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Trantina, Smith and Woodie win during Friday night action at Central Arizona Raceway

By Meghan Diemel
ATD Editor

CASA GRANDE, AZ (January 31) - WISSOTA racers were back in the spotlight in a big way Friday night at Central Arizona Raceway, as three wheelman made their way to victory lane.

Jake Smith (Limited Mods), James Trantina III (Super Stocks), and Kaden Woodie (Stock Cars) all captured checkered flags following the fifth night of racing action in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Other winners included Dylan Thornton, Troy Morris III, and Ryan Peery.

The Super Stocks were the first class on track, led to green by Dexton Koch and Trantina for their 15-lap feature. Trantina was the early leader, followed by Koch, Jordan Henkemeyer, RC Geiss and Matt Sparby in the top five.

With three laps complete, Koch was right on Trantina’s bumper, giving him bumps in the turns from time to time. This allowed Henkemeyer to also close in on Koch.

One lap later they began to catch lapped traffic, heading into turn one nose to tail. Trantina continued to lead, but by just .277 seconds. Down the backstretch they were side by side during lap six. They came upon Alexa Sparby, with Trantina getting by her up top and Koch bottled up behind her along the low side. Henkemeyer drove by the slowed Koch along the top side into second.

Trantina continued to lead with six laps left on the board, with Henkemeyer drawing near as they continued to work past backmarkers. Koch quickly closed back in and as the trio entered turn one with five laps to go, a lapped car broke Trantina’s momentum and Henkemeyer drew alongside Trantina along the ultra high side. They were three wide with the lapped car down the backstretch, with Trantina pulling back out into the lead during the next lap. Koch shot to the inside of Henkemeyer to complete the lap and took second.

Trantina pulled back out to a half second lead at the checkered flags, taking the win ahead of Koch. Henkemeyer, Geiss, and Sparby were top-five finishers.

In the Late Models, Dylan Thornton and Laela Eisenschenk brought the field to the green flag. Thornton pulled away from the field quickly out front, with Eisenschenk in second and Denver Nickeson in third. A pair of WISSOTA National Champions in Ricky Weiss and Tyler Peterson battled side by side for fourth heading into turn one of lap two, with contact made and Weiss going around.

Thornton led back under green with just one lap on the board, as Eisenschenk held second ahead of Nickeson, Peterson and Josh Leonard in the top five. Peterson drove past Nickeson into third before a yellow for dustups farther back in the field brought the field under yellow.

With the green back out, Thornton continued to lead as Peterson drove by Eisenschenk to second. Nickeson held back Leonard for fourth.

Out front Thornton narrowly led Peterson, with Peterson driving by to complete lap six. Eisenschenk was third, Nickeson remained fourth and Leonard was fifth. Don Shaw was making his way to the front from his 11th starting spot.

Thornton went to the top of the track in turns one and two and raced past Peterson to regain the lead the following lap. A caution fell with eight laps scored for Shaw, who was slowed on the track.

Back under green, contact was made on the restart among the second-row starters down the frontstretch, with Peterson going around down the frontstretch in front of the rest of the field. At least nine cars were involved in the ensuing pileup. The track was cleaned and the field regrouped.

Thornton led the field back to green, Nickeson drove by Eisenschenk to second, with Chad Olsen displacing her another spot to fourth, and Leonard putting her back to fifth.

With Thornton continuing to lead, Olsen and Nickeson fought back and forth for second, exchanging sliders through the turns. Olsen took command with 12 to go, as Leonard got by as well to third, with Eisenschenk putting Nickeson back another spot to fifth.

The lead was more than five seconds for Thornton with nine laps to go, as he began to work his way through lapped traffic. Olsen was second, as Leonard was now under fire from Eisenschenk for third. She took the spot to complete lap eight.

With two lapped cars ahead of Thornton, he lost about a second off his healthy lead, but was able to clear the duo before the yellow fell again, this time for Karl Tipton.

Thornton was the leader for the restart, as Olsen and Eisenschenk battled for second. Leonard was fourth and Rob Mayea cracked the top five in fifth.

As Thornton drew away to a 1.7-second advantage at the checkered flags, Olsen narrowly held off Eisenschenk for second by .014 seconds. Leonard was fourth and Mayea was fifth.

