September 28, 2024 (Dacono, CO)
Saturday, September 28th marked 49 years of Challenge Cup tradition at Colorado National Speedway presented by Bella Flooring America, and the event not only featured some of the best competition seen all season, but it also made history as a professional Drift competition was featured for the first time during NASCAR-Sanctioned Short Track Racing. A packed house of race fans was treated to exceptional fall weather and incredible championship racing from the Super Late Models, Late Models, and Crazy Trains - plus bonus action from the Pro Trucks (who were postponed due to rain the week before) and championship Drifting with a Pro License on the line. In the end, drivers took home shiny hardware in Victory Lane, and a lucky few etched their names in the history books as Division Champions. If you missed it, keep reading to find out how it all went down.
Bella Flooring America Super Late Models
Feature 1 – 25 Laps
With just two races left to decide a title winner, the SLM front row paced each other evenly heading to the green flag for the first Championship Feature. The No. 43 of Kody Vanderwal got the advantage on the high side to lead Lap 1. On the second circuit, the No. 18 of Eddie Vecchiarelli swept past the No. 22Y of Brian Yackey, slotting himself into second place. Vecchiarelli found himself pinched high and had to step off the accelerator. Brett Yackey, driver of the No. 32 picked off his brother Brian Yackey and settled into P3. Up front, Vanderwal found extra grip from the rubber laid down by the Drift Colorado gang and continued to lead, but Vecchiarelli suddenly found speed and pulled alongside him. Vecchiarelli powered into the lead just one lap later, but suddenly, the No. 82 of Michael Scott filled the leaders’ mirrors – he charged past Vanderwal, and two laps later, he had Vecchiarelli in his grasp, too. The two made contact coming out of Turn 4 heading toward the stripe. Vecchiarelli drove back up the track and slammed Scott’s left front with his own left rear, punching in the rear quarter panel of the No. 18 machine. Scott finally completed the pass two laps later as Vecchiarelli battled a tire rub from his damaged quarter panel, throwing smoke from the contact for several laps.
As Vecchiarelli faded, Vanderwal engaged Brett Yackey for P3, while the No. 3C of Cassidy Hinds scrapped with Brian Yackey to decide P5. Hinds maintained the position, but Brian Yackey still hung to the inside, searching for a way around to take it away. Brian Yackey finally got his chance to pass Hinds using a lapped car as a pick to slow her down. Vecchiarelli managed to minimize Scott’s lead to just three car-lengths with a few laps left on the board, forcing Scott to utilize the bottom lane to hold his position. Slicing in front of Vecchiarelli, Scott wheeled back to the uppermost lane and cruised to the victory.
Feature 2 – 75 Laps
It all came down to a 75-lap race to cap off the 2024 SLM campaign. Nathan Gasser’s No. 24 led the field to the green flag, and the No. 11 of Darren Robertson delivered a shot that sent him rocketing out front. Gasser led the first lap and tried to set sail, at least until Robertson powered and took control of the race. The No. 12 of Bruce Yackey, meanwhile, held off a two-wide pack in sole possession of third. Vanderwal and the No. 29 of Mathew Brunker briefly battled for P4, but Vanderwal got the advantage and took off with the position. Up front, Robertson continued to show the way as the pack followed behind him in an uneasy single file line. With 66 laps left, Brett Yackey began to track down Brunker to crack the top five. It didn’t take long as Brett Yackey and Scott’s familiar yellow machine freight trained past Brunker to take his position away. Half a straightaway separated Robertson and Gasser, but here came Scott - he threw his race car into his preferred high line and settled into a groove, picking off competitors one by one and slingshotting into P5. He made short work of Vanderwal, then Bruce Yackey, shooting past half a dozen cars within two laps and quickly settling into P2.
Scott kept working the high line, chipping away at Robertson’s generous lead. A lapped car, the No. 16 of Stephen Mills, bunched up the pack behind them, allowing Robertson and Scott to get away and fight for the lead without interference. With 54 to go, Scott pulled right alongside Robertson, wearing out Robertson as he pinned him next to the apron. He took the lead away from Robertson right at the stripe with 52 laps left on the ticker. Driving a rocket ship, Scott set sail. Robertson tried everything he could to reel him back in, following right in Scott’s tire tracks, but it was all in vain – he lost ground.
Gasser abruptly pulled off on Lap 25 after light contact with Brunker as his race car suffered an apparent mechanical issue, followed by the No. 34 of Rudy Vanderwal just one lap later, effectively ending their hopes of winning the prestigious Challenge Cup.
