(08-02-2014 Dacono, CO) On an absolutely gorgeous Colorado summer evening at CNS Jeff Walbaum dominated the Late Model feature event, Albuquerque’s Jason Irwin thrilled the crowd and won the legend main event in dramatic fashion. Justin Case was victorious in the Grand American Modifieds and the LAST CALL Train grabbed the trophy in the train race.
As the sun sets on a perfect Colorado summer evening the South Philly Cheesesteak Late Models lineup for the feature event.
South Philly Cheesesteak Late Models. 2014 has been Jeff Walbaum’s year. The Brighton Colorado resident has won 5 of the 8 feature events this season and is showing no sign of slowing down. On the Whelen “Lights it up” Night at CNS Walbaum set quick time, won the FAST DASH and came from the 2nd row to win the feature.
For the first half of the feature event #7 Ethan Penrod was the only car that was within any proximity to Walbaum who gave up the lead on lap 6. Yet as the race wound down #76 Chad Cowan had caught Penrod and the two drivers began to battle for position. Cowan made a strong move for 2nd place on the low side going into turn one and the two cars appeared to make minor contact but both drivers hung on and disaster was averted. Penrod held off Cowan for the remainder of the race and the two cars crossed the line 2nd and 3rd.
#31 Derek Smith took home an impressive 4th place finish directly in front of the #99 of Nick Brinlee. #32 Brett Yackey was 6th and #88 David Rothrock was 7th.
Walbaum now holds a fairly dominate 29 point lead in the standings over Cowan with Penrod in the 3rd spot.
Jeff Walbaum celebrates in winner’s circle after winning his 5th feature of the season.
FEATURE WINNER: #8 Jeff Walbaum FAST DASH: #8 Jeff Walbaum DASH: #88 David Rothrock QUICK TIME: #8 Jeff Walbaum 17.939
Legends As usual the Legend car division showed up to the track with a stellar 26 car field and one of the countries premier legend drivers 9i Jason Irwin from Albuquerque had made the trip to CNS to give the local drivers a run for their money.
#22 Chris Eggleston had set quick time and was fortunate to draw a front row starting spot in the feature along side #34 Chris Cooper who had the pole. Irwin’s luck wasn’t so good as he drew a 8th place starting spot creating a tough road to the front. However at the drop of the green flag Irwin made a “move for the ages” taking an extreme high groove into turns one and two passing several cars all at once and moving into 2nd place behind Eggleston on the very first lap of the race.
You could sense that Irwin was hungry for the win as he worked his way past Eggleston and assumed the lead. A caution came out allowing Chris another shot at Jason on the double file restart but Eggleston had a slow restart and Irwin set sail leading the rest of the way and winning the race by a couple car lengths over Eggleston.
Albuquerque’s Jason Irwin celebrates his win at CNS
Behind the leaders #06 Mike Gallegos, #34 Chris Cooper and #66 Kyle Clegg battled for position as they expertly navigated lapped traffic desperately trying to gain on the leaders.
At the finish it was Irwin, Eggleston, Gallegos, Clegg, Cooper, #3 Wayne Barlock Jr, #21 Ryan Jones, #25 Adam Pechman, #6 Scotty Scott, and rounding out the top 10 was #04 Dillon Foster.
Chris Eggleston has a mere 3 point lead on Mike Gallegos in the season standings with Cooper and Clegg close behind in 3rd and 4th.
FEATURE WINNER: 9i Jason Irwin FAST DASH: 9i Jason Irwin DASH: #25 Adam Pechman DASH: #11 Jessica Savage QUICK TIME: #22 Chris Eggleston 18.779
SUNOCO Race Fuels Grand American Modifieds Tim Holm from Greeley Colorado not only set quick time in the SUNOCO Fuels Grand American Modifieds with a 17.400 but he also held off #44 Justin Case to win the FAST DASH. In 2014 finishing ahead of Case has proven to be a very difficult thing to do for any driver however in the feature event Holm could not pass #0 Ron O’Neil and eventually settled for a 5th place finish. Justin Case ran away with the feature event after passing #69 Forrest Smith on lap five. Forrest Smith settled 2nd, O’Neil was 3rd, and rookie driver #13 Darin Clark was 4th.
Justin Case celebrates his Grand American Modified win at CNS
Case now has a 25 point lead on O’Neil with Holm sitting in 3rd spot in the standings.
Witthar Racing Trains What division features one team, two drivers, and 3 cars tied together? A Witthar racing train! One of the wildest events you will ever witness is a CNS train race where sparks, bending metal, and squealing tires are “the norm”. The LAST CALL Train driven by Wally Wall and Alisa Espinosa navigated the carnage to take home the win.
FEATURE WINNER: #86 LAST CALL
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Late Models Pos No. Name Hometown Points 1. 8 Jeff Walbaum Brighton CO 40 2. 7 Ethan Penrod Thornton CO 38 3. 76 Chad Cowan Gering NE 36 4. 31 Derek Smith Longmont CO 34 5. 99 Nick Brinlee Broomfield CO 32 6. 32 Brett Yackey (R) Greeley CO 30 7. 88 David Rothrock (R) Commerce City CO 28 8. 3 Wade Grove Thornton CO 26 9. 75 Emilio Abeyta (R) Denver CO 24 10. 30 Jan Oxley Ft. Lupton CO 22 11. 29 Rayshawn Carter Commerce City CO 20 12. 28 Alan Carter Commerce City CO 18 13. 27 Wendi Lewis Johnstown CO 16 14. 19g Nathan Gasser 14
Legends Pos No. Name Hometown Points 1. 9i Jason Irwin 40 2. 22 Chris Eggleston Thornton CO 38 3. 06 Mike Gallegos Wheatridge CO 36 4. 66 Kyle Clegg Westminster CO 34 5. 34 Chris Cooper Frederick CO 32 6. 3 Wayne Barlock JR Evans CO 30 7. 21 Ryan Jones Arvada CO 28 8. 25 Adam Pechman Morrison CO 26 9. 6 Scotty Scott Arvada CO 24 10. 04 Dillon Foster Arvada CO 22 11. 03 Darrell Stewart Arvada CO 20 12. 20 Kynzer Riddell Westminster CO 18 13. 19 Larry Pachello Wheatridge CO 16 14. 46 Zach Witherwax Arvada CO 14 15. 14 Chappy Adkins Kersey CO 12 16. 07 Bill Seip Parker CO 10 17. 26 Christopher Brunker Lakewood CO 8 18. 11 Jessica Savage Aurora CO 6 19. 71 Craig Coughlin Westminster CO 4 20. 09 Terry McBride Edgewater CO 2 21. 99V Brian VanMatre (R) 2 22. 47 David Hondel Cheyenne WY 2 23. 17 BreAnn Adkison Cheyenne WY 2 24. 84 Mike Webber Erie CO 2 25. 83 Don Bedore Denver CO 2
Grand American Modified Pos No. Name Hometown Points 1. 44 Justin Case Brighton CO 40 2. 69 Forrest Smith Poverty Flats CO 38 3. 0 Ron O’Neil 36 4. 13 Darin Clark (R) 34 5. 24 Tim Holm Greeley CO 32 6. 61 Scott Slama (R) 30