1.7.18 Late Models Wild West Shootout Results

Lonnie Wheatley, SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. (January 7, 2018) – Ham Lake, Minnesota’s Don Shaw emerged atop an eventful 40-lap Super Late Model feature to take the $5,000 winner’s share in Sunday’s headliner that capped the second round of 12th Annual Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Part action atop the 1/3-mile FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway.
Following some early drama in the battle for the point between 2017 Wild West Shootout champ Bobby Pierce and Round One winner Ricky Weiss, Shaw battled past Pierce in the closing circuits to take the Black Diamond/Club 29 Super Late Models presented by M&W Transportation triumph from the 13th starting position.
“We did some wholesale changes on the car, I think it worked,” Shaw quipped in Hoker Trucking Victory Lane.
While Shaw enjoyed Super Late Model victory lane, Johnny Scott wired the field in USRA Modified action and Cole Searing cashed in on Jason VandeKamp’s last lap misfortune to take X-Modified honors as 141 cars filled the pit area in the second night of six rounds of competition over a span of nine nights.
With Shaw mired seven rows deep in the Black Diamond/Club 29 Super Late Models presented by M&W Transportation feature, reigning Wild West Shootout champ Bobby Pierce gunned into the lead at the outset from the pole starting position after a quick engine change following heat race action.
As Pierce established early command, Saturday night winner Weiss rallied from seventh into second on the opening circuit and soon moved in to challenge Pierce for the lead. Weiss slid into the lead on the 11th round, only to have Pierce recapture the point two laps later after trading several sliders along the way.
Weiss kept the heat on and surged ahead at the stripe upon the completion of the 23rd round after Pierce bobbled on the turn four cushion. But, contact near the end of the frontstretch sent Weiss skidding off the track at the turn one exit, ending his hopes at the Keyser Manufacturing $250,000 bonus for a sweep of the six races.
“It was just a hard racing deal,” Pierce commented afterward. “I was still alongside, but I just think he didn’t know I was still there. He was going for the cushion and I was already aimed for it. By the time I realized he was coming up, it was too late to back off. I hate that it happened.”
With 18 laps remaining, Pierce took off with Mike Marlar in tow as Shaw made his way into third by the time a caution flew with just ten laps remaining. Shaw took advantage of Marlar on the restart to capture second and then slipped under Pierce for the lead in turns one and two on the 37th round en route to Hoker Trucking Victory Lane.
Pierce chased the reigning WISSOTA Late Model champ to the line with Marlar settling for third for the second night in a row. “I didn’t need those cautions,” Marlar explained. “I had a shot to roll him (Pierce) there before that happened.”
Ryan Gustin was fourth with Brandon Sheppard rounding out the top five.
While the $250,000 bonus is out of the picture, either Weiss or Shaw could still pocket a $100,000 bonus courtesy of Keyser Manufacturing by running the table over the remaining four rounds to make it five wins in six events. Four wins in the six race mini-series would be worth a $25,000 bonus with $10,000 for any driver that takes three wins.
Las Cruces, New Mexico’s Johnny Scott was the class of the MVT/Border International USRA Modified presented by Arizona Differential field, gunning into the lead at the outset and maintaining solid command throughout the 25-lapper.
“We started tenth in our heat and went to second to get some good passing points,” Scott explained. “That started us on the pole and we made the most of it.”
In Scott’s wake, Shane Sabraski outlasted Jason Krohn for runner-up honors with rim-riding Jake O’Neil and Matt Leer rounding out the top five.
Persistence paid off for Huron, South Dakota’s Cole Searing as he battled past Dewayne Tesch in the final corner of the 25-lap RHRSwag.com X-Mods presented by Barnett Harley-Davidson feature after race-long leader Jason VandeKamp last power on the final circuit.
While Searing worked forward from the sixth starting position, VandeKamp distanced himself from the field following the race’s final caution period. VandeKamp held a near half-lap lead as the white flag flew, only to suffer driveline failure in turn two on the final circuit.
As VandeKamp coasted sans power down the backstretch, Tesch and Searing closed in and raced by in turn three with Searing edging ahead exiting turn four to take the win by less than a car-length.
