Gary Christian New Winner at Vado; Pierce Starts To Harvest Bonus Money With Fourth Win

 Round five of the Wild West Shootout was held on Saturday, January 13th at the F K Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park in Vado New Mexico. Gary Christian would break into victory lane for the first time as the Modified feature winner while familiar faces would also get to shoot off the six shooters in victory lane as Bobby Pierce and Nick Rivera would also be feature winners. 

Saturday provided the first semblance that the weather could be tolerable in New Mexico in January after a week of brutally cold temperatures and a never ending wind. The temperature finally rose to a nicer level on Saturday and while the winds still howled during the afternoon, once the sun set(and it was a gorgeous sunset), the winds also went down but the temperature didn't drop at the rapid rate it has all week. The sum result was that it was the comfortable night for racing so far in 2024 and the response was by far the biggest crowd of the week. The fact that it was Saturday probably didn't hurt either. 

One hundred and fifty one cars signed in to race in the three divisions with only the Modifieds slipping back a couple entries from Friday night's show. And even though they had exactly the same number of entries as on Friday, today the X Mods were granted one more heat race which made the numbers for those heats a little more manageable and fair to the drivers. Perhaps X Mod drivers complaints were finally held or maybe track officials just examined things and decided this would be a better way to go, but I was glad in the interest of fairness that they split things up a little more evenly and that extra heat race took only a few more minutes to run. 

Otherwise, the program would be a duplicate in form to what had been the format for the other shows in this series. The Late Models and X Mods would get a few more laps for their feature than they have had for the week night shows and for the third time this week, the Pro Power Dash was held for the Late Models. 

Bill Schliepper is getting a lot of publicity while spending no dollars so far this week. For the third time, the Late Model Dash winner chose to fore go the grand as the winner of this event and instead opted to run the feature race. Apparently the winners have all felt that the reason they drove all the way to New Mexico was to race, not sit and count their money while watching the main event from the pits. This has been quite the change from previous years when there were always some that chose to take the grand instead of racing. There will be one more Dash on Sunday so we will see it this pattern holds yet again. .

Mike Marlar would be fast qualifier for the Late Model drivers at 14.390 seconds while Shannon Babb would top the other group but neither was able to translate that quick time into a  particularly strong feature finish. 

A goodly part of Bobby Pierce's success this week has been the tried and true formula that holds for most Late Model specials these days. Qualify well to get a front row starting spot in a heat, win that heat and then draw well for the redraw for the main event. And while even a poor redraw gets you a second row starting spot, Pierce has been doing much better than that. On Saturday, for the fourth time in five races, Bobby would start on the pole while his "poor" redraw night saw him start on the outside pole!

No doubt it makes it much easier to win when starting up front but you still have to beat two dozen other fast teams and Pierce has been able to do that with ease. As has been the case most of this week, Pierce would not necessarily take the early lead and that held once again in Saturday night's forty lapper. 

Brandon Sheppard would take the initial lead but Pierce would quickly size him up and then make a second lap pass to take over the top spot. After that, it was a battle for second as Pierce was long gone and would never be challenged. This race would see more yellow flags, five for minus spins and stalls, that would break up the action to the point that even lapped traffic, Pierce's lone worry, wasn't a factor. 

The best battle would be for second where Stormy Scott and Sheppard would battle for that position. Stormy would pass Sheppard for second on lap five and hold that spot until the halfway point of the race when Sheppard would get back around him for the runner up slot. After that, the leaders would run in the same order for the remainder of the race. 

Kyle Larson put on the best charge of the night, moving from sixteenth to fourth with some hard driving but he has continually buried himself so deep in the fields with poor qualifying efforts that he has not been in a position to challenge for any wins. Cade Dillard would complete the top five in the running order. 

Pierce's fourth win would guarantee him a twenty five thousand dollar bonus for winning four feature races during the series with Penske officials, the sponsors of this bonus, now sweating in their socks as another win on Sunday would give the Illinois driver a hundred grand bonus, money worth getting serious about. 

Both of the open wheel classes would run green to checkers in their main events, a rarity at any level. The Modified feature would produce a surprise as Gary Christian would take the win after starting on the outside pole and beating Friday night winner Terry Phillips to the first turn. This race would be an odd one in that once everyone started racing, there would be very little change of position throughout the field. 

Christian would pull to a nice sized lead and Phillips wasn't able to cut into him margin much. And even though only four cars would fail to finish the race, virtually everyone on the track seemed to be running at the same speed and Christian didn't even have to deal with any lapped cars. 

The best battle on the track would be for third where Dan Ebert and Tyler Wolff would trade that spot several times as they raced side by side seemingly for the whole contest. Meanwhile, while some were waiting for the inevitable fade by Christian and the charge to the lead by Phillips, it never happened and Christian would drive on for the win. 

Terry was able to close in slightly near the end but never to the point that he could provide any real challenge. Wolff would out fight Ebert for third and another surprise would find Noah Daspit compleing the top five in the running order. 

The X Mods would participate in their best feature race on the week and also the best of this night as their nonstop twenty five lapper would see Nick Rivera and J. C. Morton go at it for the lead right down to the final lap. 

Rivera would take the early lead from the pole and would set sail on the competition, building nearly a full straightaway lead as the green remained out. Christy Barnett would move into second and hold that spot for several laps before Morton was able to pass her and move into second. It was then a classic race of catch up as Rivera was running the cushion while Morton worked the low groove. 

Lap after lap, Morton would gain just a little ground as the top side seemed to be wearing out but Rivera chose to remain up there and by lap fifteen, Morton had caught the leader and the battle was on. Rivera would hold on lap after lap as Morton would try to nose under him and then when the leaders caught traffic, it really got interesting. 

A group of four drivers were running hard in a pack and battling and both the leaders were faced with the tough decision of where to go on the track to pass them. Morton was able to nose ahead on lap nineteen for the lead briefly but then Rivera made a great move to split the slower cars, a move that probably saved victory for him. 

