July 27, 2024 ~ Dacono, CO
On July 27th, 2024, Colorado National Speedway hosted the daring Outlaw Figure 8 competitors on our twisting infield course. These dedicated racers traveled from across the country including Washington state, Wisconsin & Indiana to experience Rocky Mountain-style F8 racing against a few CNS regulars. The $10,000 purse certainly sweetened the deal, making the journey well worth it. Of course, they weren’t the only division to take to CNS on Saturday night, joined by a healthy field of Pure Stocks and Super Stocks along with our speedy Late Models. Rain had impeccable timing, too – a storm rolled through right at intermission, drenching the track, but track crews and all the CNS competitors had the racing surface dry in a jiffy without missing a beat of racing. If you weren’t there, you missed an insane show, so keep reading to get caught up on the weekend’s action.
Outlaw Figure 8s
Feature – 50 Laps
The Outlaw F8 crews had plenty of time to let their machines loose on CNS’s F8 course during a 10 minute hot lap session just before intermission. While that gave fans a taste of what was headed down the pike, it wasn’t even close to the adrenaline-inducing 50-lap Feature race. CNS’s own Jereme Wall, driving with the familiar No. 15 on the doors, started on the front row alongside the No. 23 of Eddie VanMeter. Wall, intimately familiar with the ins and outs of our F8 course, clung to VanMeter, who showed the way for the first lap. Behind them, the No. 5 of Ben Tunny and the No. 57 of Jesse Tunny scrapped for fourth place; Ben Tunny surged into the position, and Jesse Tunny was passed by the No. 3T of Mark Tunny for fifth place shortly after. A light rain began to spatter the windshields, but the racers didn’t let up, and just four laps in, The X was already a factor as cross-traffic became an obstacle. Wall continued to tail VanMeter, fading slightly as laps ticked off, although they were nearly equalized by a lapped car in their path. Wall and VanMeter split the slower vehicle, nearly allowing Wall the shot he needed to snatch the lead from VanMeter, but VanMeter outclassed him and pulled away again. Wall continued to lose ground and was eventually passed by Mark Tunny and the No. 7 of Austin Tunny, settling into an uneasy fourth place.
The leaders continued to pace the field, dodging cross-traffic as action in The X heated up. Ben Tunny wore out VanMeter’s rear bumper, trying to take the lead, and in the process, VanMeter nearly clipped the No. 49C of CNS’s Chris Cox in The X, but both continued on. In fact, the race stayed clean until Lap 16 when the No. 3D of Steve Durham neatly spun into the infield, drawing a caution flag. VanMeter restarted out front, leading the single file line of Outlaws to the green, tailed by Mark Tunny and Wall. The field got strung out again as The X heated up; VanMeter continued to show the way with Mark Tunny hot on his heels. Wall fell back to battle Jesse Tunny for fifth. VanMeter nearly had a big moment around a lapped car which let Ben get within striking distance, but he fell back as VanMeter ran away with the race lead, leading a tight formation of the Tunny clan around the F8 course.
Again, VanMeter nearly got into Cox in The X, again they both avoided incident and continued racing. Ben tried everything in the book to get around VanMeter. He threw his race car high, and then low, searching for a way around him, lined up a couple good runs, but couldn’t complete the pass. Then, Frank Gastineau lost control of the No. 13 machine. The yellow flew, putting the field back in single file formation for the restart, which was once again headed by VanMeter. Wall battled a loose race car after trading places with Austin Tunny, eventually surrendering and slipping back to fifth. VanMeter continued to gap Mark Tunny and Ben Tunny, but they slowly began to cut the distance on him once again – although they left enough of a gap for the No. 72 of Klint Keenan to thread the needle through the crossroads, barely swerving around the leaders. Then, with eight laps left, the No. 51 of Ryan Clark spun out all by himself, causing the third caution of the night.
On the restart, VanMeter resumed control, while Mark Tunny and Ben Tunny battled it out for second place. Mark Tunny sliced in front of Ben Tunny to take the position, then began working on VanMeter with eyes on the $10,000 prize. He pulled even with VanMeter, making it a drag race to the finish. VanMeter lunged ahead at the line, snagging the win and solidifying himself as a two-time Outlaw F8 winner at CNS, having also won the inaugural event in 2022.
