Tito’s Vodka Legend Invasion Gets Off To A Hot Start

September 3rd, 2022

Once a year, Legend teams from all over the country invade Colorado National Speedway, and on a hot September night, they kicked off their night at the races. The grandstands were packed to the brim with fans of all ages eager to see the Legends, Late Models, Pure Stocks, Figure 8s and Circle Drags for the best Saturday night show in the state. Fans were on their feet for the Circle Drags, which was won by a modified Volkswagen wagon, and fireworks drew plenty of awe from the crowd between two feature racing events.

AC Transmission & Total Car Care Legends

Dash A – 17 Laps

A $300 prize waited at the end of each of the three Legend dashes. For the first Dash race, the No. 99 of Tessa Marine took the lead early, pulling the No. 89 of Zach Morris behind her as she set out. Meanwhile, as the laps ticked by, a heated battle for fourth place shaped up between the No. 91 of Martin Gatzulis and the No. 75 of Austin Hackenberg, as the top five finishers of each Dash would transfer to the Fast Feature race. The No. 33 of Dillyn Foster spun with six laps left, causing a caution. On the restart, Marine’s No. 99 leaped out front yet again, while the No. 24 of TJ Roberts tried to take second place away from Morris. Up front, Marine’s No. 99 led flag-to-flag to secure the Dash A win.

Dash B – 17 Laps

The No. 3 of Parker Heffel took the lead on the second Legend Dash, followed by the No. 13 of Andy Hulcy. The pack strung out behind them, while the No. 44 of Alfred Matthews entered the fight for second place. The No. 45 of Cole Tuttle tried to find his way into fifth so he could advance to the Fast Feature, but unfortunately missed out, while Heffel’s No. 3 machine took the win.

Fast Dash – 17 Laps

The No. 9R of Tyler Reif took the green flag from the pole position, but the field was slowed by the No. 03 of Darrell Stewart spinning. Then, on the restart, Reif’s No. 9R was slowed once again as another car spun, forcing a second caution. The No. 21 of Ryan Jones came to life, followed by the No. 15 of Danny Medina, and quickly took control of the first position on the restart. Medina’s No. 15 and Jones’ No. 21 touched briefly, sending Jones plummeting through the field, while Medina wheeled the No. 15 to the Fast Dash win.

Feature – 30 Laps

Hackenberg’s No. 75 took the green flag in first place, holding off the No. 45 of Tuttle, but before the battle could play out, a few cars found trouble in Turn 1. That was just a hiccup, though, and the pack evened out and began to race cleanly. Halfway through the race, the No. 45 of Tuttle came back to life and began to find its way back through the field after having fallen back early, while the No. 5 of Gary Wegener held down third place. With 10 laps left, Tuttle’s No. 45 was clearly a threat as it ran through the field with sights set on the No. 75 of Hackenberg in first place. With four laps left, Tuttle’s No. 45 had tracked the No. 75 of Hackenberg down, and began to put pressure on him for the race lead. Less than a car length separated the two cars. On the last lap, lapped traffic got between the leaders and the checkered flag, and Tuttle’s No. 45 looked low to take advantage of the slower cars, while Hackenberg’s No. 75 swung close to the wall. At the line, just .03 second separated Hackenberg from Tuttle, and Hackenberg’s No. 75 drove away victorious.

Fast Feature – 40 Laps

The No. 21 of Ryan Jones took off strong, but the No. 9R of Reif gave him a run for his money – $3,000 to be exact! – during the first laps of the Legend Invasion Fast Feature. Meanwhile, the No. 15 of Medina pushed past the No. 22 of Chris Eggleston for third place, looking for his opportunity to close on the leaders. The field got spread out and began to race single file, while Medina pushed his No. 15 machine into second place, Jones’ No. 21 showed the way for the field. Then, Medina began to track Jones down, and the two race cars made contact several times. The contact culminated in the No. 21 of Jones being sent into the wall in Turn 1. Medina’s No. 15 was sent to the rear as a result, handing the lead over to the No. 22 of Eggleston. Reif’s No. 9R took command with his eye on the prize.

