A second week high of twenty hundred and thirty drivers gathered at the Central Arizona Raceway for round number seven of the IMCA TV Winter Nationals on another sunny but cool January day on Friday, January 17th.
There were plenty of fireworks during the Friday night show, culminating in a clash that involved the top four drivers in the Modified feature and provided the opportunity for Montana driver Tate Johnson to win his first ever Modified feature. Chaz Baca Jr. made up for coming up short in the Modified main by winning the Stock Car feature, Kaden Woodie shook off the back luck that had plagued him this week to dominate the Sport Mod feature while Dillon Richards continued his own domination of the Hobby Stock division, winning for the seventh time over the two week span of this mini series.
Once again, the pit area before the show was a bee hive of activity as more teams raced the clock to repair damage inflicted during Thursday night's event and once again, they managed to amaze me and others with what they were able to do to keep their cars racing. Remember Elijah Zevenbergen, who was right in the middle of the gigantic Stock Car mess last night? The crew managed to get that car fixed and he was ready to race once again on Friday, even winning a heat race. Also having major damage in that same crash were Jake Archibald and Doug Holzmeister and both of them also returned to action on Friday.
One driver that I got to talk to in the pits before the show was Dylan Thornton. Many of the Modified drivers are keeping an eye on his progress and success this week as I was told that he is the only Modified driver running the new spec engine that is a new option for the Modifieds in IMCA this year. Based on his progress and success this week, it seems like he will not be the only on using this option on the track for much longer.
He told me that this engine weighed more than the crate and extra weight on the front ends of these cars is a problem but that it had more horsepower and he liked the "snap" it provided. The motor is from Mid State Machine in Des Moines and he told me that other customers had motors on order right now. Thornton later would be right in the middle of the biggest controversy of the week during a wild moment in the Modified main.
Thornton will remain busy over the next two weeks out here in Arizona as car owner Ricky Kay will be delivering his Late Model to race here for six more nights over the next two weeks.
I also had a moment to visit with the two announcers that are calling the show here at the Winter Nationals. Chad Meyer tells me that he will be calling the action in 2025 again at his two regular tracks, the Kossuth Co. Speedway in Algona and the Hancock County Speedway in Britt.
I subscribe to the only national racing trade paper still in the business these days that I know of and that is the Area Auto Racing News out of Trenton N.J. A number of their writers refer to a big wreck in their stories as a "Jingle" and before and after, that is the only time I have ever heard that reference for a pile up. That is until today, when Meyers used the same reference in describing a wreck. I will have to ask him about that.
Jason Frommelt will be returning to his duties at the Dubuque County Fairgrounds again in 2025, calling the action there. He will also be announcing at 300 Speedway in Farley where I expressed surprise to him as I didn't even know that they were racing in 2025. He said that they will be running a few events and in particular, a big Stock Car show but not to the level of the event that they hosted with XR last year.
The Winter Nationals is using an unusual format for the drivers when they draw a pill for their starting positions for each night. They draw a number and if they don't like it, they can pay another twenty bucks and draw a replacement number!. I know that there are a few events in Iowa and perhaps other states that do this, such as Darkside and MVG on occasion, but this has got to be the biggest event that I had heard of that does this particular strategy. And I can tell you that it has never, ever been done in my home area and quite frankly, I hope that it never is.
The qualifying format would be the same as always and as the week progresses, the drivers are finally figuring out that they need to complete their qualifying heats in one piece and that there is no benefit to creating or being a part For that reason, the qualifying went smoother than it has all week with twenty three heat races being completed and the yellow having to be used only six times. Off course, the one spin rule that is being used in a life saver in situations like this, keeping the drivers moving and eliminating many potential stoppages. Also, the drivers, working with the Command Center, are doing a good job of getting off the track when they have problems and avoiding needless slowdowns. The heat races clicked off at a fast pace for that reason.
The first major infraction of the week saw Modified heat winner Gene Kay disqualified after shocking the field with his victory when he failed to have mufflers on his car, a big no, no for this event. There would be another DQ looming ahead, unfortunately and it would be in the first feature race of the night, that being for the Sport Mods.
Twenty nine drivers took the green flag for that twenty lap main and outside pole sitter Kaden Woodie got the jump on Dustin White, the current point leader in the series in this class to take the early lead. Early spins took out contenders Cole Suckow, Justin Erickson and Ryan Peery before everyone settled down and races.
The last sixteen laps cranked off nonstop and Woodie put a big beating on the field as he pulled away quickly and put nearly a full straightaway on the pack. There would be no catching him but the battle for third was a good one as Boddie Parker fought to hold off Colby Fett and Taylor Kuehl. Parker was taking all kinds of challenges from those two but managed to hold them off until the final corner of the race when he went high and both shot past him for position.
Unfortunately, Fett was disqualified later for a technical issue with Kuehl awarded third ahead of Parker and Payce Herrera. White ran second for the whole race and protected his point lead. Woodie has been having his share of bad luck in both classes he has been racing this week but the former snowmobile racer was not to be denied in this race.