With two cars fighting ahead of him to stop themselves from going a lap down, Scott continued to lead, filling up the mirrors of the No. 6, Dominic Ursetta, and the No. 2S of Steven Thompson as they fought to stay ahead of the leaders. The best battle in the field was between Vecchiarelli and Kody Vanderwal, who stayed two-wide lap after lap trying to settle a dispute for P4. Points leader Brett Yackey, meanwhile, captured third, then powered ahead of Robertson in his quest toward the front, undaunted by lapped traffic. Vecchiarelli finally got the better of Vanderwal, who was subsequently passed by Bruce Yackey and settled into the freight train behind them.
With 33 to go, Scott had opened up a straightaway lead on Robertson, who was still trying to nose his way around Brian Yackey and Ursetta. Brett Yackey finally got the better of Robertson and gapped him, but could not touch Scott, who looked to be on rails as he continued to navigate lapped traffic. On Lap 50, Scott had over a straightaway lead over Brett Yackey. The high line continued to work in his favor as he circled the track and stayed well shut of slower traffic, which filled every corner of the speedway. Brett Yackey continued to try everything he could to track down Scott, but he was quickly running out of laps to make it happen.
Just 10 laps stood between the SLM field, the title, and the Challenge Cup. Nobody seemed to be able to hold a candle to Scott, who easily paced everyone else and continued to put slower traffic in his rearview as he worked his way through the pack. He had almost lapped half the field by Lap 65, though his competitors put up a valiant effort to keep him from demoting them. Brett Yackey, meanwhile, had a ways to catch Scott as he worked on the slower No. 74 of Dan Savage. With the white flag flying, Scott flashed under the flagstand, well on his way to the victory – and nobody would stand in his way as he swept both of the night’s Features, and, of course, the Challenge Cup. Brett Yackey, meanwhile, cruised to the title with a runner-up race finish, capping off an incredible season for the No. 32 team. Brian Yackey, meanwhile, clinched the crown as Rookie of the Year.
Quick Time: No. 82, Michael Scott, 16.078
Feature 1: No. 82, Michael Scott
Feature 2: No. 82, Michael Scott
2024 SLM Champion: No. 32, Brett Yackey
2024 SLM ROTY: No. 22Y, Brian Yackey
Matco Tools Pro Trucks
Feature 1 – 20 Laps
Adam Deines’ No. 7 and No. 16, Travis Roe, showed the way to the first of two PT Features. Deines settled into the lead, leaving Roe and the No. 9 of Curtis Heldenbrand to decide second amongst themselves. Their fight allowed Deines to get away cleanly with the lead, but also allowed the No. 43 of Kody Vanderwal to ride right up on their bumpers, waiting for them to slip up so he could gain another position. The battle was decided when Heldenbrand got a bit sideways, scrubbing off speed as Vanderwal overtook him. Vanderwal then set sights on Roe and swept past him to take P2. The No. 85 of Jeff Walbaum and the No. 86 of Tim Coate made contact fighting for seventh place. Both drivers skillfully pointed their trucks back in the right direction and kept going. Vanderwal started to cut into Deines’ lead, but it wasn’t enough to make Deines sweat at all. Heldenbrand continued to fall back and was passed by the No. 50 of Tyler Wiggans. Deines continued to lead and snagged the victory, followed by Vanderwal and Roe, who extended his points lead over Heldenbrand to a razor-thin three points.
Feature 2 – 30 Laps
The tight title fight hit it apex in the second PT feature. Roe started eighth, Heldenbrand third, and Wiggans sixth, meaning there was some ground to be made up to decide a champion. The No. 11 of Steve Johnson and the No. 88 of Paul Himler made up the front row, but when the green flag dropped, the start was botched, prompting officials to rein in the field to try again. This time, Johnson rocketed into the lead as Heldenbrand dropped like a rock, joining traffic near the end of the pack. Wiggans charged past Johnson to lead the first lap, but behind him, the No. 6 of Kip Sandell spun into the infield and attempted to rejoin the flow of traffic. Roe had already fought his way up to P3 by the third lap, while Coate closed on Wiggans for the race lead. Rudy Vanderwal’s No. 34 and Kody Vanderwal did battle for sixth, but the five frontrunners settled into a line one after the other. Kody Vanderwal caught Walbaum and forced his way into the top five.
