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New faces in victory lane at Vado, as track endures two snow-outs earlier in week

By Meghan Diemel
ATD Editor

VADO, NEW MEXICO (January 10) - After two snow-outs, racing was back underway January 10 at Vado Speedway Park, and when the final checkered flags flew, there were new faces in all three classes in victory lane.

In the Super Late Models, Kyle Beard and Ross Bailes led the field to green, with Drake Troutman and Garrett Alberson behind in row two. Alberson was the early leader, with Bailes and Ethan Dotson side by side for second, Troutman fourth and Tyler Erb close behind in fifth.

With six laps recorded, Alberson held the lead by .6 seconds over Bailes, Dotson, Troutman and Erb in the top five. Two laps later the leaders began to catch the back of the field. Alberson nearly went three wide with lapped traffic to complete lap nine, clearing the first and then second lapper to secure more breathing room for his No. 58.

Four laps later Alberson began to catch another pack of heavy lapped traffic ahead of him. They were side by side, allowing Bailes to cut Alberson’s lead to just under half a second; they raced closely for the next four laps until Alberson came upon three lapped cars blocking the track. Alberson snaked his way through, but Bailes was not so lucky. Bailes had to take evasive action to navigate a lapped car that half spun in turn one, which allowed Dotson to pressure him to the outside as Bailes regrouped and they raced down the backstretch. Contact was made, but a caution fell simultaneously for a stalled car in turns one and two and the field was reset.

With 12 laps to go, Alberson continued to lead on the restart, with Bailes second and Dotson, Erb and Pierce battling for third through fifth positions. When Erb pushed the issue heading into turn one and slid up in front of Dotson, Pierce got through to third, but another caution fell for a stalled racer in turns one and two.

Following the restart, Alberson took off to nearly a second lead ahead of Bailes, with Pierce on the move once again. In a lap and half, Pierce drove by Erb and Dotson along the low side into third, leaving Erb and now Troutman to fight for fourth. A caution with eight to go for a dustup in turn one erased Alberson’s 1.2 second lead and the field was regrouped.

Back under green, Alberson drove back out to a healthy lead, while Pierce got by Bailes to second. Erb and Troutman completed the top five.

With three to go, Pierce began to slowly chip away at Alberson’s lead, but wouldn’t have had enough time to surmount it – until Bailes came to a stop at the top of turns three and four with a flat tire and the yellow fell.

The field was reset for a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag. Back under green, Alberson continued to lead, pulling away from Pierce in the final turns to grab his first win of the week. Erb, Dustin Sorensen and Sheppard – who started 21st in the field – finished in the top five.

Of the WISSOTA racers who made the A-main in the Late Models, Don Shaw was 17th and Sam Mars was 20th.

Christy Barnett and Greg Gorham led the field of X Mods to the green flag. Jeremy LaCoe, Scott Bintz and Kale Murphrey completed the top five with two laps in the books.

With four laps completed, Bintz was up to third, as Barnett held her lead out front.

Just before the halfway point, Barnett held command at the front of the field, with a two second lead. She was behind heavy lapped traffic, and Gorham soon cut the lead down her lead by half a second. A caution for North Dakota’s Nate Reinke fell when he rolled in turn four. Another competitor spun in front of him and gave him nowhere to go, with Reinke’s rear end catching the stalled car and Reinke going up and over on his roof. Reinke was okay.

Barnett led the restart, as Gorham held second and Bintz settled in third close behind. It was a cluster for fifth on back, with LaCoe fourth and Murphrey fifth to complete the lap.

With five to go, Barnett’s lead grew to nearly three seconds. She carried that steady consistency to the checkered flag, netting the victory. Gorham, Bintz, Shayne Bailey, and Josh Cain were top-five finishers.

Blake Adams in action at Vado Speedway Park. (Contributed Photo)

Other WISSOTA racers who made the feature included Blake Adams (12th), Duke Erickson (19th).

The Modifieds closed out the show, led to the green by Kyle Strickler and Rick Ortega. Rodney Sanders was close behind in third, just ahead of a fight for fourth between Gary Christian and Paden Phillips. A huge wreck farther back in the field in turn one brought out the caution.

