Seavey and Thornton Jr. Cruise at VSP

 Tuesday night, February 11th the Volusia Speedway Park presented the conclusion of Volusia's part of the Winter Dirt Games for the USAC Sprint Car drivers while it was night number two for the Federated DIRTcar Nationals for the UMP Late Models. 

In two quite similar races, the leader would get to the front early and then just cruise on to victory with Logan Seavey topping the Sprint Cars and Ricky Thornton Jr taking the measure of the Late Model field. 

Thirty three Sprint Cars signed in to race on Tuesday night, with a big Gator trophy at stake for the overall point winner of the two nights of racing. And for the second straight night, Daison Pursley topped the field in qualifying with a quick lap of 16.275 seconds. For his efforts, Pursley would then get the privilege of starting sixth in his heat race under the USAC formula for starting races but it made no matter to him as he blew through the field to take the win, probably the best job of passing cars that was seen all night. 

The Sprint Cars presented their show of four heats and a B Feature that set up their twenty five car starting field for their thirty lap main event that for the first time this week, had one provisional entrant which was Kayla Roell. 

A monkey wrench was thrown into the teams' planning for the main event however, as a surprise pop up shower, the kind that Florida is famous for, hit just after the track prep crew started their routine of watering, ripping and then repacking the track for the main events. They continued to do their work as the rain fell as it never came down to the point that they had to get off the track or get stuck. However, that amount of rain, coming as it did time wise, did put more moisture back into the racing surface and the first few laps of racing were very fast before it did it's natural evolution as every track does during a racing night. 

Seavey started on the pole and he strongly took off at the start putting some distance on the field quickly as Monday night winner, Kyle Cummings quickly moved up to second, getting past Jake Swanson and Briggs Danner and setting his sites on leader Seavey. A quick yellow with six laps completed slowed the field, but when racing resumed the field settled in with the top five staying pretty static for a number of laps. 

As the field reached the halfway point, Seavey continued to maintain his lead, despite efforts from Cummings to close in on him. Pursley, not finding the field quite so easy to pass as in his heat race, finally worked into the top five when he got past Robert Ballou. Ballou exploded a tire with ten laps to go, slowing the action once again with Danner and Pursley both getting past Swanson to gain a spot. 

Two late yellows gave Cummings his best shots at a win, the last coming just as it had the night before with the field coming to the checkers before a slowing car set up a two lap sprint to the finish. 

The track was prime for a slide job contest to the finish but most played it pretty clean with no wild maneuvers taking place. Cummings gave it his best, boring low into the corners and trying to beat Seavey out of them, but he gave Seavey room to race and Logan was just a bit too fast to be caught as he drove across the line as the winner, with Cummings a close second and followed by Pursley, Danner and a charging Kale Drake who had started nineteenth. Only four drivers failed to finish the race and only three a lap behind. 

There was a tie for the top point earner for the two nights but based on the tire breaker, Cummings with his Monday night feature win earned the big Gator trophy. The USAC crew will now move an hour East to the Ocala Speedway where they will wind up Winter Dirt Games with four nights of racing at Bubba's place. 

The Late Models again used the UMP format with the field divided into six groups with the drivers qualifying against only the drivers in that group. Ryan Gustin was out with the first group and as the track slowed just a bit after they started pounding the track, Gustin was quick for the night at 15.492. The field of drivers was increased to fifty five on Tuesday as Jimmy Owens, Kyle Strickler, Dillon McCowan, Boom Briggs and Brenden Smith all made their Volusia debuts. 

After the six heat races, three B Features would fill out the field with again, just twenty four drivers making the main as no provisional spots were open. 

While Thornton Jr. started on the pole, it was Tyler Erb from the outside that got the jump and took the early lead as it seems like the outside is the place to be on starts and restarts. In fact, Thornton Jr fell back to third as Bobby Pierce also got past him before the lone yellow of the race waved with three good laps after Brenden Smith rolled to a halt. Jonathan Davenport and Brandon Overton had moved into the top five  before the first yellow as the cream was rising to the surface quickly on the fast track. 

Pierce opted for the inside on the Delaware restart, to which Thornton Jr said thanks as he blew right past the Illinois driver to move back into second while Pierce's bad start saw him nearly fall back to fifth before he made a strong move off turn four to regain the third spot. 

Thornton Jr just seemed to be sizing up Erb, waiting for the proper time and place to make his move. He got a big run off turn four just a lap short of halfway and blew past Erb to take over the lead with the running order remaining the same as the halfway signal was given by starter Dave Farney. 

After that, it was a walk in the park for Thornton Jr who pulled away to develop a comfortable lead. Only when he hit the back of the pack was he pressed slightly but he handled that and was able to maintain a comfortable lead as he flashed under the finish line to complete an impressive run. 

Pierce made a banzai move on the final corner and was able to get past Erb for second with Davenport and Overton running in their same positions to the finish. Only two drivers in the field failed to finish the event. 

The UMP portion of the program will conclude on Wednesday night before the World Of Outlaws Late Models take over management and procedures for the rest of the week. Wednesday night's show is a different type of event, as the field will be split into three groups with no heat races and all drivers getting to start one of the three, twenty lap feature races. Participation awards will go to those in the back of the pack that make their first feature of Speed Weeks (sarcasm alert). The Big Block Modifieds of the Super DIRTcar Series also will be on hand, opening up for their first of four nights of racing action also as the "Beasts from the Northeast" move in. DIRT Vision is the place to catch all the action at home. 

Cummings and Hoffman Top Volusia Opener

 The final week of Florida Speed Weeks kicked off on Monday night, February 11th at the Volusia Speedway Park for the Federated DIRTcar Nationals with the USAC Sprint Cars in action as they shared the stage with the UMP Dirtcar Late Models. 

An excellent field of drivers was on hand in each of the classes and the opening night winners were Kyle Cummings in the Sprint Cars and Nick Hoffman in the Late Models.

The Sprint Car race was the first of the new season for USAC and a number of new driver-owner combinations were debuted here with a program necessary to determine which players were with which teams. Thirty four drivers signed in to race for the Sprint Car program with Daison Pursley topping the qualifying with a lap of 16.156 seconds.

Four heat races were held for the Sprints and using the USAC formula, the top three rows for each of the heats were inverted with the top five drivers in each heat making the feature. One B main qualified four more drivers with two dozen taking the green flag for their twenty five lap feature race. 

Brady Bacon held the pole position and he shot into the initial lead but he would hold that spot for just a single lap. Meanwhile, Cummings started on the outside of row two but he split Logan Seavey and Mitchel Moles on the opening lap to move into second and going to the cushion, he blew past Bacon just one lap later to take over the lead. 

A quick yellow for a stalled car slowed the action one lap later but the green quickly came back out and Cummings pulled away from the pack as Bacon couldn't stay with him and neither could the rest of the pack. Pursley moved up from the third row in the six car invert and drove up into second spot as Justin Grant and Briggs Danner both moved into the top five. 

At the halfway point, that was the running order with Cummings still comfortably in the lead. It looked like the rest of the race would roll off nonstop but then two late yellows bunched the field. First, Kobe Simpson blew up a motor on the back chute with quite the ball of flames as Grant had raced past Pursley for third just before this. 

Then, just as the leaders were coming around to take the checkers, Jake Swanson rolled to a half in turn four and under USAC rules, a green, white and checkered finish was called for. 

This was no problem for Cummings however, as he pulled away strong on the restart to drive under the checkers with a solid win. However, Pursley caught fire on the last two laps, first passing Grant for third and then also getting by Bacon for second with a late dive in turn one. Danner completed the top five in the running order. Only one driver failed to finish what was a very smooth program for the Sprint Cars. 

A large field of fifty one drivers signed in to compete in the UMP sanctioned Late Model portion of the program. Apparently a number of drivers that generally would not run the first few shows of the Volusia week joined in the racing action on this night to get laps in preparation for the points and bigger money to be presented as the week rolls on. 

Along with the fifty one drivers that took the green on Monday night, there were another nine of the grounds and in the pits that chose not to race including Dustin Walker, Carson Ferguson, Brenden Smith, Boom Briggs, Hudson O'Neal, Jimmy Owens, Kyle Strickler, Daniel Hilsabeck and Dillon McCowan who are all expected to join in perhaps as early as Tuesday night. 

With UMP providing the sanctioning of this event for the first three nights, their rules and procedures would be followed. The group was divided into six heat races and drivers would qualify only against the other cars in their group. The heats were straight up with the top three making the show and then there would be three B Features, lined up finishes in the heats with two out of each B making the show. Only twenty four started the feature and there were no provisional starters so a number of top drivers watched the Monday night show from the pits. Cade Dillard was the third driver out for time trials and he turned the quickest lap of the night at 15.672 as the Late Models proved to be quicker than the non winged Sprints. 

All six heats and the three B Features were won from the front row but this pattern was not followed, thankfully, in the main event which was a very good race with much moving and shuffling of positions. And best of all, it went nonstop for twenty five laps.

This was probably a very good thing because just as the Sprint feature ended , the fog blew in with a rush, engulfing the facility with a thick layer of visibility limiting moisture. As the interviews continued, it was got to the point where there was some doubt whether or not the Late Models would be able to run. However, the cars circling the track moved the fog just enough that they could safely race, even though from the stands, it was tough seeing just what was happening on the back chute. 

But what was happening was some darn good racing. Dillard took off like a shot from the pole and opened up some distance over Nick Hoffman and Ricky Thornton Jr.  Ryan Gustin and Jonathan Davenport were both charging too and after a few laps, it was apparent that the pack was catching leader Dillard as he started to fade after his initial burst of speed. 