Quick Time: No. 7, Austin Tunny, 24.933 seconds
Feature: No. 23, Eddie VanMeter
GTI Services Late Models
Fast Dash – 10 Laps
Kyle Clegg guided his No. A51 machine to the front in a hurry, while Dan Alamaa’s No. 8 looked outside the No. 6 of Tommy Roe for second place before almost tagging the backstretch wall. Alamaa sorted himself out and passed Roe; Eric Meisner’s No. 51 took over fourth place. The field settled single file behind Clegg, who continued to comfortably lead without much challenge. Further back, the No. 98 of Lee Kemmit and his teammate, Roe, scrapped for fifth place; Roe held onto the position as Clegg streaked across the line first.
Dash – 10 Laps
Tessa Marine’s No. 99 machine got the jump as soon as the green flag fell. The No. 32 of Joseph Andrande got a little tail happy in Turn 2, allowing Marine to stretch her lead. The No. 17X of Mariah Boudrieau and Andrande battled side-by-side, slamming doors a few times. Boudrieau had to chase the back end of her car as it snapped loose from the light contact. Meanwhile, the No. 23 of Jordan Abeyta charged through the pack and began challenging Andrande for P2. They touched and bounced apart, but this opened the door for the No. 7X of Kyle Morse to abruptly cut the distance. Andrande and Abeyta touched again; Abeyta shot low, attempting to make the pass, but Andrande held onto P2 at the line. Marine won by a large margin.
Feature – 30 Laps
Roe and the No. 18 of Casey Wiggans led the field to green. Roe took control and led Lap 1, but it wasn’t long before Alamaa and Clegg worked their way forward. Roe swung close to the wall, holding the field at bay using the high line, but it was soon his undoing as Clegg shot by on the inside and opened a hole for Wiggans to dive through as well, both passing Roe. Alamaa soon found himself in Clegg’s crosshairs as Clegg worked every line he could to get past Alamaa, even as the two drivers got dangerously close to wrecking one another. Before the battle could really heat up, on Lap 10, Kemmit and Del Trantham Jr.’s No. 5 made contact. Trantham spun from the contact and Kemmit’s machine suffered damage to its right front corner. They were both sent to the rear. Meanwhile, Clegg and Alamaa geared up for a side-by-side battle for the lead, staring down the green flag.
Clegg nosed ahead on the restart. Alamaa peered to his inside, but fell back as Clegg charged into the lead. Wiggans and Meisner fought for P3, tailed by Abeyta, who swiftly picked both of them off and put his race car into the third position. Wiggans, meanwhile, looked to the inside of Alamaa. They touched but stayed pointed in the right direction, but Alamaa appeared to suffer from the contact and plummeted to fourth. Clegg pulled away from Wiggans and Meisner, and by Lap 19, the field had spread out in a single file line covering all four corners of the track. Debris on the front stretch triggered a caution before he could really run away with it, though. However, Clegg picked up right where he left off when the race went green again, lunging ahead of Wiggans and leaving Meisner to settle the battle for P3 with Abeyta. Meisner ultimately earned the upper hand in the fight as Clegg pulled away from the field. Aside from some side-by-side action between Marine and Alamaa for fifth place, the field stayed in single file formation. However, that battle culminated in contact between the two. Marine tagged Alamaa and sent his No. 8 machine around. The yellow flag waved and the field was frozen, and Clegg snatched up his fourth victory of the season.
Quick Time: No. 51, Eric Meisner, 17.672
Fast Dash: No. A51, Kyle Clegg
Dash: No. 99, Tessa Marine
Feature: No. A51, Kyle Clegg
Pueblo Bank & Trust Super Stocks / Rock ‘N’ Roll Brewery Pure Stocks
Fast Dash – 10 Laps
Justin Young threw his No. 18Y machine into the lead as soon as the race started, while the No. 99 of Dillon Meigs rubbed shoulders with the No. 97 of Kyle Stidham for second place. Already, the pack was mired in a three-wide battle further back. Stidham took advantage of the chaos to take the lead away from Young, followed by the No. 82 of Ian Clark. The No. 8 of Isaac Almaswari had a dustup with the No. 5 of David Wilson, who went spinning into the infield dirt, clearing all traffic. On a mission to the front and marching steadily, the No. 49 of Chris Cox picked off cars one by one until he had Stidham in his sights. Right on Stidham’s bumper, Cox tried to clear Stidham. Stidham held fast to the top spot and deflected Cox’s charges to win the SS Dash. Young, finishing fourth, took the PS Dash win.