With just one lap complete, the field was back under green and Strickler drove out to a commanding lead once again. Sanders moved to third, ahead of Ortega and Christian, who soon supplanted Ortega for third. Dillard was fifth with three laps complete.

Strickler continued to lead with five laps in the books, with Sanders second. Christian nearly lost the handle in front of the pack while in third down the backstretch; he was able to gather himself as the field entered the frontstretch to complete the lap, but not before Dillard drove by for fourth. Dillard then dove to the inside of Ortega down the backstretch and into third to complete lap seven.

With nine laps complete, Strickler began to navigate lapped traffic, with Sanders in second and Dillard still in third. Christian was fourth, and Nathan Smith was in fifth.

Strickler was safely out front by more than two seconds, as Sanders and Dillard argued over second before a caution with eight to go regrouped the field.

Back under green, Strickler shot back out to the lead, as Dillard suffered terminal engine issues down the backstretch. The field was back under yellow.

With five to go, Strickler continued to drive out to a healthy lead, while Sanders was second ahead of Christian and Dustin Sorensen, who made himself part of the fight for third. Paden Phillips was fifth.

It remained the Strickler show out front, as he drove off to collect his first win of the Wild West Shootout. Sanders, Christian, Sorensen, and Phillips completed the top five.

SUMMARY

Super Late Models:

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[8]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[7]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard[21]; 6. 86-Kyle Beard[1]; 7. 22*-Drake Troutman[3]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[9]; 9. 13-Bricen James[22]; 10. 28B-Carson Brown[19]; 11. 18-Chase Junghans[17]; 12. 28-Jimmy Whisler[23]; 13. S21-Seth Daniels[20]; 14. 78S-Steve Stultz[15]; 15. 69-Ross Bailes[2]; 16. 74X-Ethan Dotson[5]; 17. 42S-Don Shaw[13]; 18. 11-Jon Kirby[10]; 19. 157-Mike Marlar[16]; 20. 28M-Sam Mars[12]; 21. 97-Cade Dillard[11]; 22. 6-Jake Neal[18]; 23. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[14]; 24. 3K-Keko Perez[24]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman[2]; 2. 74X-Ethan Dotson[1]; 3. 74-Mitch McGrath[3]; 4. 42S-Don Shaw[6]; 5. 28B-Carson Brown[4]; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard[7]; 7. 28-Jimmy Whisler[8]; 8. 77-Preston Luckman[5]; 9. 8-Dillon McCowan[9]; 10. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 86-Kyle Beard[1]; 2. 1-Tyler Erb[6]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 4. 78S-Steve Stultz[3]; 5. 18-Chase Junghans[8]; 6. 14S-Collen Winebarger[4]; 7. 82-Ian Whisler[7]; 8. K7-Keaton Smith[10]; 9. 02-Kent Rosevear[9]; 10. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 19-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 3. 11-Jon Kirby[3]; 4. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[7]; 5. S21-Seth Daniels[4]; 6. 13-Bricen James[5]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[8]; 8. 3-Brennon Willard[6]; 9. 6T-Terry Carter[9]; 10. 53M-Jason Miles[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 69-Ross Bailes[4]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 3. 28M-Sam Mars[2]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 5. 6-Jake Neal[3]; 6. 3K-Keko Perez[8]; 7. 10N-Rob Sanders[6]; 8. 99-Luke Solis[9]; 9. 49-Jake Timm[5]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Chase Junghans[2]; 2. 28B-Carson Brown[1]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 4. 28-Jimmy Whisler[5]; 5. 82-Ian Whisler[6]; 6. 14S-Collen Winebarger[4]; 7. 77-Preston Luckman[7]; 8. 8-Dillon McCowan[9]; 9. 02-Kent Rosevear[10]; 10. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[12]; 11. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[11]; 12. K7-Keaton Smith[8]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Jake Neal[2]; 2. S21-Seth Daniels[1]; 3. 13-Bricen James[3]; 4. 3K-Keko Perez[4]; 5. 10N-Rob Sanders[6]; 6. 53M-Jason Miles[11]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[5]; 8. 6T-Terry Carter[9]; 9. 99-Luke Solis[8]; 10. 3-Brennon Willard[7]; 11. 49-Jake Timm[10]

Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[1]; 2. 420-Rodney Sanders[3]; 3. 58X-Gary Christian[5]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[16]; 5. 127-Paden Phillips[6]; 6. 77-CJ Hulsey[10]; 7. 111-Bumper Jones[7]; 8. 12-Jay Rosales[11]; 9. 131-Royal Jones[18]; 10. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[19]; 11. 65-Tyler Davis[17]; 12. 16-Chris Henigan[24]; 13. J17-Jake Gallardo[13]; 14. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[23]; 15. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[12]; 16. 20Q-Cole Queensland[15]; 17. 54-Carlos Ahumada Sr[4]; 18. 97-Cade Dillard[9]; 19. 88-Nathan Smith[8]; 20. 24-Rick Ortega[2]; 21. 37-John Neal Reid[22]; 22. 75-Terry Phillips[21]; 23. 80XX-Jason Langford[14]; 24. G17-Fito Gallardo[20]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 420-Rodney Sanders[2]; 2. 54-Carlos Ahumada Sr[4]; 3. 127-Paden Phillips[6]; 4. 24-Rick Ortega[11]; 5. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[10]; 6. 37-John Neal Reid[3]; 7. 16B-Kaylin Lopez[12]; 8. 721-Troy Gemmill[5]; 9. 77X-Austin Kuehl[1]; 10. 2G-Troy Girolamo[8]; 11. J7-Jake Boles[7]; 12. 22B-Rick Beebe[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Nathan Smith[1]; 2. 12-Jay Rosales[3]; 3. 111-Bumper Jones[6]; 4. 77-CJ Hulsey[8]; 5. 5-Reece Solander[4]; 6. 51T-Joseph Thomas[10]; 7. 16-Chris Henigan[11]; 8. 44-Christy Barnett[9]; 9. 5X-Ryder McCutcheon[2]; 10. 64-Casey Fowler[12]; 11. 11-Lucas Ward[7]; 12. 39-David Gonzales Jr[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 2. J17-Jake Gallardo[2]; 3. 20Q-Cole Queensland[4]; 4. 65-Tyler Davis[6]; 5. 58X-Gary Christian[11]; 6. 9R-Jimmy Ray[7]; 7. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[10]; 8. G17-Fito Gallardo[8]; 9. 32-Max Sadler[5]; 10. 157-Joel King[3]; 11. 15L-Chris Lewis[9]; 12. 17-Peyton Gallardo[12]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[6]; 2. 80XX-Jason Langford[2]; 3. 3J-Josh Cain[3]; 4. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[4]; 5. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[11]; 7. 131-Royal Jones[10]; 8. 96C-Carson Ditsch[7]; 9. 2SS-Mark Smith[8]; 10. D25-David Tanner[5]; 11. 37T-Coty Tanquary[9]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 65-Tyler Davis[1]; 2. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[3]; 3. 75-Terry Phillips[6]; 4. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[4]; 5. 5-Reece Solander[5]; 6. 44-Christy Barnett[7]; 7. 721-Troy Gemmill[9]; 8. 17-Peyton Gallardo[15]; 9. 5X-Ryder McCutcheon[11]; 10. D25-David Tanner[12]; 11. 32-Max Sadler[10]; 12. 37T-Coty Tanquary[13]; 13. 39-David Gonzales Jr[16]; 14. 96C-Carson Ditsch[8]; 15. 51T-Joseph Thomas[2]; 16. J7-Jake Boles[14]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 131-Royal Jones[4]; 2. G17-Fito Gallardo[7]; 3. 37-John Neal Reid[6]; 4. 16-Chris Henigan[3]; 5. 16B-Kaylin Lopez[2]; 6. 9R-Jimmy Ray[5]; 7. 15L-Chris Lewis[12]; 8. 11-Lucas Ward[14]; 9. 157-Joel King[13]; 10. 2G-Troy Girolamo[10]; 11. 22B-Rick Beebe[15]; 12. 3J-Josh Cain[1]; 13. 64-Casey Fowler[8]; 14. 2SS-Mark Smith[9]; 15. 77X-Austin Kuehl[11]

