(09-16-2017 Dacono CO) On a somewhat chilly late summer evening at Colorado National Speedway the Snap-On Tools Pro Truck division settled their championship by running a 30 and 40 lap feature event. While the first feature was incident free the second feature had enough drama and action to give the fans more than their monies worth. The Super modifieds also crowned their champ and the Legend cars put on a another fantastic show with a huge field of cars.
Snap-On Tools Pro Trucks
It’s always exciting when a division enters their final race of the year with a close points battle. The Pro Truck division is always one of the most competitive and they entered the night with two drivers tied for the top spot and another driver just 8 points back. All eyes were on Adam Deines and Michael Scott who were dead-locked in a tie for points. Curtis Heldenbrand also had designs on the championship sitting just 8 points back in 3rd place.
It would take two feature events to figure out who would be speaking on the podium at the awards banquet. In the first feature it seemed like all the drivers were simply playing it safe as there wasn’t much passing or action to speak of. Almost predictably the top 3 drivers would finish 1, 2, 3 with Deines winning and Scott and Heldenbrand in 2nd and 3rd.
#7 Adam Deines cruises to the win in the first of two Pro Truck feature events (Starr photo)
The second and final feature was the complete opposite of the first as it was filled with action and drama. Deines and Scott would start side by side way back in the 4th row. At the beginning of the race #36 Matt Burton grabbed the early lead but Heldenbrand was making daring moves as he maneuvered his way to the front.
As Deines and Scott were working their way to the front contact between to the two caused Scott to spin in turn 3. It was hard to tell if Scott came down on Deines or if Deines simply got into the back of Scott. Fans will likely argue what actually happened for the duration of the off-season. Deines was sent to the rear but Scott’s fate was much worse as his car was clipped by another truck during the incident causing major damage to his truck. While Scott was able to continue his chances of a top finish were essentially over. Deines was also given a 4 position post race penalty by NASCAR officials for the incident.
Michael Scott’s truck sustained major damage in a early race incident in turn 3 (Starr photo)
At this point in the race Heldenbrand was leading and actually had the championship lead based on the 7 and the 82 being at the rear of the field.
Yet Deines was clawing his way back to the front and each time he passed another driver it diminished Heldenbrand’s chances at a storybook ending to the season. Not on that but now #34 Rudy Vanderwal was pushing the #9 truck for the lead. After a late race caution Vanderwal and Heldenbrand were side by side. As the two trucks exited the final corner of the final race they leaned on each other and drag-raced to the line with Vanderwal taking the win by inches as Heldenbrand spun past the checkered flag win dramatic fashion.
At the finish Vanderwal edges out Heldenbrand for the win (Starr photo)
As the dust settled and the CNS crowd tried to catch their breath it was Vanderwal with the exciting feature victory and Adam Deines snagging the Pro Truck championship via his 7th place finish which placed he and Heldenbrand tied in the final points standings. Deines wins the tiebreaker and championship due to the fact he has 3 main event wins on the season while Curtis had only one. #33 Tyler Davis also crashed at the checkered flag but his 11th place finish was enough to send him home the 2017 rookie of the year.
Rudy Vanderwal celebrates in winner’s circle at CNS (Starr photo)
Adam Deines is the 2017 Pro Truck champion.
30 Lap FEATURE: #7 Adam Deines 40 Lap FEATURE: #34 Rudy Vanderwal QUICK TIME: #82 Michael Scott 17.405
Supermodifieds
Luke Johnson in the 1j did a marvelous job holding off the rest of the Supermodified field for the first third of the final race of 2017. Ricky Otts, Chris Sheil and Randy Whitman were all eager for a good finish as they were locked in a tight points battle heading into the night.
Luke Johnson led the early part of the Supermodified feature (Starr photo)
Sheil’s luck would turn sour as his #33 Supermod would blow a motor on the back straight and eventually park in turn 3. On the restart Johnson remained the leader until Randy Whitman made a daring outside pass on Otts and Johnson going 3-wide coming out of turn two.
Whitman flexed his muscle building a lead on the field but Otts made a late charge and caught Whitman for the lead. The two cars battled side by side with Otts down low and Whitman up top. On the final lap the leaders approached two lapped cars and Whitman had to back off the throttle as there just wasn’t enough room for everyone to get through. Otts took advantage of the situation and bolted out front all alone to take home the exciting win as well as the season championship.
