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Chad Mahder (55c) leads Sam Mars (28) at Vado. (Contributed Photo)

Thomas, Reinke, Smith & Bintz score top 10s to open Vado Speedway Park action; Mahder nets hard charger honors in the Late Models

By Meghan Diemel
ATD Editor

VADO, NM (January 4) - The first night of the Wild West Shootout got underway January 4 in Vado, New Mexico, as Vado Speedway Park played host to the annual season-starting mini series once again.

Winners included Bobby Pierce in the Super Late Models, Cade Dillard in the Modifieds, and Rob Moseley in the X-Mods.

A good number of WISSOTA-region drivers were on hand in the desert as well. Highlighted performances included a top-10 in the Late Models for Dustin Sorensen, top-10 finishes in the Mods for Sorensen and Glyndon, Minnesota’s Joseph Thomas, and top-10 finishes in the X-Mods for Lisbon, North Dakota’s Nate Reinke, Jamestown, North Dakota’s Scott Bintz and St. Joseph, Minnesota’s Jake Smith.

Chase Junghans and Garrett Alberson led the field to green, with Alberson leading the first lap and Bobby Pierce supplanting Junghans for second.

Down the backstretch during the second lap, Ethan Dotson began to lose the handle on the race car and hit the wall, ultimately saving himself but causing the rest of the field to buckle behind him; the malay ended with several racers spread out across the track surface and the field was under yellow. Bloomer, Wisconsin’s Chad Mahder was collected in the wreck.

On the restart, Alberson led the field back to green. Pierce took second ahead of Junghans, while Marlar was fourth. The caution fell without a lap complete for the stalled ride of Ross Bailes. Under yellow, in the back of the field, Clayton Stuckey spun and collected Corcoran, Minnesota’s Michael Hucovski. All were able to continue.

Alberson was back out front for the restart, while Pierce moved to second once again, and Junghans was under pressure from Marlar for third. Cade Dillard raced in fifth. Marlar got by Junghans for third about a lap later.

With seven laps in the books, Alberson had a several car length lead over Pierce, while Marlar led Junghans and Dillard in the top five.

Three laps later, lapped traffic became a reality for Alberson. Alberson struggled with the first two backmarkers, allowing Pierce to close in. With 13 laps scored Junghans was off the pace and the field regrouped under yellow.

Alberson drove back out front on the restart, under heavy pressure from Pierce for the top spot. Marlar was third, while Dotson got by Dillard for fourth. Dillard fought back and that spot continued to remain a toss-up for several laps, as Brandon Sheppard entered the top-five picture close behind. He raced past Dotson, who had settled back into fifth, and into the top five behind Dillard a lap later.

With 30 laps to go, Alberson and Pierce had about a second lead ahead of Marlar. Three laps later, Alberson came to the beginning of the lapped traffic once again, with drivers side by side directly ahead and Pierce right on Alberson’s bumper. Alberson escaped and continued to stretch his lead back out front.

With 29 laps scored, Marlar came to a sudden halt with a flat right rear and the field was back under yellow.

Pierce powered into the lead back under green, following a slip-up by Alberson down the backstretch. Dillard was third, and Sheppard was fourth, but Sheppard was able to grab third from Dillard a couple laps later after a tight side-by-side battle. Dillon McCowan was fifth, with heavy pressure from Tyler Erb close behind.

With 13 laps left on the board, Pierce’s lead was just .6 of a second ahead of Alberson, as Pierce began to pick his way through the backmarkers. Pierce then stretched his lead as Alberson struggled with the handling of his race car through lapped traffic. Sheppard, Dillard and Erb were in the top five.

With five to go, Pierce’s lead was about 1.5 seconds and he drove on to the checkered flag. Alberson, Sheppard, Dillard and Erb completed the top five.

Michael Hucovski (Contributed Photo)

Minnesota’s Sorensen was eighth, while Bloomer, Wisconsin’s Chad Mahder worked his way into 11th from the 24th starting spot, garnering hard charger honors. Minnesota’s Michael Hucovski was 18th, while former WISSOTA National Champion Don Shaw was scored 24th.

