2025 Battle of the Fenders Delivers December Drama At CNS
- Alexandra Purcell
- 27 minutes ago
- 5 min read
December 13, 2025 - Dacono, CO
On December 13th, 2025, perfect weather welcomed fans to Colorado National Speedway for the season’s quirkiest event: the Battle of the Fenders. This annual thrill ride pits V8 race cars across pavement & dirt disciplines along with race trucks and four-cylinders. With $5,000 in prize money on the line, a field of 46 drivers took the green flag for the 300-lap race, and there was plenty of excitement at every turn – quite literally.
The No. 11 of Steve Johnson and the No. 30 of Lance Brandt showed the way to the green flag, but the No. 49 of surged ahead and took the lead by Lap 2. The No. 6J of DJ Banks matched him stride-for-stride, following him through the hole as the front-row starters plummeted. Banks pressured Cox for several laps as some slower cars bounced off each other and kept going. Banks saw his chance and ran around Cox, putting his number on top of the scoreboard – at least for a few laps.
The leaders herded each other through lapped traffic, and Cox fired back against Banks in a wild three-wide move to claim the top spot once more on Lap 14. 2024 winner Adam Kimler was caught in a multicar incident just one lap later, ending his chances early.
Jereme Wall’s No. 15 – the same race car that dominated the Figure 8s during the regular season – nosed into third place, stalking Banks and Cox for the lead. Banks stumbled through heavy traffic, allowing Cox to take control with Wall in hot pursuit. Wall saw his chance and got his nose ahead of Cox until lapped traffic held him up, giving Banks an opening to sweep past them both on the low side. Wall fired back, but the two made contact, sending Banks for a spin as Wall continued on. Banks gathered his race car up and rejoined the flow of traffic.
By Lap 52, only the top three drivers were still on the lead lap. Drivers still bounced off each other, slapping the wall and other race cars, but all were able to get their machines pointed back in the right direction and keep going. In perhaps the most dramatic incident of the race, Lance Brandt’s race truck was tagged and whipped around, catching air as he almost went over, but thankfully, all fours stayed on the ground. He retired to the infield briefly before rejoining the race, much to the crowd’s delight.
Up front – oblivious to the ever-growing parking lot of Christmas shoppers seemingly converging in the infield - Wall continued to set a blistering pace, gapping Cox with Banks still in P3. Banks was in danger of going down a lap, driving like he was racing for the lead just to keep Wall behind him. However, he succumbed to the leaders and went a lap down, leaving Wall and Cox as the only two drivers who hadn’t been lapped.
A minor incident involving two cars saw them both get stuck in Turn 3 for a few harrowing laps before the red flag was thrown to clear one from the racing surface. Wall still held the lead as he and Banks battled alongside each other, splitting lapped cars, though Banks was ranked third, one lap down. Cox started to lose ground, too, but rallied back and started to cut Wall’s lead at the halfway mark.
After a brief intermission, the green dropped on Lap 150. Banks got one of his laps back after the restart, and Wall took the lead as Cox became mired behind several lapped cars. However, Cox made contact with a competitor and cut a tire, forcing him to pull off and handing P2 to Banks. Cox returned several laps later but was no longer on the lead lap. Banks also went several laps down as Wall set a blistering pace up front, although Banks didn’t make it easy to keep him pinned, pressuring Wall as the race wore on.
Another incident involving No. 16, Tommy Gess driving a 4-cylinder car struck on Lap 195 when he made contact with the No. 6OH of Mahkrysta Hilton. Hilton pushed Gess through Turn 3 after the slight contact, trying to guide them all off the track safely, but they needed a little help from the yellow track truck to make it to the pit entrance – all while the race stayed green. Wall maintained the lead with Banks in P2, and Cox rallied back to third place.
By Lap 215, the field was strung out. Wall began to face the challenge of navigating heavy traffic, allowing Banks and Cox to start chipping into his lead. Cox seemed to be the only driver still making big moves as the laps ticked down as Wall had to back down his pace a bit. Banks managed to get back another lap, however he remained one lap down and ran out of laps to make something of his pace. It would be Wall well ahead of the rest of the pack at the line, winning his second Battle of the Fenders and taking home the coveted $5,000 prize, compliments of Buckeye Welding. Second-place Banks was awarded $1,750 from Builders Inc., while P3-finisher Cox bagged some prize money and an Adams Polish Detail Cart.
We always have a blast at BOTF! Anything to break up the offseason, right? We appreciate your patience with having to reschedule this event not once, but twice. Clearly, Jack Frost isn’t a race fan, but we finally made it work! We’re thankful to the fans who came out to watch this somewhat unorthodox event, along with the drivers and crews who put together the machines to make it happen, along with our partners and employees who kept things running smoothly. That’s a wrap on racing at CNS in 2025 for good, and we look forward to seeing everyone in Spring 2026 for the start of our regular season!
Special Thanks to All Our Sponsors:
CLASS WINNERS:
A Class ($5,000) - 15 Jereme Wall
B Class ($500) - 18C Ryan Moser
C Class ($500) -
OFFICIAL RESULTS
15 Jereme Wall - $5,000 Buckeye Welding & $100 Adams Polishes Card Box + Halfway Home Winner from Appelhans Designs ($500) + Lodge & Gilpin Casino Gift Certificate
6J DJ Banks - $1,750 from Builders Inc
49 Chris Cox - $600 + $800 Adams Polishes Detail Cart
18C Ryan Moser - $400 + $550 MATCO Tools Cordless Ratchet
8 Adam Hilton - $500 Uptown Speed Shop
OH6 David Wheeler - $250 + $400 Adams Polishes Pressure Washer
04B Bobby Durand - $200 + $350 Adams Polishes Compact Pressure Washer
19Y Justin Young Jr - $150 + $350 Exhaust Pros Northglenn Gift Certificate
12S Shawn Sulley - $150 + $300 Adams Polishes Air Cannon
5T Zayne Tatro - $125 + $250 Gift Certificate to Grease Diva Garage
52 Jared Wall - $100 + $250 Gift Certificate to Grease Diva Garage
47 Richard Murr - $75 + $250 Gift Certificate 5280 Pit Lighting
02 Jessi Dike - $75 + $210 Adams Polishes Detail Kit
03 Justin Eisenhauer - $50 + $200 Gift Certificate to Eclipse Wraps & Graphics
18Y Justin Young - $25 + $100 AAA Services Gift Certificate
18L Liam Hammond
16 Adam Kimler
40T Travis Brandt
4G Brian Galvin
19B William Brack
64M Morgan Eisenhauer
5 Jeff Meeker
1S Derek Spalding
99K Jesse Knight
21 Jay Hill
00 Dylan Jaramillo
92 AJ Grasso
15F Sean Frank
6OH Mahkrysta Hilton
99 Brent Cave/Wyatt Dent
63 Kenny Bowlus
16G Tommy Gess
30 Lance Brandt
37 Jimmy Renfro III
31 Tristan Mathiesen
88 Jacob Poole
81 Ayden Woolington
41G Topher Galvin
3M Joshua Downey
152 Nic Wall
99JR Ryan Raley
11 Steve Johnson
90 Lee Kemmit
18 Ed Vecchiarelli
69F Sean Fry
93 Kyle Pandullo
