Colorado National Speedway was the place to be on Saturday night as a packed house was treated to some exceptional racing action and one of the best fireworks shows of the year in the General Air Labor Day Shootout event. The sun was out and the winds were calm as the track went hot for practice, and qualifying kept the growing crowd entertained until opening ceremonies. After a special invocation by Chaplain Jim Mitchell and a moving rendition of the National Anthem by Kelly Nelson, the heat races sorted out some early favorites with Rebecca Simpson, Tommy Roe, Walt Simpson Jr., and Jereme Wall taking home winner trophies for Dash and Mike Cox, Rick Smith, and Kyle Clegg winning the Fast Dash heats.
Those in attendance skipped the usual rush to the concessions during intermission in favor of Circle Drags – a bunch of civilians racing their own cars on the track 1 on 1 for some serious bragging rights. The biggest ever field of circle draggers included fast trucks, muscle cars, a few beaters, and in the end a Hot Hatch Ford Focus left them all in the dust – including a wicked fast Dodge Challenger Hellcat who just couldn’t match the traction of the all-wheel drive Focus.
After Circle Drags, the TBK Bank Super Stocks took to the track. Although tire conservation is the name of the game, the field didn’t disappoint and side by side battles kept everyone on edge. Despite hard charges by several competitors, no one had enough to catch eventual race winner Tim Coate in his #86 Chevy.
The Super Stocks were followed by the Elite Diesel Service Figure 8’s, and the crowd was treated to a master class by Jereme Wall, who led all 20 laps with hardly a challenge in his mirror. Two black flags and several spins in the back of the pack kept things interesting, but none could match Wall’s momentum into another win for 2021.
Next up were the Sunoco Grand American Modifieds, and a race that was dominated by the #51 of Kyle Clegg. Several cautions bunched up the field; one of which saw Landon Birney’s #37 machine sitting on top of the #13 of Darin Clark. Although Clark’s car was too damaged to continue, Birney was able to get all four wheels rolling and finished the race. Despite his best efforts, Ron O’Neil could never catch Clegg in the long run, and the #51 took the double checkered flags with a solid lead ahead of the pack.
After nearly 15 minutes of fireworks kept everyone glued to their seat, the Galitz Transportation Late Models showed the crowd why you never leave early from a CNS event. Side by side action define the first few laps before the #16 of Steve Mills was black flagged for rough driving after causing a wreck that collected the #48, #31, #88 and #48 cars. After a lengthy cleanup, the #98 of Lee Kemmit too the lead, but the #8 of Dan Alamaa was just too strong for the entire field and ended up taking the win with a full two second lead over the next closest competitor.
From all of us at CNS, thank you all for attending one of the best late season events in recent memory. We’ll see you all next week for the High Country Harley Davidson Ride 911 night!
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Late Models Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 8 Dan Alamaa Colorado Springs 2. 33 Christopher Buskirk Bayard NE 3. 98 Lee Kemmit Brighton 4. 6R Tommy Roe Thornton 5. 99 Sam Messerli Thornton 6. 44 Tommy Powers Pine 7. 40 Brandon Newey (R) Thornton 8. 48 Mikey Blackard (R) Lakewood 9. 31 Rick Smith Gering NE 10. 50 Justin McKeachie Aurora 11. 17x Mariah Boudrieau (R) Colorado Springs 12. 16 Steve Mills Colorado Springs 13. 88 Brad Skufca (R) Greeley CO
Grand American Modifieds Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 51 Kyle Clegg (R) Hudson 2. 0 Ron O’Neil Colorado Springs 3. 9 CJ Wilson (R) Penrose 4. 24 Nathan Gasser Fort Lupton 5. 17 Holly Clark (R) Colorado Springs 6. 2 Jim Douglas Colorado Springs 7. 89 Jacob Smith (R) Littleton 8. 82 Justin Karrol LaSalle 9. 12 Walt Simpson Jr Ryder ND 10. 41 Eric Vos Wheatridge 11. 4 Zach Mullins Greeley 12. 1G Dale Geist Colorado Springs 13. 37 Landon Birney Cheyenne 14. 13 Darin Clark Cheyenne DNS 6 Scotty Scott (R) Arvada
Super Stocks Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 86 Tim Coate Highlands Ranch CO 2. 3 Mike Cox Englewood 3. 32 Cody Milan Fort Collins 4. 1NE Troy Witthar Arvada 5. 90 Alex Rodriguez Phoenix AZ 6. 4 Chris Jordan Mead 7. 23 Jordan Abeyta Denver 8. 11w Scott Long Lyman NE 9. 49 Chris Cox Keenesburg 10. 21 Chris Nelson Arvada 11. 55 Damian Lockhart Hudson 12. 196 Robert Davey Erie 13. 98 Joel Perri Arvada 14. 45E Rebecca Simpson Colorado Springs 15. 60 Matthew Hill Brighton 16. 6 Ben Hendricks 17. M60 Morris Christner (R) Elizabeth 18. 53 David Noah (R) Lakewood 19. 13B Brandon Claiborn Lafayette DNS 19G Nathan Gasser DQ 15 Jereme Wall Commerce City
Figure 8s Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 15 Jereme Wall Commerce City CO 2. 2 Jeremy Jackson Denver CO 3. 17 Harry Livermore Jr Denver CO 4. 18 Dennis Stepanich III Thornton CO 5. 92 Jason Wall (R) Brighton Co 6. 78 Anthony Martinez Denver 7. 12 Harvey Webb 8. 67 Kaleigh Swenson (R) Strasburg CO 9. 1 Issac Martinez Denver CO 10. 7 Daniel Wood Greeley 11. 52 Jared Wall Commerce City 12. 38 Cassidy Creekmore Littleton CO 13. 64 Michael Kephart (R) Commerce City CO DNS 72 David Martinez (R) Denver