July 7, 2024 ~ Dacono, CO
Colorado National Speedway is probably the only place in the state where fast driving is supported by the Colorado State Patrol – at least, it was for the finale to our annual Sprint Car Spectacular on July 7th, 2024. A few showers rolled over the track throughout the night, but the CNS officials made sure the racing surface was dried in short order to get our show on the road. This set the stage for Winged Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks, Figure 8s, Trains, and Circle Drags on a rare Sunday at the track, accompanied by a striking fireworks show. And speaking of Circle Drags, good old ICE power prevailed against EV tech when a C5 Corvette outran a Tesla Cybertruck in its round, and Tony’s purple Subaru WRX claimed the night’s title. There was plenty of action on Sunday night, so if you weren’t lucky enough to be one of the fans in the grandstands who witnessed it live, well, the next best thing is to read about it all below.
CNS Winged Sprint Cars
Fast Dash – 10 Laps
Off to a breakneck start, the No. 22A of Bobby Santos – Saturday night’s winner - assumed the race lead, followed by the No. 14W of Aaron Willison in P2 behind him and the No. 33J of Jeff Montgomery behind that. Davey Hamilton Jr., wheeling the No. 14 machine, chipped away at Montgomery’s hold on third place, gaining in the corners but falling back on the straights. Hamilton had to settle for fourth as Santos continued to lead, while the No. 6G of Bryan Gossel and the No. 91 of Bryan Warf battled it out for the sixth position. Warf took the spot as Santos kept up his lead. He nearly had a big moment in Turn 2, squeezed up the track by a lapped car, but he saved it and managed to maintain his lead over Willison as the checkered flag waved.
Dash – 10 Laps
No. 68, driven by Mike Anderson leaped into first to lead the opening lap as the No. OH6 of Adam Hilton and No. 25 of Arie Luyendyk Jr. gave chase. Hilton bobbed on the backstretch, losing ground before impeding the racing surface, drawing a yellow. Then, disaster: under caution, Anderson’s engine expired while leading, putting an end to what could have been a dominating run as fire erupted around the engine block. He was able to exit the race car safely as CNS safety crews descended on the scene. This turned the lead over to the No. 36 of Jarett Burdett with Luyendyk in hot pursuit. Now in control of the race, Burdett shot under the checkers ahead of the pack for the Dash win.
The following drivers earned a place on the grid for the Feature upon conclusion of the Dash for a shot at the $10,000 prize:
· No. 36, Jarett Burdette
· No. 02, Hunter Stanley
· No. 25, Arie Luvendyk Jr.
· No. 6R, Ryan Land
· No. 27, Mike Hathaway
· No. 1, Natalie Waters
· No. 0, Drew Crenshaw
· No. 55, Gary Land
· No. 4S, Kevin Schramek
· No. 8A, Anthony Offutt
· No. OH6, Adam Hilton
· No. 50, Duane Zeinstra
Feature – 40 Laps
It all came down to this: 40 laps to send off the Sprint Cars for 2024. Right away, Warf shot into the top spot with the No. 15 of Eric Humphries and Hamilton trailing them. Santos lurked behind them both as he and Hamilton made short work of Humphries and set after the leaders. Hamilton rode right up on Warf’s rear bumper as they began to catch the tail end of the field just a few laps in. Willison also demoted Humphries, swinging close to the wall as he tried to avoid a lapped car. Warf and Hamilton rode side by side for a few laps, wearing each other out as they tried to settle it for the lead. Warf surrendered and fell back to P2 as Hamilton cleared him with ease. Then, two cars went around in Turn 2 on Lap 11, and a caution was waved. The field lined up doublewide behind Warf and Hamilton, but Hamilton easily got back to the point and stretched his lead. Santos looked for a way around Warf but got held up behind him for a few laps, and all the while, the entire field chased Hamilton as he once again nosed his way through slower traffic.
Sparks flew from beneath Hamilton’s machine in the turns as he showed the way. Warf and Santos got together slightly, finally giving Santos the advantage as he lit out after the leaders, but he had a lot of lapped traffic to clear if he wanted to go back-to-back. Willison, meanwhile, was on a quest of his own to claim the night’s purse for himself. A single car spun out in T1 and forced the field to slow under yellow once again. Under caution, Hilton suffered a flat tire and spun to the inside of Turn 3.
The restart pitted Willison and Hamilton against one another on the front row. This time, Hamilton had to settle for second as Willison whipped past him. As they fought, Santos waited, closing the gap on the leaders from third place. The 8A of Anthony Offutt started dragging something, spewing sparks as he came to a halt along the back stretch wall. Crews got to work hauling the damaged race car off track to clear the surface for the final 13 laps. When the race went green, it was the was the Willison v. Hamilton show on the front row again. Willison again got the advantage on the high side and set sail, even though Hamilton wasn’t keen on surrendering the position. A battle for the top spot shaped up as the two 14 cars outran the field, Hamilton looking to the inside of Willison in the turns, but Willison used the straightaways to stretch his lead. Then, trouble – Hamilton abruptly slowed and limped to the infield, handing the second-place position to Santos and third place to Warf. The race stayed green, and Willison had a few lapped cars between himself and Santos, which should have been a comfort, but his lead evaporated when two cars slammed together and went around in Turn 4. With two laps left, Willison had to restart alongside Santos with $10,000 on the line. Willison took control of the race and fended off Santos right to the checkered flag with Montgomery trailing in third place.