Rob Moseley and Lucas Rodin were front-row starters for the Limited Modified feature. The start was all for naught, as Scott Bintz and another competitor ended spun in turn one and the field was quickly under yellow. Back under green, Moseley was the early leader, with Rodin close behind in second. Jarod Klein was third, while eighth-starter Jake Smith charged into fourth, and then displaced Klein for third. Scott Tofte was fifth, with two laps complete.

Three laps later Moseley continued to lead, with Rodin and Smith behind in the top three. Klein was fourth, and Tofte was under heavy pressure from Tyler Doell.

Three laps later Smith made his move past Rodin into second and looked ahead to Moseley, who was entering lapped traffic.

Using the high side of the track to catch Moseley, he pulled to the bumper with 10 to go, and was alongside Moseley one lap later. Moseley pulled back out with the lead, with Smith pressuring the No. M17 each lap. Smith dove down and made the pass for the top spot with five to go, as Moseley crossed him over but came up short to complete the 16th lap.

Smith had a bottleneck of lapped traffic to get through just ahead with three laps to go, but was able to make his way through the pack and drove on to the victory. Moseley, Rodin, Klein and Doell were top-five finishers.

Shelby Williams and Kaden Woodie set the pace from the front row for the Stock Car feature for their 20-lap feature. Woodie and Williams were side by side for the lead, as behind them the field was two and three-wide for positions in the top 10. Williams moved out to the lead, with Woodie second, Mike Albertsen third and Larry Brigner fourth. Jason Storbakken was fifth with three laps complete before the first yellow fell for a spun racer. Another yellow on the restart kept the field at a standstill.

Following the restart, Williams led the field with Woodie holding second ahead of Albertsen, with Brigner and Trevor Hidalgo in fourth and fifth.

Another yellow fell with 13 laps left on the board.

Williams was the leader back under green, with Woodie second ahead of a good battle for top-five spots among Storbakken in third, Albertsen who slipped back to fourth, and Todd Heinrich fifth two laps later.

At the halfway point Williams’ lead was just over one second, with Woodie in second ahead of Storbakken. Four laps later Williams was off the pace and Woodie was the new leader with just a handful of laps left on the board.

Woodie led Storbakken, Albertsen, Murdoch and Heinrich in the top five with three to go, and he held on through the final laps to take the victory. Storbakken was second, Albertsen finished third, Murdoch was fourth and Heinrich completed the top five.

The Sport Mods were brought to green by Eric Winemiller and Ryan Peery. After two first-lap yellows, Mark Martini was the early leader, followed closely by Peery in second. Another caution fell for a spin in turn four by Aaron Spangler.

Back under green, Martini continued to lead a battle for second between Peery and Spangler. Peery took second and went after Martini before another caution fell for a stalled racer on the backstretch.

Martini and Peery were side by side for the lead after the restart, as Peery had a strong run going on the high side. Martini held second close behind, with Kaden Woodie third, Jorddon Braaten fourth and Spangler fifth. Payce Herrera moved into the top five past Spangler before the yellow fell for another spin.

With 12 laps still on the board, Peery was again in the lead with Martini close behind. Woodie and Braaten continued to battle for third back and forth, and Herrera was fifth. Braaten got back past Woodie to third, before another caution several laps later brought the field back together with eight laps to go.

Peery took charge once again on the restart, with Martini side by side with Peery and Braaten door to door with Martini. Another caution fell for yet another spin.

Six laps were left for the restart, with Peery retaining the lead. Martini pulled to his inside to complete the lap, as he continued to try to gain the advantage on Peery in the corners. Braaten was third, Herrera was fourth, and Spangler was fifth with Johnson and Woodie right on his bumper for the top-five spot.

Peery took the win, with Martini second, Herrera third, Johnson fourth and Spangler fifth following a Braaten DQ.

The Modifieds closed out the program, led to green by Troy Morris III and Chaz Baca. Morris slid up the track on the start, bobbling his way into the lead ahead of Baca, Johnson, West Fargo, North Dakota’s Kollin Hibdon and Spencer Wilson in the top five. Johnson got loose up along the ultra high line, making contact with Wilson; the caution fell.

Back under green, Hibdon moved into second briefly as Morris continued to lead out front. He regained the spot from Baca to complete the second lap, which Baca then took back during lap three. Ian Whisler raced in fourth, while Kelsy Wedelstadt had cracked the top five with four laps complete. Another yellow fell with eight laps to go.

