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Ebert’s 12th to fourth run highlights night one at Vado; Dillard & Rivera victorious

By Meghan Diemel, Editor
All The Dirt! Racing News

VADO, NM (January 6) - The annual Wild West Shootout began on Saturday, January 6, with a handful of WISSOTA racers on hand to race in the high desert, with mixed results.

In the X Mods, last year’s top performer, Kris Jackson, and Nick Rivera brought the field to the green flag for their first feature of their six-night stay at Vado Speedway Park. Rivera was the early leader with heavy pressure from Jackson. Reece Solander, Josh Cain and JC Morton completed the early top five, as Lisbon, North Dakota’s Nate Reinke held sixth.

With three laps down, Rivera began to put distance on Jackson, ahead of Solander, Morton and Cain in the top five. Reinke held strong in sixth, Jacob Hodges was seventh, Greg Gorham was eighth, Mike Rosales was ninth and Rob Moseley completed the top 10. It was status quo until six complete when Jaime Torres spun to bring out the yellow.

At the drop of the green, Jackson had a strong start to the high side of Rivera, but Rivera drove back out to lead lap one; Jackson then struggled to hang onto second. Solander was third, JC Morton was fourth and Cain was fifth. Reinke was still in sixth.

Rivera led Jackson out front with 15 to go, as a great battle between Morton and Solander broke out for third; Morton took the spot ahead of Cain, who had shuffled Solander back to fifth before the caution fell once again, this time for Jacob Hodges.

The first attempt at a restart was called back due to a spin in the back of the pack. During the caution period, Jackson limped to the pits with mechanical issues.

Rivera led the restart ahead of JC Morton, Cain, Solander, and Gorham. Nate Reinke continued to hold the sixth position.

Rivera continued to lead Morton, Cain, Solander and Gorham in the top five with 10 to go. Reinke, Mike Rosales, Christy Barnett, Dustin Smith and Hector Barraza completed the top 10. The field ground to a halt five laps later for Jesse Haynie, who limped car along the top side of the track to cause the caution.

Rivera held onto the lead following the restart with five to go. Morton was able to get a full car underneath Rivera heading into turn one, but ultimately had to settle back into line in second. Cain, Gorham and Solander held top-five spots, while Reinke was still sixth.

With one to go, Rivera maintained a healthy lead, but Jaime Torres and Brian Kleine got together in the back of the field, which set up a one-lap dash to the finish.

In the end Rivera was able to hold off the restart challenges of Morton for the win, his first-ever Wild West Shootout victory. Morton had to settle for second, ahead of Cain, Gorham, and Rosales in the top five. Reinke was sixth at the stripe, ahead of Solander, 18th-starter Barraza, 17th-starter Barnett and Mosely in the top 10.

The Modifieds were brought to green by Jacob Hobscheidt and Terry Phillips. After a caution for debris, Hobscheidt led lap one, while Phillips was second. Lucas Schott was third, Dillard had advanced two spots to fourth, and Johnny Scott was fifth.

With the top three along the bottom of the track two laps in, Dillard used top-side momentum to dive down under Schott and drove by for third. Dillard continue to stick to the high side and picked off Phillips one lap later for second. A yellow fell for Schott with five laps down and regrouped the field.

Hobscheidt led the field back to green, but it was just one lap before Dillard got by out front. Scott was third, Phillips was fourth, Xavier Ortega was fifth. Lake Shore, Minnesota’s Dan Ebert, who started 12th, was into sixth.

With Dillard dominating in the lead, Scott began to work Hobscheidt for second with 11 laps down. Phillips was fourth and Ebert moved his way into fifth one lap later.

With nine laps to go, Dillard was mired in heavy lapped traffic in both lanes. Two laps later Scott was able to work by Hobscheidt for second and took on the task of tracking down Dillard out front. Phillips was fourth, and Ebert was fifth. Four laps later, Phillips displaced Hobscheidt to fourth.

It was all Dillard out front to the checkered, as he picked up his second win of the night. Scott was second, Phillips was third, and Ebert got by Hobscheidt for fourth on the final lap. Sixteenth-starter Jake Gallardo was sixth, Fito Gallardo was seventh, Ortega was eighth, Steven Whiteaker, Jr. was ninth and Tyler Davis advanced nine spots to 10th.

