2014 was a another fantastic year for NASCAR racing in Colorado. Out of the 11 divisions that race at CNS, 8 of the 2014 champions are 1st time winners showing the competitive nature of the racing at CNS. Mother nature was very kind to CNS in 2014 allowing a near perfect summer of warm Saturday nights at the speedway. Some of the highlights of this past season include: Chris Eggleston shocking the NASCAR Pro Series West drivers as the local hero won the NAPA/Toyota 150 in dramatic fashion. Another huge crowd was on-hand to witness the Father’s Day Monster-Fest show featuring world class Monster Trucks. Near the end of the season Gary Wells AKA “El Gringo Loco” jumped 12 semi trucks thrilling the fans. But as usual it was the weekly Saturday night racing that keeps the loyal CNS fans coming back week after week, and year after year.
Super Late Models
#6 Dominic Ursetta passes #11 Darren Robertson for the lead winning his first of nine feature wins in the 2014 season. (Starr photo)
2014 saw several 1st time track champions crowned and none more impressive than Dominic Ursetta in the Gillett Vet Super Late Model division. Ursetta seemed poised to be a force in the division as he finished strong in 2013 but nobody expected he would be such a dominate competitor winning an incredible 9 feature events including a commanding performance in Challenge Cup XL.
2014 also saw a NASCAR first, three generations of Robertson’s all competing in the same division at the same time. Odie, Jerry, and young Darren Robertson, made several appearances together late in the season. In fact Jerry Robertson who hadn’t raced at the track in 9 years found his way back into winner’s circle taking home the preliminary feature on Challenge Cup night.
8 time track champion Bruce “the Moose” Yackey had a slow start to the season but finished strong winning 3 of the last 5 features and ending up 2nd in points. Darren Robertson, Darren Bucklen, and Roger “the Ice Man” Avants joined Ursetta and Yackey in the top 5 in points. 2014 Pro Truck champ Rudy Vanderwal took home the rookie of the year honor finishing an impressive 13th in points. But the story of the year was clearly the break-out season for young Dominic Ursetta who set the pace from spring through fall.
#12 Bruce Yackey finished the 2014 season strong winning 3 of the last 5 feature events. (Starr photo)
Dominic Ursetta is the 2014 Gillett Vet Clinic Super Late Model track champion. (Starr photo)
Super Late Model top 10 in points
1. 6 Dominic Ursetta 497 2. 12 Bruce Yackey 468 3. 11 Darren Robertson 453 4. 66 Darren Bucklan 421 5. 27 Roger Avants 414 6. 22 Chris Eggleston 410 7. 31 Rick Smith 382 8. 84 Matt Zwingleberg 317 9. 91 Chris Atkinson 313 10. 39 Jack Nugent 310
Late Models
Another 1st time champion was Jeff Walbaum in the South Philly Cheesesteak Late Model division. Walbaum has been a top competitor in the Late Models for several seasons but finally got over the hump and won the season championship in commanding fashion. Upstart Ethan Penrod finished a strong second and was the only driver within striking distance of Walbaum at the end of the season. Chad Cowan, Nick Brinlee, and Wade Grove finished out the top 5 in points while Emilio Abeyta and David Rothrock tied for the 2014 rookie of the year honors.
Late Model top 10 in points
1. 8 Jeff Walbaum 403 2. 7 Ethan Penrod 361 3. 76 Chad Cowan 346 4. 99 Nick Brinlee 312 5. 3 Wade Grove 292 6. 75 Emilio Abeyta (R) 231 7. 88 David Rothrock (R) 231 8. 31 Derek Smith 186 9. 27 Wendi Lewis 169 10. 30 Jan Oxley 157
Jeff Walbaum dominated the Late Model division in 2014 (Starr photo)
Pro Trucks
The Snap-On Tools Pro Trucks were very likely the most exciting and competitive division in 2014 with 6 different drivers winning feature events. Yet most impressive was the tightness of the competition all season long. Not only did the trucks bring large fields to the track but the racing action was some of the best in recent memory.
Eventual winner #34 Rudy Vanderwal and #31 Justin Simonson thrilled the crowd at CNS with some great racing. (Starr photo)
On the final night of racing Rudy Vanderwal, Justin Simonsson, and Matt Burton, were only separated by a mere 12 points. When all the dust settled Rudy Vanderwal had won his first ever Pro Truck championship followed by Simonson, Burton, Adam Deines, and Troy Witthar. In 6th place in points was rookie of the year Taylor Bellomy.
Pro Trucks top 10 in points
1. 34 Rudy Vanderwal 368 2. 31 Justin Simonson 363 3. 36 Matt Burton 358 4. 7 Adam Deines 295 5. 5 Troy Witthar 273 6. 10T Taylor Bellomy(R) 266 7. 2 AJ Warren 262 8. 11 Steve Johnson 245 9. 52 Jereme Wall (R) 243 10. 6 Adam Hilton 241
Rudy Vanderwal captured his first Pro Truck season championship in 2014 (Starr photo)
Grand American Modifieds
There was yet another first time champion in the SUNOCO Fuels Grand American Modified division as Justin Case dominated the division finishing 47 points in front of Ron O’Neal. Tim Holm finished 3rd in points just ahead of rookie of the year Darin Clark and another rookie Scott Slama in 5th.