With the green back in the air, Morris set the pace in front of the pack, as Hibdon took second from Baca ahead of Whisler and Wedelstadt. Bryson Yeager then got by Wedelstadt to fifth to complete the lap.

Out front Morris slightly more than a one second lead ahead of Hibdon. Baca continued to hold third ahead of Whisler and Yeager.

Morris took the white flag, though he hit the wall to start the final lap. Hibdon couldn’t take advantage and Morris took the checkered flags, his third of the series. Baca, Whisler and Yeager were top-five finishers.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 19X-James Trantina III[2]; 2. 78K-Dexton Koch[1]; 3. 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[4]; 4. 9-RC Geiss[3]; 5. 81X-Matt Sparby[7]; 6. 81B-Doug Bolt[9]; 7. 4A-Allan Cleveland[10]; 8. 3T-Jon Tribble[8]; 9. 00-Jason Hobbs[6]; 10. X81-Alexa Sparby[11]; 11. 96-Darrin Biggs[12]; 12. 94-Matt Rice[13]; 13. 00B-Beau Brown[5]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 9-RC Geiss[1]; 2. 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[3]; 3. 00-Jason Hobbs[2]; 4. 81X-Matt Sparby[5]; 5. 81B-Doug Bolt[6]; 6. X81-Alexa Sparby[4]; 7. 94-Matt Rice[7]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 19X-James Trantina III[2]; 2. 78K-Dexton Koch[5]; 3. 00B-Beau Brown[3]; 4. 3T-Jon Tribble[4]; 5. 4A-Allan Cleveland[1]; 6. 96-Darrin Biggs[6]

Late Models:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[1]; 2. 10C-Chad Olsen[7]; 3. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[2]; 4. 85-Josh Leonard[6]; 5. 37M-Rob Mayea[12]; 6. 44*-Cole Schill[14]; 7. 2-Rusty Kollman[5]; 8. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[20]; 9. 11N-Denver Nickeson[4]; 10. 6T-Terry Carter[18]; 11. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]; 12. 11X-Austin Kuehl[23]; 13. 3X-Lyndon Bolt[13]; 14. 10G-Don Geist[24]; 15. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[16]; 16. 74-Karl Tipton[17]; 17. 7-Ricky Weiss[8]; 18. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[3]; 19. 42S-Don Shaw[11]; 20. 79-Jaden Christ[21]; 21. 11-Blaine Doppler[22]; 22. 22B-Bruce Duckett[19]; 23. 23-Matt Gilbertson[9]; 24. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Josh Leonard[1]; 2. 7-Ricky Weiss[2]; 3. 23-Matt Gilbertson[4]; 4. 37M-Rob Mayea[3]; 5. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[5]; 6. 44*-Cole Schill[8]; 7. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[6]; 8. 11X-Austin Kuehl[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[2]; 2. 11N-Denver Nickeson[4]; 3. 2-Rusty Kollman[6]; 4. 3X-Lyndon Bolt[3]; 5. 42S-Don Shaw[7]; 6. 22B-Bruce Duckett[1]; 7. 79-Jaden Christ[5]; 8. 11-Blaine Doppler[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[2]; 2. 38T-Dylan Thornton[5]; 3. 78S-Steve Stultz[1]; 4. 10C-Chad Olsen[8]; 5. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[4]; 6. 74-Karl Tipton[3]; 7. 6T-Terry Carter[7]; 8. 10G-Don Geist[6]

Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 07X-Troy Morris III[1]; 2. 48K-Kollin Hibdon[3]; 3. 75JR-Chaz Baca[2]; 4. 28-Ian Whisler[7]; 5. 33Y-Bryson Yeager[10]; 6. 82-Eston Whisler[11]; 7. 09-Kelsy Wedelstadt[6]; 8. 101-Luke Silber[20]; 9. 13B-Jess Brekke[16]; 10. 13-Jerry Flippo[17]; 11. 141-Matt Bonine[8]; 12. 413-Tate Johnson[4]; 13. 97TB-Tyson Blood[14]; 14. 33BY-Braxton Yeager[15]; 15. 58E-Aaron Elwess[19]; 16. 28H-Kolby Hannah[22]; 17. 77X-Mike Wedelstadt[13]; 18. 58-Devon Reed[18]; 19. 21-KC Dieckman[21]; 20. 23C-Chuck Grohnke[24]; 21. 11HB-Troy Householder[23]; 22. 118-Jesse Patterson[12]; 23. 01-Tyler Leach[9]; 24. 520T-Lukas Tellez[26]; 25. 75-Spencer Wilson[5]; 26. 16OZ-CR Eisenzimer[25]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 75-Spencer Wilson[3]; 2. 141-Matt Bonine[2]; 3. 48K-Kollin Hibdon[9]; 4. 97TB-Tyson Blood[1]; 5. 82-Eston Whisler[8]; 6. 33BY-Braxton Yeager[7]; 7. 13-Jerry Flippo[6]; 8. 520T-Lukas Tellez[5]; 9. 23C-Chuck Grohnke[4]; 10. 15S-Bill Slocum[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 07X-Troy Morris III[6]; 2. 01-Tyler Leach[2]; 3. 28-Ian Whisler[5]; 4. 77X-Mike Wedelstadt[4]; 5. 33Y-Bryson Yeager[9]; 6. 13B-Jess Brekke[7]; 7. 58E-Aaron Elwess[3]; 8. 21-KC Dieckman[8]; 9. 28H-Kolby Hannah[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 75JR-Chaz Baca[6]; 2. 09-Kelsy Wedelstadt[4]; 3. 413-Tate Johnson[8]; 4. 118-Jesse Patterson[5]; 5. 16OZ-CR Eisenzimer[3]; 6. 58-Devon Reed[7]; 7. 03C-Joseph Craft[2]; 8. 11HB-Troy Householder[9]; 9. 101-Luke Silber[1]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 13-Jerry Flippo[3]; 2. 58-Devon Reed[1]; 3. 58E-Aaron Elwess[5]; 4. 101-Luke Silber[12]; 5. 21-KC Dieckman[6]; 6. 28H-Kolby Hannah[11]; 7. 11HB-Troy Householder[4]; 8. 23C-Chuck Grohnke[10]; 9. 15S-Bill Slocum[9]; 10. 520T-Lukas Tellez[8]; 11. 16OZ-CR Eisenzimer[2]; 12. (DNS) 03C-Joseph Craft

Limited Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[8]; 2. M17-Rob Moseley[1]; 3. 19-Lucas Rodin[2]; 4. 77-Jarod Klein[3]; 5. 8-Tyler Doell[6]; 6. 28-Scott Tofte[4]; 7. 19X-James Trantina III[12]; 8. 73-Onyx Johnson[7]; 9. 7TG-Joe Docekal[5]; 10. 25-Adam Bohlman[10]; 11. 1SX-Travis Saurer[18]; 12. 13B-Jess Brekke[9]; 13. 75-Tyler Johnson[16]; 14. 79J-Chaz Baca[19]; 15. 001-Joseph Swearingen[11]; 16. 00T-Kyler Reynolds[22]; 17. 2-Ariel Mueller[17]; 18. 711-Payce Herrera[13]; 19. 562-Craig Walker[14]; 20. 0-Dakota Girard[23]; 21. 00-Jason Hobbs[21]; 22. 59-Travis Sutherlin[25]; 23. 83X-Garett Veldman[26]; 24. 3T-Jon Tribble[15]; 25. 65-Cory Wilder[24]; 26. 1S-Scott Bintz[20]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Lucas Rodin[2]; 2. 8-Tyler Doell[1]; 3. 28-Scott Tofte[6]; 4. 562-Craig Walker[3]; 5. 3T-Jon Tribble[4]; 6. 75-Tyler Johnson[7]; 7. 2-Ariel Mueller[9]; 8. 95-Ted Doell[8]; 9. 00-Jason Hobbs[5]; 10. 79J-Chaz Baca[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. M17-Rob Moseley[5]; 2. 7TG-Joe Docekal[2]; 3. 25-Adam Bohlman[1]; 4. 711-Payce Herrera[4]; 5. 001-Joseph Swearingen[7]; 6. 65-Cory Wilder[6]; 7. 59-Travis Sutherlin[3]; 8. 83X-Garett Veldman[8]; 9. 118-Dylan Patterson[9]; 10. (DNS) 00T-Kyler Reynolds