Everything hit the fan, as they say, in the Modified feature but the event nearly played to its conclusion before the fireworks. Brandon Beckendorf got a great start to the race as he blasted away from Ricky Alvarado early and opened up nearly a full straightaway on the pack. Before long, he caught the back of the pack and then he started to have problems.
As Beckendorf tried to negotiate his way through the field, Ethan Braaksma was on the move after starting fifth. He got past Alvarado for second when Ricky nearly went into the wall in turn four and then one lap later, he did it again as Thornton got past him also.
Beckendorf was really showed down by the heavy traffic and by the halfway point of the race, Braaksma had caught him and began to search for a path past the leader. Thornton was also catching up with Alvarado and Baca Jr next in line.
Braaksma continued to try and duck under Beckendorf for the lead but each time, either traffic or Beckendorf was there to block his move. Finally, with just three laps left in the race, Braaksma was low inside of Beckendorf as they raced down the front chute. Just as Ethan nosed under Beckendorf, Brandon tried to drop low as slower traffic was in front of him higher on the track.
The two leaders touched as they headed into turn one and both spun broadsides across the track with the pack thundering down on them. Thornton turned his car sideways but clipped the front of Beckendorf's car hard and then Alvarado stopped to avoid T-boning Beckendorf while other took evasive action.
When it came to lining up the cars for the restart, that's when things got controversial. Beckendorf was done with front end damage and Braaksma knew he had to go to the tail. Thornton, despite much of his right side body flapping in the breeze, was able to drive his car and he tried to get to the front. However, track officials signaled him to the back and he was not a happy driver. Neither were many in the crowd who made the most noise I've heard out of them this entire week. Whether or not Thornton stopped on the track as a part of the wreck I can't say for sure, but I didn't think that he did. He roared his motor and spun his tires before he did pull to the tail, only to quickly pull off after the race restarted. He would stop under the flag stand after the race was over to have words with both the starter and Jim Stannard of the IMCA office who quickly raced down to the flag stand. Alvarado tried to get his spot back but he was sent to the tail for stopping, even though he didn't even make contact with the two spinners. The lesson to be learned, don't stop for anyone's wreck, unless you want to be punished for saying your own equipment or perhaps keeping someone else from being hurt.
After all this mess was sorted out and the top four cars were all out of the hunt, Johnson, having his best run of the week, inherited the lead as he had passed Baca Jr for fifth. Virtually the top ten runners were scrambled after this accident and it was assumed that Baca Jr would quickly pass Johnson and take another win.
But not so fast! Johnson actually pulled away from Baca Jr on the green and easily drove home the winner, the first ever Modified win for the Montana racer. Baca Jr settled for second with Logan Drake , Reece Solander and Braxton Yeager completing the top five.
Three lead changes highlighted the Stock Car feature with Baca Jr coming home the winner following a late race pass with just four laps to go. Chase Berkeley, a winner earlier this week, got the jump on Baca Jr to lead the opening lap. Baca Jr would get past Berkeley one lap later but Berkeley wasn't done yet as he slid Baca Jr one lap later to retake the lead as the top two ran close together.
Bo Partain and William Gould ran close behind the leader but Shelby Williams was the driver on the move as he slowly cut his way to the front of the field. The race remained under the green with Berkeley extending his lead through the halfway point but then Baca Jr was able to pick up the pace and resume his challenge. With just four to go, Berkeley got just a bit high in turn four and Baca Jr was there to dive under him and take over the lead, just as Williams started to catch the top two.
Two laps later a three car pileup in turn three slowed the race for the first time and set up what looked to be a fight to the checkers. Williams seemed ready to make his move at this point, appearing to be the fastest car on the track but that's not how it played out once the green reappeared. Baca Jr would drive away from both drivers behind him and control the last two laps to take the win. Berkeley found more speed and fought off all challenges and ended up in second ahead of Williams. Off the final corner, Jason Rogers made an outside move and drove past Partain for fourth. It was a nice come back for the Baca Jr group, as early this week they had to replace a motor that had blown up in competition.
Can anyone stop Dillon Richards in the Hobby Stocks? There have been eight events for the Hobby Stocks over the last two weeks, county the Gene Freeman non point race on Tuesday, and Richards has now won seven of them!
Friday night he had to come from fifth on the grid and even suffered his first body damage of the week when a fender got bent but he managed to get to the front of the pack once again to claim the win. For all the world, it looked like Morgan Olmstead might get the win as he took the early lead from Braxton Eichelberger and put distance on the field with the pack running high up against the outside wall.
Richards got past his main competition this week in Dillon Thompson to move into second and then closed on Olmstead. He may not have been able to make the winning pass, or it would have been much tougher but just before the halfway point, Olmstead got way too high in turn three and Richards was right there to drive under him and take over the lead.
It was lights out after that as Richards pulled away and even with one late yellow to contend with, he dominated the rest of the proceedings to take the win. Olmstead got too high once more late in the race and Nathan Deragon was able to get past him for second. Thompson and Blake Luinenburg completed the top five.
Saturday night the IMCA TV Winter Nationals will be completed with point champions crowned in all classes as well as another full show of racing.
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