Hoffman caught him first  and on lap eleven he blew past to take over the lead as the other members of that pack also challenged Dillard. Cade was still second at the halfway point with Thornton Jr, Gustin and Davenport all tight behind him.

As they fought, Hoffman put some distance on the field but then he caught traffic which was difficult to deal with. It slowed his pace and Thornton Jr, who had taken over second, was closing fast and it looked like Ricky was ready to make his move. But just as he sized up Hoffman, Gustin moved to the outside and came rushing forward, pulling up beside Thornton Jr and causing him to take defensive action to hold on to second. 

Then, with just four laps to go, Hoffman made the move of the race as he split two lapped cars on the front stretch which gave him running room and he quickly then pulled back away from the pack. The rest of the battlers were stuck and they duked it out amongst themselves with still, much shuffling right down to the end. 

As Hoffman drove under the flags for the win, Thornton managed to hold off a last lap rush by Davenport for second while Max Blair appeared from virtually no where to steal fourth from a fading Gustin. By the end, it was difficult to distinguish who was who as they came out of the fog on turn four but the race was completed safely and with the final checkers waved, the ceiling sank even lower over the facility. 

The race was a quick one but only one driver failed to complete the contest and only three fell a lap behind the leaders. All racing was done by 10 pm and a large crowd was on hand, a group that will get only bigger as the week progresses. 

Moran Out Tricks Davenport For Ocala Twenty Five Grand

 The fifth and final leg of the Wieland Winter Nationals was held on Saturday night, February 8th at Ocala Speedway on the edge of Ocala Florida. It was another gorgeous February day, as they have been here all week and a reported record crowd was jammed into the venerable speedway to watch the drivers fight over what was also announced as a record purse and a record top payoff to the drivers of the Lucas Oil Late Model Series. 

In a fifty lap feature race that went through periods of boredom and frustration, the last twenty laps were "golden" as Davenport and Moran battled for the top spot, trading lanes on the track and passing strategies before Moran got the better of things in the late going and secured a popular victory. 

Forty seven drivers signed in to race on Saturday night, a high water number for the week with only a couple drivers who pulled out earlier this week not attempting to race. 

The night gave all ear marks of it being an interesting night as early as during hot laps. While practicing to get maximum speed out of their cars, both Matt Nailor and Austin Smith hammered the outside wall and were done with extensive damage for the night. Chase Junghans also had trouble during hot laps and parked his car too. And during time trials one more driver was eliminated when Jason Jack also tried to knock down the outside wall. 

The track was also giving fits to those drivers able to complete qualifying attempts and even though Garrett Alberson was quickest overall at 14.397 seconds and Davenport was quickest in the second group, there were a number of top running drivers that timed in poorly and would have to be doing some fancy driving to make the show through a heat race. Some of those included Kyle Bronson, Ryan Gustin, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Overton, Dennis Erb and Hudson O' Neal. None of the first three mentioned actually even made the show with Pierce so frustrated he didn't even bother to make an attempt in a B Feature. The first part of the program was quite unpredictable but come feature time, the cream would rise to the top. 

Twenty five drivers took the green flag for the feature race with Davenport using the outside, as many drivers have all week, to get the jump and take the early lead. Ricky Thornton Jr didn't want go back to second, but Davenport was just a little bit quicker in the early going. Brandon Sheppard rode in third in the early going with Overton and Alberson next in line. 

With sixteen laps complete Carson Ferguson rolled to a halt with a flat tire, triggering a rash of yellow flags for car slowing for flat tires. The next dozen laps would see this repeated four more times and just as it seemed some hard racing was ready to break out, the yellow would fly again and slow things down. 

As is the case in much of racing these days, the majority of passes occur following yellow flag periods when the fields are bunched back up and a big one happened here when following a lap twenty seven yellow for Dan Ebert's flat, Moran was able to drive around Thornton Jr. for second and then set off after leader Davenport. Thornton Jr. tried to fight back but Moran had moved up the track and found a good run off the corners using that line. 

He closed in on Davenport who was married to the bottom and while Thornton Jr. tried the top from time to time, he seemed contend to let Moran have that line and try to make it work. Devin closed on Davenport several times, getting an especially good run off turn two and nearly squeezing by but each time, Davenport would hold on. 

Then for several laps Moran fell back to the low line, riding in the tire tracks of Davenport. However, just when Davenport felt safe on the inside, Moran moved back to the outside and pulled up beside the leader. They exchanged cross over runs on each other and Moran edged past and then away down the front chute on lap thirty eight. 

Davenport had nothing to offer in the final laps until Moran got way too high on the last corner and Davenport made it close  but not close enough as Moran drove on for the win. Thornton Jr ran third just about the whole last half of the race with Overton fourth and Alberson rounding out the top five. Twenty one drivers would complete the race and only two weren't on the lead lap as the frequent yellows kept there from being many lapped or slower cars for the leaders to contend with. 

Davenport will leave the Winter Nationals with the slightest of point leads over Moran and Thornton Jr with the Lucas Oil drivers not meeting to race once again until the end of March when they head North to Ohio and Indiana. 

With the Late Model portion of Winter Nationals complete, there are many people to thank. Promoter Bubba Clem and track manage Tom Bean head the list along with all the hard working staff members of the Ocala Speedway plus the folks from the Lucas Oil Series and FLO Racing for their help. 

And while the Late Models are done at Ocala, there is still much racing to be done before February is complete. The USAC Sprints move into Ocala with a practice session slated for Sunday of this week and full racing programs to be held on Wednesday through Saturday as Florida is truly the racing capital of the world this month. 

Thornton Jr. Administers a Whipping on the Field at Ocala

 Ricky Thornton Jr. was the story on Friday night, February 7th at the Ocala Speedway as round four of the Wieland Winter Nationals for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series drivers was held. In baseball terms, Thornton Jr picked a "perfect game" as he out qualified the forty three car field, then won his heat race which gave him the outside pole for the fifty lap main event and then he proceeded to drive away from the twenty seven car field to  record a dominating victory. There was never a question during the feature race who was dominant and going to win and the only thing that could have changed that would be for a crash, incident with a lapped car, or a mechanical failure. None of that occurred and Thornton Jr. drove home for the easy win. 

Ryan Gustin and Bobby Pierce were additional entrants on Friday night for the fifty lap, twelve thousand dollar to win program and while Gustin failed to make the show, Pierce would run a steady race and finish in the top five. 

Part of what makes dirt track racing so interesting and challenging is how much conditions can change from night to night and being able to adapt to the changes sets the really good drivers apart. After having a very heavy track on Wednesday night, the track prep folks no doubt caught plenty of criticism from those drivers not liking that kind of track and as often happens, they changed things up quite a bit and the racing surface was much drier for Friday night's show. It was not throwing dust, thankfully, but it was much blacker and slick and was, I would say, bordering on rubbering up by the end of the race although there were still drivers running the outside and they did not line up and run just one lane like a true rubbered up track normally finds. However, those that could read what the track was going to do prospered and that included such drivers as Hudson O'Neal, Devin Moran and Jonathan Davenport who have been fast here all week, not matter the conditions. 

Moran and Thornton Jr. were the quickest in their groups in qualifying and while Thornton Jr was the thirty second car to hit the track, he still set fast time at 14.215 second, only about a tenth off the fastest time seen all week. 

The start of the feature saw Moran get the jump but with a strong move before lap one was completed, Thornton Jr had grabbed the lead and after that, everyone would be fighting for second. Two early yellows in the first six laps kept the field bunched but Thornton Jr was to get the jump each time and continue to hold the lead. 

Brian Shirley got the jump on Moran on a restart and moved into second, with Moran, Kyle Bronson and O'Neal trailing. But as has been the case all week, Shirley just can not shake the black cloud hanging over his head and as the yellow waved with sixteen laps complete for debris on the track, Shirley slowed with a flat right rear tire, one of quite a few having that issue this week. 

Thornton Jr. again took off strong and with a long session of green flag racing then taking place, he began to assert his domination as he pulled away from the field, building nearly a full straightaway over the pack. However, the racing was not without action as O'Neal, who had move up strongly, got past Moran on the restart to take over second and those two went at it for a considerable time, fighting for that position. 

Pierce than also picked up the pac as he moved into fifth, then passed Bronson for fourth and soon it was a three car battle for the second spot. And at the same time, Davenport was on the move and he and Bronson then had an extended battle for fifth. 

While all this was ongoing, Thornton Jr was going on about his business as he carefully worked his way through traffic, putting several fast drivers a lap in arrears, one they never would be able make back up. 

Just when it looked like things were cut and dried, Garrett Alberson slowed with a flat tire with just seven laps to go and the question was would Thornton Jr. still have enough tire to pull away again after maintaining such a hot pace for so many laps. 

The answer came quickly, as he jumped away from the field for the seven lap sprint to the finish and was never in danger of giving up the lead. The battle for second continued right to the finish with O'Neal claiming second over Moran, Pierce next in line and Davenport topping Bronson for that next finishing position. 

A considerable number of drivers in this longer lap event dropped to the infield when they either got lapped or just before to likely both save their equipment on a night when they just didn't have it or to also not get in the way of any up front battles that might be taking place. Thus, only nineteen cars finished the race with five a lap down to the winner. 

On the positive side, the cars looked quite a bit better than they did on Thursday night after racing the main and there was not near as much body damage to be repaired. 

In a week that feels like it has just flown by, the finale of Winter Nationals for the Lucas Oil Series takes place on Saturday night. Another fifty lapper is planned but the ante goes up as the drivers will be racing for twenty five grand to win. The racing action will again be available on FLO Sports for those that would like to watch and can't make it to Florida by Saturday evening. 

