There’s nothing quite like a local short track race under the lights on a warm Saturday night, and Colorado National Speedway delivered on September 19th. Weld County Damage Prevention Council’s Late Model Payback night had drama and domination at every turn. Winning feature drivers even trekked into the grandstands to give their winning checkered flags to four young fans, creating memories for a lifetime.
TBK BANK SUPER STOCKS Polesitter Brian Yackey #12 showed the way to the green flag for the TBK Bank Super Stocks’ 25-lap feature. In just a few laps, it became clear that the #1NE of Troy Whittar had one fast race car under him, and he claimed the lead from Yackey’s #12 and stretched it out without breaking a sweat. Yackey tried his best to hunt down the #1NE machine, but it wasn’t to be. The first three cars managed to break away from the rest of the back, who ran three- and four-wide behind them, using up every inch of CNS’s surface and shuffling the scoreboard. Whittar finished the race with an almost five-second lead over second place car Alex Rodriguez #90.
FEATURE: #1NE Troy Whittar DASH: #21 Chris Nelson FAST DASH: #90 Alex Rodriguez QUICK TIME: #15 Jereme Wall, 19.498
ELITE DIESEL SERVICE FIGURE 8S Elite Diesel Service’s Figure 8s feature race was everything fans expect from the series. The #18 car, Dennis Stepanich III, took the race from the pole, but was pressured by the #7 Daniel Wood early on. A couple cars went around in Turn 4 not a lap after the green flag waved, setting the tone for a wild race. Once everything was sorted out, the field restarted single file … and was slowed again for a caution caused by two cars making contact, the #78 Anthony Martinez and #8 Brian McCartney. The #18, Dennis Stepanich III, continued to lead when the green waved again, but found himself under pressure from Daniel Wood #7 and #15 Jereme Wall as they went three-wide for the race lead. Wood #7 took over the race from here.
As the laps wound down, “The X” at the center of the track became a hotbed of excitement as leader #7 Wood sent his machine through, narrowly dodging the cars at the tail end of the lead lap. Wood never seemed to let off the accelerator and manage to dodge carnage on his way to victory – but not without almost getting hammered by cars still scrambling to finish the race crossing through “The X.”
GALITZ TRANSPORTATION LATE MODELS
FEATURE PART 1 The night’s main event was an 80-lap Galitz Transportation Late Model feature. The race was split into two segments consisting of 50 and 30 laps. The first segment was all about the #8 Dan Alamaa and #76 Chad Cowan. Neither driver let up in the quest for the race lead, even as Alamaa #8 tried to run away with it. Cowan’s #76 held the night’s Quick Time, and he mounted several charges that were stalled by a series of cautions slowing the field. Cars seemed to be running into each other all over the place, but once the carnage was cleaned up, the racing surface was cleared for Alamaa #8 and Cown #76 to do their battle while the #24 Eric Bowers quietly held down third place.
Eventually, the fight between the leaders came to a head – the two cars got together in Turn 2, throwing sparks and bending sheet metal as #24 Bowers took advantage of the situation and swept in to win the race’s first segment. Alamaa pulled his #8 off the track for a new set of tires, and #76 Cowan was scored 8th at the line.
FEATURE PART 2 A young fan was invited from the grandstands to roll the giant die that would determine the fate of the leaders for the second portion of the race. She rolled a 2, indicating the first two rows would be inverted, putting Part 1 winner #24 Bowers in the 6th position for the race start and the #6R Tommy Roe out front. Didn’t take long for the #24 Bowers to find his footing again and become a threat for the lead. Behind them, Alamaa’s #8 mounted a charge, looking for the leaders, but an issue with his tires snuffed any hope he had of winning that night.
Roe #6R saw Bowers’ #24 getting bigger in his rearview and did everything he could to prevent him from sneaking back to the race lead. As the lap counter ticked closer and closer to the white flag, the two cars became mirrors of one another, wearing each other out and going side-by-side lap after lap. The fans were on their feet as the brightly colored #24 was shadowed by the dark #6R. Bowers had to chase the back end of his #24 machine as he sent it hard into the turns. Then, on the last lap, he edged past Roe’s #6R, sweeping the second segment and the feature win.
MOUNTAIN STATES FIRE PROTECTION LATE MODELS The MSFP Late Model feature was a 40 lap race that saw rookie #87 Tim Trostel III on the pole. However, the #11 Darren Robertson took the lead away before #87 Trostel could finish a lap. Robertston #11 set the pace for the field, but the #87 wasn’t ready to give up yet and began to shorten the gap. A caution was called for a single car incident as a car spun in Turn 2. The field went back to green with the #11 of Robertson out front, followed by the #32 Brett Yackey.
The #34 of Rudy Vanderwal went around by himself in Turn 4, slapping the wall hard and causing another caution. Brett Yackey #32 tried his best to take the lead on the restart, but just couldn’t make it stick as the #11 Darren Robertson took off with the race again. It was a clean race after that, and #11 Darren Robertson took the feature win.