Roe maintained third as Wiggans continued to outrun Coate. Lapped traffic would soon become a problem, though. Coate finally caught Wiggans and began to wear out his rear bumper, followed by Roe, as the five-car breakaway up front suddenly formed a tight nose-to-tail formation. With six laps left, Deines nosed into the top five, surging into P2 as Coate fell back. Roe, meanwhile, fell back to fifth, tailing Vanderwal. Deines, whose race truck had suddenly sprung to life, began working the high line to demote Coate and lit out after Wiggans. The fight came down to the wire as Deines shot around the outside of Coate, putting him in the rearview, snagging the runner-up spot heading to the stripe. Wiggans sailed to the victory, and Roe, who finished fifth, performed well enough to secure the 2024 title. Coate capped off his first full-time stint in the PT division as Rookie of the Year.
Quick Time: No. 43, Kody Vanderwal, 17.409
Feature 1: No. 7, Adam Deines
Feature 2: No. 50, Tyler Wiggans
2024 PT Champion: No. 16, Travis Roe
2024 PT ROTY: No. 86, Tim Coate
GTI Services Late Models
Feature 1 – 20 Laps
Casey Wiggans in the No. 18 and Kyle Clegg in the No. A51 showed the way to the green flag from the front row. Clegg went ahead and led Lap 1, while Wiggans battled the No. 98 of Lee Kemmit for P2. Kemmit cleared Wiggans in short order as the No. 51 of Eric Meisner entered the conversation, also overtaking Wiggans as he powered into third place. Kemmit tried a little too hard to cut the distance on Clegg – he had to chase the back end of his machine, letting Clegg stretch his advantage. Meanwhile, the No. 8 of Dan Alamaa cleared the No. 58 of Bryce Weinmaster for fifth place. Weinmaster continued to plummet, losing positions on the outside as he struggled to find a way back into the fray. As Clegg kept up his lead, Kemmit defended second place against a hungry Meisner. He peeked to the outside of Kemmit on Lap 12, pulling next to him in Turn 2 before galloping past with Wiggans hot on his heels. Meisner settled into P2, catching Clegg for the lead; behind them, Kemmit continued to falter and fell victim to Alamaa. Clegg kept up his lead and captured the win over Meisner, followed by Wiggans and Alamaa. Meanwhile, the No. 23 of Jordan Abeyta, who crossed the line sixth, was penalized five positions after postrace inspection, relegating him to an official 12th-place result.
Feature 2 – 30 Laps
It was a battle of the 51s for the championship. Clegg started 10th alongside rival Meisner in ninth. The No. 17X of Mariah Bourdrieau and the No. 5 of Del Trantham Jr. pulled the field across the line on the front row, but Bourdrieau jumped the start, forcing a complete redo. The second try didn’t go much better as the No. 63 of James Starcher stalled out, but the front row again botched the start and were moved back a row as a result. This left the No. 99 of Tessa Marine and the No. 6 of Tommy Roe as the new front row starters. Roe used the outside lane to lead Lap 1 when the pack got up to speed behind them in a lovely start. But then, on Lap 3, Kemmit and Alamaa slammed doors. Kemmit slapped the wall after a dustup with Alamaa and Meisner, resulting in severe damage to his race car as Alamaa was able to continue. Alamaa and Meisner were sent to the tail end of the field as a result of their involvement in the incident.
Roe and Marine took the green from the front again. Marine settled into the lead as the No. 7X of Kyle Morse passed Roe for second place; Meisner and Clegg had already cracked the top five on Lap 5. In tandem, they passed Wiggans, who slipped to seventh, and made short work of Bourdrieau. As Morse and Roe still did battle for P2, Clegg tried to take advantage of their fight. Undaunted, Roe passed Morse, who had a mirror full of Clegg.
Marine kept up her lead, but the field was closing fast. Her lead was neutralized, however, when a single-car incident forced a yellow flag. She started alongside Roe once again, and just when it looked like Roe would take the lead, the No. 40N of Ryan Newey went for a spin in Turn 1, resulting in another caution. This time, Marine was able to power around Roe and take the lead as Roe overdrove the corner and got loose heading into Turn 2. Clegg and Meisner renewed their battle for fourth as Marine extended her lead over Roe and Morse. Meisner bobbled out of the groove and lost ground, falling back to fifth. Morse, running third, slipped in Turn 3 and opened the door for Clegg to complete the pass. Then, disaster struck the leaders on the final lap. Marine and Roe got together down the backstretch and Meisner leaped into action, charging past them both and into the lead, and he went on to win the race uncontested. Meanwhile, contact was made down the backstretch causing sparks to fly as several cars sustained damage. Meanwhile, Meisner celebrated his victory as Clegg celebrated his title win while Abeyta scored Rookie of the Year.