SUMMARY

Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[6]; 2. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 3. T75-Terry Phillips[2]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[12]; 5. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[1]; 6. J17-Jake Gallardo[16]; 7. G17-Fito Gallardo[10]; 8. 24X-Xavier Ortega[8]; 9. 189-Steven Whiteaker Jr[11]; 10. 65-Tyler Davis[19]; 11. 71-Philip Houston[9]; 12. 4W-Tyler Wolff[13]; 13. 02-Tanner Mullens[18]; 14. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[14]; 15. 89-AJ Diemel[20]; 16. 3J-Lewis Jackson[7]; 17. 85-Austin Adams[4]; 18. 45-Chase Holland[22]; 19. 69-Lucas Schott[3]; 20. 58X-Gary Christian[17]; 21. 28-Tom Georges[21]; 22. 88-Chad Wheeler[15]; 23. 16-Chris Henigan[24]; 24. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[23]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 189-Steven Whiteaker Jr[1]; 2. 24X-Xavier Ortega[4]; 3. 5-Jon Mitchell[2]; 4. 58X-Gary Christian[6]; 5. 7G-Gabe Hodges[8]; 6. D25-David Tanner[5]; 7. 12-Paul Miles[3]; 8. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[9]; 9. 88S-Nathan Smith[7]; 10. (DNS) 96C-Carson Ditsch

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 60-Dan Ebert[1]; 2. J17-Jake Gallardo[3]; 3. 02-Tanner Mullens[5]; 4. 3J-Lewis Jackson[9]; 5. 65-Tyler Davis[7]; 6. 17-Peyton Gallardo[2]; 7. J7-Jake Boles[4]; 8. 24-Rick Ortega[6]; 9. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[8]; 10. 96-Taton Hansen[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[6]; 2. 28-Tom Georges[3]; 3. 37-John Neal Reid[1]; 4. 85-Austin Adams[10]; 5. 44-Christy Barnett[8]; 6. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[9]; 7. 37S-Spencer Rolenc[2]; 8. 9R-Jimmy Ray[7]; 9. 32-DJ Shannon[4]; 10. 77-CJ Hulsey[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 4W-Tyler Wolff[1]; 2. 71-Philip Houston[4]; 3. 16-Chris Henigan[3]; 4. 1ST-Johnny Scott[10]; 5. 131-Royal Jones[6]; 6. 20-Rodney Sanders[9]; 7. 34-Noah Daspit[8]; 8. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[2]; 9. 14BT-Blake Thornell[5]; 10. 33-Jaren Martin[7]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[1]; 2. T75-Terry Phillips[8]; 3. 69-Lucas Schott[10]; 4. 57-Duke Erickson[4]; 5. 07T-Randy Thornell[5]; 6. 27X-Calvin Iverson[9]; 7. 2SS-Mark Smith[7]; 8. 3-Javier Zapien Jr[2]; 9. 64-Casey Fowler[6]; 10. 28S-Ronnie Leathem Jr[3]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 89-AJ Diemel[1]; 3. G17-Fito Gallardo[6]; 4. 88-Chad Wheeler[8]; 5. 11N-Gene Nicholas[9]; 6. 45-Chase Holland[10]; 7. 75-Alan Sharpensteen[7]; 8. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[4]; 9. 71T-Billy Wilker[5]; 10. 111-Logan Drake[3]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 58X-Gary Christian[3]; 2. 65-Tyler Davis[6]; 3. 28-Tom Georges[1]; 4. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[16]; 5. 11N-Gene Nicholas[2]; 6. 57-Duke Erickson[8]; 7. 5-Jon Mitchell[5]; 8. J7-Jake Boles[13]; 9. 24-Rick Ortega[15]; 10. 32-DJ Shannon[20]; 11. D25-David Tanner[10]; 12. 07T-Randy Thornell[9]; 13. 44-Christy Barnett[4]; 14. 77-CJ Hulsey[21]; 15. 17-Peyton Gallardo[11]; 16. 71T-Billy Wilker[19]; 17. 75-Alan Sharpensteen[12]; 18. 64-Casey Fowler[18]; 19. 20-Rodney Sanders[7]; 20. 3-Javier Zapien Jr[17]; 21. 37S-Spencer Rolenc[14]; 22. 111-Logan Drake[22]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 02-Tanner Mullens[1]; 2. 89-AJ Diemel[2]; 3. 45-Chase Holland[9]; 4. 16-Chris Henigan[4]; 5. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[6]; 6. 7G-Gabe Hodges[3]; 7. 27X-Calvin Iverson[7]; 8. 37-John Neal Reid[5]; 9. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[15]; 10. 34-Noah Daspit[10]; 11. 131-Royal Jones[8]; 12. 96-Taton Hansen[19]; 13. 14BT-Blake Thornell[18]; 14. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[16]; 15. 2SS-Mark Smith[11]; 16. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[12]; 17. 12-Paul Miles[13]; 18. 28S-Ronnie Leathem Jr[21]; 19. 88S-Nathan Smith[17]; 20. 9R-Jimmy Ray[14]; 21. 33-Jaren Martin[20]; 22. 96C-Carson Ditsch[22]