With Rivera getting away, Morton resorted to slamming his way past a couple cars to get free and he then caught back up to Rivera. The final lap would see Rivera drop low in turn three to protect his advantage with Morton trying to squeeze under him as they ran dangerously close to each other, threatening to take both out. 

However, he slammed his way to get there, Morton played it clean on the final corner when he had the chance to bump Rivera out of the way and Rivera was able to fight off the Missouri driver by the smallest of margins to take his second win of the series and become the first repeat winner. 

Jesse Haynie, another winner during this week, made a late charge up to third after starting ninth and he was probably quicker than both the leaders at the end of the race but ran out of time. Josh Cain and Barnett would complete the top five. And in this remarkable race, while not only did it go nonstop green to checkers, but all twenty four drivers were still on the track at the finish and that doesn't happen very often. 

Track officials have become very adapt at running off a quick program here, likely in part due to the cold weather conditions that the fans on hand have been dealing with and also due to the fact that FLO Racing on tv is a huge part of the overall success of this race and they like to package this event to be completed in around three hours. On Saturday night, the final checkered waved before 9 pm with no one complaining in the least bit for an early completion of the racing. It's hard to believe but the end is already in sight with the finale of the WWS scheduled for Sunday with another early green flag start.  

Pierce Continues To Roll at Vado; New Winners Step Up in Other Divisions

 The final evening show of the Rio Grande eighteenth annual Wild West Shootout  was held on Friday night, January 12th at the FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park in Vado New Mexico. After another windy afternoon, the hurricane force gale finally subsided as the sun set with the promise that the weekend would be warmer, a situation that everyone associated with this event is looking forward to. 

The other thing that folks are looking forward to, both Late Model drivers and fans who like close feature racing, is for someone to step forward and put a challenge out on Bobby Pierce. For the third time in four nights of racing, the Illinois driver once again ran away with the Late Model headliner with the rest of the field unsuccessfully trying to keep up with him. After an opening night upset, Pierce has been in control of the Late Model action since and with a potential hundred grand bonus awaiting him if he closes out the weekend, someone will need to step up to slow down the Pierce parade. 

New winners would emerge in the other two divisions however, with veteran Terry Phillips and Kris Jackson topping the Modified and X Mod divisions respectively with a southern Missouri sweep of the two classes. 

The start of weekend two for this event, where drivers can cram three races in over a short time period, brought out the biggest field for the series so far as one hundred and fifty three drivers signed in to race on Friday with the biggest surge of new faces being in the X Mod class. So far this week, the Late Model numbers have been consistent as just below last year's turnout while the X Mods, with a big boost on Friday, have started to return to nearly the numbers seen last year. 

The big gainer has been in the Modified class where the numbers have been consistently higher than in 2023 with tonight's field of fifty nine being the tops of the week so far. 

However, even with the largest field of the week, track officials seen to like setting up Jeff Broeg sized fields for all events with the X Mods running thirteen cars to a heat while the Mods and Late Models are running eleven and twelve cars heats, a move that I can't indorse. Particularly with the open wheel cars running for passing points and only running eight lap heats in all classes, it feels to me like they are most concerned about getting the show over quickly, not providing fair racing for the drivers and giving the fans their monies worth. However, I don't see this changing soon, except that the Late Models will get ten more laps of feature racing starting tomorrow. 

One thing that should be mentioned is that the management of this event does try to do things for the racing crews that are housed on the property for ten days or more. Free pizza was offered for all the crews one night this week and tonight after the races, Rumley Engineering provided free food and drink for the teams in a nice heated tent that sits behind the main grandstand. 

As always, the Late Model cars qualify first and Garrett Alberson would turn the fastest lap of the week, stopping the clock at 13.889 seconds, the first sub fourteen second lap of the week while Cade Dillard would top the other group. 

Qualifying would then be held for all three classes, followed by a pair of B Features for all three and then feature race time. Perhaps the most significant thing that happened in the heats would involve Dillard, doing double duty in both the Late Models and Mods. Dillard had been dominating the Modified action, winning the first three feature races and setting himself up for a nice bonus if he could maintain his stranglehold over the division. 

However, that would come to a screaming halt quickly when the Modifieds took to the track for their heats. Christy Barnett would lose control of her car on lap one and spin in front of the field. Dillard would hit her with such force as to cause her car to flip over and also badly damage his own car. 

Going off on the hook, Dillard would make a nice comeback later, coming from sixteenth to win a B Feature and also driving from eighteenth to finish in third in the main, but his big bonus was lost. 

As has been the case this week, the Late Models would take to the track first for their main event after a track prep session following all qualifying. 

One secret to Pierce's success this week as been to qualify well and then race to a heat win, thus allowing him to make the redraw for the front two rows. And he has been successful their two with him starting on the pole for the thirty lap main. This has not always translated into the initial lead for him and it didn't again tonight as Louisiana driver B.J. Robinson surprised many by taking the early lead. 

Robinson would lead the first five laps of the main before it appeared that Pierce would decide it was time to go and he blew past Robinson at this point to take over the lead. Bobby would then put distance on the field with Robinson and Alberson battling for second. This battle would last past the halfway point of the race with Brandon Sheppard moving into fourth in his first appearance here this week with Shannon Babb following. 

Two laps past the halfway point, the yellow would wave for a slowing Chase Junghans. Robinson, running the cushion, would stick his nose in the mud and lose several positions and would later do it again, ending his night 

While Pierce would later complain about a mud packed rear wheel, it didn't seem to slow his progress as he pulled away from Alberson and Sheppard who had climbed to third. One more yellow would set up a three lap sprint to the finish and Pierce would again pull away. Sheppard appeared to have issues at this point as he lost speed, along with several positions on the track. 

Pierce would drive home unchallenged while Alberson would have yet another solid finish. Dillard would finish third, ahead of Babb and Kyle Larson who had moved up from twenty second after going to a back up car. 

