6/22/24 ~ Dacono, CO
Colorado National Speedway was alight with adrenaline on Saturday, June 22nd, as impressive car counts in the Late Models, Pro Trucks, Pure Stocks / Super Stocks, and Trains were turned loose on the asphalt oval. A packed house of fans ate up the action on a perfect summer night, proving once again that CNS is the place to enjoy unforgettable and affordable entertainment you can’t get anywhere else. The Rocky Mountain Quarter Midget Association (RMQMA) even hit the infield on a tiny track of their own as young drivers showed their prowess behind the wheels of their small but mighty machines. Now, let’s revisit just what went down on Saturday at the best venue for short track racing in the Rocky Mountains.
Matco Tools Pro Trucks
Fast Dash – 10 Laps
The green flag fell on a front row controlled by the No. 9 of Curtis Heldenbrand. He took off with the lead, leaving second place to be contested between the No. 16 of Travis Roe and the No. 17 of Jeremy Barclay. Barclay bested Roe; behind them, several trucks lined up side-by-side to race for third, culminating in the No. 33 of Tyler Davis ditching the others for the position. Heldenbrand continued to pace the field, although Barclay was closing fast. However, once Barclay was within striking distance, he lost the back end of his race truck, allowing Heldenbrand to get away with the Fast Dash win.
Dash – 10 Laps
The No. 5W of Troy Witthar got a little squirrelly when race went green, and eventually, the No. 11 of Steve Johnson and the No. 6 of Kip Sandell were collected, leaving Sandell with significant damage and prompting him to retire early. The field was lined back up and took another shot at the green flag, but it didn’t go much better – the No. 21 of Chris Nelson spun exiting Turn 2, and in completely unrelated incidents, the No. 28 of Brian Weinmaster was tagged by Johnson, the No. 23 of PJ Mattorano pulled to the infield, and Witthar pulled off the track. Finally, the race started with the No. 71 of Tim Duvall and Weinmaster on the front row. Weinmaster took control, while Duvall attempted to settle into the high line to get around him. It worked and they went two abreast, although Johnson quickly entered the conversation, getting by Weinmaster and lighting out after Duvall, but Duvall would not be denied and shot across the line first.
Feature – 30 Laps
Sixteen trucks followed the front row commanded by the No. 18 of Cade Fox and the No. 50 of Tyler Wiggans. Wiggans barely took the lead, while deeper in the pack, the No. 7 of Adam Deines swung three-wide to make a pass for sixth. Wiggans stretched his lead after four laps, followed by Barclay, who took P2 as Fox faded. Then, Fox and Heldenbrand touched, making the No. 18 truck wiggle as he fell back and could only watch as several trucks passed him on the inside. The same sort of scenario took place up front as Wiggans got loose himself and opened the track for Barclay and Heldenbrand to get by. Wiggans continued to fall back and settled into fifth behind Roe after making light contact with him.
On Lap 11, Witthar’s troubles continued as he spun to the infield, but he cleared the racing surface and the track stayed green. Halfway through, the field had settled into a single file pattern, following Barclay and Heldenbrand. Davis reeled Roe in and started pressuring him for third; he completed that pass and focused on taking Heldenbrand’s spot. Lapped traffic made it a challenge for the leaders. Heldenbrand was forced to slow up to navigate the slower trucks in the field, allowing Davis and Roe to get closer, but nobody was able to make a move on Barclay as the checkered flag waved. After postrace inspection, a five position penalty was accessed against Barclay, and Heldenbrand was declared the official race winner.
Quick Time: No. 17, Jeremy Barclay, 17.267 seconds
Fast Dash: No. 9, Curtis Heldenbrand
Dash: No. 71, Tim Duvall
Feature: No. 9, Curtis Heldenbrand
GTI Services Late Models
Fast Dash – 10 Laps
Kyle Clegg put his No. A51 to the lead as soon as the race started, but the No. 99 of Tessa Marine battled back after starting on the front row, searching for a way to demote him. Even so, Clegg pulled away, pulling the No. 51 of Eric Meisner through with him. Meisner made short work of Clegg and took the lead just a few turns later, but a caution was triggered when the No. 6 of Tommy Roe and the No. 60 of Rick Duckworth slammed together, sending Duckworth spinning in Turn 3. On the restart, a pair of 51s made up the front row as Clegg and Meisner renewed their battle for P1. After some close calls, Meisner took control and showed the way to the checkers.
