Jun 4

Sunbelt Rentals Summer Smash … A Smash At CNS

As we head into the summer season both on and off the track, Colorado National Speedway is the place to be as the weather heats up. On Saturday, June 1st, 2024, massive car counts hit the asphalt, including the return of the Wingless Sprints, the Pro Trucks, and a full field of Super Stocks and Pure Stocks turned loose on the same track. Circle Drags gave spectators the opportunity to test the mettle of their daily drivers on track while Demo X lunged into the dirt to close out the night. Racing was tight in Dashes and Features – but of course, that’s just how we do things here at CNS.

Matco Tools Pro Trucks

Fast Dash – 10 Laps

Tyler Davis’s No. 33 truck pulled the field across the line for the green flag, followed by the No. 16 of Travis Roe, who claimed second from the No. 9 of Curtis Heldenbrand in short order – the latter of which had returned after suffering an engine failure the prior week. Back in the battle for sixth place, the No. 7 of Adam Deines and the No. 50 of Tyler Wiggans made light contact; Deines almost spun out but held it together. Davis held the lead, checking his rearview for Heldenbrand, who had reclaimed second place and lit out after Davis, but there weren’t enough laps to make a move, and Davis went on to win. Meanwhile, Rudy Vanderwal’s No. 34 held off Wiggans in a dead heat for sixth at the line.

Dash – 10 Laps

Troy Witthar’s No. 5W and Paul Himler’s No. 88 kept at each other for first place after leading to the green from the front row, running door-to-door as they thundered around the track in front of a single-file pack. On Lap 7, Himler finally got the advantage, pulling to the inside of Witthar as the two trucks touched and bounced apart, which allowed the No. 86 of Tim Coate to sweep in and take second place at the line. Himler earned the trophy.

Feature – 30 Laps

Unfortunately, after a strong showing in the Dash, the No. 5W of Witthar had an issue before the green fell on the Feature. Deines and Wiggans started on the front row, and Deines shot into the lead right away, leaving Wiggans and Rudy Vanderwal to decide a battle for P2. However, Rudy Vanderwal fell off the pace, plummeting like a stone through water as Wiggans comfortably settled into second behind Deines. Then, on Lap 3, division points leader Kody Vanderwal’s No. 43 truck had an issue, prompting him to pull into the pits. At the front of the field, Deines washed up the track in Turn 2 and opened the door for Wiggans to pull even with his door; Heldenbrand fell in behind them both, waiting for his shot at the top spot. He picked off Wiggans and began to work on Deines, and just a few laps later, he had him, demoting the bright yellow No. 7 machine to second place. Deines then had to cut off Wiggans’ charge for second place. Roe soon entered the mix, delivering a tap to Wiggans’ bumper while he stayed neck-and-neck with Deines.

Witthar, who had returned to the track several laps down, was stricken by bad luck once more when his right front broke and caused a caution. Heldenbrand reassumed the lead on the restart but had a hard time shaking Deines; Roe and Wiggans scrapped for third, while further back, Davis swiftly took over fifth after a short but brutal fight with Jeff Walbaum’s No. 85 machine. Heldenbrand checked out and the best fights happened deeper in the field as Roe and Wiggans caught up to Deines, engaging in a three-wide fight for P2. As Deines dug into the upper groove and tried to find speed, Wiggans nosed to the inside, once again lining up a shot for second place. Deines held the advantage at the line, while Heldenbrand led the field under the checkers uncontested.

Quick Time: No. 9, Curtis Heldenbrand, 17.259 seconds

Fast Dash: No. 33, Tyler Davis

Dash: No. 88, Paul Himler

Feature: No. 9, Curtis Heldenbrand

Pueblo Bank & Trust Super Stocks / Rock ‘N’ Roll Brewery Pure Stocks

(Combined Field)

Fast Dash – 10 Laps

The SS and PS divisions shared a track for this event, meaning that a massive field of 24 cars took part in the Fast Dash. Ian Clark put his No. 82 out in front of the rest at the start, holding on after light contact with the No. 34 of Ronnie Johnson. The No. 11W of Scott Long thought about taking it three-wide, backed off, then tried again on the second lap, while Chris Cox’s No. 49 delivered a hard bump to Johnson’s rear bumper. They held their race cars straight, and Cox caught up to Brent Cave’s No. 9 and took over third place. He began to hunt Long for second, letting Clark get away with the race lead. The pack bounced off one another throughout the field, including Cox, who tapped Long’s bumper for second place but couldn’t complete the pass before the checkers fell on Clark as the leader in the SS division. Meanwhile, Johnson, who finished fifth overall, earned the trophy in the PS division.