The X Mods would have their share of difficulties getting all their qualifying events smoothly completed but come feature time they did much better with just a single yellow slowing their main. It started off badly for contender J. C. Morton however, as he spun on the opening lap and got drilled and while he soldiered on, his car was not the same after the accident. 

Mike Rosales would have a good run, starting on the pole and leading the first ten laps of the feature. He was able to fend off Mike Anderson and Asa Flores in the early going as Reece Solander and Kris Jackson were working their way to the front. Just at the halfway point, both were able to get past him with Jackson taking over the lead. 

Kris would then pull away from the field and stretch his lead as the race remained under the green the rest of the way. A good battle for second would see previous winner Nick Rivera edge past Solander in the late going to claim second. Rosales would finish up fourth with Jake Haddox completing the top five. 

The Modified feature would round out the night and provide perhaps the most exciting main of the series so far. Three different leaders would hold sway during this twenty five lapper with the winning pass coming with just a lap and a half left in the contest. 

Tyler Wolff would take the early lead after starting on the outside pole and he would maintain that position through the first half of the race. However, he had many and varied contenders up to that halfway point. Both Derek Ramirez and Dan Ebert put heavy pressure on the leader and looked to be ready to make a pass for the front. 

Unfortunately, either would be around at the finish after Ramirez suddenly lost power down the back chute, triggering a yellow with eleven laps complete and then shortly after, Ebert would nail a dreaded infield ute tire, messing up his front end and eventually forcing him to call it a night.

Jake O'Neill would then become the primary challenger and on lap seventeen, he would take over the top spot. Also on the move were both Dillard and Terry Phillips. Dillard was really surging to the front after his start deep in the pack while Phillips had been flirting around the top five but started to make time when he went to the cushion. Wolff was also able to pick up the pace and he began to challenge O'Neill to get the lead back. 

With only six laps to go, Wolff and Dillard tangled on the front chute with Wolff getting dumped by Dillard. Wolff was not happy and tried to give Dillard a flat tire under yellow, a move that didn't work and caused him to get disqualified. 

Suddenly Phillips found himself in second and with his high side work, all over O'Neill for the lead. Jake was using the "windshield wiper" technique of riding the low side in the corners and coming straight out to the wall down the chutes. Phillips tolerated this for a couple laps and then crossed over O'Neill down the back chute. The move didn't fully work but it allowed Terry to get even more momentum and down the back chute on the next lap, he blasted past O'Neill on the high side to take over the lead as they came for the white flag.

Phillips would pull away on the final tour and get the well deserved win with O'Neill managing to hold off Dillard for second. Carlos Ahumada Jr and Jake Gallardo would complete the top five in what was a spirited finale to the evening. 

Despite more entanglements in the early going, the full program was still completed by 9:30 pm and the crowd seemed improved despite the less than cozy weather conditions. An early starting time for both the upcoming events will likely help in that regard. 

Pierce and Dillard Remain Alive for Vado Bonuses After Wednesday Night WWS

 It was another cold night in the high desert Wednesday night at the FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park in Vado New Mexico, a pattern that seems likely to hold right through this entire series for 2024. However, the race cars on the track still generate plenty of heat as they race hard at this state of the art facility and the hottest drivers remain firmly in control as Bobby Pierce won his second Late Model feature race of the three completed so far while Cade Dillard is doing even better, having won three straight against a very strong field of Modified drivers. On the other hand, Jesse Haynie won his first ever feature race during the Wild West Shootout series which dates to races at Casa Grande, Tucson and Arizona Raceway in Queen Creek. 

One hundred and twenty six drivers would sign in to race for this midweek action, a slightly smaller number than for the weekend before but very similar to previous years as a few drivers go home and some just can't make it for the midweek show as there are a number of drivers running this series from the area who just can't get to the track in time for this midweek run. 

In response to the smaller field of drivers on hand, track officials cut one X Mod and one Modified heat from the overall program, a move likely not discouraged by the freezing contingent of fans on hand.  

Track officials always run off a very quick program here, sometimes actually overly so, and the first heat was on the track at 5:45 pm and ready to race. Earlier, Garrett Alberson and Dustin Sorensen had turned quickest times in their groups of Late Models and would start on the pole for respective heat races. The running order would be the same a normal with X Mods followed by Modifieds and then the Late Models. However, after the Late Model B Mains are completed, track prep is done and then the Late Models are first on the track for their main, a strategy long been run at the WWS and highly appreciated by everyone I would guess. 

Such was the case again on Wednesday with Drake Troutman redrawing the pole with Pierce to his outside. There were some fireworks early as after Pierce got the jump and led the opening lap, he would slip off the bottom and a charging Shannon Babb would duck under him for the lead. Pierce immediately realized he was in trouble and moved back under Babb on the next lap and there was plenty of wheel banging between the leaders before Pierce would reclaim the lead. 

Babb was pushing hard but it back fired when he slipped off the bottom once again and gave Alberson the second spot. There was only one yellow in the race when Kyle Larson, one of the very few to try and bang the cushion, slowed with electrical problems and called it a night. His performances so far this week in the Rumley car have been disappointing. 

After that yellow, there wasn't much movement among the leaders as they pretty much lined up and hugged the low groove on a surprisingly one lane track. The only excitement came when Pierce came upon some slower traffic, also occuping that same lane of the track. He had difficulty passing these cars and that gave Alberson the chance to close in on him. 

Pierce decided to make a wild move to the top to try and clear the traffic and it almost cost him as Alberson went low and got beside him down the front chute. Pierce made a big move in turn one to edge around the slower car and then get back to the bottom before Alberson could beat him to the spot. 

Later, with just a couple laps left, the same thing happened once again with Pierce this time opting to stay behind the slower car. Alberson made a big move off turn four on the final lap but there was nothing there to grab hold of and he nearly gave away second to Babb as they crossed the line. With his repeat win, Pierce still has a possible bonus of one hundred grand in sight should he win out. 