Quick Time: No. 51, Eric Meisner, 17.715
Feature 1: No. A51, Kyle Clegg
Feature 2: No. 51, Eric Meisner
2024 LM Champion: No. A51, Kyle Clegg
2024 LM ROTY: No. 23, Jordan Abeyta
Witthar Racing Trains
Feature – 7 Laps
A snarling field of seven Trains took the green flag behind the No. 3, Anger Management, and the No. 151 Crazy Train. Somehow, the pack survived an insane four-wide push on the first lap that saw the No. 86 Last Call and No. 41G J&H Livestock’s Funny Farm get hooked together and unable to separate. The No. 80HD SNAFU and the No. 69 Neighborhood Complaint pressured Crazy Train for the top spot. SNAFU surged into the lead as The X heated up, but the three-Train battle between them, Neighborhood Complaint, and Crazy Train wasn’t over. Finally, SNAFU put some distance down as Neighborhood Complaint and Crazy Train roughed each other up for the second spot. Crazy Train got around Neighborhood Complaint for second and tried to close on SNAFU, but couldn’t make it stick. SNAFU swerved around the Figure 8 course and streaked across the line to win not only the race, but secure its position in the CNS history books as the 2024 Champion.
Feature: No. 80HD, SNAFU
2024 TR Champion: No. 80HD, SNAFU
Thanks to everyone who came out for this year’s Challenge Cup. While a good chunk of our divisions have crowned their champions, there’s still one more weekend to go. Our last event of the 2024 season is this coming weekend on October 5th, and remember, we encourage everyone to dress up in your best costumes for a Trick or Treat event with all our racers. Pick up your tickets here and we look forward to seeing everyone’s creativity!
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Super Late Model Feature 1 - 25 Laps
82 Michael Scott
18 Eddie Vecchiarelli
32 Brett Yackey
43 Kody Vanderwal
22Y Brian Yackey (R)
12 Bruce Yackey
3C Cassidy Hinds
11 Darren Robertson
29 Matt Brunker
24G Nathan Gasser
74 Dan Savage
34 Rudy Vanderwal
2S Steven Thompson
16 Stephen Mills
6 Dominic Ursetta
Super Late Model Feature 2 - 75 Laps
82 Michael Scott
32 Brett Yackey
11 Darren Robertson
18 Eddie Vecchiarelli
22Y Brian Yackey (R)
12 Bruce Yackey
43 Kody Vanderwal
29 Matt Brunker
74 Dan Savage
3C Cassidy Hinds
2S Steven Thompson
16 Stephen Mills
6 Dominic Ursetta
24G Nathan Gasser
34 Rudy Vanderwal
Pro Truck Feature 1 - 20 Laps
7 Adam Deines
43 Kody Vanderwal
16 Travis Roe
34 Rudy Vanderwal
50 Tyler Wiggans
86 Tim Coate (R)
85 Jeff Walbaum
9 Curtis Heldenbrand
88 Paul Himler
11 Steve Johnson
6 Kip Sandell
21 Chris Nelson (R)
28 Brian Weinmaster
88S Brad Skufca
Pro Truck Feature 2 - 30 Laps
50 Tyler Wiggans
7 Adam Deines
86 Tim Coate (R)
43 Kody Vanderwal
16 Travis Roe
34 Rudy Vanderwal
85 Jeff Walbaum
88 Paul Himler
11 Steve Johnson
21 Chris Nelson (R)
88S Brad Skufca
9 Curtis Heldenbrand
28 Brian Weinmaster
6 Kip Sandell
Late Model Feature 1 - 20 Laps
A51 Kyle Clegg
51 Eric Meisner
18 Casey Wiggans
8 Dan Alamaa
98 Lee Kemmit
7X Kyle Morse
6 Tommy Roe
99 Tessa Marine
5 Del Trantham Jr
17x Mariah Boudrieau
32 Joseph Andrade (R)
23 Jordan Abeyta (R)
40 Ryan Newey (R)
14 Larry Mullins (R)
63 James Starcher (R)
58 Bryce Weinmaster
Late Model Feature 2 - 30 Laps
51 Eric Meisner
99 Tessa Marine
A51 Kyle Clegg
18 Casey Wiggans
17x Mariah Boudrieau
5 Del Trantham Jr
23 Jordan Abeyta (R)
32 Joseph Andrade (R)
8 Dan Alamaa
40 Ryan Newey (R)
14 Larry Mullins (R)
6 Tommy Roe
98 Lee Kemmit
58 Bryce Weinmaster
63 James Starcher (R) DQ 7X Kyle Morse
Trains - 7 Laps
80HD SNAFU
151 Crazy Train
69 Neighborhood Complaint
41G J&H Livestock Funny Farm
3 Anger Management
91 J&H Livestock Friday Night Special
86 Last Call
Comments