Jul 18, 2023

Tower’s Night Out The Perfect Racing Getaway At CNS

7/15/23 ~ Dacono, CO

Tow trucks flooded the infield ahead of the racing action at Colorado National Speedway on July 15th, 2023, showing off glistening metal and bright lights for Tower’s Night Out before our classes of race cars took to the track. CNS is one of the finest bastions for short track racing in the West, and the grandstands were full of fans treating themselves, friends and families to affordable food and a racing product like none other, including incredible showings from our Pro Trucks, Grand American Modifieds, Legends, Bandoleros and Trains. In fact, three first-time Feature winners made it to Victory Lane on Saturday night.

Matco Tools Pro Trucks

Dash – 10 Laps

Kody Vanderwal’s No. 43 took the lead right away while the second-place battle went three-wide between the No. 90 of Chasen Groff, the No. 3C of Cassidy Hinds and the No. 16 of Travis Roe. Groff’s No. 90 plummeted and fell to sixth while Hinds’ No. 3C and Roe’s No. 16 stayed tight on each other for second. After a seven-lap battle, Hinds finally nudged the No. 3C ahead of Roe’s No. 16 for P2, both catching Vanderwal’s No. 43 at the front of the field. As the No. 28 of Brian Weinmaster spun down the backstretch, the No. 43 of Vanderwal went on to win the Dash.

Fast Dash - 10 Laps

Right away, a wreck occurred on the first lap, involving the No. 9 of Curtis Heldenbrand and the No. 34 of Rudy Vanderwal. The restart had the No. 7 of Adam Deines and the No. 33 of Tyler Davis on the front row. On Lap 4, the No. 33 of Davis got around Deines’ No. 7 for the lead and didn’t look back, taking the trophy for the PT Fast Dash.

Feature - 30 Laps

The No. 22 of Brian Yackey and the No. 7 of Adam Deines led the 16-truck field to the green flag for the Feature. He barely led Lap 1 over Yackey’s No. 22, while the No. 50 of Tyler Wiggans took third place. The No. 22 of Yackey and the No. 7 of Deines seemed glued to one another, hanging on each other’s doors as they made lap after lap, pacing each other almost exactly while the No. 50 of Wiggans waited for his shot at the lead. By Lap 9, No. 33 Tyler Davis got by the No. 50 of Wiggans and begun to reel in the leaders, who were still neck-and-neck. Davis made it a three-way battle in short order, putting the No. 33 in the mix with the No. 22 of Yackey and the No. 7 of Deines.

Behind them, the No. 9 of Heldenbrand had caught the No. 50 of Wiggans for fourth, looking for a chance to get the point. On Lap 20, the No. 7 of Deines appeared to have a slight advantage over Yackey’s No. 22, but neither of them could shake the No. 33 of Davis. The No. 22 of Yackey slid a bit in Turn 4, opening the door for Davis in the No. 33 to pass him. In short order, Davis had put the No. 33 in the lead, driving away from Deines in the No. 7. Then, the No. 22 of Yackey closed on the No. 71 of Timothy Duvall, who was a lap down, and the two trucks made contact, forcing the latter to spin heading into Turn 2. Then, the No. 43 of Kody Vanderwal and the No. 11 of Steve Johnson got together and spun to the infield, but no caution was thrown, and Davis and the No. 33 had a clear path to his first-ever PT Feature win.

Quick Time: No. 33, Tyler Davis, 17.233

Dash: No. 43, Kody Vanderwal

Fast Dash: No. 33, Tyler Davis

Feature: No. 33, Tyler Davis

Sunoco Race Fuels Grand American Modified

Dash – 10 Laps

The No. 52 of Jared Wall took the lead in a hurry. Just a few laps later, the No. 7 of David Robinson got sideways in Turn 2, but was able to collect it and keep going. The No. 17 of Holly Clark had charged into second place, catching the No. 52 of Wall up front. On Lap 6, Clark’s No. 17 had caught Wall’s No. 52 and executed the pass just a short while later, taking the lead right at the line with three laps left, and went on to win.

