(09-17-2016 Dacono CO) Kyle Ray and Jace Hansen both found victory lane in the 40 and 50 lap Gillet Vet Clinic Super Late Model Feature events but the night belonged to Dominic Ursetta who took home his 2nd Championship in the division. Curtis Heldenbrand grabbed a dramatic Super Stock season championship when he finished 2nd behind Brian Yackey in the feature event. In the Mod Coupes it was Randy Whitman dominating the feature and also taking home the 2016 championship.
Gillet Vet Clinic Super Late Models
On the final night to gain points in the Super Late Model division there would be two feature events to settle the championship. Three drivers had a mathematical chance at finishing on top in 2016: Dominic Ursetta, Darren Robertson, and Jace Hansen. Robertson had already flexed his muscle by winning the fast dash gaining a valuable 3 points. In the first 40 lap feature it was #58 Kyle Ray who had set quick time earlier in the night with a 16.263 jumping out front from his second row starting spot.
Jace Hansen, Matt Zwingleberg, and Kyle Ray go 3-wide (Starr photo)
After a caution for #39 Jack Nugent and #29 Matt Brunker making contact in turn 4 Ursetta would have his shot at Ray on the restart. When the race resumed Ursetta battled Ray for the lead for 3 laps but Ray settled into his groove and began to pull away from the field. When the checkered flag flew it was Kyle Ray wining by a large margin. The points chase didn’t change much in the first feature as Jace Hansen snagged 2nd place, Ursetta was directly behind in 3rd and Robertson was 4th meaning that the final 50 lap feature would determine this years champ.
Kyle Ray celebrates winning the 40 lap Super Late Model feature (Starr photo)
In the dramatic final 50 lap points race for the Gillet Vet Clinic Super Late Models 3 young drivers would battle for the championship yet it was crafty veteran Roger the “ice-man” Avants in the #27 car who took the early lead in the race battling #84 Matt Zwingleberg. Ursetta moved into 2nd and could have stayed there to easily win the championship but that’s not in Dominic’s DNA as he took the lead and began to check out from the rest of the field.
Hansen and Kyle Ray made contact which sent Ray Spinning and eventually both of the cars to the back of the field. Robertson had his own bad luck as he had to leave the track momentarily under caution. At this point in the race Ursetta had everything in place, he was leading the race and his challengers for the championship were at the back of the field.
Eventually Ursetta would build a 4 second lead on Zwingleberg and Avnats as Ray, Hansen and Robertson were all working their way up through the field. When Jack Nugent tapped Zwingleberg from behind Zwingleberg left the track and Hansen slipped by to take 2nd place. As the laps wound down Hansen began to pressure Ursetta for the lead and Robertson had now moved into the battle in 3rd place. On the final lap Hansen made a move to the inside of Ursetta and nosed out in front moving the entire CNS crowd to the edge of their seats.
Jace Hansen uses the low groove to make a late race pass on Dominic Ursetta (Starr photo)
As the cars came to the stripe it was Hansen out in front of Ursetta by just a nose and Robertson close behind in 3rd. Amazingly the 3 drivers that had battled so hard for the championship would finish so close in the final points race.
Hansen celebrated his 4th feature win of the 2016 season but it was Dominic Ursetta who had secured his 2nd Super Late Model Championship in the past 3 years. While Ursetta only found victory lane 3 times in 2016 his consistent top finishes showed how he has matured as a driver running a smart and patient season doing everything he needed to do to record another season championship.
Dominic Ursetta on route to the 2016 Super Late Model Championship (Starr photo)
Justin Simonson would struggle on the night but had a marvelous season and was awarded the 2016 Rookie of the Year.
The Super Late Models have one more non-points race left but it’s the biggest race of the season on October 1st for Challenge Cup 41.
50 LAP FEATURE: #08 Jace Hansen 40 LAP FEATURE: #58 Kyle Ray FAST DASH: #11 Darren Robertson DASH: #39 Jack Nugent QUICK TIME: #58 Kyle Ray 16.263
Champion: Dominic Ursetta Rookie of the Year: Justin Simonson
Great Scott’s Eatery Super Stocks
One of the most anticipated races of the season was the final points race for the Great Scott’s Eatery Super Stocks. The top 4 drivers in the standings were separated by a mere 11 points entering the night. Brian Yackey who was sitting in 4th in the standings would get a break starting on the front row but it was #57 Bubba Willox who grabbed the lead early while Yackey did all he could to get by for the top spot.
The Super Stocks filled every corner of the speedway with action (Starr photo)
Points leader Curtis Heldenbrand started deep in the field in the 4th row and made some daring passes early to work his way into the top 3. Yackey dove to the inside of Willox and took the lead and control of the race.
#3 Michael Cox and #43 Kody Vanderwal who also had a shot at the championship were struggling to get to the front of the field. Heldenbrand seemed content to ride in 3rd position behind Willox but after a late race caution he powered passed the 57 car to move into 2nd place behind Yackey.
When the checkered flag dropped it was Brian Yackey winning the feature and securing the 2016 Rookie of the Year award. Yet the big winner was Heldenbrand in 2nd place who won his first ever track championship demonstrating the patience and consistency that is required to win such a grueling and long championship battle.
#22 Brian Yackey won the feature and the 2016 Rookie of the Year award (Starr photo)
#2 Chris Cox took 3rd place, Willox finished an impressive 4th and #10 Taylor Bellomy grabbed the final spot in the top 5. Michael Cox and Kody Vanderwal would have to settle for 6th and 7th respectively.