Davenport Fights Off Challenges To Top Ocala In Repeat Victory

 Wieland Winter Nationals round three on Thursday night, February 6th at the Ocala Speedway was a dandy with Jonathan Davenport fighting off a series of challenges from several different drivers to hold on for a forty lap victory worth ten grand and set himself up as a serious challenger for the Lucas Oil title in 2025. 

It was a great night for racing as the central Florida weather continued the spectacular trend it has locked into for the past several days and promises to continue for the upcoming week and each night the racing crowds have gotten larger and larger for this quick paced event, a staple of the LOLMS. 

The Thursday night field of drivers increased as the points season starts and the purses go up as well with forty five drivers signing in for racing action with seven drivers making their first appearances of the week. 

A word about the track here this week and particularly so on Thursday was that the track crews have done a masterful job of getting and keeping moisture in the racing surface. The surface remained heavy all night and it seemed that as the evening progresses, the moisture came back up to the surface which provided a continuing horse power track with plenty of bite. The track crew was kept busy once the racing began just scraping the mud off the walls to improve visibility for the drivers and they flew around the track all night. Some of the cars got a little muddy, even to the point that it was hard to read numbers on the right sides of the cars, but that to me was a beautiful sight. 

We must not live in the past and it is not fair to compare apples with oranges but the way the track acted on Thursday and the aggressive way that the drivers raced each other for forty laps certainly reminded many of the days at East Bay where the track could be oh so heavy and the drivers would stomp the throttle from the first green flag of the night until they dropped the last checkers. And not a whisper of dust in the stands either. 

Davenport topped the first group in qualifying but Ricky Thornton Jr shocked everyone by coming out late and setting quick time for the evening at 14.181 seconds which was also the quickest time of the week to date. 

The format would remain the same as previous races this week with four intense heat races highlighting the action. Notable was the comeback made by Davenport to top Spencer Hughes in a heat when he almost let the pole for the feature slip away from himself and Kyle Bronson's run to hold off Thornton Jr and win heat three. 

Two large B Features wrapped up the qualifying action with several "name" drivers either left on the sidelines for the main or hoping to qualify for provisional starts. For as the point season begins for Lucas, so also the provisional starts begin too and on this night, twenty seven drivers took the green for the main event. 

Bad luck hit Hudson O'Neal before the start of the feature as he had to forfeit an eighth row starting position when he was forced to a back up car following engine problems in his heat race. 

Davenport took the initial lead with Bronson going to the top line as he frequently does but it was still just a bit slick out there and he gave up a couple spots as Brandon Sheppard moved into second. The yellow waved early when Drake Troutman spun in the tricky turn four area that has been a puzzle for many drivers so far this week. 

Davenport continued to lead with Sheppard riding him hard while Bronson, Brandon Overton and Devin Moran all raced very hard just to the rear of the leaders. Brenden Smith pulled up lame with twelve laps complete, just as the leaders caught the back of the pack so this helped Davenport avoid the trouble associated with fighting through traffic that was both heavy and fast, thus making it very tough to get past them. 

A Dan Ebert spin and then problems for Tim McCreadie both slowed the action but through it all, Davenport continued to lead while the battle between Bronson and Sheppard raged on. As the field reached the halfway point, Bronson slipped high and forfeited a couple spots with Overton now starting to move forward as he was up to third. 

Overton continued his charge as he got by Sheppard for second with Bronson on the comeback also, working up to third as this pack of cars continued to shuffle positions in a high speed chess match. 

The final yellow, with thirty two laps complete, was a costly one as several contenders got into a tangle on the back chute with Brian Shirley and Mark Whitener calling it a night while Garrett Alberson, Thornton Jr and Daulton Wilson all had to go tail back. 

The last eight laps saw a two car duel between Davenport and Overton. Brandon was all over the track, trying to find a way by Davenport to take the lead. He looked inside for several laps but Jonathan kept his car tucked to the bottom lane. Finally, Overton adjusted his line, trying to work higher off the corners and get past Davenport on the outside. He had a great run off turn two on the thirty eighth lap and very nearly got past but Davenport used the track and was just able to break off Overton's run. Brandon would try one more time on the final lap but again would come up short, but producing a spectacular effort while settling for second. 

Davenport would be scored the leader for all forty laps but that statistic would be very misleading as his victory was anything but a walk in the park. Bronson finished up a strong run with the third place finish, just ahead of Sheppard and Moran. Twenty drivers finished the race and all were on the lead lap as Davenport did catch a break with nicely spaced yellows that limited the amount of traffic that he would have to fight through. 

Friday night the stakes get even higher as the top prize moves up to twelve grand and the feature race length is extended by ten laps. 

Davenport Dominates Wednesday Winter Nationals at Ocala

 The Wieland Winter Nationals continued with round two of the final leg of Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks at the Ocala Speedway on Wednesday night, February 5th and it was Jonathan Davenport that dominated the racing action. The veteran Georgia driver led from start to finish to claim the thirty lap non point paying event which added seven grand to his early season winnings as he continued to tune up his race car in advance of a run for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series title. 

Davenport was quick qualifier for group A and second quickest overall at 14.378 seconds around the oddly shaped Ocala oval, and after starting on the pole and winning the first heat race, he also then earned the ability to start on the pole for the thirty lap feature race. 

Thirty nine drivers signed in to race on Wednesday night as both Boom Briggs and Ricky Thornton Jr were added to the field while Tristan Chamberlain pulled their unit out of the pits to take a few days off before Volusia starts and they begin World of Outlaw point racing once again. 

Thornton Jr was quickest qualifier overall as his brand new car performed well and his 14.223 lap topped all drivers. He then went on to win heat three and the two titans of the sport currently then started side by side on row one for the main event. 

Brandon Overton and Brian Shirley also were heat race winners on a well watered racing surface that required track workers to take several opportunities to scrape mud off the outside walls so drivers could get their bearings better. Despite this, there were again several instances where the drivers pounded the tricky fourth turn wall, which was no doubt the toughest point on the track and one that could easily make or break a racing lap and race. 

A first lap, first turn incident in the first heat race eliminated Derrick Stewart, Donald McIntosh and Matt Tifft for the night but other than that, everything leading up to the feature race went off smoothly. 

The non point race again offered no provisionals so it was either race your way in or watch the action from the pits come feature time with twenty four drivers taking the green for the main event. A big last minute update four Devin Moran skipping the main with motor problems after he was scheduled to start in the tenth spot and this Kyle Bronson, who couldn't get past Garrett Alberson in a B Feature, the opportunity to race further. 

Davenport got the jump on Thornton Jr to take the initial lead as Thornton got a bit high which allowed Overton and Shirley to move past him in the early running order. Two early incidents reshaped the running order of the feature. First, Brandon Sheppard hammered that tricky turn four wall and gave himself a flat tire, stalling on the front chute and triggering the first yellow with just four laps in the book. He would change the tire but be mired in the field for the rest of the race. 

And just one lap later, Shirley would continue his streak of bad luck, spinning in turn four while again running in the top five. While most of his considerable bad luck of late was unavoidable, this error was self inflicted as he was running the extreme high side of the track in an effort to find open track and it just back fired on him. He was then doomed and ended up being lapped near the end of the race. 

Meanwhile, Davenport continued to lead with Overton trying to stay with him while Thornton Jr, Tim McCreadie and Daulton Wilson followed in the early going. After starting ninth, Drake Troutman was making some ground as he too used the higher line on the track which was fast but also tricky. By the halfway point of the race, Drake was up to fifth and continued to push forward. 

Davenport got a bit hung up as he approached traffic and this allowed Overton one last shot to get past him but Davenport probably made the move of the race when he split the slower cars of Carson Ferguson and Cory Lawler on the front chute and gave himself a nice cushion as the laps ran down. 

Overton then put the reversers on as he backed up in the field, ultimately dropping to fifth and Thornton Jr, McCreadie and Troutman all got past him in the last fifteen laps. 

Troutman was likely the second fastest driver on the track during this time as he continued to push forward, squeezing under McCreadie and then taking a shot at Thornton Jr. While Davenport cruised, all eyes were on that battle for second. Things got tight as Troutman elbowed his way past down the back chute and while Thornton Jr. tried to return the favor on the final lap, he couldn't pull it off and had to settle for third. McCreadie ran a consistent race to finish fourth ahead of Overton. The last twenty five laps of the race were run off clean to the finish and only three drivers didn't finish the race with just a pair down a lap. 

A different way of entertaining the fans during the break before the feature race was held on Wednesday as track Pastor Bubba married a couple of fans on the front chute for all the world to see. 

The IMCA Mod Lites completed their two night run on Wednesday also. A large field of drivers was whittled down to twenty four that started the main event. Corey Babbitt, the fast Texas driver, then led all twenty five laps to top the main. Late in the race his comfortable lead was shaved down by lapped traffic that slowed his progress and second place finisher Ronnie Choate from Tennessee made a last corner attempt that came up just short. Ohio driver Carson Hubbard finished third. 

As had been also the case on Tuesday night, the Mod Lite racing was marked by several wicked flips which fortunately, did not produce any reported driver injuries but did make for several heart stopping moments as cars were flipping in all directions. 

LOLMS action continues on Thursday night with the ante being raised in both laps run and the purse paid out as drivers continue to fine tune their cars for the return of points racing which is upcoming on Friday. 

Moran Tops LOLMS Opener at Ocala

 With the closing of East Bay Raceway Park and the shuffling of the Lucas Oil Late Model Series schedule as a result of this, Ocala Speedway, or Bubba Raceway, as some still prefer to call it, finds themselves as the presenters of the final week of Lucas Oil Late Model racing during the Florida Speed Weeks series. Five nights of racing will be topped by the fifty lap feature event on Saturday night. But before that, there will be four other nights of racing, the last three of which will offer full Lucas points while the first two shows, while being non point nights, are still nice paying events and tune ups for what comes later. 