“There’s being good and being lucky, I’ll take being lucky any day,” Searing said in victory lane. “I didn’t see him (VandeKamp) until we were going into three. I kinda gave Tesch a bumper, but it was for the win and I would expect him to do the same.”
Saturday night winner Scott Bintz, Josh Cain and Miah Christensen rounded out the top five behind Searing and Tesch.
The Wild West Shootout continues at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway on Wednesday, January 10, with racing action set to go green at 7:00 p.m. with the final three rounds set for Friday through Sunday, January 12-14.
A $5,000 winner’s share is up for grabs for the Super Late Models through the opening five nights of competition before the stakes are upped to $13,000-to-win for the January 14 finale.
Advanced tickets may be purchased online at www.wildwestshootout.net/schedule/ and ticket pricing/purchasing information can be found at www.wildwestshootout.net or by calling the Wild West Shootout office at 520-664-2074.
Wild West Shootout Hotel Information can be found at http://www.wildwestshootout.net/fan-info/lodging-2/ or by calling La Quinta Inn & Suites at 480-844-8747. The La Quinta Phoenix Mesa West is located at 902 W. Grove in Mesa, AZ.
Saturday and Sunday races will go green at 5 p.m. with Wednesday and Friday events starting at 7 p.m. Arizona Speedway is located just minutes from Phoenix. From Phoenix, take US 60 east to Ironwood Dr., turn right (south) and go four miles, Arizona Speedway is on the right hand side. For more information, visit www.wildwestshootout.net or call 520-664-2074.
The 2018 Wild West Shootout is made possible by Keyser Manufacturing, O’Reilly Auto Parts, FK Rod Ends, Black Diamond/Club 29 Race Cars, M&W Transport, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Border International Trucks, Arizona Differential, RHR RacingSwag, Barnett Harley Davidson, Hoker Trucking, Total Seal Piston Rings, Karl Performance, Textron Off-Road, Shaw Trucking, M&S Concrete, AR Bodies, Earnhardt Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge Ram, Pro Power Engines, VP Racing Fuel, Penske Racing Shocks and Hoosier Tires.
Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts Results
FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway – Sunday, January 7, 2018
Black Diamond/Club 29 Super Late Models presented by M&W Transportation:
Qualifying:
Group 1: 1. 157-Mike Marlar 15.315, 2. 7w-Ricky Weiss 15.354, 3. 42s-Don Shaw 15.462, 4. 0-Jake O’Neil 15.563, 5. 45-Dustin Bluhm 15.833, 6. 28-John Cornell 16.080, 7. 17-Billy Franklin 16.167, 8. 54-Carlos Ahumada 16.957, 9. 5-David Deetz 17.707.
Group 2: 1. 18-Chase Junghans 15.353, 2. 32b-Clay Daly 15.557, 3. 75-Terry Phillips 15.617, 4. 51-Joey Moriarty 15.753, 5. 22-Jonathan Ortega 16.151, 6. 98-Jason Rauen 16.203, 7. 6T-Terry Carter 16.302, 8. 7mm-Michael Maresca 16.339, 9. 78-Ed Peters 18.181.
Group 3: 1. 97-Cade Dillard 15.360, 2. 91T-Tony Toste 15.416, 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard 15.469, 4. 44x-Clint Smith 15.587, 5. 3k-Tanner Kellick 16.71, 6. 1-Garrett Alberson 16.177, 7. 7dx-Jake Davis 16.307, 8. 78s-Steve Stultz 17.460.
Group 4: 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce 15.385, 2. 10n-Rob Sanders 15.460, 3. 15k-Justin Kay 15.819, 4. 6-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 15.934, 5. 96-R.C. Whitwell 16.114, 6. 3x-Lyndon Bolt 16.162, 7. 18x-Cody Barnett 16.285, 8. 9-Mike Masters 17.378.
