NW Outlaw Figure 8s Presented By GTI Golf Cars Night A Whirlwind At CNS

July 29th, 2023 (Dacono, CO)

The Northwest Outlaw Figure 8 racers head to Colorado National Speedway every so often, and on Saturday, July 29th, 2023, they once again made the rounds through The X, pitting out-of-towners against some familiar local faces. They were backed by adrenaline-inducing performances by the Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, and Pure Stocks, heating up the action for a terrific crowd of fans – arguably the best in the state, and all of motorsports. To spice things up, CNS deviated from the typical Feature lineup, giving each division two Feature events that proved a boost toward the overall championship points.

Outlaw Figure 8 Group Photo Colorado National Speedway 7-29-23

Outlaw Figure 8s

Dash – 10 Laps

The No. 97 of Adam Gastineau spun from the lead not long after the race started, allowing the No. 767 of James Corbett to take control of first place. When the green dropped, the No. 71 of Nick Holton surged ahead of the pack to take P1, followed closely by the No. 51 of Ryan Clark. The No. 767 of Corbett fought with the No. 98 of Richard Shanebrook for third place, and the latter captured the position in Turn 4 before heading through The X. The No. 71 of Holton opened a slight lead on the No. 51 of Clark, maintaining the top spot until the checkers fell.

Fast Dash – 10 Laps

The No. 74 of Chris Curtis took off early. The No. 21 of Rod Proctor spun in Turn 2 just three laps in but was able to keep it out of major trouble and the race stayed green. The No. 15 of Jereme Wall charged through the pack to catch the No. 74 of Curtis, though the latter was able to keep a safe distance between them. Curtis was able to guide the No. 74 to Victory Lane by a large margin at the line, ducking between cars through The X on his way to the win.

Feature – 50 Laps

The No. 74 of Curtis started up front alongside the No. 21 of Proctor, but P2 went to Wall’s No. 15 shortly after the green flag dropped as he charged through the field. Just two laps in, he was already looking to the inside of the leader, clawing to the top of the board just three laps in, while the No. 83G of Zack Larson galloped into third place. Chaos struck on Lap 5 in The X, as the No. 74 of Curtis, who was running second at the time of impact, struck a competitor. On the restart, Wall’s No. 15 took the green next to the No. 83G of Larson, nosing ahead to get to first place once again. The No. 7 of Austin Tunny sliced his way into third place behind them, but didn’t have time to catch the leaders, as the No. 71 of Holton slowed in Turn 2 and brought out a caution. The No. 15 of Wall easily nosed ahead of the pack once again when the race restarted, followed by the No. 83G of Larson. Meanwhile, Chris Cox’s No. 49 had zig-zagged into fifth place, stalking the top four as the field strung out single-file. The action in The X allowed the No. 7 of Tunny to demote Larson’s No. 83G from P2 and began pressuring the No. 15 of Wall for the top spot. White smoke began to billow from the wheel well of Wall’s No. 15 as he charged out of Turn 1 and through The X, the result of a tire rub. The No. 7 of Tunny took advantage of Wall’s misfortune and dethroned the No. 15 from the lead, putting quite a bit of real estate between the two as Wall continued to struggle with his ailing car.

The No. 7 of Tunny then set sail, dodging very small gaps in The X as he lapped the tail end of the field. Wall managed to hold onto P2 in the No. 15, while the No. 83G of Larson maintained P3, although he soon found himself under fire from the No. 3D of Steve Durham. Just as things were getting tight between the No. 15 of Wall and the No. 83G of Larson for P2, the No. 21 of Proctor spun in The X, forcing the No. 7 of Tunny to take evasive action – and run right over a tire barrier in the infield. Once the tires were loosened from the No. 7, Tunny was allowed his spot back, while Wall finally took the No. 15 to the pits to address his tire rub. The No. 83G of Larson and the No. 7 of Tunny restarted up front. The No. 49 of Cox contacted the No. 676 of Ricky Deitz, damaging the latter while the former continued on. Tunny continued his dominant run, throwing the No. 7 race car through The X and widening his lead over P2. He was uncontested to the checkered flag with the only danger occurring in The X as the tail end of the field got strung out, and Tunny’s No. 7 celebrated by doing burnouts in the crossroads after the race was through.