Thirty eight drivers signed in for opening night racing action with a thirty lap feature race to highlight the evening. At least seven more rigs were also in the pits with those drivers, for a variety of reasons, opting to pass up Tuesday night racing. One crew that was very busy was the Ricky Thornton Jr. team who had a new Longhorn chassis shipped to them over night from North Carolina and they were busy putting the motor in the car and getting everything ready for racing later this week. 

One interesting moment in pre race activity found a pick up truck delivering six new Clements racing engines to the pits where they were distributed by a fork lift operated by Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Rick Eckert to various teams waiting for fresh "bullets" for the rest of this week and beyond. 

It was interesting to note that the banner that East Bay had prepared for last year's final series of February races with pictures of all former winners of that storied series is now hanging over the tech shed here at Ocala. 

Qualifying of a quick race track saw the entire field within a second of each other and showing off a pattern that would continue all night, Devin Moran turned the best lap at 14. 361 seconds, even though he was the thirty fifth driver to hit the track for time trials. Brandon Overton was quickest of group one and those two would later battle it out for the feature win. 

The format would be a familiar one for Lucas, with four heats and a pair of B Features setting up the field for the main event. Because it was a non point race, there would be no provisional starters and just twenty four taking the green. However, on this tight and oddly shaped track, twenty four drivers is plenty. Some good drivers would miss the main including Dennis Erb Jr, Freddie Carpenter and Donald McIntosh as the preliminary action was frantic. The strangely shaped turn four area took its toll as several quarter panels and spoilers were knocked off in that area as some drivers unfamiliar with this track found it to be a tricky exit to the front chute. 

Overton and Moran shared the front row for the main event during the quick paced program with Overton taking the early lead. Moran and Carson Ferguson battled for second with Ferguson narrowing his car up some on that tricky turn four wall. Jonathan Davenport was looking for racing room after he started in the fourth row. 

Luckless Brian Shirley had more bad things happen as he was running in the top five when he got a flat tire, triggering the first yellow flag and spoiling what might have been a promising night. 

Overton continued to lead as racing resumed but Moran was showing strength as he closed in on the leader with Ferguson still third as Hudson O'Neal and Davenport battling with him for position. 

The first long stretch of green flag racing saw Overton catch the back of the pack and they were tough to get by, all being fast and racing for position. Overton's pace was slowed and Moran jumped at the chance, making several serious attempts to get past the leader. 

Finally, on lap twenty four, Moran was able to squeeze past and take over the point, just before the second and final yellow flew for a spinning Daulton Wilson who called it a night. 

Moran would power away on the restart with Davenport and Overton swapping second before Overton reclaimed the position with just a couple laps to go. He made a final corner attempt on Moran but came up short as Devin drove home for the win. Ferguson finished up fourth and O'Neal was right behind him as twenty of the starters were still on the track at the finish, all on the lead lap. 

IMCA Mod Lites were also on the racing card for both the Tuesday night and Wednesday night shows. An all star field of forty eight drivers, from all parts of the country, were on hand to race on Tuesday night. Their twenty four car field would find Riley Clem from Bakersfield California come home with the feature win. He was followed by Corey Babbitt from Texas and Ryan McKenney from Deleware. 

NIcholas A Surprise Winner Among Many At VSP

 Night number one for the DIRTcar UMP Modified racers was held on Monday night, February 3rd  at the Volusia Speedway Park near Barberville Florida. The Modified racers had competed for three nights previously in the preceding week  as a part of the 360 Sprint series held at the track but Monday night would be the first night for gathering points toward the prized Gator trophy to be handed out at the end of the week. And while somewhere near seventy racers completed last week, after the one night break in the racing taken on Sunday, the Modified teams came rolling in out of the weeds from all parts of the country and North to Canada with a pit busting one hundred and two drivers signing in to race on Monday night. Monday and Tuesday night shows would be stand alone races for the Modified drivers before they were joined by the World of Outlaw Sprint Car series to round out the week at Volusia County. 

Florida weather greeted the teams and fans on hand for the night with temperatures in the eighties and humidity not felt since last Fall in the Midwest. In fact, the show would barely be completed before the fog would roll in to the point that racing would not have been possible. we've seen the fog roll in here before and stop shows but the timing turned out to  be just right on Monday. 

A unique format exists for the early races of this series. The drivers qualify and then are split into six feature races with the races themselves divided by speed with the fastest group running feature race number six and the slowest in feature number one. All six feature races are twenty laps in distance and all pay exactly the same prize money. But for those serious about winning Gators at the end of the week, it is all about points earned during each nights show that are tallied up at the end of the week and set the lineups for the most important events. 

Not known until I arrived at the track, I was in for a special treat on Monday. Since WoO officials didn't want the Modifieds qualifying on nights when they were point racing later in the week, both on Monday and Tuesday the drivers in the Modified class would run double time trials with one lap used to se the fields on Monday and the second on Wednesday. On Tuesday they would do the same once again to set the running order for Tuesday and Thursday night. 

Thus, over four hundred laps of time trials would proceed the first race of the night. It was such a treat for someone that just loves time trials to begin with! It also meant that the first race of the night wouldn't start until after 8 pm so my thoughts of this being a very quick program were dashed before they ever began. 

Thankfully though, there were no heat races to follow and once the qualifying was complete, the first of six feature races hit the track. The quickest qualifier for the night was Illinois' Will Krup who turned a lap of 17.558 seconds. Perhaps most amazingly, Krup was the one hundredth driver to qualify which meant that nearly two hundred laps of qualifying had already been done when he hit the track, yet he still got the quickest lap of all. Humid weather conditions could partly explain this unique situation, yet Iowa's own Mike VanGenderen, who is in charge of track prep at VSP for this series, could also take a bow. 

Most feature races had around seventeen or eighteen cars in each with the first four drivers in each inverted in the starting field and the rest lined straight up behind them by time. 

The very first feature race would provide one of the most surprising and perhaps, up lifting moments of the entire night when veteran Arkansas racer Gene Nicholas led all twenty laps to record what was not only his first ever win at VSP but his first ever Modified victory!

Nicholas, who I have seen race at many USMTS shows over the years along with racing in various other sanctioning bodies, started on the pole and shot into the early lead, with racing stopped after just a lap for a spinning driver. Nicholas held the early lead over Clayton Bryant and Dustin Sorensen with those two battling hard for second. As Nicholas set a blistering pace, Bryant and Sorensen traded second back and forth with Sorensen grabbing the spot on lap night but Bryant repassed him at the halfway point. 

Meanwhile, Nicholas was long gone and even a yellow with just five laps to go didn't help the field as on the final sprint, Nicholas again pulled away. Daniel Sanchez made a big rush from row three to pass Sorensen late but he had nothing for the leader as Nicholas drove away from the field and earned his first win ever on a big stage indeed. 

Feature number two was a rocky one with two multi car crashes before the first lap was completed eliminating nearly half the field with the wreckers busy clearing the track. Once racing finally broke out, it was Illinois driver Dave Wietholder that took the lead and showing the same pattern as the previous race, he pulled away to lead from start to finish. 

Once the race got going, there was only a single yellow with five laps complete with the rest of the race going green to checkers. While Wietholder had a comfortable lead, the battle for second was a good one between James Manka and Ray Kable. Chris Beaulieu joined those two and actually moved into second by the halfway point, only to fall out later with mechanical issues. 

And while Wietholder drove on uncontested, the race behind him remained good with Brian Ruhlman picking up the pace late and driving into second spot while Austin Self came all the way from twelfth to complete the top three. 

Feature race number three would be one of the cleanest of the night with just a single yellow flag, that before a lap could be completed. Ryan Thomas grabbed the lead when racing restarted and he maintained control of the top spot for the first fifteen laps. Nick Neville started to cut into that advantage by the halfway point of the track and he continued to whittle into Thomas's lead. 

Closely quickly, with just five laps to go Nick was able to make the winning pass and then pulled away to take the win with Cole Falloway also moving up quickly at the end to take third. 

Another wire to wire win was recorded in feature race number four as Bobby Bagley took off from the pole and was never challenged in taking the win. This race was a tough one with four yellows in the first four laps with spins and wall bangers slowing the action. 

The last fifteen laps did go nonstop and for Bagley, it proved to be easy pickings as he built a large lead that was never challenged. Evan Koehler and Jordan Stotts ran second and third for the entire race too, battling hard with each other as Bagley continued to drive away from both. 

A familiar face to Modified fans all through the country, Mississippi's Chase Holland was dominant in feature race number five. He started on the pole and led all twenty laps to take the win. Evan Taylor pushed him early before Todd Neiheiser moved into second at the halfway point of the race. 

Neiheiser pushed Holland quite hard the second half of the race but Holland made no mistakes and Neiheiser had to settle for a close second with Taylor third. 

There were a batch of strong competitors in feature race number six but when Kyle Strickler starts in the front row, it's usually trouble for the competition. And such was again the case on Monday as Kyle would lead all twenty laps for the win. Jason Beaulieu took second early but the lone yellow flew on the third lap with Krup then moving into second. 

The leaders set a torrid pace and as the track seemed to widen out, drivers were running more varied lines. Krup continued to hold second with David Stremme moving into third. Krup closed up on Strickler but Kyle was running a high line in turns three and four that seemed to work very well for him and despite Krup trying to nose under him, Strickler was able to maintain his lead and drive on for the win. The final race saw just a single yellow and all competitors except one were able to finish the event. 

Another hundred car plus field is expected on Tuesday night when the program will include the same format in a stand alone event for the Modifieds.  