Fast Dash – 10 Laps

The No. 89 of Jacob Smith took the lead while the No. 6 of Scotty Scott and the No. 9 of CJ Wilson fought for second. Then, the No. 49 of Chris Cox entered the picture, putting up a fight against Wilson’s No. 9 for third, who made the pass and went after the No. 6 of Scott for second. The No. 89 of Smith was first across the finish line when the checkered flag fell, while Scott’s No. 6 held down P2.

Feature – 30 Laps

Hot off his Dash win, the No. 89 of Smith led the No. 49 of Cox to the green flag. The top four fell single-file, while the No. 69 of Forest Smith got by the No. 41 of Eric Vos for fifth place, chasing the No. 6 of Scott and the No. 13S of Jordan Smith in third and fourth, respectively. The No. 51 of Kyle Clegg and the No. 9 of Wilson got together on the front stretch just five laps in, but the track stayed green, the field filtering into a single-file line behind the No. 89 of Jacob Smith, the leader. The No. 49 of Cox defended charges from the No. 13S of Jordan Smith for second place as the leaders caught lapped traffic at the halfway mark. After a caution to address the No. 52 of Jared Wall, which had begun to smoke, the ensuing restart put the No. 89 of Jordan Smith and the No. 49 of Cox next to one another on the front row, with the latter jumping ahead to take the lead. Then, a big wreck unfolded, as the No. 69 of Forest Smith was struck by the No. 13S of Jordan Smith on the backstretch heading into Turn 3, causing the No. 41 of Vos to pile into the No. 69 machine, while the No. 8H of Larry hunter tagged the wall and the No. 3 of Jeremiah Hill was swept up. Several other race cars spun to avoid the incident and the race was red flagged for cleanup.

The restart once again put the No. 89 of Jacob Smith and the No. 49 of Cox next to each other again. Cox’s No. 49 took command again, defending the top spot against the No. 89 of Jacob Smith as he tried to take it away. Eventually, he got the clear advantage and began to pull away with the lead. Cox went on to throw the No. 49 across the line ahead of the pack, taking his first GAM Feature victory.

Quick Time: No. 6, Scotty Scott, 17.208

Dash: No. 17, Holly Clark

Fast Dash: No. 89, Jacob Smith

Feature: No. 49, Chris Cox

AC Transmissions Legends

Dash – 10 Laps

The No. 29 of David Johnson took the lead early and checked out, but as the laps ticked down, he was ultimately passed by the No. 4 of Dillon Foster, demoting the No. 28 of Johnson to second place, while the No. 48 of Preston Nakayama took to third. It was a relatively clean race – that is, until the No. 12 of Bryanna Bruce spun with less than a lap to go, but the incident didn’t bar Foster’s No. 4 from winning the Dash.

Fast Dash – 10 Laps

The No. 03 of Darrell Stewart took Lap 1 home in the lead, while the No. 66 of Kyle Clegg took second and the No. 21 of Ryan Jones, who had started on the front row, dropped back to fifth place. Clegg’s No. 66 took control just one lap later and brought the No. 22 of Eggleston along with him. Danny Medina’s No. 15 took third away from the No. 78C of Colton Crocker. The field fell in single file behind the No. 66 of Clegg and the No. 22 of Eggleston, and Clegg’s No. 66 collected the trophy.

Feature – 25 Laps

Things didn’t start off great for the No. 78C of Colton Crocker, as he went for a spin in Turn 2 before the 29-car field of Legends could complete a lap, and the field was reset. The No. 66 of Clegg and the No. 15 of Danny Medina started up front when it went green again, with the former leading Lap 1, and the No. 22 of Chris Eggleston started ninth but made his way up to fifth in short order. After his spin, the No. 78C of Crocker was already in contention for the lead by Lap 5, taking the top spot from Clegg’s No. 66 in Turn 4. Eggleston’s No. 22 was hot on Medina’s No. 15 for third, while Clegg kept his No. 66 stuck to the No. 78C of Crocker up front. However, Clegg would soon find his No. 66 mired in lapped traffic, culminating in contact with the No. 78 of Ashlyn Himler, who spun on the front stretch, and Clegg’s No. 66 was sent to the rear as a result.

