Dec 2

8TH Annual Battle Of The Fenders Puts On Hell Of A Show At CNS

November 30, 2024 ~ Dacono, CO

Three hundred laps, 40 race cars, and a stunning fall day – what more could you ask for during the eighth running of the Battle of the Fenders enduro race? An incredible crowd filed into Colorado National Speedway on November 30th, 2024 to watch the unique and exciting race. When the green flag dropped, all bets were off, and the drivers got right to work on the sun-drenched asphalt of the speedway.

The No. 88 Jacob Poole lunged into the lead right at the start, but traffic stalled his run which allowed the No. 40 Travis Brandt and the No. 1R Tommy Roe to cruise past him with the No. 6 DJ Banks in hot pursuit. Banks just about wore out Roe’s rear end, looking for a way into the lead as the pack scattered. The first incident struck on Lap 6, when the No. 49 Kyleigh Jones went for a spin on the front stretch, but was able to rejoin the fight after a brief yellow flag. Banks took command of the race lead on the restart. Roe filed in behind him in second as they began to pick off slower traffic by Lap 10. Then, No. 92 AJ Grasso and No. 77 Richard “Rusty” Burton got together and struck the wall, but the pack was able to avoid them and the race stayed green; just a few laps later, the No. 555 Bobby Durand and the No. 69 Sean Fry spun together, but again, the race stayed green. Then, on Lap 18, the No. 191Daniel Duran stalled out on the front stretch, but all eyes were on the No. 1 Derek Spalding, the No. 63 Kenneth Bowlus, and the No. 06 Dylan Jaramillo, who were collected in a large wreck on the backstretch, triggering a second yellow flag.

Banks maintained his lead on the restart. Roe had fallen back by nearly a straightaway at this point. The pack raced two- and three-deep behind them, not letting up even as the leader continued to gap them. Then, on Lap 39, the No. 100 Jorge Garcia snapped around backward and quickly cranked the wheel into a neat 360-degree turn to get pointed back in the right direction, raising the crowd to their feet as they cheered him on with his quick thinking. As soon as he gathered it back up, the No. 77 Mikel Dunahoo and No. 15H James Hintergardt triggered a red flag by wrecking. Track crews quickly attended to debris from the incident, and when the race restarted, Banks held onto the lead as No. 16 Adam Kimler filtered into P2, gaining the position as Roe struggled to get up to speed and fell to third.

By Lap 50, just 10 cars were still on the lead lap. There was more drama when Jones stalled at the pit exit, necessitating attention from track crews. In an unrelated incident, two more cars – the No. 28 Cody Sell and Jaramillo – got together and spun into the infield. Up front, Kimler finally reeled in Banks and clawed his way into the lead while fighting through lapped traffic, but Banks powered back past him. They traded positions for a few laps, unphased by lapped traffic and single-car incidents. On Lap 80, Banks swept past Kimler in a three-wide move for the lead.

Cars continued to spin and either retired to the infield, the pits, or pointed themselves back in the right direction and continued on. Banks gapped Kimler without breaking a sweat – at least, until the rear end of his race car appeared to break, forcing him to pull off the track and surrendering the lead to Kimler. Banks held onto his ailing race car until it gave up and struck the wall on Lap 122, spewing debris over the racing surface. After a quick cleanup, Kimler had control of the race. Garcia spun around again and quickly picked up reverse and got stuck against the wall, pulling a reverse “Hail Melon” (paging Ross Chastain!) until he could get it pointed back in the right direction. As the field closed on the halfway point, the No. 95 Cris Muhler and No. 191 Daniel Duran slammed together, flipping the hood over Muhler’s windshield, but it might as well have been invisible as he continued to race. Kimler was one of two cars on the lead lap at the halfway break, in sole possession of the lead.

Twenty-eight cars rejoined the race for the second 150 laps. Roe claimed the lead from Kimler at the drop of the green flag. The race was clean until Lap 169 when Jaramillo and Garcia got together; Poole and Duran also had a dustup, but all were able to continue. Roe maintained the lead for the next 20 laps, but Kimler managed to track him down. Roe kept it matted and ditched Kimler. His mission was made easier when Bowlus spun and forced the leaders to scatter. Behind them, No. 49 Chris Cox passed Roe and reclaimed his spot on the lead lap, becoming the third car not a lap down.

Someone lost a bumper on Lap 231, triggering a caution and stacking the leaders up. Cox couldn’t pace Kimler or Roe, who raced bumper-to-bumper for the top spot. Their battle took them to Cox’s rear bumper, who valiantly attempted to hold them off, but eventually surrendered and went a lap down once again. On Lap 248, Fry went up in smoke after putting out plumes for a few laps, forcing him to retire.

On lap 249, Kimler looked around Roe and demoted him, pulling ahead to claim the lead. They held formation as Roe fell off; Kimler pulled away and continued to beat and bang his way past lapped traffic to maintain the position. With 10 to go, Kimler kept it up, keeping his nose clean as laps continued to tick off. Kimler finished the grueling 300-lap race first, capping off an incredibly competitive Battle of the Fenders with Roe finishing in second.

2024 BOTF Champion: No. 16, Adam Kimler/Bryan McKeever

We would to say a huge thank you to all our amazing sponsors who helped make this years event possible:

Buckeye Welding Supply Company - $2,500

Builders - $750

Matco Tools / Appelhans Tools - $550 Cordless Ratchet

Appelhans Designs - $500

Uptown Speed Shop - $400

Exhaust Pros of Northglenn - $300 Gift Certificate

5280 Pit Lighting - $250 Lighting System Certificate

AAA Service Plumbing, Heating & Electric - $250 Gift Certificate

Trophies all presented by: James C. Hill Real Estate