Quick Time: No. 22A, Bobby Santos, 13.450 seconds
Fast Dash: No. 22A, Bobby Santos
Dash: No. 36, Jarett Burdett
Feature: No. 22A, Bobby Santos
Rock ‘N’ Roll Brewery Pure Stocks
Dash – 10 Laps
Jostling on the start, the No. 64 of Justin Eisenhauer jumped into the lead while the pack fanned two- and three-wide behind him. No. 5, David Wilson, looked low and took over fourth place, while the No. 34 of Ronnie Johnson closed on Eisenhauer for the lead, until several cars made contact in Turn 1, just three laps in. Track crews quickly attended to the No. 10W of Gauge Witthar, which was disabled in the incident. Johnson tried to take command of the race on the restart but fell in behind Eisenhauer, while Wilson tried to fend off The No. 18Y of Justin Young for second, but their run was cut short by debris in Turn 4. When the race restarted, Eisenhauer and Johnson raced side by side for the lead, but Eisenhauer got a little loose and lost speed, allowing Johnson to get by. Eisenhauer spent the rest of the race trying to track Johnson down, but fell short at the line as Johnson took the checkers.
Feature – 25 Laps
The No. 15 of Brendan Knowles and No. 32 of Rick Phillips clung to each other’s doors heading for the first lap, and Phillips was the one out front at the line. Knowles settled into a restless P2, but he attempted to line up a shot at the lead, but before he had a shot at the lead, the No. 53 of Josh Hopkins headed straight into the Turn 2 wall and triggered a caution period. Phillips shot back to the lead when the race restarted with Wilson clinging to P2. As Wilson followed close in Phillip’s wake, The No. 78 of Mark Bremkamp spun out in Turn 4 and caused another yellow.
On the ensuing restart, Wilson saw his chance and rocketed into the lead, and now that he had it, he laid plenty of distance down on the field in his bright green machine. Johnson got right up on Phillips’ rear bumper with Knowles on the outside. Phillips got loose under the flag stand, giving Phillips an opening to pass. Further back, the No. 63 of Kenneth Bowlus went three-wide with Young and the No. 41G of Christopher Galvin for fourth. Bowlus made a big move, causing Phillips to drop back like a rock as Knowles suffered a flat tire, stalling in Turn 1.
Restarting alongside Johnson, Wilson dove to the inside, barely clinging to Johnson’s rear bumper, not letting up at all as they rounded the track, lap after lap. They were dead even as the No. 12S of Shawn Sulley stalked them both like a shark. Finally, Wilson got the advantage just as Witthar spun out, meaning Wilson would have to defend the lead on yet another restart. The race went green but it didn’t last long as debris littered the track and triggered a caution. Johnson dropped the hammer on the start but Wilson battled back on the inside, taking a small lead as he rounded the track. Neck-and-neck, the two drivers dueled it out on their way to the checkers. Wilson performed a perfect crossover move and stretched his lead out by a nose as he headed toward his first win ever at CNS to the delighted cheers of the fans.
Quick Time: No. 34, Ronnie Johnson, 19.891
Dash: No. 34, Ronnie Johnson
Feature: No. 5, David Wilson
Exhaust Pros Northglenn Figure 8s
Dash – 10 Laps
The No. 26 of Nick Martinez shot into the lead with the fast machines of Michael Wolfe Jr., No, 3, and Jereme Wall, No. 15 behind him. Meanwhile, the No. 52 of Jared Wall got into the back of the No. 08 of Travis Sanders and got him out of shape, but he recovered and maintained the position as Jared Wall tried to find another way around him. Martinez showed the way through the X with Jereme Wall in tow. Jared Wall got alongside Sanders and chased him through the turn, but had to settle for second as Sanders started working on Wolfe. Before he could make a move, Sanders’ engine went up in smoke and slowed near the wall on the frontstretch, spewing oil. After a cleanup, Martinez restarted up front, trying to outrun Jereme Wall, cutting in front of him to keep him at bay. Martinez held on to win the Dash.
Feature – 20 Laps
The No. 18 of Dennis Stepanich led the first lap, while behind him, the No. 52 of Jared Wall spun out heading into the X on the first lap. He was able to get it refired and rejoined the flow of traffic, but the caution waved anyway just as Wolfe overtook Jereme Wall for the lead. Wolfe lunged into the lead on the restart with Jereme Wall close behind. Jereme swung wide on the inside through The X and straight into the lead in short order. Wolfe wheeled back into P2 and tried to return the favor the next time through the crossroads but Jereme Wall held him off. Jared Wall, meanwhile, picked up four positions in one fell swoop on the restart in his steady forward march.