X-Mods:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. AOS-Nick Rivera[2]; 2. 18-JC Morton[7]; 3. 3J-Josh Cain[6]; 4. 93-Greg Gorham[10]; 5. 12-Mike Rosales[12]; 6. 71-Nate Reinke[9]; 7. 5-Reece Solander[3]; 8. 23H-Hector Barraza[18]; 9. 44-Christy Barnett[17]; 10. M17-Rob Moseley[15]; 11. 21X-Tanner Kade[19]; 12. 5M-Eric McNutt[16]; 13. 07-Donavon Flores[20]; 14. 15A-Mike Anderson[13]; 15. 88-Andrew Fanning[14]; 16. 24-Shane McNutt[8]; 17. 44JT-Jaime Torres[23]; 18. M77-Cameron Martin[4]; 19. 21K-Brian Kleine[24]; 20. 65-Dustin Smith[11]; 21. 14J-Jacob Hodges[5]; 22. X15-Jesse Haynie[21]; 23. J2-Kris Jackson[1]; 24. 7C-John Carney[22]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. AOS-Nick Rivera[4]; 2. 88-Andrew Fanning[1]; 3. 14J-Jacob Hodges[7]; 4. 96-Dusty Riggs[3]; 5. 21X-Tanner Kade[5]; 6. 23H-Hector Barraza[9]; 7. 44-Christy Barnett[8]; 8. X15-Jesse Haynie[10]; 9. 94-Justin Garrett[6]; 10. 21-Jason Pool[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Nate Reinke[1]; 2. 12-Mike Rosales[2]; 3. 5M-Eric McNutt[3]; 4. 65-Dustin Smith[7]; 5. M17-Rob Moseley[8]; 6. 07-Donavon Flores[5]; 7. 19-Lucas Rodin[6]; 8. 21K-Brian Kleine[10]; 9. 25-Clayton Schroer[9]; 10. 05N-Jimmy Nicholas[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3J-Josh Cain[2]; 2. J2-Kris Jackson[9]; 3. 24-Shane McNutt[6]; 4. M77-Cameron Martin[10]; 5. 23B-Israel Ortega[7]; 6. 81-Devon Jobin[1]; 7. 28-Aiden Frazier[8]; 8. 21A-Andrew Hodges[3]; 9. 96V-Victor Barraza[5]; 10. 25K-Kale Murphrey[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Greg Gorham[1]; 2. 18-JC Morton[4]; 3. 5-Reece Solander[8]; 4. 02-Deuce Teague[2]; 5. 15A-Mike Anderson[9]; 6. 44JT-Jaime Torres[3]; 7. 7C-John Carney[10]; 8. 198-Jake Haddox[7]; 9. 40-Ruben Ortega[6]; 10. X0-Tyler Tallmon[5]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 44-Christy Barnett[4]; 2. 21X-Tanner Kade[3]; 3. X15-Jesse Haynie[5]; 4. 44JT-Jaime Torres[6]; 5. 23B-Israel Ortega[1]; 6. 198-Jake Haddox[8]; 7. 96-Dusty Riggs[2]; 8. 21A-Andrew Hodges[9]; 9. 25K-Kale Murphrey[12]; 10. 40-Ruben Ortega[10]; 11. X0-Tyler Tallmon[11]; 12. 81-Devon Jobin[7]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 23H-Hector Barraza[1]; 2. 07-Donavon Flores[3]; 3. 7C-John Carney[6]; 4. 21K-Brian Kleine[5]; 5. 19-Lucas Rodin[7]; 6. 96V-Victor Barraza[10]; 7. 05N-Jimmy Nicholas[11]; 8. 02-Deuce Teague[2]; 9. 21-Jason Pool[12]; 10. 94-Justin Garrett[9]; 11. 28-Aiden Frazier[4]; 12. 25-Clayton Schroer[8]