Thornton Tops Late Models; Peery Wins Number four as Mincy Concludes

 The Ernie Mancy Early Thaw Concluded on Saturday night, February 1st at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande. On the warmest day of the event this year and in front of by far the largest crowd, a series high one hundred and thirty eight drivers signed in to wrap up the series with the largest paying events of the week and to crown series point champions. 

All six divisions had multiple feature race winners who won the point championships topped by Sport Mod driver Ryan Peery who topped his class on four occasions. 

Feature winners on Saturday night included Dylan Thornton in the Late Models, Kollin Hibdon in the Modifieds, Dexton Koch in the Super Stocks, Rob Moseley in the Limited Mods and Peery in the Sport Mods. 

The program began with words from track promoter Brad Whitfield who detailed to the crowd what the Mincy family meant to the sport of racing to the state of Arizona and in particular, how Ernie Mincy had worked to develop and strengthen Late Model racing in the state. The very early efforts of Mincy way back in the early 2000's brought Late Model specials in the Winter to the state which continues on today through the efforts of current promoter Whitfield. The daughter of the late Mincy also spoke to the crowd. 

With the big field of cars, B Features were needed for both the Limited Mods and Modified classes but some smooth running preliminary events allowed the field to get to feature race action early.

The first feature to take the green was the Limited Mods where twenty six drivers would take the green flag for twenty laps. Lucas Rodin held the pole position and grabbed the early lead over Jerod Klein and Rob Moseley who had quickly moved up from the third row. Moseley and Klein continued their good battle for second while running very close behind leader Rodin. 

Following a yellow flag, Moseley nearly snuck by Rodin on the high side of the track but Rodin managed to close him off. After another yellow at the halfway point, the bunched up field again took off and Moseley used his greatest advantage, a quick take off, to get outside of Rodin and edge past him in turn one to take over the lead. Rodin started to slip back in the field, with Jake Smith moving up from his eighth starting spot to take over second and he then tried to slide job Moseley for the lead. 

That didn't work however, and he went high, giving the runner up slot to James Trantina III. Moseley withstood one more late yellow and one more attempted slider to drive home the winner. For "Mr. Rob", it was his first win of the series with him running just the second week here. An issue in post race inspection saw Smith elevated to second with a late charge by Adam Bohlman from twelfth saw him get his best finish of the week. Rodin and Travis Saurer completed the top five. Smith and Rodin each won two feature races with the WISSOTA Midwest Mods winning five of the six features and Smith being crowned the point champion. 

Dylan Thornton came from the thirteenth starting position to make a late race pass on Tyler Peterson to win the Late Model feature. Peterson grabbed the lead in the race from the get go and led the vast majority of the race until Thornton was able to sneak past him in the late going. 

Peterson was challenged early by Ricky Weiss and Austin Kuehl with Thornton gradually moving up through the field. He was up to third by lap twelve when the first yellow flag waved and got by Rob Mayea one lap later for third. 

While Thornton was making a move up through the field, Peterson was holding a fairly comfortable advantage. But that went away on lap sixteen when a scramble in turn four sow Lyndon Bolt turned sideways and then topple over on his roof. He was fine but the resulting red flag bunched the field. 

Thornton got by Weiss on the restart for second and the battle for the lead was on. Several times Thornton tried to get a run off the top side but each time Peterson would slide up the track and block his path. 

Finally, with just six laps to go, Thornton was able to squeeze by and in the clear, he pulled away over the last few laps to to take a resounding victory. The win was his third of the series and he claimed the point title as well. Behind Peterson, Weiss, Mayea and Justin Kay completed the top five. Spec engine cars would win five of six main events. 

Troy Morris III was the clear favorite to win the Modified feature. He had already won three main events  during the series and was starting on the front row for the twenty lap main event. 

And indeed, he took the lead right from the start with Ian Whisler, Luke Silber and Braxton Yeager chasing him in the early going. A lap two spin by promoter Whitfield bunched the field. Whitfield is quite the busy guy. No only does he have all his promoter's responsibilities, he has raced both Stock Cars and Modifieds this week. 

Morris III pulled away again on the restart, eventually extending his lead to nearly a full straightaway. On the move was Kollin Hibdon who had started eighth but had moved up to third by the halfway point. 

One lap later disaster would strike the leader. Barreling into turn one, he jumped the cushion and hit the wall hard and immediately slowed, triggering the yellow. A quick tire change and Moris III was back on the track, eventually finishing thirteenth. 

Whisler inherited the lead but just a lap later Hibdon made a strong move on the low side of the track and drove past Whisler to take over the point and he would extend that advantage over the final five laps.

It was a good night for the Whisler's as Eston would move up to finish third, ahead of Chaz Baca and Bryson Yeager with Braxton right behind him. 

Morris III had three wins during the series but his wall banging incident cost him the point title when he was edged out by Hibdon.who had just the single win but consistent finishes. 

The non stop Super Stock feature saw Dexton Koch, who dominated the clas s all week, drive off from the outside pole and lead from start to finish for the win. Matt Sparby moved quickly into second and held the position for the rest of the race. Koch would expand his lead to nearly a full straightaway as he glided home for the win. Sparby had his best run of the week to finish second with James Trantina III, Beau Brown and Jon Tribble in the top five. Koch won half the feature races and the points title. 

The Stock Car feature went twenty laps nonstop and the driver that had dominated victory lane, Shelby Williams, would visit for the third time this week. He got the jump from the outside pole and controlled the race from start to finish. Kaden Woodie did his best to keep up with the Texas driver but he wouldn't be able to offer any challenges for the lead. 

The race ended at just the right time for Williams however, as on the last lap his hood came loose and was pushing up toward  his wind screen and making visibility a challenge. He manage to get through the final revolution but he might have been in trouble if he would have had to run that way for any distance. 

Behind Woodie, it was Jason Storbakken, Mike Albertsen and Trevor Hidalgo across the line. While Williams won half the feature races, Albertsen's two wins gave him the title when Williams had a couple bad DNF's. 

The last race on the card for the evening and last race of the Mincy was the Sport Mod feature. Unfortunately, it was also the most trying feature of the entire series. Plagued by mostly spins, this race had eight yellow flags and tried the patience of most on hand, including the track officials. 

It had to have been a tough one for Ryan Peery also. Even though he led all twenty laps, he did have some pretty good competition from Joe Docekal and Payce Herrera who kept close to the leader. And every time there was another restart, he had to be careful to get a good break, as both challengers were ready to pounce. Herrera's run was short circuited by a flat tire but Docekal refused to give up, haunting Peery for the whole race. 

But Ryan wouldn't slip up and he drove to his fourth win of the series, plus the point title. A great run was made by Jorddon Braaten  who started twenty fifth and moved all the way up to third at the fiish. Dakota Girard and Kaden Woodie finished off the top five. 

With the Mincy Thaw now complete, we mark the end of our almost three week invasion of CAR. There are plenty of folks to thank, starting with promoter Brad Whitfield and his entire staff, especially Rowdy Briggs, who under took this gigantic task of running back to back multi week shows and they did a great job of doing so. They over saw racing in ten different classes over the nearly month long series of races but they aren't done yet. Next week they have another show and they feature Sprint Cars!

The changes and upgrades to the track were excellent and everybody approved of the looks of the new CAR. More things are planned for the future and we look forward to seeing those changes come early January 2026.  Discussions and planning for the 2026 Ernie Mincy Early Thaw are already under way relative to format, scheduling, sponsorships and classes racing.  Look for further announcements as the season progresses. 

 

Trantina and Woodie New CAR Winners

 Round number five of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw was held on Friday night, January 31st at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande. Six divisions of racing would be held again on Friday night for the fifth round of this six race mini series at CAR. New winners emerged in two of the six feature races with James Trantina III and Kaden Woodie winning their first mains during the Mincy while repeat winners included Dylan Thornton, Jake Smith, Ryan Peery and Troy Morris III.

One hundred and thirty two drivers signed on to race on Friday, a high water mark for the series so far on what was probably the nicest night for racing so far in the last two weeks. 

The pit area was a bee hive of activity before the event with crews scrambling to get cars fixed and ready to race on Friday night. A couple of the worst damaged looking cars from Thursday night action included those of Limited Mod driver Scott Bintz and Late Model driver Don Shaw but hard work by both crews got both cars put back together in time to race on Friday. The Bintz crew even had to weld the frame on their car back together after it was broken from the hard hit sustained during the Chad Ayers flip on Thursday. 

Following the norm of the series, heat races for all six divisions produced passing points that were used to line up all six mains. Two classes were required to run B Features on Friday due to the larger car counts but the remarkably smooth qualifying events saw the yellow flag waved only four times during the eighteen preliminary events with the one spin rule certainly helping that situation. 

The WISSOTA Super Stock feature saw a couple of Stock Cars added to their program on Friday as they requested to run with the Super Stocks. James Trantina III became the fourth different winner in the class in five nights of racing when he got the jump on pole sitter Dexton Koch to grab the early lead and then held off constant pressure from Koch to record the fifteen lap victory. 

This race was completed nonstop and the two leaders pulled away from the field. For the first half of the race as Trantina III motored away, Koch and Jordan Henkemeyer had a good battle for second with them swapping that spot several times but just past the halfway point of the race, Koch would secure it for good and then start to close in on Trantina III. 

Dexton was able to close up the distance to a couple car lengths but Trantina III remained in the groove and drove home for the win. Trantina III, who among his race holdings include ownership of Dan Ebert's Super Late Model team and the Granite City Motor Park race track, recovered from his share of early series woes when he lost a motor on opening night and his crew had to change that power plant to get him back on the track for round two of the series. 

Henkemeyer would finish third ahead of Montana driver R.C. Geiss and Matt Sparby. 

