Hults Takes the Mother’s Day Late Model Opener

Sunday, 10 May 2009 00:48

Dacono, CO – Colorado National Speedway Late Model Division

With only 7 laps to go, #42 Ronnie Hults surprised the throng of screaming fans with an amazing dash from a well earned 3rd position, to first place!

28 Late Models showed up for the big Mother's Day event. #12 Bruce “the Moose” Yackey, #31 Rick Smith, #27 Roger “the Ice Man” Avants & #54 Joe James Jr brought their A game to track as the top dogs in 2 intense qualifying bouts. When it came down to the 40 lap main event, the field had been thinned to 22 of the best Late Models in the Country.

#21 Mike Bowen took the pole with #54 Joe James Junior on the outside. Rick Smith and Avants sat pretty in row two with an eager Yackey inside row three.

On the first lap, Joe James Jr took an early lead only to be passed by Avants. Rick Smith vied for the lead but Avants kept him at bay. A spin out on the track resulted in a yellow flag and a double file restart.  Avants maintained the lead followed by Rick Smith, Joe James Jr and Bruce Yackey.

Yet another spin forced another double file restart. Smith and Avants lined up side by side. In an instant, Smith had taken over the lead! Red flag on the track - the action was broken up by a big crash on the front stretch. #78 Darren Crocker, #10 Tyler Crissinger, #21 Mike Bowen, #17 Paul Deines & #95 Chris Muhler all involved.

On the restart it was Smith followed by Yackey then Avants and then Ronnie Hults.

With a swift move, Hults got by avants taking 3rd.

Yet another yellow flag with only 7 laps to go. It was a single file restart led by Rick Smith, followed by Yackey, with Hults leading fast and furious Avants, Joe James Jr and #11 Darren Robertson.

With an incredible move on the outside, Hults jumped to the lead from the third spot!
Smith and Avants rode hot on his tail to no avail. Hults maintained his lead and took first place in one of the single most incredible finishes in the history of Colorado National Speedway!

1 #42 RONNIE HULTS, 2 #31 RICHARD SMITH, 3 #27 ROGER AVANTS, 4 #12 BRUCE YACKEY, 5 #54 JOE JAMES JR, 6 #11 DARREN ROBERTSON, 7 #61 CHRIS ARCHER, 8 #76 CHAD COWAN, 9 #91 CHRIS ATKINSON 10 #23 DAVIN FISBECK, 11 #48 ED VECCHIARELLI JR, 12 #03 HAPPY FERREE, 13 #95 CRISTOFER MUHLER, 14 #88 GREG FOWLER, 15 #78 DARREN CROCKER, 16 #66 DARREN BUCKLEN, 17 #21 MICHAEL BOWEN, 18 #33 EMETT GRAZIER, 19 #74 DAN SAVAGE, 20 #22 CHRIS EGGLESTON, 21 #17 PAUL DEINES, 22 #10 TYLER CHRISINGER, 23 #9 Nick Burton.

Pro Truck

12 trucks made it to the main event.

#32 Mark Neff was on the pole position, #07 Chris Leaf passed Neff on the outside. In defiance, Neff passed him back!  #1 Happy Ferree rocketed past Leaf for 2nd.  At Lap 5 Neff was still leading with Happy close behind. Try as he might Happy just couldn’t catch up to the lightning fast Mark Neff. At lap 12 Neff still lead Happy followed by Leaf, #74 Cristofer Muhler and #7 Adam Deines.

Things were tense at the halfway point as Neff held off Happy by only half a car length! Adam Deines broke out from behind Muhler and snuck under Chris Leaf taking 3rd place. Leaf didn’t make it easy for Deines, who quickly bobbled and fell back behind to 5th place.

At the finish it was #32 Mark Neff taking the win with Happy hot on his heals in second place. Leaf crossed the finish line a solid third and #74 Chris Muhler passed the checkered flag in 4th place.