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Jarod Klein[2]; 2. 73-Onyx Johnson[1]; 3. 13B-Jess Brekke[3]; 4. 21-Jake Smith[6]; 5. 19X-James Trantina III[7]; 6. 0-Dakota Girard[4]; 7. 1S-Scott Bintz[8]; 8. 2J-Michael Egurola Jr[5]; 9. 1SX-Travis Saurer[9]; 10. 00T-Kyler Reynolds

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2-Ariel Mueller[1]; 2. 1SX-Travis Saurer[9]; 3. 79J-Chaz Baca[11]; 4. 1S-Scott Bintz[3]; 5. 00-Jason Hobbs[10]; 6. 00T-Kyler Reynolds[12]; 7. 0-Dakota Girard[4]; 8. 65-Cory Wilder[2]; 9. 59-Travis Sutherlin[5]; 10. 83X-Garett Veldman[7]; 11. 118-Dylan Patterson[13]; 12. 2J-Michael Egurola Jr[8]; 13. (DNS) 95-Ted Doell

Stock Cars:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 980-Kaden Woodie[2]; 2. 16-Jason Storbakken[8]; 3. Z3-Mike Albertsen[7]; 4. 7X-Casey Murdoch[11]; 5. 38-Todd Heinrich[6]; 6. 5M-Trevor Hidalgo[9]; 7. 5G$-Grady Clements[5]; 8. 3-Mike Tipton[16]; 9. 292-Kenny Hatfield[14]; 10. 93AR-Anthony Smith[13]; 11. 15X-Dennis Losing[10]; 12. 82-Shelby Williams[1]; 13. 7-Tyler Johnson[17]; 14. 22-Larry Brigner[3]; 15. 97-Ron Schreiner[4]; 16. 07-Eric Lloyd[12]; 17. (DNS) 85-Carlos Barraza

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 82-Shelby Williams[5]; 2. 5G$-Grady Clements[1]; 3. Z3-Mike Albertsen[3]; 4. 38-Todd Heinrich[6]; 5. 7X-Casey Murdoch[4]; 6. 15X-Dennis Losing[8]; 7. 85-Carlos Barraza[2]; 8. 93AR-Anthony Smith[9]; 9. 7-Tyler Johnson[7]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 22-Larry Brigner[2]; 2. 980-Kaden Woodie[6]; 3. 16-Jason Storbakken[1]; 4. 97-Ron Schreiner[8]; 5. 5M-Trevor Hidalgo[7]; 6. 07-Eric Lloyd[5]; 7. 292-Kenny Hatfield[4]; 8. 3-Mike Tipton[3]

Sport Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 21P-Ryan Peery[2]; 2. 4Q2-Mark Martini[3]; 3. 711-Payce Herrera[18]; 4. 75-Tyler Johnson[10]; 5. 16-Aaron Spangler[4]; 6. 980-Kaden Woodie[8]; 7. 7TG-Joe Docekal[20]; 8. 217-Tyke Miles[17]; 9. 79J-Joey Jock[19]; 10. 28-David Pitt[5]; 11. 47V-Virgil Mcarthur[9]; 12. 873-Taven Woodie[13]; 13. 14-Erick Barraza[16]; 14. 44-Eric Winemiller[1]; 15. 0-Dakota Girard[6]; 16. 216-Camron Spangler[11]; 17. 5O-Braydon Whitfield[12]; 18. 12RH-Robert Holmes[15]; 19. 118-Joseph Patterson[21]; 20. (DNS) 03-Kevin Risacher; 21. (DQ) 84-Jorddon Braaten[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Eric Winemiller[2]; 2. 84-Jorddon Braaten[1]; 3. 980-Kaden Woodie[4]; 4. 75-Tyler Johnson[5]; 5. 5O-Braydon Whitfield[6]; 6. 217-Tyke Miles[3]; 7. 711-Payce Herrera[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21P-Ryan Peery[2]; 2. 16-Aaron Spangler[4]; 3. 216-Camron Spangler[1]; 4. 47V-Virgil Mcarthur[6]; 5. 12RH-Robert Holmes[3]; 6. 14-Erick Barraza[5]; 7. (DNS) 79J-Joey Jock

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 4Q2-Mark Martini[2]; 2. 28-David Pitt[3]; 3. 0-Dakota Girard[5]; 4. 873-Taven Woodie[1]; 5. 03-Kevin Risacher[4]; 6. 118-Joseph Patterson[6]; 7. (DNS) 7TG-Joe Docekal