Group 5: 1. 32-Chris Simpson 15.248, 2. 54x-David Breazeale 15.361, 3. 15-Justin Duty 15.499, 4. 7d-Austin Theiss 15.712, 5. 12-Nick Bartels 16.027, 6. 15x-John Duty 16.169, 7. 44-Eric Mass 16.220, 8. 38-Thomas Hunziker 17.340.
Group 6: 1. 2T-Ryan Gustin 15.357, 2. 89-Mike Spatola 15.374, 3. 90-Lance Matthees 15.393, 4. 37w-Scott Ward 15.407, 5. 16-Austin Siebert 15.420, 6. 86-Kyle Beard 15.731, 7. 20-Rodney Sanders 15.872, 8. 37x-Rob Mayea 16.097.
Heat Races – Top 3 advance to “A” Main, balance to 2 “B” Mains
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar, 2. 7w-Ricky Weiss, 3. 42s-Don Shaw, 4. 17-Billy Franklin, 5. 0-Jake O’Nei, 6. 28-John Cornell, 7. 45-Dustin Bluhm, 8. 5-David Deetz, 9. 54-Carlos Ahumada.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 18-Chase Junghans, 2. 32b-Clay Daly, 3. 75-Terry Phillips, 4. 51-Joey Moriarty, 5. 98-Jason Rauen, 6. 22-Jonathan Ortega, 7. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 8. 6T-Terry Carter, 9. 78-Ed Peters.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard, 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 3. 1-Garrett Alberson, 4. 44x-Clint Smith, 5. 3k-Tanner Kellick, 6. 7dx-Jake Davis, 7. 78s-Steve Stultz 8. 91T-Tony Toste.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce, 2. 15k-Justin Kay, 3. 96-R.C. Whitwell, 4. 6-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 5. 18b-Cody Barnett, 6. 3x-Lyndon Bolt, 7. 10n-Rob Sanders, 8. 9-Mike Masters.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 54x-David Breazeale, 2. 32-Chris Simpson, 3. 15-Justin Duty, 4. 7d-Austin Theiss, 5. 12-Nick Bartels, 6. 44-Eric Mass, 7. 15x-John Duty, 8. 38-Thomas Hunziker.
Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 2T-Ryan Gustin, 2. 89-Mike Spatola, 3. 37w-Scott Ward, 4. 86-Kyle Beard, 5. 16-Austin Siebert, 6. 20-Rodney Sanders, 7. 37x-Rob Mayea, 8. 90-Lance Matthees.
“B” Mains – Top 3 from each advance to “A” Main
First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 44x-Clint Smith, 2. 0-Jake O’Neil, 3. 3k-Tanner Kelick, 4. 98-Jason Rauen, 5. 91T-Tony Toste, 6. 17-Billy Franklin, 7. 45-Dustin Bluhm, 8. 22-Jonathan Ortega, 9. 28-John Cornell, 10. 6T-Terry Carter, 11. 78s-Steve Stultz, 12. 54-Carlos Ahumada, 13. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 14. 7dx-Jake Davis, 15. 5-David Deetz, 16. 51-Joey Moriarty.
Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 86-Kyle Beard, 2. 20-Rodney Sanders, 3. 6-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 4. 90-Lance Matthees, 5. 12-Nick Bartels, 6. 18x-Cody Barnett, 7. 10n-Rob Sanders, 8. 37x-Rob Mayea, 9. 3x-Lyndon Bolt, 10. 16-Austin Siebert, 11. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 12. 15x-John Duty, 13. 7d-Austin Theiss, 14. 78-Ed Peters, 15. 44-Eric Mass.
Pro Power Dash:
Dash (10 Laps): 1. 91T-Tony Toste, 2. 90-Lance Matthees, 3. 98-Jason Rauen, 4. 45-Dustin Bluhm, 5. 22-Jonathan Ortega, 6. 18x-Cody Barnett, 7. 17-Billy Franklin, 8. 12-Nick Bartels, 9. 10n-Rob Sanders, 10. 37x-Rob Mayea.