FEATURE: #11 Darren Roberston DASH: #12 Bruce Yackey FAST DASH: #11 Darren Robertson QUICK TIME: #11 Darren Roberston, 15.561
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Super Late Models Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 11 Darren Robertson Westminster 2. 32 Brett Yackey Greeley CO 3. 22 Chris Eggleston Thornton 4. 12 Bruce Yackey Greeley 5. 87 Tim Trostel III (R) Thornton 6. 05c Nick Cooper (R) Loveland 7. 61 Matt Martinez Parker CO 8. 89 Zach Morris (R) Greenwood Village 9. 37 Ethan Hunter Colorado Springs CO 10. 80 Ray Daniels Monument CO 11. 84 Matt Zwingelberg Parker 12. 95 Kyle Clegg 13. 34 Rudy Vanderwal LaSalle 14. 16 Steve Mills Colorado Springs 15. 60 Rick Duckworth Arvada 16. 02 Steve Thompson (R) Scottsbluff NE
Late Models PART 1 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 24 Eric Bowers Colorado Springs 2. 31 Rick Smith Gering NE 3. 6R Tommy Roe Thornton 4. 33 Christopher Buskirk Bayard NE 5. 75 Cris Muhler Brighton 6. 88 Brad Skufca (R) Greeley CO 7. 8 Dan Alamaa Colorado Springs 8. 76 Chad Cowan Gering NE 9. 16 Steve Mills Colorado Springs 10. 17x Mariah Boudrieau (R) Colorado Springs 11. 44 Tommy Powers Pine 12. 48 Mikey Blackard (R) Lakewood 13. 21 Robert Hoard Cheyenne 14. 50 Justin McKeachie Aurora 15. 58 Bryce Weinmaster (R) Brighton Co 16. 72 Gary Cagle Ft. Collins CO 17. 99 Sam Messerli Thornton 18. 98 Lee Kemmit Brighton 19. 60W Troy Witthar Westminster 20. 94 Kyle Morse Peyton CO 21. 51 Eric Meisner Brighton 22. 40 Brandon Newey (R) Thornton
Late Models PART 2 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 24 Eric Bowers Colorado Springs 2. 6R Tommy Roe Thornton 3. 16 Steve Mills Colorado Springs 4. 75 Cris Muhler Brighton 5. 76 Chad Cowan Gering NE 6. 33 Christopher Buskirk Bayard NE 7. 48 Mikey Blackard (R) Lakewood 8. 88 Brad Skufca (R) Greeley CO 9. 31 Rick Smith Gering NE 10. 17x Mariah Boudrieau (R) Colorado Springs 11. 44 Tommy Powers Pine 12. 8 Dan Alamaa Colorado Springs 13. 58 Bryce Weinmaster (R) Brighton Co 14. 50 Justin McKeachie Aurora 15. 72 Gary Cagle Ft. Collins CO 16. 21 Robert Hoard Cheyenne 17. 99 Sam Messerli Thornton 18. 98 Lee Kemmit Brighton 19. 60W Troy Witthar Westminster 20. 94 Kyle Morse Peyton CO 21. 51 Eric Meisner Brighton 22. 40 Brandon Newey (R) Thornton
Super Stocks Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 1NE Troy Witthar Arvada 2. 90 Alex Rodriguez Phoenix AZ 3. 49 Chris Cox Keenesburg 4. 55 Damian Lockhart Hudson 5. 14e Eric Phelps Cheyenne WY 6. 15 Jereme Wall Commerce City 7. 11w Scott Long Lyman NE 8. 196 Robert Davey Erie 9. 32 Cody Milan Fort Collins 10. 22 Brian Yackey Greeley 11. 21 Chris Nelson Arvada 12. 23 Jordan Abeyta Denver 13. 7 David Robinson (R) Johnstown 14. 4 Chris Jordan Mead 15. 45E Rebecca Simpson Colorado Springs 16. M60 Morris Christner (R) Elizabeth 17. 86T Tim Sowell 18. 86 Tim Coate Highlands Ranch CO 19. 53 David Noah (R) Lakewood 20. 13B Brandon Claiborn Lafayette 21. 98 Joel Perri Arvada
Figure 8s
Pos No. Name Hometown
1. 7 Daniel Wood Greeley
2. 52 Jared Wall Commerce City
3. 18 Dennis Stepanich III Thornton CO
4. 2 Jeremy Jackson Denver CO
5. 15 Jereme Wall Commerce City CO
6. 92 Jason Wall (R) Brighton Co
7. 1 Issac Martinez Denver CO
8. 17 Harry Livermore Jr Denver CO
9. 12 Harvey Webb Fort Morgan
10. 08 Travis Sanders Aurora CO
11. 67 Kaleigh Swenson (R) Strasburg CO
12. 38 Cassidy Creekmore Littleton CO
13. 78 Anthony Martinez Denver
14. 64 Michael Kephart (R) Commerce City CO
15. 8 Brian McCartney Colorado Springs
DNS 72 David Martinez (R) Denver
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