Thornton earned his second Late Model victory of the series, having won on opening night before a wall banging incident on night two slowed his efforts. There were several dramatic and surprising turns during this race, but none involved leader Thornton. 

Only one lap was completed before the first incident when contender Ricky Weiss spun in turn one and Tyler Peterson, last night's winner, was launched over the front of Weiss' car. Both cars were able to continue with Weiss heading to the tail of the pack. One lap later, the race was slowed again as Shaw slowed on the back chute. 

Finally back on green, the race resumed with Thornton continuing to hold the point but Peterson was on the move. He passed both Denver Nickeson and Laela Eisenschenk to move into second and then started challenging Thornton for the lead. On lap six he threw a slider to take over the top spot but one lap later Thornton returned the favor to regain the lead. Another yellow slowed the field and on the restart, the race took a big turn. 

It appeared that Peterson tried to cut the berm just a bit short in his effort to get a big run on the green, the car came around and he spun down the front chute into the infield, triggering yet another yellow flag. Peterson opted to call it a night at this point. 

Thornton was then able to put considerable distance on the field while the battle for second was intense as Nickeson moved past Eisenschenk for second with both Chad Olsen and Josh Leonard on the move. Olsen used the outside line to drive into second past the halfway point but was still quite a distance behind the leader when one last yellow so the action with just five laps to go. 

Thornton was not about to yield the lead and he pulled away from Olsen on the green and would stretch his advantage over the final few laps to take the win. Eisenschenk and Leonard completed a great battle for third with Laela taking the spot and Rob Mayea moved up to complete the top five. 

Smith drove one of the finest races of the series as he came from the fourth row to catch and then pass Rob Moseley to win the Limited Mod feature race. Moseley had just come off a hot streak where he won four of five X Mod feature races during the Wild West Shootout in Vado and with him starting on the pole, he seemed like a very strong candidate to take the win. 

Moseley  did take the early lead with Lucas Rodin moving into second ahead of Jarod Klein. Smith was flying up through the field quickly though, and he worked his way into third and then set out after the leaders. 

After a first lap yellow for a spin, this race ran off green to checkers so Smith had to track other cars down under the green, making his run even more impressive. He caught Rodin by the halfway point of the race and then took off after the leader. He narrowed the gap on each lap, driving very hard into the corners and he soon caught Moseley for the lead. 

With another deep run into the corners, he got past the leader with just four laps to go and then proceeded to pull away, giving the New Mexico driver no chance to return the favor. Smith continued to pull away to earn the impressive win over Moseley and Rodin. Klein finished up fourth with Tyler Doell finishing up the top five. 

The Stock Car feature proved to be a heart break for Shelby Williams who was in control of the event until he broke with just five laps to go. 

Early on, Williams had grabbed the lead from the pole after fighting off Kaden Woodie who then had his own battle with Mike Albertsen before claiming the second spot. The top three pulled away from the pack with them spreading out by a few car lengths between themselves. 

Everything looked good for Williams until he suddenly slowed on the front chute and drove into the infield, handing over the lead to a surprised Woodie. While the offending issue appeared to be a drive line problem, for Woodie it was like opening the door as he then drove on to an uncontested win over a charging Jason Storbakken who had passed Albertsen. Casey Murdoch and Todd Heinrich completed the top five. For Woodie, who did win a feature race during the Winter Nationals, it was his first Mincy win.

After a tough two car battle, Ryan Peery was able to fight off all challenges of Bud Martini to take what was a long and somewhat tedious Sport Mod main event. Eric Winemiller was on the pole with Peery outside him but the start was called back repeatedly as the front row couldn't get together for a decent start. Finally, Winemiller was docked a row and the race began with Martini making a bold drive into the first corner and edging past Peery to take the early lead. 

The leaders would put on a good show as they diced for the front spot but multiple yellows for spins slowed the action. Martini and Peery traded the lead before Ryan finally grabbed it for good on lap three and while Bud would make a dive for the front spot following every yellow, of which there were six, Peery would fight him off each time and retain the point. 

Late in the race, Ryan struggled up on the cushion with turn four giving him fits but he did manage to hold off Martini and claim the win. Payce used a fast car and the yellows to come all the way from fourteenth to finish third as he and Tyler Johnson, along with Aaron Spangler, had a great battle for that spot. 

With Troy Morris III and Chaz Baca on the front row for the Modified feature, it was expected to be spectacular and the drivers didn't disappoint. Morris III and Baca both flew for the cushion from the opening green with Morris III beating Baca to the spot. Things got wild early when Spencer Wilson was steered into the wall on the front stretch and somehow, everyone avoided him as he sat dead in the water. 

More slide jobs broke out when racing resumed but Morris III weathered the storm provided by Baca and held on to the lead. All the front runners were running a high risk, up against the wall strategy but everyone remained in control as Morris III started to pull away. Baca started to receive a challenge for second from Kollin Hibdon and just past the halfway point, Baca got hung up on the cushion and Hibdon took over second. 

After that, the top three were pretty equal and without a mistake by anyone, they would finish in that order. Ian Whisler and Bryson Yeager finished up the top five. 

The final leg of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw will be held on Saturday night, February 1st with point champions to be crowned in all six classes. The race is available for viewing on IMCA TV. 

Peterson Tops Late Models at CAR, Earns Two Hundredth Feature Win

 Week number two of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw began on Thursday night, January 30th at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande. For many of the drivers, this marks their second week of racing in the desert while there are some rigs that have parked here in the pit area for nearly a month now as this series, running back to back with the IMCA TV Winter Nationals, certainly is a grind for a number of drivers, their crews and the working staff of the track plus the video crew etc. Even for the fans it is a lot of racing action for an area that with truly only one dirt track in the entire state operating at this time, gives them more racing events than the rest of the year put together over just a month. 

Twenty three new drivers to the Mincy events signed into the pits on Thursday, some that had raced parts or all of the Winter Nationals but then took a week off and some that were just arriving to the desert this week to join the racing activity. While we may be racing in the desert, a large number of drivers are from out of this area with a great number from the Midwest. That even applies to the sponsors of this event as one look at the banners hung on the front straightaway show the high concentration of sponsors from the Midwest and upper Midwest helping make this race a reality and I'm guessing that without all their support, this event would probably not be taking place. 

While they keep points to mark the series point champion, I'm not sure just what or if any rewards come along with that title, other than to say that the individual claimed the title. And in an odd turn of events, four of the current point leaders have failed to return for week two of the Mincy series for a variety of reasons including big races being held elsewhere to family emergencies that came up. 

A new term has been added to the racing dictionary this week with a schedule change for the start time due to a "sun break," The intense Arizona sun, even in the Winter here, shines into the eyes of the drivers as they leave turn four and with the scheduled starting time, the angle of the sun and this particular time of the year, they are forced to halt the racing for a period of time for the sun to lower in the sky. This is the first time this was necessary for the Mincy but because of that plus the fact that the track was too wet to start at the appointed time, the first green flag dropped just over an hour later than the scheduled time. The problem created by that was the track curfew and when several of the races had more incidents than earlier in the week, track officials became nervous. The post race feature interviews were held until after the racing action was completed to move things along better and the Limited Mod feature, which was having a devil of a time staying under the green for the first time during the series, was checkered early. However, the Modifieds wrapped up the evening with a nonstop main event and the show was completed about fifteen minutes before it would have had to be "gonged." 

Two new feature winners during the Mincy series stepped forward on Thursday night as Tyler Peterson was a first time winner in the Late Models while young Payce Herrera topped the Sport Mod main event. For Peterson it was his two hundredth feature win of his career, split between success in both the Modified and Late Model classes. 

The track was very fast on Thursdaye night, due in much part to the extra water that was worked into the surface and the track maintained its speed throughout the night. Plus, with just a bit of character in turns one and two, he produced some intense racing action but also unfortunately, some of the nastiest wrecks seen so far during the series. 

The Late Model feature was a dandy with three different leaders over the course of its twenty five lap run. Matt Gilbertson got the initial jump on the green but that start was called off after a turn two spin caused the yellow flag to wave. Gilbertson would use the outside line to get the jump again on the second attempt and take the early lead over Peterson.

Behind them, Don Shaw, Josh Leonard and Dylan Thornton were battling for position with Chad Olsen and Austin Kuehl becoming part of a large group of drivers running in a tight pack. 

Gilbertson maintained a hot pace and before too long, as the race stayed under the green, he was in lapped traffic which allowed Peterson to start to close up. Tyler took a couple looks underneath the leader but wasn't able to take advantage as the halfway signal was given. 

However, just one lap later Gilbertson got high off turn four and Peterson drove underneath him to take over the lead. As Gilbertson started to slip back in the pack, Shaw took over the second spot and began to close on Peterson as the leaders continued to encounter heavy traffic. With just five laps to go, as the leaders continued to fight through the traffic, Shaw got underneath Peterson to take over the lead but Peterson didn't give up and on the next lap, he executed a slide job and got back to the point. 

Shaw pushed hard to try and regain the lead but in traffic in turn four, he got into the side of a car being lapped, giving himself a flat tire while tearing off most of the right side deck. As he slowed, the yellow flew for a four lap sprint to the finish. 

Ricky Weiss had been on the move and was up to third when the yellow waved and he looked to be a prime contender for the win. However, Leonard surprised him on the start by getting a jump and moving into second. This was the break Peterson needed as he put distance on the field to race to the win. Weiss got back around Leonard for second but he was too late to put a challenge on for the win. Olsen and Gilbertson completed the top five. 

Peterson had been sitting at one hundred and ninety nine feature wins for much of the last part of the 2024 racing season but wasn't able to get another one, so this monumental win was a good way to start 2025 for the multi time national champion in both the Late Models and Modifieds with WISSOTA.