Don Shaw (Contributed Photo)

Hunter Sandy held a narrow lead ahead of Rob Moseley and Scott Bintz to start the X-Mod feature. As Sandy and Moseley traded the lead back and forth, Bintz held third, Jessie Haynie was fourth, and Nate Reinke held fifth, with Devin Fouquette creeping into the picture in sixth with three laps complete.

The side-by-side battle for the lead continued with five laps complete, with Moseley holding a narrow advantage, as Bintz lost third to Haynie, and Reinke held fifth.

Scott Bintz (1s) in action at Vado Speedway Park. (Contributed Photo)

Three laps later, Haynie closed in on the battle for the lead, taking second a lap later and moving into the lead past Moseley along the bottom about a lap and a half later.

A caution fell with 12 laps remaining for a Devin Jobin spin.

Haynie led the field back to the restart, with Moseley and Sandy in the second row. Reinke was fourth, while Bintz had slipped back to fifth. Moseley slid Haynie in turn four to grab the lead back with 11 laps to go, while Reinke was third, and Sandy was fourth. A caution fell with 10 laps left on the board for a stalled Mike Rosales.

Back under the green, Moseley held the lead, with Haynie close behind, just a lane down the track from where Moseley was running. Cain was third, Reinke was fourth and Bintz was holding onto fifth. Another caution fell for Michael Hartman, who spun.

Moseley led the field back to green with eight to go, as Haynie, Cain, Reinke and Bintz held top five spots. Seventeenth-starter Christy Barnett moved into the top five a few laps later, after a side-by-side battle with Bintz.

Moseley held off Haynie in the closing laps and grabbed the opening night win, while Haynie was second, Cain was third, Reinke was fourth and Barnett completed the top five.

Bintz finished seventh, while Jake Smith moved from 18th on the grid to eighth at the finish. Chad Fouquette, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, also made the A-main and was scored 24th.

In the Modifieds, Cade Dillard was the early leader, with Kyle Strickler holding second, and Jake Gallardo slipping back to third. Gary Christian was fourth and Terry Phillips raced in the top five. Three laps into the race Fito Gallardo displaced Phillips for fifth, and then set off after Christian with five laps complete.

Dillard continued to lead Strickler out front, while Jake Gallardo held third and Fito Gallardo and Gary Christian continued to argue over fourth.

With 11 laps in the books, Dillard continued to work his way through lapped traffic, as Strickler slowly cut into his lead from second. Jake Gallardo was third, Fito was fourth, and Dustin Sorensen cracked the top five. Christian slid back to sixth, and Rodney Sanders was up to seventh.

Out front with 15 laps scored, Dillard was mired in heavy lapped traffic. Strickler made up significant ground along the top side, with Dillard sticking to the bottom behind lapped traffic two wide ahead of him. A spun lapped car was Dillard’s saving grace, however, and the field was reset.

The green reappeared with nine laps to go: Dillard jumped back out to the lead, as Jake Gallardo and Strickler were side by side for second. Sorensen moved into fourth, with Fito was fifth. One lap later, Sorensen got by Jake Gallardo for third and was close behind Strickler in second, but a caution for a Phillip Houston spin brought the field to a halt with six to go. Another spin on the restart held the field under yellow.

Dillard led the field back to green with six laps still remaining, as Sorensen drove in to battle Strickler on the bottom in a side-by-side battle for second. Jake and Fito Gallardo were fourth and fifth.

Dillard drove a consistent line out front and on toward the win, as Sorensen and Strickler traded sliders for second; Sorensen won the war for runner-up honors. Jake and Fito Gallardo completed the top five.

WISSOTA regular Joseph Thomas hustled from 16th to seventh at the finish.