Dash – 10 Laps
A chaotic start to the race saw the No. 64 of Justin Eisenhauer lunge into the lead with the No. 9X of Cole Baker retiring to the infield with an apparent issue before even getting up to speed. Eisenhauer set sail and led the No. 02 of Chan Raley around the track. Meanwhile, the No. 81 of Kyle Shanahan and the No. 41G of Christopher Galvin fought hard for P4; Galvin took over the position as Shanahan fell to fifth. They tailed the No. 5C of Kyle Carrasco, the leader amongst SS competitors, who held down third place. Eisenhauer led flag-to-flag to win the PS division while Carrasco took home the trophy for the SS division.
Fast Feature – 25 Laps
Dillyn Kellogg in the No. 33 machine and the No. 12S of Shawn Sulley took the green on the front row. Kellogg led the first lap while the No. 4 of Chris Jordan swung wide at the stripe and swept into second place. Cox, who had started deep in the pack, brushed up against the No. 34 of Ronnie Johnson, resulting in a cut tire on the No. 34 machine. While Jordan worked on Kellogg for the lead, Cox overtook the sixth-place car and continued his steady forward charge. As Jordan took over the lead, Wilson and the No. 50 of Don Lawing scuffed together, collecting the No. 88 of Jacob Poole as the caution waved. Jordan and Kellogg led the field back to the green, but it was short-lived. An incident near the rear of the pack once again elicited a yellow flag, putting Almaswari alongside Jordan for the lead on the ensuing restart.
Kellogg renewed his efforts to get back to the front when the green dropped, battling Almaswari for P2 as Jordon got away with the lead. Scot Long wielded his No. 11W against Cox for fourth place, both under pressure from Stidham, but Cox got the advantage and took the position. He swiftly claimed third and locked onto Kellogg for second. It didn’t take him long to take the position and bring the battle to Jordon for the top spot. He pulled ahead of Jordan in short order, pulling Stidham in his wake, while Jordan and Kellogg resumed their fight, but this time for the third position. As Cox pulled away, the field strung out in single file formation behind him. Kellogg didn’t give up on Stidham, though, nosing right up to the bumper of the No. 97 machine as he looked to take one more spot for himself. Second place became the most hotly contested position on the racetrack in the closing laps. Kellogg dive bombed Stidham one last time; the two race cars made contact and Stidham got the worst of it, spinning out of position. Stidham was relegated to 17th place at the stripe. Cox led to the finish, followed by Kellogg and Jordan in the SS division. Sulley, in eighth place, was credited with the PS division win.
Feature – 25 Laps
The SS/PS Feature was headed by the No. 51 of Jessilyn Dike and the No. M60 of Morris Christner. Dike led the first lap but Christner clung to the upper groove, digging in and looking for a way around. Mid-pack, Galvin shot into three-wide formation, his tires dipping through the water, but he kept his race car collected and calmly took over fourth place, then third, going three abreast again alongside Christner and the No. 53 of Josh Hopkins. Galvin had the lead a few laps later while Hopkins completed the pass on the No. 53N of David Noah for fourth. Galvin set sail, leading Dike by a comfortable margin. Hopkins herded Christner up the track and snuck by on the inside to take third. Christner tried to return the favor and got the chance when Hopkins stepped wide in the corner. Christner settled into P2 as Hopkins regrouped and sliced into third. As they did battle, Galvin opened his lead.