Grand American Modifieds top 10 in points
1. 44 Justin Case 434 2. 0 Ron O’Neil 387 3. 24 Tim Holm 368 4. 13 Darin Clark (R) 278 5. 61 Scott Slama (R) 212 6. 88 Jeff Walbaum 173 7. 55 Dean-O Olson 172 8. 58 Kyle Ray (R) 170 9. 48 Ed Vecchiarelli Jr 145 10. 22 Darren Robertson 144
Justin Case celebrates one of many wins on route to his 2014 season championship (Starr photo)
Super Stocks
Michael Cox won his 3rd NTC Logistics Super Stock championship by an incredible 113 points over veteran Darrell Smith. Rookie of the year Brent Miller finished close behind in 3rd place. David Rothrock and Curtis Hildenbrand rounded out the top 5 in points.
Michael Cox is the 2014 Super Stock champion at CNS (Starr photo)
Super Stocks top 10 in points
1. 3 Michael Cox 401 2. 2 Darrell Smith 288 3. 19 Brent Miller(R) 285 4. 88 David Rothrock 277 5. 9 Curtis Heldenbrand 269 6. 32 Brett Yackey(R) 248 7. 23 George Gallegos 222 8. 5 Troy Witthar 164 9. 1 John Clark (R) 180 10. 69 Derick Brugger(R) 173
Pure Stocks
It was just the second year of the Lincoln College of Technology Pure Stocks and first year driver Brett “the Maverick” Yackey beat out Mike Steward for the championship by just 2 points! The Pure Stocks are a division to watch in the future as the car counts seemed to grow each and every week and the action on the track is a fan favorite. Jamie Ward, Joe Mares, and Jeff Dempwolf also finished in the top 5 in points.
Pure Stocks top 10 in points
1. 32 Brett Yackey 289 2. 96 Mike Steward 287 3. 21w Jamie Ward 249 4. 48 Joe Mares 217 5. 6 Jeff Dempwolf 216 6. 3% Will Alvarado 211 7. 84 Daniel Mares 200 8. 44 Savanna Gallegos 161 9. 2 Chan Raley 156 10. 4 Brian Galvin Jr 151
#32 Brett Yackey and #96 Mike Steward to finished 1 and 2 in the 2014 season standings (Starr photo)
Figure 8s
Harry Livermore Jr. barely beat out his close friend Jared Wall to win his first ever Art’s Septic Service Figure 8 championship in 2014. Last years champ Justin Mckeachie was 3rd in points with “Big” Al Duran and “Hot Rod” Dave Smith close behind in 4th and 5th. In 6th place was the 2014 rookie of the year Brent Cave.
Figure 8s top 10 in points
1. 17 Harry Livermore Jr 298 2. 52 Jared Wall 279 3. 50 Justin McKeachie 274 4. 23 Al Duran 255 5. 81 Dave Smith 238 6. 9 Brent Cave (R) 220 7. 15 Jereme Wall 190 8. 0 James Naranjo 175 9. 10 Frank Gastineau 168 10. 97 Adam Gastineau (R) 144
1st and 2nd in points Harry Livermore Jr. and Jared Wall congratulate each another after Harry won the 2014 Figure 8 championship (Starr photo)
Legends, Mod Coupes, Supermodifieds, and Trains
In the Legends Chris Eggleston won his 2nd straight track championship holding off a charging Mike Gallegos late in the season. The Legend division once again proved to have the largest car counts averaging nearly 30 cars per night. Chris Cooper took the 3rd spot in the points with Kyle Clegg coming in 4th and Wayne Barlock Jr. took home the 5th spot. Darrell J Stewart won the rookie of the year trophy with an 8th place finish. Jamie Bubak won the Mod Coupe championship holding off impressive rookie Jason Bunt. Kyle Ray was not only the rookie of the year in the Supermodifieds but also won the 2014 season points championship over Roger Avants. And last but certainly not least the Last Call Train driven by Jared “Wally” Wall and Alisa Espinosa grabbed the season championship in the Witthar Racing Trains.
Legends top 10 in points
1. 22 Chris Eggleston 329 2. 6 Mike Gallegos 322 3. 34 Chris Cooper 310 4. 66 Kyle Clegg 280 5. 3 Wayne Barlock JR 239 6. 3 Darrell Lee Stewart 233 7. 13 Peter Dellarco 212 8. 30 Darrell J Stewart (R) 184 9. 25 Adam Pechman 180 10. 21 Ryan Jones 175
Mod Coupes top 10 in points
1. 12 Jaime Bubak 179 2. 5 Jason Bunt (R) 172 3. 24 Chad Guilford 166 4. 3 Kyle Ray (R) 155 5. 33 Chet Graham 116 6. 29 David Johnson 113 7. 95 Cris Muhler 105 8. 34 Randy Whitman 94 9. 43 Matt Pierce 82 10. 45 Carl Vair 62
Super Modifieds top 10 in points
1. 58 Kyle Ray(R) 218 2. 27 Roger Avants 202 3. 3 Harold Evans 200 4. 2 Richard Castor Jr 187 5. 13 Ricky Otts 176 6. 1 Jason Castor 176 7. 51 Joe Priselac 173 8. 7s Stevie Gallegos 136 9. 12 Cody Castor(R) 120 10. 14 Joe Gallegos 78
Trains top 5 in points
1. 86 Last Call 280 2. 13 Crazy Train 264 3. 69 Twisted Sister 242 4. 1776 Dirty Mert Cole/Austin 198 5. 36x Bad Idea 142
DEMOX
Car Division Champion: Levi Wolfe Truck Division Champion: Kalyn Diede
See you in 2015
2014 will not soon be forgot yet 2015 is shaping up to be the greatest season ever at CNS as we celebrate 50 years of racing at the Speedway. The 50th Anniversary Season will be loaded with special events and great short track racing from April until October.