SUMMARY

Super Late Models:

A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard[4]; 5. 1-Tyler Erb[10]; 6. 74X-Ethan Dotson[6]; 7. 22*-Drake Troutman[13]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]; 9. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan[11]; 11. 55C-Chad Mahder[24]; 12. 14S-Collen Winebarger[15]; 13. 86-Kyle Beard[22]; 14. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[7]; 15. 28B-Carson Brown[25]; 16. 6-Jake Neal[16]; 17. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[18]; 18. 88-Michael Hucovski[23]; 19. 81J-Jack Riggs[19]; 20. S21-Seth Daniels[20]; 21. 10S-Garrett Smith[9]; 22. 82-Eston Whisler[21]; 23. 18-Chase Junghans[1]; 24. 42S-Don Shaw[12]; 25. 69-Ross Bailes[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 10S-Garrett Smith[5]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 5. 69-Ross Bailes[7]; 6. 81J-Jack Riggs[3]; 7. 82-Eston Whisler[9]; 8. 28B-Carson Brown[8]; 9. 2S-Stormy Scott[10]; 10. 13-Bricen James[6]; 11. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[12]; 12. K7-Keaton Smith[11]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan[6]; 4. 14S-Collen Winebarger[8]; 5. 88-Michael Hucovski[3]; 6. 28-Jimmy Whisler[5]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[4]; 8. 81-Jason Riggs[9]; 9. 3-Brennon Willard[10]; 10. 6T-Terry Carter[7]; 11. 53M-Jason Miles[11]; 12. 21X-Joel Collins[12]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 2. 74X-Ethan Dotson[3]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[2]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 5. 77-Preston Luckman[4]; 6. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[7]; 7. 28M-Sam Mars[9]; 8. 55C-Chad Mahder[6]; 9. 49T-Jake Timm[10]; 10. 10N-Rob Sanders[8]; 11. 74D-Shawn DeForest[11]; 12. (DNS) 74-Mitch McGrath

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Chase Junghans[3]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 42S-Don Shaw[1]; 4. 6-Jake Neal[4]; 5. S21-Seth Daniels[5]; 6. 86-Kyle Beard[6]; 7. 02-Kent Rosevear[7]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[9]; 9. 11-Jon Kirby[8]; 10. 99-Luke Solis[11]; 11. 3K-Keko Perez[10]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 69-Ross Bailes[1]; 2. 81J-Jack Riggs[3]; 3. 82-Eston Whisler[5]; 4. 88-Michael Hucovski[2]; 5. 28B-Carson Brown[7]; 6. 81-Jason Riggs[8]; 7. 13-Bricen James[11]; 8. 28-Jimmy Whisler[4]; 9. 2S-Stormy Scott[9]; 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker[6]; 11. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[13]; 12. 3-Brennon Willard[10]; 13. 53M-Jason Miles[14]; 14. 21X-Joel Collins[16]; 15. 6T-Terry Carter[12]; 16. K7-Keaton Smith[15]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[3]; 2. S21-Seth Daniels[2]; 3. 86-Kyle Beard[4]; 4. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[9]; 6. 10N-Rob Sanders[11]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[8]; 8. 11-Jon Kirby[10]; 9. 99-Luke Solis[15]; 10. 77-Preston Luckman[1]; 11. 74D-Shawn DeForest[12]; 12. 3K-Keko Perez[13]; 13. 28M-Sam Mars[5]; 14. 02-Kent Rosevear[6]; 15. 74-Mitch McGrath[14]

Pro Power Dash (8 Laps): 1. 28B-Carson Brown[1]; 2. 81-Jason Riggs[3]; 3. 49T-Jake Timm[2]; 4. 11-Jon Kirby[8]; 5. 10N-Rob Sanders[4]; 6. 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 7. 13-Bricen James[5]; 8. 99-Luke Solis[10]; 9. 2S-Stormy Scott[9]; 10. 28-Jimmy Whisler[7]

Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 2. 19-Dustin Sorensen[9]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 4. J17-Jake Gallardo[2]; 5. G17-Fito Gallardo[7]; 6. 420-Rodney Sanders[11]; 7. 51T-Joseph Thomas[16]; 8. 58X-Gary Christian[6]; 9. 75-Terry Phillips[5]; 10. 16-Chris Henigan[15]; 11. 19K-Kyle Slader[8]; 12. 37-John Neal Reid[21]; 13. 65-Tyler Davis[12]; 14. 127-Paden Phillips[1]; 15. 88-Nathan Smith[13]; 16. 3J-Josh Cain[20]; 17. 131-Royal Jones[14]; 18. 22B-Rick Beebe[19]; 19. 71-Chad Melton[17]; 20. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[18]; 21. 77X-Austin Kuehl[24]; 22. 20Q-Cole Queensland[22]; 23. 721-Troy Gemmill[10]; 24. 117-Toby Herring[23]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[6]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[8]; 3. 71-Chad Melton[2]; 4. 16-Chris Henigan[7]; 5. 44-Christy Barnett[1]; 6. 37-John Neal Reid[9]; 7. 80XX-Jason Langford[3]; 8. 171-Philip Houston[10]; 9. J7-Jake Boles[4]; 10. 17-Peyton Gallardo[5]; 11. (DNS) 12-Jay Rosales

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 58X-Gary Christian[4]; 2. 127-Paden Phillips[10]; 3. J17-Jake Gallardo[11]; 4. 51T-Joseph Thomas[7]; 5. 24D-Diego Alvarado[3]; 6. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[8]; 7. 26D-Cody Duke[9]; 8. D25-David Tanner[5]; 9. 96C-Carson Ditsch[1]; 10. 28DRG-Tom Georges[2]; 11. 32-Max Sadler[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 65-Tyler Davis[2]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips[8]; 3. 131-Royal Jones[5]; 4. 88-Nathan Smith[9]; 5. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[7]; 6. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[10]; 7. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[4]; 8. 64-Casey Fowler[1]; 9. 9R-Jimmy Ray[6]; 10. 54-Carlos Ahumada Sr[3]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. G17-Fito Gallardo[4]; 2. 420-Rodney Sanders[5]; 3. 20Q-Cole Queensland[2]; 4. 721-Troy Gemmill[10]; 5. 77X-Austin Kuehl[3]; 6. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[7]; 7. 77-CJ Hulsey[1]; 8. 2G-Troy Girolamo[6]; 9. 70-Jeremy Busby[8]; 10. 24-Rick Ortega[9]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Dustin Sorensen[3]; 2. 19K-Kyle Slader[6]; 3. 117-Toby Herring[1]; 4. 11-Lucas Ward[4]; 5. 22B-Rick Beebe[8]; 6. 111-Bumper Jones[5]; 7. 3J-Josh Cain[9]; 8. 16K-Kaylin Lopez[7]; 9. 99-Terry Tipton[10]; 10. 15L-Chris Lewis[2]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 71-Chad Melton[2]; 2. 22B-Rick Beebe[1]; 3. 37-John Neal Reid[4]; 4. 117-Toby Herring[3]; 5. 24D-Diego Alvarado[6]; 6. 44-Christy Barnett[8]; 7. 171-Philip Houston[9]; 8. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[5]; 9. 17-Peyton Gallardo[16]; 10. 26D-Cody Duke[7]; 11. 24-Rick Ortega[15]; 12. 70-Jeremy Busby[13]; 13. 77-CJ Hulsey[11]; 14. 32-Max Sadler[18]; 15. 2G-Troy Girolamo[12]; 16. 9R-Jimmy Ray[14]; 17. 80XX-Jason Langford[10]; 18. 28DRG-Tom Georges[17]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[3]; 2. 3J-Josh Cain[7]; 3. 20Q-Cole Queensland[2]; 4. 77X-Austin Kuehl[6]; 5. 99-Terry Tipton[11]; 6. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[5]; 7. 111-Bumper Jones[8]; 8. 16K-Kaylin Lopez[10]; 9. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[9]; 10. 64-Casey Fowler[13]; 11. 96C-Carson Ditsch[15]; 12. J7-Jake Boles[14]; 13. 12-Jay Rosales[18]; 14. D25-David Tanner[12]; 15. 54-Carlos Ahumada Sr[16]; 16. 15L-Chris Lewis[17]; 17. 11-Lucas Ward[4]; 18. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[1]