Dash – 10 Laps
Though he took the lead as soon as the green flag waved, Jordan Abeyta’s No. 23 couldn’t quite shake the No. 7X of Kyle Morse as they rounded the racetrack, until he settled into a groove and ditched Morse, leaving him to deal with the No. 5 of Del Trantham Jr. Morse’s race car stepped out slightly on Lap 5, holding onto P2 but letting Abeyta lay some more distance down. Trantham kept him honest and began to pressure him for P2, however. While Abeyta led the pack across the line, the No. 17X of Mariah Boudrieau almost spun across the line, while Bryce Weinmaster’s No. 58 overtook her at the last possible second.
Feature – 30 Laps
Meisner picked up right where he left off after the Fast Dash, leading the 15-car field to green. Marine, who shared the front row with Meisner, lost ground as the pack got up to speed, slipping behind the No. 6 of Roe, but just one lap later she and Clegg powered past him, demoting him to fourth place as Dan Alamaa’s No. 8 joined the forward charge to the front, followed by the No. 98 of Lee Kemmit. Up front, Meisner checked out, opening up a half a straightaway by Lap 7. The Top 8 fell in line while the back half of the field battle side-by-side. Marine got a little bit loose on Lap 10, giving Clegg the advantage as he sailed by to claim second place. Clear of Marine, Clegg began the arduous mission of tracking down Meisner.
On Lap 18, a caution was triggered by debris on the racing surface. This put Meisner and Clegg on the front row for the restart. Meisner shot back into the lead while Marine and Alamaa duked it out for second, and then, disaster struck. Alamaa tagged Marine in Turn 3. She spun in front of Kemmit, who piled into her race car and ended up directly in Roe’s path. Roe’s nose was rammed under the back end of Kemmit’s No. 98 machine as the field scattered to avoid incident, although three more cars were also involved. Of them, Bordrieau, Robert Hoard’s No. 21, and Roe were able to return to the track; Kemmit sustained heavy damage and had to be hauled away.
When the race resumed, Meisner once again fended off a charge from Clegg on the front row. The No. 5 of Trantham emerged to take over third place, trying to reel in the leaders until Weinmaster spun out and caused a caution again. Restarting from the front row again, Meisner sliced into the lead and kept a healthy distance between his race car and that of Clegg. Meanwhile, Alamaa charged back up to fourth after the earlier contact with Marine. While Clegg was able to cut at least some of the distance on Meisner, he couldn’t touch the No. 51, who flashed under the checkers in first, sweeping both races he competed in that night.
Quick Time: No. 51, Eric Meisner, 17.553
Fast Dash: No. 51, Eric Meisner
Dash: No. 23, Jordan Abeyta
Feature: No. 51, Eric Meisner
Pueblo Bank & Trust Super Stocks / Rock ‘N’ Roll Brewery Pure Stocks
Fast Dash – 15 Laps
Ian Clark’s No. 82 went to the point right away as the green fell, while the No. 9 of Brent Cave overtook the No. 34 of Ronnie Johnson for fourth. Enter Chris Cox, who put the No. 49 ahead of them all and sliced into second place, sailing past the No. 3 of Michael Cox and locking Clark in his sights. Behind them, a hard battle for sixth shaped up between the No. 97 of Kyle Stidham and the No. 75X of Jordan Abeyta; Stidham got away with the position until he went a little sideways in Turn 2 and allowed Abeyta to battle back by him. Meanwhile, Chris Cox shouldered into first place, ditching Michael Cox and Cave, who dueled for second. Michael Cox held onto the position while Chris Cox sailed under the checkers for the SS win. Johnson, quietly finishing ninth, won in the PS division.