“A” Main
“A” Main (40 Laps): 1. 42s-Don Shaw, 2. 32p-Bobby Pierce, 3. 157-Mike Marlar, 4. 2T-Ryan Gustin, 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 6. 75-Terry Phillips, 7. 54x-David Breazeale, 8. 89-Mike Spatola, 9. 86-Kyle Beard, 10. 20-Rodney Sanders, 11. 44x-Clint Smith, 12. 01-Garrett Alberson, 13. 6-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 14. 0-Jake O’Neil, 15. 91T-Tony Toste, 16. 32b-Clay Daly, 17. 3k-Tanner Kelick, 18. 96-R.C. Whitwell, 19. 37w-Scott Ward, 20. 15k-Justin Kay, 21. 18-Chase Junghans, 22. 32-Chris Simpson, 23. 7w-Ricky Weiss, 24. 15-Justin Duty, 25. 97-Cade Dillard.
MVT/Border International USRA Modifieds presented by Arizona Differential:
Heat Races – Top 16 in passing points advance to “A” Main, balance to 2 “B” Mains
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 0-Jake O’Neil, 2. 15k-Justin Kay, 3. 69-Lucas Schott, 4. 29d-Brad Dierks, 5. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 6. 96-R.C. Whitwell, 7. 4-Billy Vogel, 8. 18z-Zane Devilbiss, 9. X57-Richie Davis, 10. 2s-Stormy Scott.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 99-Josh Angst, 2. 131-Royal Jones, 3. 7a-Shane Sabraski, 4. 160-Michael Maggard, 5. 21-Austin Bonner, 6. A1-Phil Dixon, 7. 6-Casey Skyberg, 8. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 9. 33-Steven Muilenberg, 10. 111-Bumper Jones.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 7k-Jason Krohn, 2. 23x-Matt Gilbertson, 3. 30-Matt Leer, 4. 65x-Carlos Ahumada, Jr., 5. G17-Fito Gallardo, 6. 19sb-Lance Mari, 7. 1tpo-Lance Peterson, 8. 2-Rusty Koleman, 9. F27-Lynnsee Provence, 10. 44-Christy Barnett.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 71-Dustin Strand, 2. 10c-Chad Olsen, 3. 2J-Blake Jegtvig, 4. J17-Jake Gallardo, 5. 5m-Anthony Madrid, 6. 23-Adam Cates, 7. 19-Lucas Rodin, 8. 121-Tim Tharp, 9. L8-Brian Schultz, 10. 65s-Carlos Ahumada, Sr.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 2a-Casey Arneson, 2. 1st-Johnny Scott, 3. 81x-Brian Ruhlman, 4. 75-Spencer Wilson, 5. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 6. 36-Ryan Cousins, 7. 71h-Jesse Hoskins, 8. 196-Joey Olschowka, 9. 7-Ken McCleskey, 10. 8a-Al Giesbrecht.
“B” Mains – Top 4 from each advance to “A” Main
First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. J17-Jake Gallardo, 2. 1tpo-Tyler Peterson, 3. 6-Casey Skyberg, 4. 65x-Carlos Ahumada, Jr., 5. G17-Fito Gallardo, 6. 2s-Stormy Scott, 7. 33-Steve Muilenberg, 8. 19-Lucas Rodin, 9. X57-Richie Davis, 10. 4-Billy Vogel, 11. 71h-Jesse Hoskins, 12. 81x-Brian Ruhlman, 13. 21-Austin Bonner, 14. 7-Ken McCleskey, 15. 65s-Carlos Ahumada, Sr., 16. 96-R.C. Whitwell.
Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 2J-Blake Jegtvig, 2. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 19sb-Lance Mari, 4. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 5. 23-Adam Cates, 6. 2-Rusty Koleman, 7. A1-Phil Dixon, 8. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 9. F27-Lynnsee Provence, 10. 18z-Zane Devilbiss, 11. 36-Ryan Cousins, 12. 121-Tim Tharp, 13. 5m-Anthony Madrid, 14. 44-Christy Barnett, 15. 196-Joey Olschowka.