Two drivers graced the top five finishers for the first time with Sorensen and Preston Luckman getting to those positions of fourth and fifth early and staying right there, holding their lines as neither were seriously challenged during the thirty lap feature. A number of drivers dropped out early, finding the one lane track not conducive for passing and thus chose to save their equipment. 

Dillard has not only been fast but he has been lucky as well, drawing the front row for the Modified feature for the second straight race. He would blast out into the early lead with Nathan Smith moving to second ahead of Lucas Schott. 

Two early yellows in the first half of the race would slow the pace with the second involving Ricardon Olague Jr. and Gary Christian being a grinding collision that would eliminate both. After this slow down, the rest of the race would go green to checkers with Schott moving to second by the halfway point with Tyler Davis and Dan Ebert close behind. 

Dillard was lone gone, just as on Sunday but the driver to watch was Nick O'Neill, making his first Modified run of the week after stepping out of the Late Model he had previously raced earlier in the week. He started seventeenth and was one of the few able to make the top side work as he would diamond off the corners and get a great run down the chutes, which would allow him to pass cars both high and low. 

He was up to fifth by the halfway point and then worked his way past both Ebert and Smith to move into third and was working on Schott for second when he ran out of time. Eighteen cars would finish the race and all would be on the lead lap. 

Jesse Haynie would lead from start to finish in the twenty lap X Mod feature race. He would pull out to a nice sized advantage early and withstand three yellow flags, the last of which was a two lap dash to the finish. 

Louisiana driver Jake Haddox would move into second early and he would run there for the length of the event. A good four car battle for third would see Eric McNutt, Rob Moseley, Nate Reinke and opening night winner Nick Rivera fight for that spot. 

The final two lap sprint would see Haynie pull away while Haddox would hold off Rivera for that spot. McNutt and Reinke would complete the top five with only three of the starters not on the track at the finish. 

Once again it was a very quick program with the final checkers waving at about 8:45 pm. This may sound like a strange comment but sometimes I think that they sacrifice a bit of the overall program by being in such a hurry as they jam so many cars into the heats and B Features with limited laps  that they eliminate any possible chance for some of the drivers to gain success. 

The crack announcing team was not afraid to state the obvious on this night, for which they should receive credit. And that was the fact that this night was a very rare dud for Vado with the track being one lane most of the night, despite attempts to "farm it" before the feature races. Whey this happened, I don't know and I doubt that perhaps anyone does. The track was certainly plenty wet and built up a berm early that we had not seen before this week with the drivers racing high on the track in the heats. However, come B Feature and Feature time, everyone was right on the bottom. A few tried to move up the track but had little success and the racing was "train style", something we are not used to seeing here. 

However, I have confidence that whatever caused the issue, that it will be rectified come Friday night and we will see pack style racing such as we are used to at this track. 

Pierce Slides Through Sandstorm For Wild West Win

 Under dire weather advisories , the second round of the Wild West Shootout at the F K Rod Ends Vado Raceway Park in wild and windy New Mexico was held on Sunday afternoon, January 7th. 

Under some of the most extreme weather conditions that I have ever experienced at an auto race, Pierce would execute a late race slider pass for the win in the Late Model feature after having come home a close second on Saturday. J. C. Morton would show great speed to win the X Mod feature while Cade Dillard would continue is domination of the Modified class. 

Weather forecasts for Sunday were quite stark with a high wind advisory scheduled for the late afternoon and into the night along with the chance of rain and dare I say it, SNOW! And while they were right on with the wind, the rain and snow held off and the show was completed by some of the toughest track officials around as everyone was being buffeted by high winds that arrived shortly before on track activity was scheduled to begin. 

The winds picked up quickly and being the high desert as this area is, the sand started flying immediately. One of the weirdest visuals I have ever seen is the sky line being obscured by blowing sand which blocked out the freeway just to the East of the track along with most of the horizon. And as you can guess, this flying sand hurt like he**. Trying to get back to the grandstands before hot laps began, I was walking right into the blast and I literally couldn't see more than a few steps in front of me. The track, however, kind of sits down in the hole and the drivers didn't seem to be bothered, other than to endure the sand being blown into their open trailers and trying to get to the track. 

I am fortunate enough to usually watch the racing action from the roof of suite 3 which is owned by Rancho Milagro Racing where Trudy and Ed are nice enough to find room for us. Providing a spectacular view of the racing, this is generally the best seat in the house. However, on this night, with winds gusting to over 50 mph, I had to strongly consider whether this would be a good move or not. I did go ahead and sit up there but it was dicey at best and when the temperature starting to drop rapidly, it was just a miserable night for racing for those tough folks that stuck it out. This was the perfect night for racing on TV, if ever there was. 

Car counts were very similar to Saturday with exactly the same number of Late Models on hand and only four short overall from Saturday. The program would be the same as Saturday but the high winds made the race track slick and slowed down the times. Kaden Honeycutt's quick time was six tenth of a second slower than Saturday and the track slowed down even more rapidly after that. However, they worked on it as needed and the racing was still good with the groove being wide and smooth. 

As on Saturday, the Late Models would race their main event first and just as on Saturday, although Pierce was on the front row, he didn't get the jump on the field and instead, actually fell as far back as fourth before he started to march forward. Still guessing that this was due to tire choice, on Sunday he would make that decision work. 

After Pierce led lap one and then began to fall back, it was Mike Marlar that would lead the majority of the race. Kyle Larson, Pierce and Tyler Erb would provide a good battle for second as they swapped spots with Shannon Babb moving into fifth by the halfway point of the race. 

Pierce started to pick up the pace, just as he did on Saturday as he passed Larson and then began to close on Marlar. When Jake Timm got a flat tire with only five laps to go, this bunched the field and gave Pierce his chance. He built up a head of steam and with a slider in turn three, passed Marlar for the lead. Mike had nothing to offer in return and Pierce would then pull away on the final few laps. Marlar would fight off Erb for second with Larson and Cade Dillard completing the top five. Twenty five of the twenty seven starters were still on the track at the finish.