Ricky Otts celebrates the win and the championship (Starr photo)
CHAMPION: #13 Ricky Otts
Legend Cars
It wasn’t championship night for the Legend cars but you couldn’t tell that from the action on the track. 27 Legend cars took the green flag and Lakewood Colorado’s Adam Pechman in the #25 car assumed the early lead. In the first 3 laps the lead changed hands several times as Pechman, Darrell J Stewart, Cody Dempster and finally Chris Eggleston all took turns leading the race.
The Legend Cars lineup for their feature event (Starr photo)
Once Eggleston had the lead he would never relinquish it and go on to take the win. Kyle Clegg would hound Chris the entire race but never be able to make a move to get by for the lead. Behind Eggleston and Clegg, Danny Medina in the #15 car would take home 3rd place and Stewart and Dempster would finish 4th and 5th.
Chris Eggleston in winner’s circle at CNS (Starr photo)
Kyle Clegg will take his large point lead into the final race of 2017 on Challenge Cup Saturday October 7th
FEATURE: #22 Chris Eggleston FAST DASH: #66 Kyle Clegg DASH: #27 Ray Oakley QUICKTIME: #66 Kyle Clegg 18.746
DEMOX
OFFICIAL RESULTS
30 Lap Pro Truck Feature Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 7 Adam Deines Longmont 2. 82 Michael Scott Cheyenne 3. 9 Curtis Heldenbrand Arvada 4. 8 Jeff Walbaum Brighton 5. 6D Rick Duckworth 6. 5W Troy Witthar Eastlake 7. 34 Rudy Vanderwal La Salle 8. 36 Matt Burton Englewood 9. 04 Bobby Durand Thornton 10. 33 Tyler Davis (R) Thornton 11. 11J Steve Johnson Loveland 12. 49 Chris Cox 13. 07 Adam Hilton 14. 65 George Green Firestone
40 lap Pro Truck Feature Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 34 Rudy Vanderwal La Salle 2. 9 Curtis Heldenbrand Arvada 3. 8 Jeff Walbaum Brighton 4. 49 Chris Cox 5. 5W Troy Witthar Eastlake 6. 36 Matt Burton Englewood 7. 7 Adam Deines Longmont 8. 6D Rick Duckworth 9. 11J Steve Johnson Loveland 10. 07 Adam Hilton 11. 33 Tyler Davis (R) Thornton 12. 04 Bobby Durand Thornton 13. 65 George Green Firestone 14. 82 Michael Scott Cheyenne
Supermodifieds Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 13 Ricky Otts New Caney TX 2. 34 Randy Whitman Ft. Collins 3. 02 Johnny Pickard Pueblo 4. 11 Tom Adler 5. 18 Cody Curry 6. 1j Luke Johnson Bennett 7. 52 Floyd Schiller Hudson 8. 33 Chris Sheil
Legend Cars Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 22 Chris Eggleston Thornton 2. 66 Kyle Clegg Westminster 3. 15 Danny Medina Colorado Springs 4. 30 Darrell J Stewart Arvada 5. 48 Cody Dempster Parker 6. 3 Wayne Barlock Jr Peyton 7. 6 Scotty Scott Arvada 8. 32 Blair Cooper Arvada 9. 05 Nick Cooper Loveland 10. 13 Jason Hulvey Thornton 11. 46 Zach Witherwax Arvada 12. 25 Adam Pechman Morrison 13. 23 Austyn Radosta Pueblo 14. 51 AJ Canda Castle Rock 15. 16 Travis Roe Thronton 16. 03 Darrell L Stewart Arvada 17. 19 Larry Pachello Arvada 18. 08K Krystal Faulkingham (R) Westminster 19. 9 Terry McBride Edgewater 20. 33 Dean Kallas Golden 21. 56 Matthew Ratzlaff Monte Vista 22. 26 Chris Brunker Lakewood 23. 34 Al Matthews Frederick 24. 20 Kynzer Riddell Westminster 25. 62 Roy Dunlap (R) Cheyenne 26. 27 Ray Oakley (R) Pine 27. 88 Paul Himler Erie