Dash – 15 Laps
The No. 88 of Jacob Poole got sideways in Turn 2 of the first lap, letting the No. 7X of Dustin Camp get away with the lead. Christopher Galvin put his No. 41G right on Camp, although they both found themselves on the wrong end of a pass from the No. 6 of Ben Hendricks, who powered past them both and went to the top of the board. Galvin and Camp still fought as Poole and the No. 5C of Kyle Carrasco entered the mix. Carrasco fell into third behind Camp. Shane Johnson had a big moment as his No. 45 machine slowed up and stacked up the field, but he was able to safely pull to the infield. Hendricks kept the lead as Galvin pursued him. Carrasco finally ditched Camp for third. With three laps left, Galvin pulled even with Hendricks. The two racers touched and bounced apart, forcing Hendricks to chase his loose race car, but he kept it together and went on to win in the PS division as Galvin was docked for racing too low. Carrasco, meanwhile, put on a show for the SS win.
Fast Feature – 25 Laps
Twenty-two snarling stock cars followed the No. 18Y of Justin Young and the No. 34 of Johnson to the green flag, but Young washed up the track and nearly collided with competitors in Turn 2. Johnson fell off the pace, letting Abeyta get by him for the lead. Then on lap 3 Stidham tried to go 3 wide into turn 1, ultimately making contact with Johnson; who then tagged the outside wall. Abeyta got out front with Cave and the No. 11W of Scott Long charging hard toward the front. Young couldn’t pace the leaders anymore and fell behind Clark and Chris Cox, who were on a mission to capture the lead. Chris Cox began to work on Long for P3, but couldn’t find a way around him and settled uneasily behind him. As Chris Cox, Long, and Cave battled for second on back, Abeyta took advantage of clear track ahead and began to put even more distance down.
With 10 laps left, Cave finally got away from Chris Cox and Long, who fought side-by-side for P3. Cave, who had a blisteringly fast race car under him, tried to eat up Abeyta’s lead, but as the laps wound down, his chances evaporated in the absence of a caution period. Meanwhile, Young and the No. 12S of Shawn Sulley put on a show mid-pack, racing hard for the PS division win as Abeyta continued to pace the field. Young eased ahead of Sulley when it mattered most, snagging the PS win, and Abeyta was uncontested on his way to the SS victory.
Feature – 25 Laps
The No. 21, piloted by rookie Madi Lange, pulled ahead of the No. 9X of Cole Baker to lead the first lap, even as the No. 10W of Gauge Witthar went up in smoke and pulled to the infield, failing to finish even a single lap. The No. 53N of David Noah dove to Baker’s inside for second, bringing the No. 4 of Chris Jordan along with him as Lange maintained the lead. However, her run was cut short when Noah tagged her race car, causing the field to stack up as Jordan took on the worst of it. Lange was given her spot back and restarted alongside Baker on the front row. The No. 02 of Chan Raley charged into P2 as Baker suddenly faded; Raley continued his forward march until he pulled even with Lange and ultimately put her behind him, taking the lead on Lap 8. Meanwhile, Poole and Hendricks fought hard for P3, both clearing Lange as she lost ground, and eventually putting Raley off the lead as their fight took them right to the front.
Hendricks looked to Poole’s inside on Lap 13, waiting for his shot and executing it with a perfect pass around the inside. He maintained the position even as his race car got a little loose. Getting the ornery race car back under him, he set sail. Behind him, Poole had his hands full with Raley, trying to keep the No. 02 firmly in third place. Hendricks’ race car wasn’t done giving him a hard time – it got loose again with less than 10 laps to go, allowing Poole to get within one car-length. However, he held onto it and checked out again, leading Poole as both race cars charged around the track. While Poole was able to get within striking distance once more, he couldn’t find a way around him, and Hendricks nabbed the PS win. Even so, Poole’s runner-up result didn’t sting too much, as he was credited with the SS victory.