The X Mods would see a second feature winner, even though Saturday's winner Nick Rivera would lead the opening three laps. J.C. Morton, who had finished in second on Saturday, would power around Rivera to take over the lead and then show the way for the rest of the race. Rivera would push hard but in the reverse of Saturday, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't cut into the lead that Morton had built up. 

The race was slowed five times, the last two with just two laps to go but this didn't help Rivera as Morton was the car to beat on this night and would drive on for the win. Rivera would settle for second. 

Lucas Rodin, a winner here in the past, would rebound from a bad night on Saturday to drive  forward from fourteenth to finish a strong third. Christy Georges-Barnett and Josh Cain would complete the top five. 

The Modifieds would run twenty five laps of nonstop racing and once again, it was Cade Dillard who would take the win. He would start on the outside pole and leave the rest of the field in the dust(literally)! He was never challenged as he ran by himself with his only challenge being lapped traffic. 

Near the end of the race, Rodney Sanders, who started eighth, would close up some on Dillard mainly because there was so much lapped traffic and they were bogging down Dillard some. Dillard was never seriously challenged though, and would drive on for the win. There was a great battle for third through fifth as Gary Christian, Dereck Ramirez and Dan Ebert would swap spots before ending up in that order. Only one car didn't finish the feature  while seven cars finished a lap down, most bunched right behind Dillard. 

What a great weekend for Dillard with a win and a fifth in the Late Models plus a double dip in the Modifieds. And this was done against a stellar field of drivers. 

Everyone in the stands and pits alike was thrilled to see the final checkered flag wave so they could get out of the wind, sand and falling temperatures on what was a rugged night for man and beast. Again, it was as quick a show as could possibly be run and still provide the racing conditions that both teams and fans craved with the final checkered waving again at 9 pm. Special thanks to all the track workers and employees who had to put up with some really tough conditions on this night. And they seemed to do so cheerfully. 

Dillard Sweeps Wild West Shootout Opener

 The eighteenth annual Wild West Shootout kicked off on Saturday afternoon, January 6th at Royal Jones' FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park in Vado New Mexico. One of the most anticipated races of the entire racing season, racers and fans from all over the country would again flock to the "Land of Enchantment" to participate in a six race series at one of America's finest short tracks. 

The Wild West Shootout has always been a great way to kick off a new racing season and this third edition of racing at Vado would again present a three division program featuring open Late Models, Modifieds running under USRA rules and the X Mods, a combination class of B Mod, Midwest Mod and X Mod rules. 

One hundred and forty four drivers would sign in to race for the opener with forty four Late Models, sixty Modified cars and forty X Mods. The Late Model car count would be very similar to recent years. The change was that a few of the national driving stars that had been here in recent years were not on hand this year with more regional drivers on hand this year. The Modified car count was both bigger than last year and even stronger as this field would rival the best Modified gatherings of the entire year. The one big drop was in the X Mod field, a drop that would least likely bother too many of the traveling fans. Much of this drop is due to the rules package which allows many of the drivers to basically rebuild the bodies on their cars for this event, a factor that has turned off many of the drivers that used to run this event. 

There used to be twenty to thirty upper Midwest drivers that would come for this event but with the way the rules are structured and the emergence of a new series in Arizona that will commence in a couple weeks, many of those drivers now chose to attend that series instead. This probably doesn't bother WWS management too much anyway because they consider the X Mods to be just a "filler" anyway but it still disappoints me. We are left with just the local racers plus the Missouri USRA crew that redoes their cars just for this week. 

The weather forecast for this week is for even cooler temperatures than normal so the FLO pay per view will probably see some large numbers this week as only the toughest of fans will be on hand to watch this race live. While Vado is a great facility it isn't in the desert like the Arizona tracks are and it is still Winter in New Mexico with cold temperatures and even some rain and snow not out of the realm of possibility. 

The opener would see cool but tolerable conditions for racing. The format would remain as it has been for years with the Late Models qualifying while the other two classes draw for position and then use passing points in the heats to determine the rest of the night. Following time trials, there would be four heats for both the Late Models and X Mods and six heats for the Mods. Double B Features for all classes and then the three mains would round out the evening. On three nights. Pro Power Engines would sponsor a dash that would allow one other driver to opt in or out of the Late Model main. The Late Models were split into two groups with Garrett Alberson and Bobby Pierce being quick qualifiers. The opening race of a new season is always an interesting one with new driver combinations, new cars and lots of experimenting going on which is one of the attractions of this series.

The three class program definitely has its advantages as the whole show can be completed much quicker and within a reasonable time limit, packaged as it is for TV. And on cool nights it is nice to be done with the show by 9 pm local time. 

A few opening night gremlins caused some stress as scoring and timing was having some early issues. The p.a. system was not working quite right with speakers and microphones cutting in and out. Even the cars were being combative as Rodney Sanders had to requalify four times before they could finally get his transponder to work correctly. Mike Marlar also gave his fans a scare when he finished his qualifying with a cloud of smoke but it proved to be minor.  However, everything was worked through and by 5 pm, the advertised starting time, it was time to race. 

Once they start the program here, there is no messing around for any reason. The top notch crew of Vado, along with a lot of experts brought in for this series by event promoter Chris Kearns, make this show a smooth one. With folks like Kelly Carlton and Matt Curl behind the scenes and voices like Ben Shelton, Dustin Jarrett and Trenton Berry calling the action, the best in dirt track racing are in charge here. 

All qualifying goes off very quickly and soon it is time for the main events after some track prep is done to ensure that the best racing can be provided. The Late Models always go first here and twenty five cars would take the green flag as Eston Whisler chose to race rather than take the dash money. 