Dash – 10 Laps

The gold No. 41G, driven by Chris Galvin, led when the green flag waved, while the No. 78 of Mark Bremkamp, who started second, suddenly plummeted through the pack, leaving the No. 75 of Emilio Abeyta and the No. 32 of Rick Phillips to take over the fight for second place. Abeyta began a steady forward march on Galvin, pulling even with him before settling uneasily behind him. The two race cars made light contact, allowing Phillips to close in on them both. On Lap 6, Abeyta finally clawed his way into the lead. Phillips pounced on Galvin, but Galvin valiantly held him off as they followed Abeyta cross the line for the SS win. Galvin, finishing second, was the PS winner.

Regular Feature – 20 Laps

Twenty-two cars took the green flag, headed by the No. 1 of Derek Spaulding and the No. 7X of Dustin Camp. Spaulding led while Camp gave into a charge from Sulley, and rookie Dillyn Kellogg’s No. 33 launched into a three-wide battle for sixth that didn’t end well. He contacted Galvin and the No. 18Y of Justin Young. Young found himself facing the wrong direction and piled into the No. 34 of Bryson Brooks and the No. 40 of Justin Newey. Newey and Young sustained heavy front-end damage in the wreck and a caution was called as crews attended to both ailing machines, although both drivers were able to exit the vehicles under their own power. Sulley and Spaulding took the green flag on the front row. Sulley jumped into first, followed by Abeyta and Phillips. Phillips’ race car stepped out after Abeyta squeezed him in the lowermost groove, letting Abeyta into second place, although the fight was far from over. Kellogg, meanwhile, resumed his forward run, picking off race cars one by one on his way to the top. Abeyta continued to run down Sulley, who held a precarious lead until the No. 51 of Jessilyn Dike slowed and caused a yellow flag due to apparent mechanical issues.

Abeyta and Sulley resumed their front-row fight when the green flag fell, while Phillips got a little bit squirrelly and caused the field to stack up behind him on the restart. Unfortunately, Phillips had to pull off as a tire went down. Abeyta grabbed the lead, while Kellogg chipped away at Sulley for P2. Lapped traffic became an obstacle for the leaders as the No. 58 of David VanDresser spun in front of the frontrunners. He was able to yank his race car out of trouble before things accumulated, though. Running down laps, Kellogg looked past Abeyta for the lead, slamming doors as they streaked down the backstretch. Kellogg surged in front of Abeyta and took off with the lead with two laps left. He led all the way to the finish, securing the SS win. Sulley crossed the line in third, winning the race in the PS division.

Fast Feature – 25 Laps

Chaos unraveled the field on just the first lap of the Fast Feature when the No. 5 of David Wilson had a catastrophic failure and a piece of his race car went flying off the track. While he limped back into the pits, a yellow waved, setting up the field for another attempt at the green flag. Isaac Almaswari’s No. 8 kept the lead while Chris Cox’s No. 49 considered going three-wide from the row behind, but backed out to keep his nose clean. Three rows deep, the race stayed side-by-side as the top six couldn’t shake one another. Almaswari traded the top spot with the No. 97 of Kyle Stidham. Stidham finally broke away with Cox hot on his bumper, while Almaswari had to chase the rear end of his No. 8 machine, scrubbing off speed as he rejoined the pack. Cox took the lead on Lap 8 and tried to run away with it, but a caution leveled the field when the No. 88 of Jacob Poole went for a spin and made contact with the No. 5C of Kyle Carrasco, who eventually pulled into the pits. Stidham continued to lose position, dropping back to fourth after being bested by Long, who quickly made himself a threat for the lead after taking control of P2.