Crocker’s No. 78C started beside the No. 22 of Eggleston and got good momentum heading into Turn 1, taking command of P1 as the No. 03 of Stewart and the No. 22 of Eggleston raced hard for P3. A caution was called for a two-car incident, putting the No. 78C of Crocker next to the No. 15 of Medina for the restart. Then, another two-car incident caused a caution flag again, but the No. 78C of Crocker once again got the lead. Meanwhile, Clegg’s No. 66 was back up to seventh, on a mission to get back to the front. The No. 21 of Jones and the No. 03 of Stewart fought hard for third place, demoting Eggleston’s No. 22 to fifth. Nothing would stand in the way of the No. 78C of Crocker as he flashed across the line for his first Legend Feature win. Behind him, a multicar incident occurred on the last lap in Turn 2, which involved four cars piling into one another.

Quick Time: No. 22, Chris Eggleston, 18.428

Dash: No. 4, Dillon Foster

Fast Dash: No. 66, Kyle Clegg

Feature: No. 78C, Colton Crocker

Puzzle Effect Bandoleros

Bandits

Dash - 8 Laps

Jaxon Muhler’s No. 95J led the first lap of the Bandit Dash, ahead of the No. 5 of Reagan Fruge. Just two laps in, it was already a battle for the lead, but he couldn’t get past due to lapped traffic. The No. 12 of Aspyn Lange soon crept up and passed him, but the No. 23 of Peyton Opperman reeled her in soon after before taking second away from Fruge’s No. 5. However, Opperman’s No. 23 went sideways in the infield, while Lange’s No. 12 looked for a way around Muhler’s No. 95, but couldn’t make it stick and finished second to him.

Feature - 10 Laps

During the Bandit Feature, the No. 5 of Fruge took the lead, while Lange’s No. 12 took over second, and Muhler’s No. 95 fell to third after starting on the front row. The No. 23 of Opperman spun out while trying to sneak by Muhler’s No. 95 for third place, as lapped traffic became an issue for the leaders. This caused the No. 12 of Lange to lose a bit of ground on Fruge’s No. 5, but she gathered it back up and sent it after him. They were evenly matched for the lead for the final few laps, and eventually, Lange found her way around and put the No. 12 in Victory Lane.

Bandit Dash: No. 95, Jaxon Muhler

Bandit Feature: No. 12, Aspyn Lange

Outlaws

Dash - 8 Laps

The No. 38 of Javon Barnard led the first lap of the Outlaw Dash, while the No. 68 of Wyatt Dent dove to the inside of the No. 08 of Tanner McKim for second place before the latter went for a spin heading into the infield turn. The No. 68 of Dent then took the lead, putting some distance between himself and the No. 38 of Barnard, opening up a huge lead all the way to the checkered flag.

Feature - 10 Laps

During the feature, the No. 61 of Lillian Tuttle and the No. 38 of Barnard were on the front row, but it didn’t take long for Dent’s No. 68 to enter the equation for the lead. He took command just four laps in, while the No. 38 of Barnard was demoted to second place and the No. 21 of Madilyn Lange held down third place. Dent’s No. 68 led right to the checkered flag.

Outlaw Dash: No. 68, Wyatt Dent

Outlaw Feature: No. 68, Wyatt Dent

Witthar Racing Trains

Feature – 7 Laps

The No. 151 Crazy Train and the No. 80HD SNAFU started on the front row, and the No. 80HD took off into the lead. The No. 86 Last Call was on a mission to the front, getting around the No. 151 for second while they dove through The X. The No. 86 set out after the No. 80HD for the lead, and if there had been a few more laps, they may have done it, but the checkers waved over the No. 80HD at the line.