And what a night it would be for Cade Dillard! Who would have thought that sharing the front row for the forty lap main that he would get the jump on Bobby Pierce and lead all forty laps to claim the win? It was a surprise for sure when Dillard took the early lead but just as much so when Alberson would also pass Pierce for second. Perhaps it was a tire choice that saw Pierce take off slower but before the end, he would be a factor. 

This race would go nonstop with Dillard building up a nice sized lead in the first half of the race with Alberson and Pierce following. Kaden Honeycutt was a surprise as he ran a strong fourth for much of the race. 

As the race got to its second half, Dillard started to hit a group of slower cars and his progress was slowed. Alberson started to catch him and Pierce picked up the pace as he moved to second and began to close on Dillard. Cade made a couple nice moves in traffic that saved him time but Pierce started to get relentless, closing to Dillard's rear bumper and looking for an opening. 

As they raced through traffic on lap thirty four, Pierce tried one of his wicked sliders in turn three and he eased past Dillard but Cade successfully crossed back under him and would maintain the lead. After that, Pierce would get close but simply couldn't make a move. When he stayed on the top side on final lap, it was clear that Dillard had the speed and space to hold him off for the win. Tyler Erb closed up on Alberson at the end for fourth and Kyle Larson came from fourteenth to complete the top five in the nonstop race. Only six drivers failed to finish but only ten were on the lead lap at the finish. 

The X Mod feature would produce a slight surprise also. Nick Rivera is a solid local competitor so the fact that he ran strong was not a surprise but the surprise was that he would get the jump on Kris Jackson and then beat him. Rivera used the outside to take the early lead with Jackson and J.C. Morton following him. 

The X Mod had a few issues with the yellow waving five times in their twenty five lap main. At the halfway point, the yellow waved for a spin and under yellow, Jackson suddenly headed to the pits, turning the second spot over to Morton. 

But even a one lap sprint to the finish after another late yellow would not give Morton the opportunity to pass as Rivera was very quick and would drive on for the win. Josh Cain would finish third.

The Modifieds would complete the night and this would cap the great night for Dillard as he would double up, winning the Modified main as well as the Late Model event. Jacob Hobscheidt would get the jump on Terry Phillips for the early lead but Dillard was on the move after starting sixth. The lone yellow on lap six would bunch the field with Dillard up to second by this point after passing Phillips. 

It took Dillard only two more laps to blow by Hobscheidt on the top side and once in front, he ran away from the field in a dominating performance. He pulled to nearly a full straightaway over the field as the contest was in no doubt. Johnny Scott made a determined drive as he started fifth and worked under Hobscheidt in the late going for second but was far behind the winner. A late race shuffle would find Phillips driving back up to third ahead of Dan Ebert and Hobscheidt. 

Smooth racing marked the opening night of the series with a three hour program being completed by 9 pm. on what ended up being a cool night in the high desert. 

Mills Holds Off Braaksma as Cocopah Rolls On

 Friday night, January 5th the third round of the IMCA.TV Winter Nationals would continue at the Cocopah Speedway near Somerton Arizona. With it being the start of the weekend, both the car count and the crowd watching in the massive grandstand would continue to escalate. Two hundred and fifty  four drivers would sign in to race on Friday including the largest car counts of the week so far in the Sport Compacts, Hobby Stocks and Modified including seventy four Modified racers. 

First time winners would emerge in all five classes as the last chances for clean sweep bonus money were eliminated in all divisions. Pit crews are now starting to be challenged to keep the racing machines running but despite the fact that both Joseph Baker and Daniel Pittman were involved in wild flips on Thursday night, both cars would return to racing action on this night as after hauling all the way to the desert to race, no one wants to be forced to spectate. 

In an effort to move the program along just a bit, the heat races and B Features were all shortened by just a couple laps on this night and it seemed to help while at the same time not penalizing the drivers trying to make their way into a main event. The program would remain exactly as it had otherwise with the same number of qualifying heats and B Mains. The upside to this event is that all the drivers entered get to run a full program each and every night but the downside is that this produces a whole lot of racing and every the toughest of fans( I like to think I'm included in this group), start to "zone out" with tushy pain as the program moves into hour six and beyond. By the time the Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts take to the track for their mains, most of the fans have called it a night and headed for home or the camper. 

After all the qualifying was completed, the first of the twenty eight car feature fields would roll to the track and it would be the Stock Cars that would run first on Friday night. This race would prove to be a bit of a dub, but only because a gigantic restart pileup would eliminate nearly half the field. 

The early leader would be Shelby Williams as the Texas driver looked for his first win of 2024 with Bo Partain and Dylan Thorton putting the pressure on him. Three early yellows for debris, spins and minor collisions kept the field bunched and perhaps too anxious to engage in all out racing. The result was that after a lap seven yellow, when the field came pounding down the front chute to receive the green, one of the drivers near the front either broke and slowed or got turned into the wall and then all Hell broke loose with driver after driver piling into the accident at high speed. About a dozen drivers were involved in the wreck with many suffering big time damage. Fortunately there were no injuries but "The Hook" wrecker crew was kept busy removing damaged cars and the roll back made multiple trips to the pits with smashed Stock Cars. 

The restart would find the same three up front and Williams would again take the lead. However, while most of the field was hugging the low side, Thornton moved up one lane and found success. He would drive past Partain and then, on lap eleven, do the same to Williams to take over the lead. 

Interestingly, the rest of the race would go non stop with Thorton pulling away from the field. Partain would also pass Williams in the late going to take second with Williams settling for third ahead of Zane Devilbiss and Cole Czarneski. Because of the time required to clean up the wreck, this race was cut short by time limits. 

Iowa drivers would go three for three in the opening rounds of Modified action here at Cocopah as on Friday night it would be Jeremy Mills holding off the stiff challenges of Ethan Braaksma to take the win. Mills would start on the pole with Chaz Baca Jr. moving into second and Braaksma quickly moving from fifth into the third spot. 