SS Quick Time: No. 75, Jordan Abeyta, 19.580
PS Quick Time: No. 34, Ronnie Johnson, 19.929
SS Fast Dash: No. 49, Chris Cox
PS Fast Dash: No. 34, Ronnie Johnson
SS Dash: No. 5C, Kyle Carrasco
PS Dash: No. 6, Ben Hendricks
SS Fast Feature: No 75, Jordan Abeyta
PS Fast Feature: No. 18Y, Justin Young
SS Feature: No. 6, Ben Hendricks
PS Feature: No. 88, Jacob Poole
Take 5 Oil Change Trains
Capping off a wild night, seven trains (21 cars total!) headed to the Figure 8 course for their seven-lap feature. Unsurprisingly, it got off to a chaotic start as the No. 01 Dukes of Hazzard train actually spun out in Turn 3 of the F8 course, going sideways as the No. 41G J&H Livestock Funny Farm surged into the lead. Then, the No. 80HD SNAFU was felled by a flat tire, and the No. 3 Anger Management train started to limp as well. Funny Farm led second-place No. 91 J&H Livestock Friday Night Special by a wide margin, until it didn’t – something under the hood of the engine car let go, letting Friday Night Special by, who promptly had to dodge the No. 151 Crazy Train in The X. One of the last trains still standing, Friday Night Special held it together long enough to win.
Feature: No. 91, J&H Livestock Friday Night Special
There’s still plenty of time to hit CNS this season if you haven’t had the chance to make it out already. We’ve got some great shows lined up in the coming weeks, including a fireworks celebration on June 29th, and a double-header weekend on July 6th and 7th to celebrate the 4th of July. As usual, we promise you won’t forget it, so come on out to see the best circle track racing this side of the Mississippi in person! We want to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who supported us last weekend, and we’ll see you at the next one!
If you missed any of the action live, click here to re-watch the entire night on Low Budget TV.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Pro Truck - 30 Laps
9 Curtis Heldenbrand
33 Tyler Davis
16 Travis Roe
50 Tyler Wiggans
86 Tim Coate (R)
17 Jeremy Barclay
7 Adam Deines
71 Tim Duvall
18 Cade Fox (R)
11 Steve Johnson
21 Chris Nelson (R)
88S Brad Skufca
28 Brian Weinmaster
88X Ashlyn Himler (R)
5W Troy Witthar
6 Kip Sandell
DNS 23 PJ Mattorano
Late Model - 30 Laps
51 Eric Meisner
A51 Kyle Clegg (R)
5 Del Trantham Jr
8 Dan Alamaa
23 Jordan Abeyta (R)
99 Tessa Marine
32 Joseph Andrade (R)
17X Mariah Boudrieau
21 Robert Hoard (R)
7X Kyle Morse
6 Tommy Roe
58 Bryce Weinmaster
98 Lee Kemmit
14 Larry Mullins (R) DNF 18 Casey Wiggans DNS 60 Rick Duckworth
Super Stocks - 25 Laps
75X Jordan Abeyta*
9 Brent Cave
49 Chris Cox
11W Scott Long
82 Ian Clark
33 Dillyn Kellogg (R)
3 Michael Cox
8 Isaac Almaswari (R)
97 Kyle Stidham
22 AJ Hill (R)
61 John Humphrey
5W Troy Witthar
99JR Ryan Raley Jr
50 Don Lawing (R)
7 David Robinson
88 Jacob Poole**
5C Kyle Carrasco
24 Kolby Humphrey (R)
51 Jessilyn Dike (R)
34B Bryson Brooks (R)
53N David Noah
4 Chris Jordan
*Denotes Combined SS/PS Fast Feature Winner
**Denotes Combined SS/PS Regular Feature Winner
Pure Stocks - 25 Laps
18Y Justin Young*
12S Shawn Sulley
5 David Wilson
32 Rick Phillips
99 Dillon Meigs
34 Ronnie Johnson
53 Josh Hopkins
6 Ben Hendricks**
02 Chan Raley
41G Christopher Galvin
9X Cole Baker
7X Dustin Camp
3G Daniel Gasser (R)
21 Madi Lange (R)
77 Brian Bunn (R)
64 Justin Eisenhauer (R)
DNS 10W Gauge Witthar (R)
63 Kenneth Bowlus (R)
*Denotes Combined SS/PS Fast Feature Winner
**Denotes Combined SS/PS Regular Feature Winner
Trains - 7 Laps
91 J&H Livestock Friday Night Special
151 Crazy Train
80HD SNAFU
01 Dukes Of Hazzard
41G J&H Livestock Funny Farm
3 Anger Management
Turtle Power