Quick Time: No. 74, Chris Curtis

Dash: No. 71, Nick Holton

Fast Dash: No. 74, Chris Curtis

Feature: No. 7, Austin Tunny

GTI Services Late Models

Feature 1 – 15 Laps

Twenty-three LM competitors followed the No. 116 of Adam Kimler and the No. 60 of Rick Duckworth to the green flag. The field stacked up as the No. 18 of Casey Wiggans hammered the rear bumper of the No. 60 of Duckworth, allowing Kimler’s No. 116 to get a comfortable lead. The No. A51 of Matthew Hill started to reel in the No. 60 of Duckworth for P2, while fast cars were trapped in the pack and forced to navigate slower cars to get to the front. The No. 21G of Mike Gallegos cut the distance between himself and the No. A51 of Hill, and by Lap 6, he took third away and charged after the leaders. He then took second away from the No. 60 of Duckworth, charging after the No. 116 of Kimler for the top spot. It would be Kimler across the line first, taking his first-ever feature victory.

Feature 2 – 30 Laps

The No. 30 of Chad Cowan led Lap 1, leaving P2 to the No. 51 of Eric Meisner. A multicar incident forced a caution on Lap 5, putting the No. 30 of Cowan and the No. 51 of Meisner next to one another for the green flag. Then, on Lap 5, the No. 31 of points leader Rick Smith cut a right front tire and triggered a multicar wreck, and was forced to retire due to damage sustained. Shortly after the restart, caught in a bumper lock, the No. 51 of Meisner and the No. 30 of Cowan were then passed by the No. 8 of Dan Alamaa, turning it into a three-way battle for the lead. Alamaa guided the No. 8 past the others and left them to sort themselves out for P2. The No. 51 of Meisner took third away from Cowan’s No. 30, while the No. 21G of Gallegos took advantage of the battle to close the distance and slice his way into P3. Traffic in front of the leaders made things a little interesting, forcing Alamaa’s No. 8 to dodge slower cars while keeping the rest of the field in his rearview. He navigated lapped traffic with ease and took off, pulling the No. 51 of Meisner across the line behind him.

Quick Time: No. 51, Eric Meisner, 17.598

Feature 1: No. 116, Adam Kimler

Feature 2: No. 8, Dan Alamaa

Sunoco Race Fuel Grand American Modifieds

Feature 1 – 15 Laps

The No. 69 of Forest Smith put the No. 3 of Jeremiah Hill behind him right away, but a multicar incident stopped him from taking off with an early lead. The restart put the No. 69 of Smith back up front, but the No. 49 of Chris Cox charged into second while the No. 3 of Hill plummeted, suffering from a mechanical issue. The No. 13s of Jordan Smith overtook him, but Darin Clark had him in his sights and took the No. 13 side-by-side with the No. 13s of Smith for several laps. Their battle allowed the No. 69 of Forest Smith to take off with the No. 49 of Cox hot on his tail. Cox nosed the No. 49 to the outside of Smith’s No. 69, and eventually took away the lead with five laps to go. The No. 13s of Jordan Smith suffered an issue and fell back before pulling behind the wall, and the No. 51 of Kyle Clegg was able to sneak into third place. The No. 69 of Forest Smith didn’t let the No. 49 of Cox go easy, pressuring him right up to the checkered flag. However, Cox’s No. 49 streaked across the line in first, as the No. 7 of David Robinson and the No. 55 of Damian Lockhart tangled and wrecked in Turn 1 on the last lap.