Payce Herrera became a first time winner in the Mincy when he held on to win a rough and tumble main event that saw only eight cars take the checkers. Arizona champion Tyler Johnson led for much of the race which saw three cars battling for much of the contest. 

Early on, Kaden Woodie was battling Johnson for the lead when he spun out, triggering the first yellow flag. Johnson was then in a tough battle with Bud Martini until Bud broke and pulled off the track. However, Johnson was still under the gun with Herrera and Ryan Peery pushing him hard for the lead with the top three running in tight formation. Meanwhile, Woodie was racing his way back up through the field and would eventually become a part of the lead battle once again. 

Herrera made a strong outside move and on lap thirteen drove past Johnson to take over the lead. Tyler had none of that however, and crossed back over on the next lap to reclaim the lead. On the following lap, however, Johnson jumped the cushion, slowed dramatically and Woodie, with a full head of steam, crashed into the Johnson car as Herrera was able to duck under both. They were both done and Herrera moved back into the lead, holding off Peery and Joe Docekal to take the win. 

Johnson had to scramble to even make this race as he was running double duty with his car and had went off on the back of the wrecker during the Limited Mod feature and his crew had to rush to get the car fixed and get him back on the track to start this race from the pole but he would again exit the track later on the back of the same wrecker. 

The WISSOTA Super Stock feature saw the first repeat winner as defending national champion Dexton Koch fought off all challenges from James Trantina to take the win. Koch used the outside line to take the early lead he then maintained his edge over Trantina the rest of the way. 

This race was stopped just once when Jordan Henkemeyer, opening night winner, bounced off the outside wall and called it a night. Beau Brown, Doug Bolt and Matt Sparby completed the top five. 

The Limited Mods had a tough time of it on Thursday with this race being shortened considerably by a time limit. It was too bad that this happened as there were a number of excellent battles for position going on throughout the field, but the inability of the drivers to keep their cars pointed the correct direction ended the action prematurely. 

Rob Moseley, the scourge of the Wild West Shootout, joined the action for Thursday night and the New Mexico driver got the jump on the field but a yellow stopped the action before a lap could be completed. Moseley again took the lead but then he pulled up suddenly, dead in the water in turn two and his night was completed early. 

Jake Smith then took over the lead but one lap later, Lucas Rodin made a strong run to the outside and drove around Smith to take over the lead. Smith and Jess Brekke were in a good battle for that top spot but two quick yellows for spins kept the field bunched as even single file restarts didn't help. 

Trying to get racing going once again, some great battles broke out but coming three wide out of turn four, Scott Bintz made contact with another car and spun across the track in very heavy traffic. Chad Ayers was unable to avoid clobbering Bintz, with the Tucson driver then sliding sideways and taking a hard flip right on the home stretch. Both drivers were OK but the damage to both cars was severe, with Bintz being the fourth night on a brand new car. 

A green, white and checkers finish was called for on the lengthy event and Rodin would hold off Smith and Travis Saurer for the win with Brekke and Jarod Klein completing the top five.

The Stock Car feature produced a great side by side battle between Shelby Williams and Mike Albertsen. Williams had taken the early lead when the race was stopped with five laps complete for a spin. 

On the green, Albertsen got beside Williams and the two, parked next to each other in the pits, would race side by side for the next five laps, swapping lanes occasionally but always door to door. Finally Albertsen was able to edge in front and over the final five laps, held off all challenges to take the win. 

Jason Storbakken made a fine charge, starting eighth and racing up to third on the final lap, edging out Trevor Hidalgo and Casey Murdoch. 

The Modified feature was the only main to go green to checkers. Eston Whisler got the jump on the field but before one lap could be completed, Troy Morris III had made the pass on him to take over the top spot. Kollin Hibdon moved into second quickly and the chase was on. Weaving through traffic, Morris III pounded the cushion as Hibdon chased him for the lead. 

Eston Whisler settled into third spot by the halfway point of the race with Tate Johnson up from the twelfth starting spot and Bryson Yeager next in line. 

The leaders continued to work through traffic with Hibdon gradually closing in on Morris III as the laps ran down. With just a couple laps to go, Morris III made what was probably the winning move as he split two slower cars down the front chute and that gave him the distance he needed to hold off any challenges from Hibdon late. 

Kollin would settle for second with Eston Whisler, Johnson and Ian Whisler completing the top five. 

Ben Detherage and Jason Garner have taken over the announcer duties for the Mincy Thaw and they have done a fine job in continuing the good work started by their predecessors the previous two weeks. 

Round five of the Mincy will be held on Friday night with all six classes again in action and sunny skies again predicted for the desert. IMCA TV is available for viewing. 

Zach Johnson Tops Late Models at CAR

 Over one hundred and thirty drivers signed in for night number three of the opening round of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw Saturday night, January 25th at the Central Arizona Raceway near Casa Grande and it was Zach Johnson who took home the biggest prize when he topped the thirty lap Late Model feature. Other winners on third straight night of racing for the Mincy Than included Tom Berry Jr. in the Modifieds, Jess Brekke in the Limited Mods, Shelby Williams in the Stock Cars, Ryan Peery in the Sport Mods and Max Nelson in the Super Stocks. 

Johnson had the pole position and he took the early lead after fighting off stiff challenges from both Clayton Stuckey and Ricky Weiss before he settled into the lead spot. As he continued to hold down the point, Stuckey and Weiss had an excellent battle of their own for second with Weiss prevailing by the halfway point of the race. 

Lapped traffic became a consideration as the race neared its halfway point as Johnson worked his way through a considerable amount of slower traffic and Weiss began to take advantage as he closed the lead up considerably on Johnson. Zach had a couple of tail end cars that were racing for position, side by side and this cause him considerable difficulty, which Weiss took advantage of to pull to the Minnesota driver's rear bumper. 

Going into turn three, Johnson attempted to make a move around the slower cars but he got too high and slid up the banking and Weiss was right there to take over the lead. Johnson, however, caught a monstrously large break as when they came to the line to complete that lap, the yellow flag had been displayed as Matt Gilbertson had blown a tire and was slowly trying to clear the track, causing the yellow to be waved. 

This saved Johnson, who went back up front into the lead for the restart. Back luck struck Karl Tipton who was running a strong top five race when he spun in turn one and the yellow light came back on and Tipton's night was done. 

Johnson retook the lead once again and opened up some distance on the pack as Stuckey surprised Weiss on the restart by grabbing the second spot back again. Johnson had opened up some distance on the field once the green was again displayed and despite Stuckey closing up some at the end, Johnson successfully negotiated a few slower cars and drove home for the win with room to spare. Stuckey settled for second ahead of Weiss while opening night winner Dylan Thornton settled for fourth and young Amelia Eisenchenk had a great race to complete the top five . Only two of the starting field failed to make the checkers. 

For the "Millennial Farmer" from Lowry Minnesota, it marked his first Late Model win in the last seven years as he has been concentrating on Modified racing for the last number of years. He got to run a Late Model for Don Shaw last year at this event and that piqued his interest in getting back into the class. Interestingly, when he left Minnesota he had no race car and picked up this car at Vic Hill's shop in Tennessee where it had received one of his power plants to match up with the Longhorn Chassis that Mike Marlar had previously raced. Practice laps on Wednesday night were the first time that he had sat behind the wheel of the car and Saturday night was just his third night of racing the car. 

Tom Berry Jr. got his first Modified victory of the Mincy Thaw series when he led from start to finish to take the twenty lap main. This was a two car race from start to finish as Kollin Hibdon chased Berry Jr. for the entire event, coming quite close on several occasions but never being able to make the winning move. 

An early yellow with just two laps complete saw Beau Speicher slow in heavy traffic and Andrew Peckham launched over him when he ran out of racing room. Both cars were eliminated. Berry Jr. would continue to lead with Hibdon close behind. Tyson Blood was on the move and worked his way into the third spot by the halfway point of the race with Tate Johnson and Chaz Baca moving in behind them. 

The race took a dramatic turn just three laps later when Johnson, running a strong fourth and in the lead group, suddenly blew a motor racing down the front chute. His car dropped copious amounts of fluid right in the racing groove and Troy Morris III, close behind, hit the fluid and slammed hard into the wall. Other drivers were slipping and sliding, spinning and dodging the mess as the front chute was wild with activity. A lengthy clean up period was needed and both Johnson and Morris III were done. 

The seven lap finish of the race saw Berry Jr. pick up the pace and Hibdon wasn't able to get close enough to perhaps try a slide job as Berry Jr. drove on for the win. Blood got a solid third place finish with the running order behind him scrambled due to the incident. Ian Whisler and Logan Drake were able to complete the top five. 

The Limited Modified feature would see the third different winner in three nights of racing with the largest field of cars in this division so far on hand Saturday. Jake Smith, who had won the previous night, sat on the pole after a dominating run in his heat race but it was Jess Brekke that got the jump on Smith to take the early lead. Smith began his chase of Brekke that would continue through the course of the contest. 

A lone yellow slowed the action with six laps complete for a minor spin with the field quickly getting back to work. Tyler Johnson, out of the Sport Mod ranks, rode the high side as he moved into third but his bold line would back fire when he caught the wall and that slowed his effort. 

By the halfway point, Brekke still had Smith closely following as former winner Lucas Rodin moved into third. Both of them would try their hardest to catch up to the high flying North Dakota driver but Brekke was up to the challenge on Saturday, maintaining his lead with a strong performance to take the win. Smith and Rodin would follow with Travis Saurer powering up to fourth driving one of Scott Bintz's cars and James Trantina finished up the top five. 