On Lap 17, Almaswari went for a solo spin in Turn 2, collecting the No. 99JR of Ryan Raley Jr. Both cars took on minimal damage and were able to keep going. Cox had no problem taking off with the lead again, extending his command on the race as the top five frontrunners fell into a single file line. Stidham wore out Long for P2 as Cox continued to lead; the No. 9 of Brent Cave was also in the mix, and Cave almost got by them both when Stidham washed up the track. Stidham got his race car back where he wanted it and stayed ahead of Cave. Weaving through lapped traffic, Cox captured the SS victory by leading the pack. Johnson, finishing sixth, earned the victory in the PS class.

Quick Time SS: No. 49, Chris Cox, 19.655 seconds

Quick Time PS: No. 6, Ben Hendricks, 20.213 seconds

Fast Dash SS: No. 82, Ian Clark

Fast Dash PS: No. 34, Ronnie Johnson

Dash SS: No. 75, Amelio Abeyta

Dash PS: No. 41G, Christopher Galvin

Feature SS: No. 33, Dillyn Kellogg

Feature PS: No. 12S, Shawn Sulley

Fast Feature SS: No. 49, Chris Cox

Fast Feature PS: No. 34. Ronnie Johnson

Wingless Sprints

Fast Dash – 10 Laps

A rare treat at CNS, the blisteringly fast Wingless Sprints took to the track for the Fast Dash following the No. 27 of Mike Hathaway to the green flag. The race cars appeared incredibly twitchy without their wings, forcing the drivers to saw on the steering wheels as they chased them through the corners, putting on a good show for the fans. On Lap 2, still tailing Hathaway, the No. 28 of Ryan Riggs and the No. 1S of Michael Fanelli battled for second place. Meanwhile, after a brief fight over the fifth position, the No. 9 of Dylan Riggs took over the spot. Halfway through the short Dash, the No. 15X of Josh Lewis went around, causing a caution. The restart put Hathaway back out front ahead of a single file line of race cars. Riggs ponied up and looked for a way around Hathaway, but ran out of laps to make it happen. Hathaway streaked under the flag stand to take the Fast Dash win.

Feature – 25 Laps

The No. 55 of Gary Land got a huge jump at the start of the Sprints Feature. Dylan Riggs’ No. 9 and Ryan Riggs’ No. 28 lit out after Land as the field battled their race cars, making the asphalt of CNS look like a dirt race as they pitched almost completely sideways through the turns. Then, on Lap 7, Hathaway went around and collected the No. 28 of Ryan Riggs who suffered a flat tire from the incident and pulled off the speedway to address the damage. Under caution, second-place Dylan Riggs had an incident in epic fashion as his race car’s header blew off and tangled itself in the nerf bars. Land picked up the lead again when the race restarted, showing the way Pied-Piper fashion over a single-file field. It didn’t take long, though, for Fanelli to cut his way into Land’s lead. Land ran lower than Fanelli, allowing the latter a shot at the lead, but he couldn’t find a way around and unhappily stayed in second place. Their fight held them both up – in just a few laps, they’d been caught by the No. 18 of AJ Luttmer and Ryan Riggs, who fought his way back up to fourth after the earlier incident. With five to go, Land held a precarious lead, swinging around a lapped car to use it as a barrier between his tail tank and the front end of Fanelli. Suddenly, Ryan Riggs shot around Fanelli, finding a burst of speed – he used that momentum to make Land’s lead all but disappear. His race car, having come alive in the closing laps, thundered after Land, intent on sweeping past him and taking the lead away. Land would not be denied and held him off to the checkered flag, earning a well-fought victory.

Quick Time: No. 90D, Frank Denning III, 16.682 seconds

Fast Dash: No. 27, Mike Hathaway

Feature: No. 55, Gary Land

Congratulations to all our winners, including David Wagner, whose white 2020 Infiniti Q50 – roof rails and all – classed the field in the Circle Drags, while Mary Jayne Carlson and Ty Cowell won their respective Demo X divisions. And, of course, a huge thanks to all our fans who chose to spend their Saturday night with us! Don’t worry if you missed the action – there are plenty of fantastic events left this season to come see what all the fuss is about in person.