Feature 2 – 30 Laps

The No. 6 of Scotty Scott jumped into the lead on the outside lane and took Lap 1, while the No. 89 of Jacob Smith tried to hold down third behind the No. 22 of Travis Rudolph. Smith’s No. 89 got a bit loose, allowing the No. 9 of CJ Wilson to get past him. Wilson’s No. 9 continued its forward charge, taking the No. 51 of Clegg along with him, though Clegg would pass him just a short while later for P2. The No. 1G of Dale Geist tagged the Turn 2 wall and caused a yellow flag. The No. 2 of Steve Rodenbaugh spun on the restart, and the field had to try again. The No. 6 of Scott and the No. 51 of Clegg started on the front row, but the No. 13 of Clark struggled to get up to speed and stacked up the field. The No. 6 of Scott and the No. 51 of Clegg got together, damaging both cars and sending them to the back of the pack on the next restart, handing the lead to the No. 49 of Cox. Then, on the next restart, the No. 41 of Eric Vos got sideways in Turn 4, prompting another yellow flag. Then, another incident unfolded, as two cars made contact and forced another yellow. As the race was approaching its time limit, it was cut to just five laps to go with the No. 49 of Cox and the No. 89 of Jacob Smith up front. The field held it together to the checkers, and Cox’s No. 49 won by a comfortable margin, marking his second GAM Feature victory of the night and third straight Feature win.

Quick Time: No. 51, Kyle Clegg, 17.087

Feature 1: No. 49, Chris Cox

Feature 2: No. 49, Chris Cox

Rock ‘N’ Roll Brewery Pure Stocks

Feature 1 – 15 Laps

Morris Christner showed the way in the No. M60 with the No. 53 of Josh Hopkins beside him. The field fanned out three wide behind them, and the No. 96 of Vanessa Raley spun to the infield and gathered it back up. Second place was hotly contested between the No. 22 of AJ Hill and the No. 18Y of Justin Young, with Hill’s No. 22 taking the position. Then, Christner’s No. M60 was spun from the lead, and the No, 18Y of Justin Young took over the top spot, leading Hill’s No. 22. Then, the No. 3 of Ronald Burnett entered the picture for P2, while the No. 6 of Ben Hendricks and the No. 8 of Isaac Almaswari fought for fourth. Almaswari went on to muscle his way into the position, while the No. 22 of Hill put pressure on Young’s No. 18Y up front for the lead. Then, the No. 3 of Burnett overtook P2, hunting down Young’s No. 18Y. Young hit his marks, and the No. 18Y ended up in Victory Lane for the first time in his career.

Feature 2 – 25 Laps

The No. 06 of Scott Johnson and the No. 02 of Chandani Raley took the field across the line for the green flag. The two cars raced hard for the lead, with the advantage going to Raley’s No. 02, and the No. 06 of Johnson slipped a bit and gave up the inside line, allowing the No. 6 of Hendricks to take second place. The No. 22 of Hill surged into third place ahead of the No. 8A of Austin Richards. Hendricks was able to muscle the No. 6 around the No. 02 of Raley for the lead, towing the No. 22 of Hill and the No. 8 of Almaswari along and demoting the No. 02 of Raley to fourth place in a hurry. The No. 8 of Almaswari and the No. 6 of Hendricks touched, sending Almaswari’s No. 8 for a spin, but was not struck by any competitors, causing a caution. The No. 6 of Hendricks started beside the No. 8A of Richards, but the No. 22 of Hill quickly nosed into the battle and took it side-by-side for the lead. Hendricks threw his No. 6 in front of Hill’s No. 22, maintaining his position, while Richards’ No. 8A settled for third. Then, the No. 02 of Raley and the No. 32 of Rick Phillips contacted one another, forcing another caution with just two laps left. The No. 8A of Richards was able to jump ahead in Turn 1, while the No. 6 of Hendricks stepped out a bit and let the No. 3 of Burnett take second place. Richards put the No. 8A in Victory Lane for the second PS Feature.