Four laps in, smoke began to show behind Stepanich as he fell victim to Martinez for third place. The field held formation for a few laps as slower traffic became a hazard in The X. Martinez caught Stepanich, who appeared to be struggling with his car. Jereme Wall pulled off a daring serpentine move with cars on both sides through The X, getting away unscathed as the crowd screamed their support. Behind him, Martinez shouldered his way into third as Wolfe began to fade.
Jereme Wall began to ditch the rest of the field, dodging through cross traffic as the slower cars slammed on their brakes to avoid him – he wasn’t letting off the gas, that’s for sure. He even began to put the back end of the pack a lap down. The runner-up Martinez did his best to track him down, getting within a car length as a lapped car slowed Jereme Wall up. Martinez lined up one last shot and slid in behind Jereme Wall, both dodging one last car in The X. The checkers waved over Jereme Wall with Martinez snatching up a hard-earned second place result. Jereme Wall swept the weekend taking both main events on the weekend.
Quick Time: No. 15, Jereme Wall, 27.321 seconds
Dash: No. 26, Nick Martinez
Feature: No. 15, Jereme Wall
Take 5 Oil Change Trains
Feature – 7 Laps
On Lap 1, No. 151 Crazy Train and No. 41G J&H Livestock Funny Farm got together, letting the No. 69 Neighborhood Complaint get away with the lead. Then, the No. 3 Anger Management and No. 91 J&H Livestock Friday Night Special stuck together in Turn 2, ending their run, while the No. 86 Last Call and Funny Farm pulled to the inside with apparent mechanical issues. The field was almost halved just two laps in, but the remaining Trains went full-send through The X. No. 80HD SNAFU overtook Neighborhood Complaint for the lead, racing each other as much as they raced trains on the opposite side of The X. No. 01 Dukes of Hazzard appeared to lose steering and clobbered the wall near the Turn 2 pit entrance. The race was red flagged to address the damage, and officials elected to throw the checkered flag over SNAFU as the leader, considering that over half the field had already been eliminated.
Feature: No. 80HD, SNAFU
We’re going to be thinking about the 4th of July Sprint Car races for a while yet! We’re always excited to have them on the schedule to accompany our incredible regular divisions and can’t wait for their next turn on track. We appreciate everyone who stuck out the weather on Sunday, but we all know it was worth it. We’d like to extend thanks to all the Sprint Car drivers and teams that trekked out to CNS to make this year’s event a massive success and we hope to see you next time. For the rest, there’s still quite a bit of racing left on the schedule for this year, so don’t miss out. Trust us. You’re going to want to spend your Saturday nights at CNS!
If you missed any of the nights action, check out the replay on Low Budget TV by clicking here.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Sprint Cars - 40 Laps
14W Aaron Willison - Duncan, BC CAN
22A Bobby Santos - Fishers, IN
33J Jeff Montgomery - Malahat, BC CAN
6G Bryan Gossel - Windsor, CO
15 Eric Humphries - Chowchilla, CA
91 Bryan Warf - Kuna, ID
6R Ryan Land - Lakewood, CO
02 Hunter Stanley - Twin Falls, ID
12B Monty Bergener - Saratoga Springs, UT
1 Natalie Waters - Grantsville, UT
36 Jarett Burdett - West Jordan, UT
16G Austyn Gossel - Windsor, CO
25 Arie Luyendyk Jr - Scottsdale, AZ
55 Gary Land - Lakewood, CO
86 James Dutton - Lutz, FL
16 Rob Grice - Nampa, ID
0 Drew Crenshaw - Nampa, ID
4S Kevin Schramek - Fountain, CO
14 Davey Hamilton Jr - Lutz, FL
8A Anthony Offutt - Portland, OR
OH6 Adam Hilton - Brighton, CO
27 Mike Hathaway - Falcon, CO
22L Corey Lockwood - Nampa, ID
50 Duane Zeinstra - Black Creek, BC CAN
Pure Stocks - 25 Laps
5 David Wilson
34 Ronnie Johnson
12S Shawn Sulley
41G Christopher Galvin
32 Rick Phillips
18Y Justin Young
63 Kenneth Bowlus (R)
1 Derek Spalding
53 Josh Hopkins
21 Madilyn Lange (R)
99 Dillon Meigs
7X Dustin Camp
9X Cole Baker
10W Gauge Witthar (R)
78 Mark Bremkamp
58 David VanDresser (R)
64 Justin Eisenhauer
6 Ben Hendricks
15 Brenden Knowles
42 Brandon McCormick
45 Shane Johnson
Figure 8 - 20 Laps
15 Jereme Wall
26 Nick Martinez
3 Michael Wolfe Jr
52 Jared Wall
71 Isaac Martinez
64 Michael Kephart
74 Sam Faus
6C Cody Palmore
18 Dennis Stepanich
67 Kylan Swenson
8 Cassidy Creekmore DNS 08 Travis Sanders
Trains - 7 Laps
80HD SNAFU
69 Neighborhood Complaint
151 Crazy Train
01 Dukes of Hazzard DNF 86 Last Call DNF 41G J&H Livestock Funny Farm DNF 3 Anger Management DNF 91 J&H Livestock Friday Night Special