Then, with seven laps left, disaster struck. A multicar incident involving the No. 04 of Natalie Foster; the No. 7 of Kenna Mitchell; the No. 32 of Cody Milan and the No. 13 of Andy Hulcy. Mitchell’s No. 7 ended up on the hood of Milan’s No. 32, while the No. 13 of Hulcy went flipping dramatically down the backstretch. Thankfully, every driver exited their race cars under their own power, and a red flag was called to clean up the mess. When the race restarted, Reif launched his No. 9R back to the lead in a hurry while Clegg held down second place. Meanwhile, the No. 15 of Medina reentered the top five after his earlier penalty, hunting down the leaders. With three to go, Eggleston’s No. 22 closed on the rear bumper of Reif’s No. 9R, trying to track him down in the corners. However, yet another multicar incident involving eight cars occurred in Turns 1 and 2, prompting yet another red flag while the mess was sorted out, but all drivers made it out ok. The race had hit its time limit, prompting the race to be ended two laps early upon this red flag, with the No. 9 of Reif being crowned the winner.

Dash A: No. 99, Tessa Marine

Dash B: No. 3, Parker Heffel

Fast Dash: No. 15, Danny Medina

Feature: No. 75, Austin Hackenburg

Fast Feature: No. 9R, Tyler Reif

Quick Time: No. 9R, Tyler Reif 18.381

Galitz Transportation Late Models

Dash – 10 Laps

Side-by-side, the field took the green flag for the first Dash. The No. 94 of Kyle Morse and the No. 48 of Mikey Blackard went at each other, and the No. 60 of Rick Duckworth entered the battle to make it three wide for the lead. The No. 60 of Duckworth snuck away with the lead and never looked back, securing the Dash win.

Fast Dash – 10 Laps

The No. 51 of Eric Meisner stayed even with the No. 15 of Michael Hannah for the lead, but Meisner easily guided the No. 51 machine out front. He stretched everything behind him and earned the Fast Dash win by quite a large margin.

Feature – 30 Laps

Troy Witthar threw his No. 1NE into the lead early, but quickly found himself under pressure from the No. 98 of Lee Kemmit. However, a dramatic multicar incident unfolded in Turn 1, piling four race cars on top of one another. Mariah Boudreau’s No. 17X machine ended up with its rear end propped up on the hood of another car, but all drivers exited under their own power. After a long red flag, the No. 98 of Kemmit and the No. 1NE of Witthar took control of the race once more. Witthar lost the lead to Kemmit, then another position to the No. 8 of Dan Alamaa. Alamaa guided the No. 8 into the lead, passing the No. 98 of Kemmit while Witthar’s No. 1NE fell back and began to battle with the No. 31 of Rick Smith for third. Thankfully, after the first incident, the field raced clean while Alamaa showed the way. He guided it through lapped traffic, while Witthar’s No. 1NE and Smith’s No. 31 battled hard for third place. The checkered flag fell on Alamaa at the line, followed by the No. 98 of Kemmit, and Smith’s No. 31 came out ahead for third.

Dash: No. 60, Rick Duckworth

Fast Dash: No. 51, Eric Meisner

Feature: No. 8, Dan Alamaa

Quick Time: No. 51 Eric Meisner 17.335

Rock N Roll Brewery Pure Stocks

Dash – 10 Laps

The No. 1 of Derek Spalding stole the lead away from polesitter No. 20 Tanner Faatz in a hurry. The No. 21 of Jamie Ward found his way into second place, fighting hard with the No. 91 of Cole Whitford while Spalding’s No. 1 continued to lead. Spalding wheeled his No. 1 machine around a uniquely high line on his way to his Dash win.

