(05-11-2019 Dacono CO) A massive crowd showed up at Colorado National Speedway for the Elite Diesel Service Mother Trucker Semi Race which was the first ever appearance of the North American Big Rigs in Colorado. The story of the night was thrilling Semi Truck races and new faces in winner’s circle as John Seeley and Dennis Stepanich III both won their first ever main events in the GAMs and Figure 8s.
Huge crowd on hand to see the North American Big Rigs (Starr photo)
North American Big Rigs Hauling all the way from British Columbia Canada the North American Big Rig Association made their first ever appearance at Colorado National Speedway and promptly thrilled a packed house of CNS fans. 8 trucks made the long journey from Canada but it was young Cole Wienser from Calgary who stole the show sweeping the night’s event. Cole set quick time with a 21.962, won the fast dash and then came from his dead-last starting position to win the feature event.
#11 Cole Wiesner works his way to the front of the pack (Starr photo)
Cole’s main challenge in the feature came from #13 of Cory Riplinger who put on a great show for the fans using every bit of the CNS pavement to attempt to pass Wiesner. Near the end of the race Riplinger got a bit loose and fell of the pace but still had enough to cross the line in 2nd place.
The best battle on the track was for 3rd place from #59 Glen Creed from Victoria BC, #91 Brady Riplinger Calgary, and #15 Ashley Creed from Victoria BC who traded positions for almost the entire 40 lap feature event. But in the end it was all Wiesner who’s gorgeous blue #11 rig was just too fast and brought home the big win to the roar of the crowd.
Cole Wiesner celebrates in winner’s circle at CNS (Starr photo)
Hopefully the Big Rigs will return to CNS next year for a follow-up appearance.
FEATURE: #11 Cole Wiesner FAST DASH: #11 Cole Wiesner DASH: #26 Jaeger Berdahl QUICK TIME: #11 Cole Wiesner 21.962
SUNOCO Race Fuels Grand American Modifieds
John Seely from Parker Colorado has been a loyal competitor in the SUNOCO Grand American Modified division for many many years but has never found his way to victory circle for a feature event. That all changed after an impressive run that included Seely holding off the wicked fast 44s Clint Schubert and perennial winner #18 Ed Vecchirelli.
#66 John Seely and 44s Clint Schubert battle for the lead (Starr photo)
Seely started on the front row but had his hands full with Schubert who battled hard and clean with Seely for the vast majority of the race. As the laps wound down both #59 Charlie Wilson and Vecchirelli joined the battle for the lead. With less than 10 laps to go Schubert’s car broke coming out of turn two and spun into the infield. Wilson was directly behind Schubert when he slowed causing the 59 car to loose a lot of track position. This allowed the crafty veteran Vecchirelli to move into 2nd place and begin to track down Seely for the lead.
Seely had settled into a fast groove and while Ed was able to close the gap he was never able to make a serious challenge for the lead as Seely cruised to his first ever win. Vecch settled for 2nd and Wilson was 3rd. Rounding out the top 5 were #13 Darin Clark And #4 Marcus Kelly a rookie driver from Cheyenne.
John Seely in winner’s circle (Starr photo)
The GAMs will return to action May 25th
TBK Bank Super Stocks
In 2017 Chris Cox won almost every single Super Stock feature event of the season and easily took home the championship. Since then Cox has barely ran the Super Stock but that didn’t stop him from showing up to sweep the night in the TBK Super Stocks. Chris set quick time with a 19.488, won the FAST DASH and also won the feature event.
TBK Super Stocks go 3-wide at CNS (Starr photo)
Chris’s largest challenge in the race was navigating heavy traffic that he encountered after the halfway mark in the race. Behind Cox a great battle heated up between #3.2 Robert Davey, #02 Sean Smith and the 99s of Sam Messerli. Messerli would eventually separate himself and cruise to a second place finish.
Behind Cox and Messerli at the finish were Davey, #60 Jonathan Lindberg who made a late charge and Sean Smith.
