping in behind them. Ward would try both the top and bottom side of the track and would nose up close to Zogg on several occasions but couldn't mount a severe challenge.
The race was stopped only once with six laps complete and Zogg would resume as the leader with Ward still chasing him hard. The last few laps would see slower cars the biggest challenge for Zogg as Ward rode close behind him but Zogg never made a misstep and wouldn't open the door for Ward who was just looking for an opening.
At the line, Zogg would maintain a small but consistent lead as he drove to the win and reported in victory lane that this would be his first win outside the state of Iowa ever. Ward would finish a close second with Ferrando, Chaz Baca and Jeremy Mills completing the top five.
Another wire to wire winner from Iowa would be Sport Mod racer Cam Reimers. He would start on the pole for the Sport Mod main and would lead all twenty five laps to get the win. In the early going, he would be challenged by the other #21 in the field, Gabriel Deschamp from North Dakota. Reimers would go to the cushion and while Deschamp chased him, Reimers was able to put some distance on the field.
Taylor Kuehl, Tyler Bannister up from eleventh and Wisconsin's Dustin White would follow in the early going. Bannister was making the most moves and by the halfway point, he had passed Deschamp for the second spot.
The real challenge for Reimers in the last half of the race was lapped traffic which was heavy and there were several that seemed to want to race with the leader not yield. Reimers got himself in a couple of tight situations but was able to work his way through clean while keeping Bannister behind him, although Tyler was able to close to within a couple car lengths.
With only three laps to go, the running order was severely shuffled as Deschamp spun in turn four and took Justin Erickson with him, eliminated two drivers in the top five. On the restart, Reimers would pull away for the win with Bannister finishing a strong second. Nathan Speten, Kuehl and White would complete the top five.
Kaytee DeVries would complete the sweep for the Iowa contingent as she would also lead from start to finish in the Sport Compact feature. Blake Andrus and Greg Kohl would share the front row but before one lap was completed, DeVries would duck low in turn three and take the lead. Kohl and Oliver Monson would battle hard for second before Monson would take the spot.
After a first lap yellow, this race would go green to checkered with DeVries holding a slight lead over Monson who was also slightly in front on third running Kohl. Near the end of the race, Monson started to narrow the lead and he pushed very hard on the final tour, looking for the win. However, he drifted very high in the final corner, giving DeVries the margin she needed to take the win.
Monson would slow drastically after getting too high and would take a hard right turn to the pit entrance and not cross the finish line, dropping him from second to eleventh. Kohl would be scored second and was followed by Nathan DeRagon, Andrus and Joseph Baker.
The Stock Car main would see the biggest charge as winner Zane Devilbiss would start ninth but quickly work his way to the front. Anthony Madrid would beat Mike Albertsen and Curt Lund into corner one and take the early lead. With most drivers running the cushion, Lund would drop to the inside and power into the lead on the second lap. Madrid, who was considered a strong challenger for the win, would then have mechanical issues and drop out.
Lund would continue to lead but would be pressured by Cameron Starry and Bo Partain who had moved up from the tenth starting position. Devilbiss would also be on the move and was one of few able to work the low side of the track. Devilbiss would continue his charge and would be battling team car Starry for second when the yellow would fly for a spin.
Lund would continue to lead on the final restart, but Devilbiss quickly moved to his low side and would pressure for the lead. With a power move in turn four, "Zippy" would take over the top spot and then begin to pull away. He would lengthen his lead to the checkers with Partain also getting past Lund for second. Starry and Justen Yeager would complete the top five.
The Hobby Stock feature would see the closest battle for the lead with the front runners putting on quite the show. Dillon Richards would get the jump on Zack Tate to take the early lead. Eric Knutson would move into third but then quickly be eliminated with a flat tire.
Cody "Meatloaf" Williams would move from the third row and pass Tate for second. He would then pull up beside Richards and they would have a great race for the lead. They circled the track for several laps, side by side, as they raced for the lead but there would be no slamming or banging as they fought hard but clean.
On lap seven, Williams would finally edge past Richards as he made the low side work and Cody would pull into the lead. He would then gain a few car lengths over the field as Richards and Tate would then battle for second.
One lap past halfway, the race would change dramatically when Richards would spin out of second spot and Tate would be asked to leave the track due to contact between the two. This would elevate Morgan Olmstead into second and while he would stay close to Williams, "Meatloaf" would make no mistakes the rest of the way and would drive on for the win. Nathan DeRagon would finish a strong third ahead of Payce Herrera and Brycen Daffern.
As I said earlier, track officials did a great job of moving things along once the track was ready to race on, and the entire show was run off in six and a half hours, but except for the ninety minute rain delay, we would have been done at a very reasonable time.
Remember that IMCA TV is covering the entire event for those interesting in catching the action and not able to jump on a plane for Thursday night's show in Yuma.
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