The lone yellow would fly on lap five for a spin and on the green Braaksma would move into second and the race would be on. Tim Ward and Grey Ferrando would slip into top five positions at this point and that would not change the rest of the race. 

Mills built up a big lead but gradually Braaksma would pick up the pace and put heavy pressure on the leader. Lapped traffic was an issue with both front runners slicing and dicing their way through the slower cars. Mills made an excellent move between a couple cars that bought him some time but Braaksma was relentless. However, a final lap push by Ethan came up just short as the two put on a show with Mills driving into victory lane by a car length in another good Modified race. 

Things would get wild on the opening lap of the Hobby Stock main when Morgan Olmstead, starting in row two, would attempt to pass both the cars in the row in front of him. He didn't quite make it though and was turned into the back stretch wall where some how a disaster was avoided for the most part with no big wreck resulting despite a number of near misses. 

Ryan Gilland would take the lead on the restart with Jaeden Strandburg racing up to second. On lap seven, Strandburg would drive into the lead and he would then lead the rest of the way for the win. He was closely followed though by first Gilland and then Dillon Richards who traded the second spot back and forth. 

With just two laps to go, Murray Haugen would drive up on the wall in turn four and topple over on to his side, triggering the red flag. Strandburg would take off strong on the final green and pull away for the win with Gilland getting past Robinson to cross the line third. However, Robinson would fail tech inspection which would shuffle the running order then, with Nathan DeRagon scored third ahead of Brandon Beeter and Cody Williams. Williams, looking for a third straight win, suffered a flat tire in his heat race and he had to dig from twentieth to complete the top five. 

The Sport Mod feature would have a surprise finish when a late race mechanical issue would side line the race leader. Before that point, the race was a two car battle between Tyler Bannister and Miles Morris. They had started in the front row beside each other with Bannister getting the early jump. After two, second lap yellows, the race would then go green to checkers with Bannister and Morris pulling away from the field in their own private war. And no matter how hard Morris pushed, it seemed that Bannister would be able to fight him off for the win. 

However, as the leaders passed the starting line with just two laps to go, Bannister's car began making some bad back fires from the motor and he slowed rapidly, powerless as he pulled into the infield. Morris would then take over the lead and drive home by himself for the win. Nathan Speten would get second and Jason Bannister third. T. Bannister's problem was diagnosed as a blown motor. 

The last chance at a clean sweep bonus continuing was ended when Oliver Monson would stop Kaytee DeVries' win streak at two in the Sport Compact feature. Three different leaders would hold the point before this race was decided with Monson taking the early lead from the pole before Jacob Cordova would get past him on lap five. Following a yellow on lap seven. DeVries would drive into the lead and hold that position through the halfway point of the race with Monson and Cordova closely following. 

But Monson would not be stopped on this night and he would drive past DeVries in the late going to take over the lead once again and this time he drove away from the pack to take the win over DeVries and Cordova. 

On sunny days here, which is most days, they have to take a late afternoon break of thirty to forty five minutes when the sun begins to set and blinds the drivers as they race down the back chute. As J Van has coined, the "Sun Break" is a time to stretch for the fans and for some track prep. However, since they race in the bright sunshine of afternoon anyway, I think that perhaps it might be wise to even start just a little earlier, get all the qualifying in before the "Sun Break", then a pause before the main events instead of stopping right in the middle of the action for the break. And since everyone is already on the grounds, starting a bit earlier wouldn't be a problem and it doesn't seem to hurt the track conditions one bit even racing in the bright sunshine. It would also help get the show done just a bit earlier in the evening. 

However, despite the big crash in the Stock Cars that took quite a bit of time to clean up, this was the quickest show of the three so far but a considerable bit as there are never any delays between events. 

Note: We had planned to visit at least one more of the IMCA.TV Winter National events at Cocopah but the severe weather which made driving in the desert very dangerous, stopped us from doing so. 

So we want to thank Brad Whitfield and his staff for all their help and consideration and promise to do better next year. 

Braaksma Nips Belec in Cocopah Thriller

 Night number two of the IMCA TV Winter Nationals at the Cocopah Speedway near Somerton Arizona would roll off on Thursday night, January 4th. Again, as they will through the rest of this eight night series, five divisions of IMCA racing would compete in a full program for all divisions. On another cool January night but with no threat of rain spoiling the action, two hundred and forty seven drivers would sign in to compete with seven drivers making their first appearance of the week. 

The track would be just a bit different on Thursday with more traditional watering rather than what fell from the sky and this would produce some different racing conditions. The track would get super slick but still wide to race on with seemingly every yellow flag in the main events allowing different drivers to surge forward based perhaps on their chassis setup and driving style but it made for some wildly entertaining main events. At one point they announced that some track prep would be coming after the completion of the B Features but then they changed their mind and went right into the mains, a good choice from my perspective as I saw no indication that the track was starting to "rubber" and I don't think it ever did. But it was slippery for sure.

The closest feature finish of the week would be generated by the Modified division on Thursday along with a pair of repeat winners and the first local feature winner after the Arizona contingent got shut out on opening night. Iowa would have another pair of winners on this night while the "Cheeseheads" had cause to celebrate with the late charge of Cole Czarneski that saw him take the Stock Car feature. 

The format for Thursday would be exactly the same as the previous night with the exact same number of races and same qualifying format. The only difference was that they rotated the Modifieds and Stock Cars with the open wheel cars being the lead off division on the program. 

While it really wasn't manifested until feature time, it was clear that the opening night "kid glove" approach to driving was off the table on Thursday with many taking a much more aggressive approach to their driving. This resulted in many more incidents, torn up and abused race cars and many more yellow flags than had flown on opening night. I suppose it to be inevitable that this would happen but so many nice looking race cars from opening night action ended up torn and abused on Thursday before the final checkered flag flew. 