Curtis Heldenbrand celebrates his Super Stock Championship (Starr photo)
The Super Stocks return to action on Saturday October 1st for a non-points race the night of Challenge Cup.
FEATURE: #2 Brian Yackey FAST DASH: #2 Chris Cox DASH: #51 Jax Hughes QUICK TIME: #9 Curtis Heldenbrand 19.850
Champion: Curtis Heldenbrand Rookie of the Year: Brian Yackey
Galitz Trucking Mod Coupes
Frank Denning the II driving the deep purple #98 Mod Coupe pounced on the field in the early stages of the Galitz Trucking Mod Coupe feature and led the race for the first 5 laps. After some contact with the #3 of Ron O’Neil Denning spun into the infield allowing both O’Neil and Randy Whitman to move past and battle for the lead. Not only was the race leaders Whitman and O’Neil battling for the top spot in the feature they were also battling for the season championship as the two drivers sat one and two in the standings.
But as the race wore on Whitman began to pull away and O’Neil began to fade as Frank Denning the III took over 2nd place. Whitman blazed a trail moving through lapped traffic like a hot knife through butter winning the race with ease. Whitman went on to win his 4th feature event finishing no worse than 2nd in every race all season long which sealed his 2016 Mod Coupe championship.
Randy Whitman celebrates the win and the championship (Starr photo)
Denning III took home 2nd in the feature and 3rd in the point standings while O’Neil finished 3rd yet 2nd in the point standings. #12 Jamie Trengrove who was last years champ finished 4th in the feature while 6d Rick Duckworth was 4th.
Champion: Randy Whitman
Race Rental Modifieds
Race Rental feature action (Starr photo)
Eric Meisner in winners circle (Starr photo)
Witthar Racing Trains
Only 4 Witthar Racing Trains showed up to race but that didn’t mean the fans would be disappointed as Jared “Wally” Wall intentionally started well behind the field to make for an interesting race. Wally and his brakeman drove as if they were possessed thrilling the fans as the flew around the “X” in dramatic fashion. Wally, in the LAST CALL Train would eventually take the lead, the win, and the season championship!
FEATURE: LAST CALL Train CHAMPION: LAST CALL Train
OFFICIAL RESULTS
50 Lap Super Late Model Feature Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 08 Jace Hansen Broomfield 2. 6 Dominic Ursetta Arvada 3. 11 Darren Robertson Westminster 4. 58 Kyle Ray Littleton 5. 91 Chris Atkinson Cheyenne 6. 9 Justin Simonson (R) Wheatridge 7. 34 Rudy Vanderwal La Salle 8. 5 Trent Phillips Hemingford 9. 39 Jack Nugent Longmont 10. 19 Matthew Martinez (R) Thornton 11. 27 Roger Avants Littleton 12. 29 Matt Brunker Lakewood 13. 84 Matt Zwingleberg Parker 14. 22J Mark Jones Denver 15. 69 Jade Miller (R) Severance DNS 14x Alejandro Ortiz Denver
40 Lap Super Late Model Feature Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 58 Kyle Ray Littleton 2. 08 Jace Hansen Broomfield 3. 6 Dominic Ursetta Arvada 4. 11 Darren Robertson Westminster 5. 27 Roger Avants Littleton 6. 84 Matt Zwingleberg Parker 7. 34 Rudy Vanderwal La Salle 8. 5 Trent Phillips Hemingford 9. 91 Chris Atkinson Cheyenne 10. 19 Matthew Martinez (R) Thornton 11. 22J Mark Jones Denver 12. 9 Justin Simonson (R) Wheatridge 13. 39 Jack Nugent Longmont 14. 29 Matt Brunker Lakewood 15. 14x Alejandro Ortiz Denver 16. 69 Jade Miller (R) Severance
Super Stocks Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 22 Brian Yackey (R) Greeley 2. 9 Curtis Heldenbrand Arvada 3. 2 Chris Cox Littleton 4. 57 Bubba Willox Wellington 5. 10 Taylor Bellomy Ft Lupton 6. 3 Michael Cox Englewood 7. 43 Kody Vanderwal (R) LaSalle 8. 32 Robert Davey Aurora 9. 02 Darrell Smith Littleton 10. 51 Jax Hughes Lakewood 11. 5 Glen Poston (R) Thornton 12. 99S Sam Messerli Thornton 13. 69 Derick Brugger Ft Lupton 14. 29G Justin Griffin Greeley 15. 31 Michael Matthiesen Dacono 16. 22a Justin Upmeyer (R) Evans DNS 1 Makayla Grote Lakewood DNS 26 Taylor Dragoon Aurora DNS 55 Damian Lockhart (R) Arvada
Mod Coupes Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 34 Randy Whitman Ft Collins 2. 90 Frank Denning III Golden 3. 3 Ron O’Neil CO Springs 4. 12 Jaime Trengove Thornton 5. 6d Rick Duckworth (R) Arvada 6. 48 Michael Cox (R) Englewood 7. 5 Jason Bunt Littleton 8. 15 Edric Sanchez (R) Denver 9. 98 Frank Denning Arvada 10. 6 Matt Venable (R) Lakewood DNS 8 Steven St.Peter Denver
Trains Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 86 Last Call 2. 13 Crazy Train 3. 69 Twisted Sisters 4. 7 Cole Train
Race Rentals Modifieds Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 5 Eric Meisner 2. 92 Brian Lantzy 3. 4 Chad Willett 4. 12 Steve Jonnson 5. 88 Heath McDougal 6. 1 Nick Lamach 7. 11 Russ Lantzy 8. 21 Cory Shapp 9. 27 Brian Casey 10. 34 Brain Fanzler