X-Mods:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. M17-Rob Moseley[1]; 2. X15-Jesse Haynie[5]; 3. 3J-Josh Cain[11]; 4. 71-Nate Reinke[6]; 5. 44-Christy Barnett[17]; 6. 7-Shayne Bailey[21]; 7. 1S-Scott Bintz[2]; 8. 21-Jake Smith[18]; 9. 510-Cody King[19]; 10. 5-Steve Holzkamper[15]; 11. 93-Greg Gorham[24]; 12. 81-Devon Jobin[8]; 13. 3-Dickie Gorham[13]; 14. 22-Keenan Glasser[20]; 15. 115-Boddie Parker[14]; 16. 44JT-Jaime Torres[16]; 17. 23B-Israel Ortega[23]; 18. G3-Brian Craighead[22]; 19. 96-Dusty Riggs[12]; 20. B52-Michael Hartman[10]; 21. 7S-Hunter Sandy[4]; 22. 12M-Mike Rosales[3]; 23. 07-Donavon Flores[9]; 24. 515-Chad Fouquette[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Nate Reinke[2]; 2. 3-Dickie Gorham[1]; 3. 5-Steve Holzkamper[4]; 4. 44-Christy Barnett[5]; 5. 510-Cody King[6]; 6. 21-Jake Smith[9]; 7. 4-Chris Hooper[8]; 8. 7-Shayne Bailey[11]; 9. 25-Kale Murphrey[7]; 10. 28-Aiden Frazier[10]; 11. 00-Joseph Swearingen[3]; 12. (DNS) 14-Dawson Manicki

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12M-Mike Rosales[3]; 2. 81-Devon Jobin[4]; 3. M17-Rob Moseley[11]; 4. G3-Brian Craighead[5]; 5. 96-Dusty Riggs[9]; 6. 10-Bryan Bennett[2]; 7. 23B-Israel Ortega[12]; 8. 72R-Ryan DeForest[8]; 9. W27-Forrest Wemken[7]; 10. 12-Isiah Mendoza[6]; 11. 24K-Shane Krafka[10]; 12. (DQ) 40D-Blake Adams[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7S-Hunter Sandy[3]; 2. 115-Boddie Parker[1]; 3. 44JT-Jaime Torres[4]; 4. 515-Chad Fouquette[9]; 5. 27-Andy Davis[2]; 6. 33-Justin Allen[7]; 7. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[6]; 8. 22-Keenan Glasser[12]; 9. 562-Craig Walker[5]; 10. 02-Deuce Teague[8]; 11. 65-Dustin Smith[10]; 12. (DNS) 82-Sherman Barnett

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. B52-Michael Hartman[1]; 2. 3J-Josh Cain[2]; 3. 1S-Scott Bintz[9]; 4. X15-Jesse Haynie[10]; 5. 07-Donavon Flores[11]; 6. 93-Greg Gorham[3]; 7. 57-Duke Erickson[8]; 8. 345-Jimmy Downs[7]; 9. 19TP-Theron Pierce[4]; 10. 37-Robert Trujillo[6]; 11. 12MB-John Miller[5]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 44-Christy Barnett[1]; 2. 510-Cody King[3]; 3. 7-Shayne Bailey[5]; 4. 23B-Israel Ortega[2]; 5. 57-Duke Erickson[6]; 6. 10-Bryan Bennett[7]; 7. 40D-Blake Adams[16]; 8. 25-Kale Murphrey[9]; 9. 33-Justin Allen[4]; 10. 12MB-John Miller[14]; 11. 24K-Shane Krafka[13]; 12. 562-Craig Walker[10]; 13. 72R-Ryan DeForest[8]; 14. 12-Isiah Mendoza[12]; 15. 19TP-Theron Pierce[11]; 16. 14-Dawson Manicki[15]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 22-Keenan Glasser[3]; 3. G3-Brian Craighead[1]; 4. 93-Greg Gorham[6]; 5. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[7]; 6. 82-Sherman Barnett[15]; 7. 345-Jimmy Downs[8]; 8. 28-Aiden Frazier[10]; 9. 02-Deuce Teague[11]; 10. 00-Joseph Swearingen[14]; 11. W27-Forrest Wemken[9]; 12. 4-Chris Hooper[5]; 13. 37-Robert Trujillo[12]; 14. 27-Andy Davis[4]; 15. 65-Dustin Smith[13]