1 #32 MARK NEFF, 2 #1 HAPPY FERREE, 3 #07 CHRIS LEAF, 4 #74 CRISTOFER MUHLER, 5 #7 ADAM DEINES, 6 #0 BILLY HARKINS, 7 #34 RUDY VANDERWAL, 8 #27 ROGER AVANTS, 9 #36 RICHARD BURTON, 10 #3 KEVIN THOMAS, 11 #15 MICHAEL BERNARD, 12 #51 CHRIS CARLSON

Figure 8

14 cars start the main event.
#24 Joe Martinez had an early lead and #90 John Johnson was right behind. Johnson got loose and #22 Joe Matlock got by for second. The two flip flopped as Johnson took second back. #52 Jared Wall and #66 John Martello couldn’t avoid each other and hit hard in the "X". Wally was able to continue but John's night was done.

Double file restart - #24 Joe Martinez won! Al Duran took second with John Johnson in third, followed by Joe Matlock and #17 Harry Livermore Jr.

1 #24 JOE MARTINEZ, 2 #23 AL DURAN, 3 #90 JOHN JOHNSON, 4 #22 JOE MATLOCK, 5 #17 HARRY LIVERMORE JR, 6 #26 NICHOLAS MARTINEZ, 7 #50 JUSTIN MCKEACHIE, 8 #95 EDDIE FLOYD JR, 9 #25 PHIL TAYLOR, 10 #52 JARED WALL, 11 #10 FRANK GASTINEAU, 12 #66 JOHN MARTELLO, 13 #03 BOBBY ZIKE, 14 #12 JAMES NARANJO

Super Stock

Emilio Abeyta was taken out early in the night after his 75 Super Stock hit the front straight wall extremely hard. Thankfully, he hopped out of the car unharmed but the car was completely destroyed.
28 cars started the Super Stock main event. #17 Jeremy Barclay shot ahead for an early lead. With so many on the track it was side by side racing, often times three wide in the corner.

Big crash on lap 4! Restart sees #36 Matt Burton in the lead with #00 Edwards hot on his tail.
Burton and Edwards raced side by side, lap after lap. Edwards took the lead just after the halfway point. Yellow flag – another double file restart. After the yellow flag #92 Alexander Grasso and #19 Scott Miller pass Burton. Edwards still led with 5 laps to go. Edwards won by a car length however, he was later disqualified for an illegal front end. Therefore #92 AJ Grasso took the win followed by #19 Scott Miller.

1 #92 ALEXANDER GRASSO, 2 #19 SCOTT MILLER, 3 #36 MATTHEW BURTON, 4 #7 DOUGLAS MCFARLAND JR, 5 #09 JOHN PATEE, 6 #30 CONNIE COX, 7 #58 TIMOTHY WEAVER, 8 #49 WILLIAM LESMERISES, 9 #52 DONALD PATTERSON, 10 #07 JOEL SIDELL, 11 #8 RYAN MOSER, 12 #23 GEORGE GALLEGOS, 13 #01 JASON MORRIS, 14 #02 CECIL SMITH, 15 #25 KATHEY CALKINS, 16 #80 MICKEY STEWARD, 17 #47 DONALD MCATEE JR, 18 #18 CHRIS PINELLI, 19 #39 JOHN NUGENT, 20 #83 JEFFREY MUNIZ, 21 #33 MICHAEL BUCK, 22 #21 JUSTIN PURVIS, 23 #46 RICHARD LOTHERT, 24 #3 MICHAEL COX, 25 #81 ROBERT FOSTER, 26 #17 JEREMY BARCLAY, 27 #15 JAMES MINOR

Trains

Six trains showed up to finish off the night and Turbo Train won a wild and wacky main event.

1 #11 WAYNE ACHZIGER, 2 #0 TOM JOHNSON, 3 #80 JASON SEAY, 4 #22 TWO TWO TWAIN, 5 #8 LEON ELLISON, 6 #25 TRAIN OF FOOLS