X-Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 44-Christy Barnett[1]; 2. 93-Greg Gorham[2]; 3. 1S-Scott Bintz[6]; 4. 7-Shayne Bailey[18]; 5. 3J-Josh Cain[11]; 6. 25K-Kale Murphrey[5]; 7. M17-Rob Moseley[21]; 8. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[4]; 9. 33-Justin Allen[10]; 10. 07-Donavon Flores[20]; 11. 12M-Mike Rosales[7]; 12. 40D-Blake Adams[17]; 13. 5-Steve Holzkamper[9]; 14. 02-Deuce Teague[3]; 15. 28-Aiden Frazier[22]; 16. G3-Brian Craighead[12]; 17. 23B-Israel Ortega[19]; 18. 10-Bryan Bennett[23]; 19. 57-Duke Erickson[16]; 20. 510-Cody King[15]; 21. 71-Nate Reinke[13]; 22. 3-Dickie Gorham[14]; 23. 7S-Hunter Sandy[8]; 24. 23T-Coty Tupper[24]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1S-Scott Bintz[1]; 2. 25K-Kale Murphrey[4]; 3. 44-Christy Barnett[10]; 4. G3-Brian Craighead[7]; 5. 10-Bryan Bennett[5]; 6. 28-Aiden Frazier[8]; 7. 25-Josh Baucom[3]; 8. 81-Devon Jobin[9]; 9. 12-Isiah Mendoza[11]; 10. 96-Cale Riggs[2]; 11. 22-Keenan Glasser[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12M-Mike Rosales[1]; 2. 33-Justin Allen[3]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 4. 23B-Israel Ortega[4]; 5. 3-Dickie Gorham[8]; 6. 510-Cody King[10]; 7. M17-Rob Moseley[11]; 8. 345-Jimmy Downs[5]; 9. 14-Dawson Manicki[9]; 10. M77-Cameron Martin[6]; 11. 102-Leonidas Tanner[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7S-Hunter Sandy[1]; 2. 3J-Josh Cain[3]; 3. 71-Nate Reinke[4]; 4. 5-Steve Holzkamper[8]; 5. 21C-CLINT ARTHUR[2]; 6. 562-Craig Walker[5]; 7. 23T-Coty Tupper[7]; 8. 00-Joseph Swearingen[10]; 9. 161-Remington Budd[11]; 10. 37-Robert Trujillo[6]; 11. 21R-Riella LaRae Fanning[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[3]; 2. 93-Greg Gorham[6]; 3. 02-Deuce Teague[8]; 4. 07-Donavon Flores[4]; 5. 7-Shayne Bailey[7]; 6. 57-Duke Erickson[10]; 7. 27-Andy Davis[9]; 8. 25C-Cory Polen[2]; 9. 23-Kyle Nanco[5]; 10. CP3-Nathaniel Cruz[1]; 11. 23H-Hector Barraza[11]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 23B-Israel Ortega[2]; 3. M17-Rob Moseley[3]; 4. 10-Bryan Bennett[4]; 5. 81-Devon Jobin[7]; 6. 21C-CLINT ARTHUR[5]; 7. 23H-Hector Barraza[12]; 8. 00-Joseph Swearingen[6]; 9. M77-Cameron Martin[11]; 10. 25C-Cory Polen[10]; 11. 161-Remington Budd[8]; 12. 96-Cale Riggs[13]; 13. 345-Jimmy Downs[9]; 14. CP3-Nathaniel Cruz[14]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7-Shayne Bailey[1]; 2. 07-Donavon Flores[2]; 3. 28-Aiden Frazier[3]; 4. 23T-Coty Tupper[6]; 5. 562-Craig Walker[5]; 6. 22-Keenan Glasser[14]; 7. 12-Isiah Mendoza[7]; 8. 27-Andy Davis[4]; 9. 21R-Riella LaRae Fanning[12]; 10. 14-Dawson Manicki[9]; 11. 25-Josh Baucom[8]; 12. 37-Robert Trujillo[11]; 13. 23-Kyle Nanco[10]; 14. 102-Leonidas Tanner[13]