Noah and Chan Raley pulled out of the single file freight train to battle two-wide for the fifth position. Hopkins focused on taking P2 back from Christner, but fell back as Christner advanced on Galvin up front. Focused on his rearview, Galvin slipped in Turn 4 with three laps left, giving Christner the opening he needed to get within striking distance. The two cars made contact. Galvin lost control and went around, triggering a yellow flag. Both he and Christner were sent to the rear of the field for the incident, changing the course of the race in the favor of Hopkins and Dike, who restarted on the front row in their stead.
Hopkins readily charged into the lead on the restart. Meanwhile, on the backstretch, smoke billowed as Noah got sideways and spun out in front of the field. The pack scattered and avoided wrecking into him, and the race stayed green. Up front, Hopkins clung to the lead for dear life as Eisenhauer and Chan Raley followed in his wake, shuffling Dike to fourth place. Hopkins flashed across the line for the PS win, while Dike’s fourth-place performance granted her the SS win, her first career victory.
SS Quick Time: No. 8, Isaac Almaswari, 19.690 seconds
PS Quick Time: No. 34, Ronnie Johnson, 19.685
SS Fast Dash: No. 97, Kyle Stidham
PS Fast Dash: No. 18Y, Justin Young
SS Dash: No. 5C, Kyle Carrasco
PS Dash: No. 64, Justin Eisenhauer
SS Fast Feature: No. 49. Chris Cox
PS Fast Feature: No. 12S, Shawn Sulley
SS Feature: No. 51, Jessilyn Dike
PS Feature: No. 53, Josh Hopkins
Racing in the beautiful state of Colorado isn’t always full of sunshine, and we appreciate everyone who stuck the storm out to see our night through to its peak. We’re proud to have the dedicated fan base, supporters, and racers that we do, and we’re happy to send the Outlaw F8s off with another successful adrenaline-filled night. As for CNS, we’ve got some great shows lined up over the coming months, and we look forward to seeing you at the next one!
If you missed any of the action. Click here to watch the replay on Low Budget TV
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Outlaw Figure 8 - 50 Laps
23 Eddie VanMeter
3T Mark Tunny
7 Austin Tunny
5 Ben Tunny
57 Jesse Tunny
49 Craig VandeWettering
15 Jereme Wall
74 Chris Curtis
3D Steve Durham
21 Rod Proctor
51 Ryan Clark
49C Chris Cox
72 Klint Keenan
71 Nick Holton
13 Frank Gastineau
676 Ricky Dietz
Late Model - 30 Laps
A51 Kyle Clegg (R)
18 Casey Wiggans
23 Jordan Abeyta (R)
98 Lee Kemmit
6 Tommy Roe
7X Kyle Morse
32 Joseph Andrade (R)
51 Eric Meisner
17X Mariah Boudrieau
17 Paul Deines
21 Robert Hoard (R)
8 Dan Alamaa
99 Tessa Marine
58 Bryce Weinmaster
40 Brandon Newey
5 Del Trantham Jr
Super Stock - 25 Laps
49 Chris Cox *
97 Kyle Stidham
4 Chris Jordan
8 Isaac Almaswari (R)
33 Dillyn Kellogg (R)
98R Alex Rodriguez
11W Scott Long
82 Ian Clark
9 Brent Cave
22 AJ Hill (R)
61 John Humphrey
99JR Ryan Raley Jr
51 Jessilyn Dike (R) **
5C Kyle Carrasco
24 Kolby Humphrey (R)
53N David Noah
81 Kyle Shanahan
50 Don Lawing (R)
88 Jacob Poole
*Denotes SS Fast Feature Winner
**Denotes SS Feature Winner
Pure Stock - 25 Laps
12S Shawn Sulley *
99 Dillon Meigs
5 David Wilson
45 Shane Johnson (R)
1 Derek Spalding
53 Josh Hopkins **
02 Chan Raley
64 Justin Eisenhauer
56 John Ranum
41G Christopher Galvin
10W Gauge Witthar (R)
7X Dustin Camp
M60 Morris Christner
13 Isaac Slinker
77 Brian Bunn (R)
63 Kenneth Bowlus (R)
34 Ronnie Johnson
78 Mark Bremkamp
19 Derryk Smith (R)
58 David VanDresser (R)
18Y Justin Young
*Denotes PS Fast Feature Winner
**Denotes PS Feature Winner
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