Fast Dash – 10 Laps

The leaders went three wide on the drop of the green flag, with the No. OH7 of Dave Wheeler getting the lead. The No. 5c of Kyle Carrasco backed out of the battle and fell to second place. Meanwhile, the No. 15 of Brendon Knowles struck the front stretch wall from third place, but kept his race car pointed in the right direction. Wheeler’s No. OH7 scored the Fast Dash win.

Feature – 25 Laps

Unfortunately, Wheeler’s No. OH7 suffered a mechanical failure before the race started, and he was forced to retire to the infield and surrender his sixth-place starting position. When the race went green, the No. 41G of Christopher Galvin and the No. 8A of Austin Richards fought hard for control of the field. They ran side-by-side through the field, but everyone stayed clean. Just a few laps in, the No. 8 of Isaac Almaswari, current points leader and fresh off his first Feature win, came to a stop and had to pull off into the pits. Meanwhile, the No. 5c of Kyle Carrasco found his way to the front on the restart. He got around the No. 8A of Richards for the lead, but then, chaos unfolded in Turn 2. The No. 38 of Colton Green; No. 14g of Niki Gladkowski; and the No. 1 of Derek Spalding got together on the backstretch. Then, The No. 34 of Ronald Johnson lost a tire and hammered into a stopped vehicle, causing a lengthy red flag while track crews cleaned up the fluids.

Since the race was close to reaching its time limit, the restart was cut from 14 laps left to 5 laps left of green racing. The No. 8A of Richards and the No. 41G of Galvin fought for second while the No. 5c of Carrasco held control. A few cars got together on the front stretch, but they kept it clean, then a few laps later, but no caution was needed. The No. 5c of Carrasco continued to lead, while the No. 41G of Galvin searched for a way around him, but ultimately nothing could stand between the No. 5c of Carrasco and his first-ever feature win.

Dash: No. 1, Derek Spalding

Fast Dash: No. OH7, Dave Wheeler

Feature: No. 5c, Kyle Carrasco

Quick Time: No. 34, Ronald Johnson 19.708

Elite Diesel Service Figure 8s

Dash – 12 Laps

Right off the bat, the No. 52 of Jared Wall and the No. 78 of Kayla Martinez tangled in the F8 Feature, causing damage to both machines. Then, two laps later, another car spun heading into The X, causing a caution for debris while the No. 67 of Kayleigh Swenson was scored leader. On the restart, the No. 67D of Keith Swenson stole the lead away from Kayleigh. Then the No. 17 of Harry Livermore Jr. and the No. 15 of Jereme Wall got around both of the Swenson machines. Keith attempted to hold off Wall’s No. 15 as Wall sent his race car deep. No. 67D, Keith, continued to lead and scored the F8 Dash win.

Feature – 20 Laps

As soon as the green flag flew, the field went three-wide for the race lead, with the No. 13M of Isaac Martinez getting out ahead with the lead. The No. 52 of Jared Wall slipped into third place after having repaired his race car from his wreck in the Dash. The field dodged through The X while Wall’s No. 52 machine and the No. 13M of Martinez and the No. 17 of Livermore closed on the front of the field. The No. 52 of Wall took over the point, while the No. 13M of Martinez and the No. 17 of Livermore spun together heading past the start/finish line into The X, collecting two other race cars, causing a lengthy clean up. As the race neared its time limit, the race was cut down to three laps on the restart instead of the scheduled eight. The No. 13M of Martinez gathered his race car back together and went after Wall’s No. 52 for the lead, while the No. 17 of Livermore retired to the pits. Wall’s No. 52 led the field to the checkered flag, spinning sideways as he flashed across the finish line on the way to his Feature win.

Dash: No. 67D, Keith Swenson

Feature: No. 52, Jared Wall

OFFICIAL RESULTS

Legend FAST - 40 Laps

Legend - 30 Laps

Late Models - 30 Laps

Pure Stocks - 25 Laps

Figure 8 - 20 Laps

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