The main event racing would run the gamut on this night with three drivers leading from green to finish to win main events with each receiving various amounts of pressure. The closest race of the night would see the Modified feature settled on the final straightaway as two drivers raced to the line and a late race charge would net a new winner in the Stock Cars. 

Twenty nine drivers would take the green flag for the Modified main with Eddie Belec taking the early lead. In fact, Belec would lead every lap except the one that paid off and that was the final one. Jason Noll and Chaz Baca would be his early challengers but Belec was running a smooth line and managed to put some distance on the field. 

The early laps of this race went slowly with five yellows in the first sixteen laps. Through all the yellows, Belec would continue to lead. By lap eight, Ethan Braaksma, who started eighth, would move into the second spot and he would put the hardest challenge on Belec, nosing under him on a couple of occasions and nearly getting past before a yellow slowed that effort. Kollin Hibdon would move into third and by the halfway point, he was pushing Braaksma for second. 

The final yellow waved with sixteen laps complete so the final nine would go green. Belec got a good restart while Braaksma and Hibdon continued their battle. Belec looked to be in good shape until with about five laps to go, Braaksma really picked up the pace, pulling away from Hibdon and closing rapidly on Belec. Each driver had a better corner and it was interesting to watch their adjustments based on what the other driver was doing. 

Braaksma caught Belec with two to go and the race was on. Ethan would pull up beside the leader as the white flag was waved and they would circle the track side by side. It looked like Belec was going to hold on but Braaksma made a great final corner, came surging to the line on the inside and nipped Belec by .019 seconds for the thrilling win. It was an excellent finish to a solid race. Hibdon, Tim Ward and Jeremy Mills would fill out the top five. 

Speaking of unpredictable finishes, the Stock Car main certainly provided that. This race saw three different leaders, much shuffling among the top five runners and the winning pass came with just two laps to go. 

Rob Van Mil would take the early lead with Justen Yeager who started beside him in the front row and Chase Berkeley providing plenty of pressure. Most of the Stock Car drivers were running the low line and using the inside berm to race off of. This provided them with good thrust off the corners but it was also a bit bumpy there with occasional moments of lost control spicing things. 

Van Mil would have Yeager aggressively challenging him and when Rob bounced off the bottom lane on lap six, Yeager was right there to steal the lead. Those two, along with Berkeley would continue to battle for the lead with a swarm of cars close behind, jockeying for position. Yeager would continue to lead until Van Mil surprised him with an outside move and would drive back into the lead on lap eighteen. 

By this time Curt Lund and moved into third while Cole Czarneski had quietly moved from tenth into the fourth spot when the final yellow waved with just five laps to go, setting up a sprint to the finish. 

Czarneski surprised everyone in the house by roaring off on that final restart as he drove by both Lund and Yeager and then, with one more power move in the second lane, drove past Van Mil to take over the lead in a stunning and surprising turn of events. 

In the final few laps, he pulled away from the field, not receiving a challenge as he drove on for the win. Yeager would fight his way back past Van Mil for second with Lund and Shelby Williams completing the top five. Until that final few laps, Czarneski had not showed particular speed and his sudden advance was a surprise to all. 

Miles Morris has always been one of the top local racers at this series and he has won his share of Sport Mod features at this track. It was no surprise that he would be the first local racer to break into victory lane as he would lead from start to finish to take the win. He would start on the outside pole and get the jump on Kaden Woodie and then put distance on the field. 

It was tough to gain much ground though, as this race would be plagued by yellow flags, with that yellow bunting flying seven times during the event. It got so bad that the field even when single file for their restarts after the fifth yellow. 

Dylan Jones would run second for a number of laps until he spun out of that position and several of the front runners would fall to various forms of calamity. Woodie, who slipped as far back as fourth would pick up his pace and fight his way back into the second spot where he would reside after lap eleven as the running order didn't change much in the final laps. 

Morris would take a dominating win over Woodie with Jason Bannister, Fred Ryland and Nathan Speten following. 

The first repeat winner of the week would emerge in the Hobby Stocks as Cody Williams, after drawing the pole, would lead all the way to dominate the Hobby Stock main. Williams would have Brycen Daffern chasing him for the first seventeen laps as Daffern stayed close but you got the feeling that Williams was just riding along as fast as he needed to. 

Three late yellows in the last five laps packed the field but each time Williams would pull away. Late in the going, Blake Luinenburg, who started seventh, would drive into the runner up slot but while he got to that position, he would have nothing for the leader as "Meatloaf" drove home uncontested for the win. Daffern would settle for third ahead of Colin Hein and Jaeden Strandburg. 

The Sport Compact feature would start off on the rocky side. They were racing six to perhaps eight wide down the front chute on the green until they hit turn one and then cars went flying in all directions. A couple were hurdled straight into the wall with Joseph Baker impacted the concrete hard with the roof of his car. It was a scary looking ride but all drivers were OK.

The restart would then see the field race green to checkered and it was last night's winner Kaytee DeVries that would dominate once again. She opened up a big lead and was never challenged for the point with her biggest worry being some of the slower cars that tended to wander all over the track, racing at half speed to the leaders. 

She did manage to navigate the traffic successfully and would drive home for an easy win. There was a good battle for second though, with four cars at minimum dicing for the spot. At the line, it would be Jacob Cordova that would take the spot with Blake Andrus, Oliver Monson and Josh Maleski trailing. 

With all the yellows, it was a long night of racing, despite the fact that they were able to start on schedule after last night's rain put off the start time, with the final checkers waving well after Midnight.  While this format is an attractive one for the drivers with a full show of racing each night, the down side is that with big fields of cars and five classes racing, it makes for a lot of races that can tend to lead to a long night. It certainly isn't a conducive one for the local race fans with the early start time likely before they are done with work and the last hour not favorable for the working man either. Virtually all the spectators for these shows so far are either with the teams themselves or fans that have traveled in for this event, with early morning work not a worry.

Night number three is scheduled for Friday night, January 5th.