The Stock Car numbers were up some on Saturday after an exhausting two weeks previous for that class but Shelby Williams continued on his hot streak as he won for the second time this week, driving around Kaden Woodie to grab the lead and eventually the win. 

Woodie took the early lead with Mike Albertsen moving into second as Williams settled in early in the third spot. However, Williams was running at a hot pace and was able to power around Woodie to take over the lead with a move past both leaders. Jason Rogers, back in his own car on Saturday, was running a high risk line right up against the outside wall but he was making it work as he roared into second and threatened Williams until he clipped the wall in turn one and fell back to fourth. 

Williams had control and drove on for the win, with Woodie and Rogers next in line. Albertsen would settle for fourth with track promoter Brad Whitfield rounding out the top five. 

Ryan Peery took the win in the Sport Mod main as he controlled the top spot throughout the contest, which was a long one with five yellows slowing this race as spins were a hallmark of this contest. 

Peery started out strong, taking the early lead while there was quite the scramble for position behind him, something that held throughout the race. While Peery was mostly in the clear, the positions behind him were jumbled with several scrums shaking up the running order. 

Page Herrera was able to establish himself in second and drove his hardest trying to keep up with Peery with Noah Speicher moving into third by the halfway point. Bud Martini and Kaden Woodie were battling for top five spots and on lap twelve they would get together in turn three with both being eliminated from the contest. And just as it looked like things were settled, Speicher rolled to a halt while running third with just three laps to go. 

Peery continued to maintain control and drove on for the win with Herrera pushing his hardest but settling for second. Jake Kierstad, close to victory earlier this week, came up late to get third ahead of Eric Winemiller, up from fourteenth and Aaron Spangler. 

The Super Stocks again put on a good show for the fans as they introduced themselves to race fans in the desert. Max Nelson got his first win of the week, leading all laps but surviving pressure from three different drivers to do so. 

Early on it was James Trantina that chased Nelson but then, following a restart, opening night winner Jordan Henkemeyer put the pressure on Nelson. But by the halfway point, it was defending national champion Dexton Koch who had driven up to second. 

They produced a high speed chase over the last few laps of the race with Nelson holding on for the win. Jason Hobbs, with his brand new Dirt Dueller chassis from Les Duellman, had his best run to date as he finished third with Henkemeyer and Matt Sparby completing the top five. 

It was the first win in four years for Nelson, who has raced in both the Late Model and Modified classes in recent years before settling into the Super Stocks last year. Interestingly, the three classes brought in this week to run with the three hold over divisions have produced different winners all three nights so far. 

After three rounds of the Mincy Thaw, the drivers and crews now get a short break to relax and explore the sights of the desert. Round two of the Mincy begins on Wednesday night, January 29th with a practice night and the final three programs will then take place on January 30th, 31st and February 1st .  

Stuckey and Morris III Among Feature Winners at CAR's Mincy Thaw

 The Ernie Mincy Early Thaw moved into night two of its run at the Central Arizona Raceway on Friday night, January 24th with another six division program that drew one hundred and thirty four drivers from throughout the Southwest and Midwest. Largely due to the level of competition in the pits, there were no repeat winners from the opening show on Thursday night with drivers from Louisiana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and California taking the honors. 

The headline class for the Mincy is the Late Models as they are brought in for this six night extravaganza with drivers on hand from all parts of the country. However, unlike Thursday night's opener when a remarkably smooth main event was presented with not a single yellow flag and very few quarter panels even ruffled, Friday night's feature was quite the opposite with several cars going off on the hook and more than a few drivers upset. 

Things developed quickly in the twenty five lap feature race for the Late Models that saw Clayton Stuckey and Thursday night's winner Dylan Thornton flanking each other in the front row. They went barreling into turn one on the opening lap with Stuckey moving up the track into the path of Thornton. The next thing we saw was Thornton up on two wheels and riding the wall as other drivers tried to take evasive action. Thornton felt he was run out of racing room and he may well have been and after an opening night win in a brand new car, Thornton was left to stew in the infield as the race was restarted. 

At the same time, third starting Ricky Weiss stalled in turn three with some kind of rear end mechanical issues that required a wrecker so before one lap was completed, two of the favorites were done for the night. 

Stuckey again took the lead on the restart but before a lap could be completed, a large pileup occurred in turn three and this dust up eliminated three more cars plus dinged up several more. 

Finally racing would break out and seven laps were run off before a stalled car slowed the action once again. The best battle was for second where Don Shaw and Zach Johnson exchanged the spot with Johnson getting by before Shaw turned up the wick and repositioned himself in second. 

By the halfway point of the race, Josh Leonard had moved into fourth, having gotten past Cole Schill for that spot. Shaw and Johnson settled in as second and third and with a period of green flag racing, leader Stuckey had caught up to the back of the field, and he had some issues getting through the traffic. Before long, it was clear that both Shaw and Johnson were catching him as the distance between them started to shrink at a considerable rate. 

But then Stuckey was able to work through the traffic and although Shaw pushed as hard as possible, the lead stabilized and Stuckey was able to hold off the challengers by several car lengths as he drove on for the win. The top five stayed the same as they crossed the line but nine of the starting field failed to finish the event. 

The Modified feature proved a great way to end up the night of racing as the open wheel drivers did a great job and provided a thrilling finish. In a race that ran off green to checkers, there were three different leaders and the winning pass was executed with just two laps remaining in the contest. 

The race started out with a bang as with the dropping of the green flag, front row starters Tate Johnson and Bryson Yeager were joined by second row driver Luke Silber and they drove into the first corner three wide. Somehow they managed to survive that wild start with Johnson securing the lead as Yeager dropped into second behind him. Tom Berry Jr. moved into position behind the top two and began his own challenges to get past both of them. 

Johnson continued to carry the top spot through the halfway point of the race but Yeager was all over him with Troy Morris III getting past Berry Jr. for third. And just one lap later, Yeager made a bold move to the outside and was able to drive past Johnson and take over the lead with Johnson slipping back a few more spots as his car started to get very loose. 

Leader Yeager caught the back of the pack and he had  his difficulties navigating through the slower cars with the field quickly catching him and suddenly, the top seven drivers were lined up bumper to bumper with them trying to decide where to go and how to use traffic to improve their position. 

Morris III is a bold driver and he made his move decisively with just two laps to go as he stepped to the outside of Yeager and blew past him coming off turn four to take over the lead. And in the final two laps he extended that advantage as he pulled away to score the win over Yeager, Berry Jr., Ethan Braaksma and Chaz Baca as only two cars failed to go the distance. 

One of the most successful drivers since January racing has come to Central Arizona Raceway and other Southwestern tracks has been Lucas Rodin. The North Dakota driver has won a number of special events in January and he added to that total on Friday as he led from start to finish to top the Limited Modified main event. 

He started on the pole and took an immediate lead in what would be a nonstop main event. As he pulled away, the battle was for second where James Trantina was trying to hold off Jake Smith, the winner last night. As Rodin maintained his strong pace, Smith was all over Trantina for second with James finding his car getting looser and looser in the corners. 

Just past the halfway point of the race, Smith was finally able to move by and take over second but he had much ground to make up on Rodin. Jake pushed hard and narrowed up the lead, but was never able to offer a serious challenge as Rodin rode home for his eighth special event win here at CAR. Trantina held on for third with young Payce Herrera being the most successful of those drivers attempting to race in two classes as he finished fourth ahead of Jess Brekke.

The Sport Mods would join their faster cousins, the Modifieds, with a late race battle and ultimate pass for the lead with just q few laps to go also. In this case, it was a pair of Minnesota drivers that battled it out for the win with Avon's Bud Martini pulling off the big move late for the win. 

Jake Kierstad had gotten the jump on Herrera to take the early lead with Martini moving into second following a lap five restart when he passed Herrera. Travis Peery, last night's winner, Kaden Woodie and Joe Docekal were all right in the running as the lead group was tight. 

This race was tough on patience, as the yellow flew an even high six times  for spins, stalls and a couple of jingles that left the leaders packed together tightly. Through all the restarts, Kierstad continued to lead with Martini challenging him at every turn. 

Following a lap eleven multi car tangle in turn four, Martini made his move on the restart, bolding pulling out of line and making a strong drive through turn four that allowed him to pull past Kierstad and take over the lead. And once in front, Bud would pull away from the pack. 

There was one more yellow when while battling for third, Woodie and Peery would come together with Peery spinning out of contention and setting up a two lap sprint to the finish. However, Martini had the field covered and he pulled away to win the feature in his ten year old built by the Martini brothers. 

Kierstad would come home a disappointing second after having led so many laps with Woodie, Herrera and Docekal trailing. 

The Stock Cars have been strangely absent this week after running in big numbers here for the last two weeks. However, the short field didn't bother "Wahoo" Albertsen as he led from start to finish to claim the win. 

He got the jump on Shelby Williams as they raced start to finish in first and second in a race stopped only once by a yellow. Don Earven drove home for the third place with Woodie and promoter Brad Whitfield next in line. 

Defending WISSOTA Super Stock national champion Dexton Koch led from start to finish in another nonstop main to take the win for these upper Midwestern based cars. Koch, who is working on a deal to drive Late Models in 2025 when he gets back to Minnesota, broke out his title winning car at the last minute for a trip to Arizona and made it pay with a strong effort. Jordan Henkemeyer, last night's winner, chased Koch for fifteen laps but simply couldn't catch him and settled for second. Max Nelson finished third ahead of Jason Hobbs and Trantina, who changed a motor this morning after blowing one up in winning a heat race last night. 

The first round of the Mincy will conclude with another full show of racing beginning at 5 pm Mountain time on Saturday before everyone takes a few days off and the final round begins again next Thursday.