“A” Main
“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 1st-Johnny Scott, 2. 7a-Shane Sabraski, 3. 7k-Jason Krohn, 4. 0-Jake O’Neil, 5. 30-Matt Leer, 6. 2J-Blake Jegtvig, 7. 2a-Casey Arneson, 8. 10c-Chad Olsen, 9. 71-Dustin Strand, 10. 29d-Brad Dierks, 11. 23x-Matt Gilbertson, 12. 15k-Justin Kay, 13. 19sb-Lance Mari, 14. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 15. 1tpo-Tyler Peterson, 16. J17-Jake Gallardo, 17. 99-Josh Angst, 18. 160-Michael Maggard, 19. 20RT-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 20. 65x-Carlos Ahumada, Jr., 21. 6-Casey Skyberg, 22. 75-Spencer Wilson, 23. 69-Lucas Schott, 24. 131-Royal Jones.
RHRSwag.com X-Mods presented by Barnett Harley-Davidson:
Heat Races – Top 16 in passing points advance to “A” Main, balance to 2 “B” Mains
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 1s-Scott Bintz, 2. 82-Sherman Barnett, 3. 30-Dewayne Tesch, 4. 19-Lucas Rodin, 5. 75c-Bo Partain, 6. 99-Shawn Fernkes, 7. 777-Mike Rosales, 8. 271-Kelly Hagel, 9. 6c-Calvin Caitlin, 10. 28-Peyton George, 11. 11-Richie Jones.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 16-Jason VandeKamp, 2. 55-Mike Hailmann, 3. 3J-Josh Cain, 4. 14-Shawn Strong, 5. 81x-Matt Spardy, 6. 15-Speedy Madrid, 7. 7T-Joseph Thomas, 8. 51w-Ronald Webster, 9. 782-Miah Christensen.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 31-Scott Hansen, 2. 39-Steve Muilenberg, 3. 7-Donovan Flores, 4. 6-Dean Eggebraaten, 5. 44GT-Jaime Flores, 6. 10c-Cole Haugland, 7. 57x-Chad Horst, 8. 7d-Heath Dry, 9. 88-Nathan Smith, 10. 20-Mark Harrison.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 0-Coel Searing, 2. 5c-Preston Carr, 3. 17az-Neil Eckhart, 4. 67-Rex Conrad, 5. 171-Jed Smith, 6. 56-Terry Bahr, 7. 71-Dustin Strand, 8. 2-Jesse Haynie, 9. 32-Eric Haugard, 10. 5-Daniel Anders.
“B” Mains – Top 4 from each advance to “A” Main
First “B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 6-Dean Eggebraaten, 2. 10c-Cole Haugland, 3. 2-Jesse Haynie, 4. 88-Nathan Smith, 5. 7d-Heath Dry, 6. 5-Daniel Anders, 7. 6c-Calvin Caitlin, 8. 15-Speedy Madrid, 9. 11-Richie Jones, 10. 57x-Chad Horst, 11. 81x-Matt Spardy, 12. 75c-Bo Partain.
Second “B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 44GT-Jaime Torres, 2. 777-Mike Rosales, 3. 782-Miah Christensen, 4. 20-Mark Harrison, 5. 51w-Ronald Webster, 6. 271-Kelly Hagel, 7. 56-Terry Bahr, 8. 171-Jed Smith, 9. 28-Peyton George, 10. 7T-Joseph Thomas.
“A” Main
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 0-Cole Searing, 2. 30-Dewayne Tesch, 3. 1s-Scott Bintz, 4. 3J-Josh Cain, 5. 782-Miah Christensen, 6. 44GT-Jaime Torres, 7. 17az-Neil Eckhart, 8. 31-Scott Hansen, 9. 55-Mike Hailmann, 10. 7-Donovan Flores, 11. 39-Steve Muilenberg, 12. 2-Jesse Haynie, 13. 5c-Preston Carr, 14. 20-Mark Harrison, 15. 99-Shawn Fernkes, 16. 14-Shawn Strong, 17. 16-Jason VandeKamp, 18. 18-Sherman Barnett, 19. 19-Lucas Rodin, 20. 6-Dean Eggebraaten, 21. 67-Rex Conrad, 22. 88-Nathan Smith, 23. 10-Cole Haugland, 24. 777-Mike Rosales (DNS).