Chris Cox in winner’s circle (Starr photo)
The TBK Super Stock s will return to action on Saturday May 25th
FEATURE: #49 Chris Cox FAST DASH: #49 Chris Cox DASH: #21 Chris Nelson QUICK TIME: #49 Chris Cox 19.488
Elite Diesel Service Figure 8s
Rookie driver #18 Dennis Stepanich III from Thornton shocked the large CNS crowd by leading every lap of the Elite Diesel Service Figure 8 feature event taking his first win in the division. Stepanich started on the front row and quickly built a large lead on the field. This was a lead he would need because the Wall brother’s (Jared and Jereme) were coming up through the field in furious fashion. #7 Daniel Wood held 2nd place for a long time until Jared and Jereme eventually worked their way around. Not only were the Wall’s trying to catch Stepanich but were also engaged in a thrilling battle between one another that had the CNS fans on the edge fo their seat.
#18 Dennis Stepanich III leads the field in the Figure 8 division (Starr photo)
With just a couple laps to go the yellow came out for a spin at the back of the field and then the rain began to fall. The race was cut short due to the rain and therefore Stepanich was declared the winner. It’s very likely it would not have made a difference due to Stepanich’s large lead but with the Wall’s in chase you never know.
#18 Dennis Stepanich navigates the X on route to his first win (Starr photo)
Either way Stepanich earned the win and celebrated in winner’s circle knowing it’s very difficult to win in one of the most competitive divisions at the track.
Jared Wall took 2nd place with Jereme in 3rd. #17 Harry Livermore Jr was 4th and #50 Justin Mckeachie was the final car in the top 5.
The Figure 8s will return to CNS on Saturday May 25th
OFFICIAL RESULTS
North American Big Rigs Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 11 Cole Wiesner Calgary AB 2. 13 Cory Riplinger Calgary AB 3. 59 Glen Creed Victoria BC 4. 15 Ashley Creed Victoria BC 5. 91 Brady Riplinger Calgary AB 6. 12 Lonnie Grzech Eckville AB 7. 26 Jaeger Berdahl Eckville AB DNS 04 Jacob Berdahl Eckville AB
Super Stocks Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 49 Chris Cox 2. 99S Sam Messerli 3. 3.2 Robert Davey Erie 4. 60 Jonathan Lindberg 5. 02 Sean Smith 6. 98 Natalie Phelps 7. 03 Tyler Mander (R) Evans 8. 82 James Larsen 9. 21R Robert Hoard 10. 3% Will Alvarado Ft Lupton 11. 30 Jared Keener 12. 32 Cody Milan Fort Collins 13. 21 Chris Nelson 14. 31 Ronnie Duran Jr 15. 55 Damian Lockhart 16. 11W Scott Long Lyman 17. 86 Tim Coate (R) 18. 29G Justin Griffin Weldona 19. 19 Shelby Cortese 20. 51X Joseph Dike (R) 21. 28 Michael Vail (R) Greeley
Grand American Modifieds Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 66 John Seely Parker 2. 18 Ed Vecchirelli 3. 59 Charles Wilson Penrose 4. 13 Darin Clark 5. 4 Marcus Kelly (R) Cheyenne 6. 44S Clint Schubert 7. 37 Landon Birney (R) Cheyenne
Figure 8s Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 18 Dennis Stepanich III (R) Thornton 2. 52 Jared Wall Commerce City 3. 15 Jereme Wall Commerce City 4. 17 Harry Livermore Jr Denver 5. 50 Justin Mckeachie 6. 7 Daniel Wood 7. 2 Jeremy Jackson Denver 8. 8 Brian McCartney Colorado Springs 9. 9 Brent Cave Brighton 10. 12 Harvey Webb Jr Thornton 11. 5 Curtis Chavez Loveland 12. 88 Thomas Huffman Littleton 13. 25 Phil Taylor 14. 23 Michael Wolfe Thornton 15. 35 Chris Voorhis Thornton DNS 11 Joe Gastineau Centennial