(09-21-2019 Dacono CO) The Autonation Drive Pink Championship Night at CNS was the final night of points racing for the Super Late Models, Super Stocks, Figure 8s and Hornets. While it was a bit chilly and windy CNS fans were treated to some fantastic racing and high drama as several championships were still in question leading into the night that would have double feature events in every division.
Mountain States Fire Protection Super Late Models
Dominic Ursetta didn’t run a full season at Colorado National Speedway but when he was there he made the most of it winning 6 features events the most of any driver in 2019. Ursetta was in rare form on championship night winning both the 30 lap and 80 lap feature events with relative ease. Had Ursetta ran a full schedule clearly he would have been in contention for his 3rd championship as he finished an impressive 3rd placed in the final standings.
Dominic Ursetta was untouchable on Championship night at CNS (Starr photo)
The final points race for the Mountain States Fire Protection Super Late Models would be a 80 lap battle and all eyes were on #11 Darren Robertson who was trying to maintain his somewhat comfortable points lead over #12 Bruce Yackey and #32 Brett Yackey. The race got off to an ominous start when pole-sitter #27 Roger the “Ice-Man” Avants sputtered causing a chain reaction and “Talladega style” crash at the flag stand. Several cars were collected in the crash including #84 Matt Zwingleberg, and #43 Kody Vanderwal but none suffered more damage than Eddie Vecchiarelli who’s beautiful #48 car appeared to be completely destroyed.
Roger the “Ice-Man” Avants leads the field in the 80 lap feature (Starr photo)
After a red flag cleanup the race resumed and it was as if it was the late 1990’s all over again as “the Ice-Man” battled Bruce “the Moose” Yackey for the lead lap after lap. Ursetta would eventually pass Avants on the outside to take the lead and at that point the top five were all track champions: Ursetta, Avants, Yackey, #74 Dan Savage”, and the current champ Darren Robertson.
Just past the halfway mark in the race disaster struck for young Brett Yackey as his car broke and came to a stop in turn 2. Any hope that Brett had in a track championship was over.
After the restart Ursetta began to build his lead on the field and Savage bolted into 2nd place. Impressive young driver Conner Snow who finished 3rd in the first feature had worked his way into the top 5 and was holding off Robertson for 3rd.
When the checkered flag flew it was Ursetta well out front with Savage taking an impressive runner-up spot after a long absence from the speedway. Robertson was able to get by Snow for 3rd place and secure the track championship. Snow settled for 4th while Bruce Yackey crossed the line 5th locking in 2nd place in the final season standings.
With Robertson taking the division title he accomplished something no other Super Late Model driver has ever done at CNS and that’s winning three straight titles. Not only that but Darren has now won the same amount of Super Late Models titles as his legendary father Jerry who won in 2000, 2003, and 2004
#11 Darren Robertson became the first driver to ever win 3 straight Super Late Model championships in a row (Starr photo)
While the Super Late Models are done as far as points are concerned they will race again on Saturday October 5th for Challenge Cup XLV.
80 Lap Feature: #6 Dominic Ursetta 30 Lap Feature: #6 Dominic Ursetta QUICK TIME: #48 Eddie Vecchiarelli 15.302
TBK Super Stocks
Last season Jonathan Lindberg came oh so close to winning the season championship in the TBK Super Stocks. This season Lindberg only won one feature event all season long but based on his consistent top three finishes (grabbing 6 of them) Jonathan was crowned the 2019 Super Stock track champion. It was Lindberg’s first ever championship at CNS who showed that being consistent and staying out of trouble can pay big dividends.
#60 Jonathan Lindberg’s consistent effort in 2019 paid off in the form of a track championship (Starr photo)
On the final night of racing it was the Cody Milan show who won both the 20 and 15 lap feature events. Cody won 4 feature events in 2019 and wound up 7th in the final points standings. Chris Cox in the #49 car was the only driver who had a legitimate shot at catching Lindberg in the points set quick time and finished 2nd in both feature events. But it still wasn’t enough as Cox would have to settle for the runner-up spot in the final season standings.
Cody Milan taking the win, his second of the night (Starr photo)
Elite Diesel Service Figure 8s
Entering the final night of racing for the Elite Diesel Service Figure 8s Jereme Wall led his brother Jared Wall by just 5 points in the season standings. Therefore all eyes we focused on the “X” to see which Wall would win it all.
In the first feature Jereme Wall in the 15 car took the win but Jared was right behind him therefore entering the final race Jared would need to make up just 6 points to take his first Figure 8 championship.
But it wasn’t meant to be for Jared as early in the race while battling with the leaders suffered damage going into turn 3 and pulled off the track going several laps down.
#50 Justin McKeachie attempts to keep Jereme Wall from taking the lead (Starr photo)
It was Jereme’s race to win but he would need to get around last year’s champ Justin McKeachie and the 50 wasn’t going down easy. As Wall made his move to the front McKeachie rammed the back of the 15 car and hit hm again under the caution flag causing severe body damage to the 15 car. McKachie was given the blag flag and sent packing. Jereme was able to continue and take the race sweeping the night’s events and winning his 4th Figure 8 Championship in 5 years.
Jereme Wall in winner’s circle at CNS (Starr photo)
Howe Mortuary Hornets
In their first season at Colorado National Speedway the Howe Mortuary Hornets were the Lanny and Mitch Bolten show. Between the father and son duo they won every single feature event over the course of the entire season except one on the final night when #11 Eric Johnson grabbed the first feature of the night.
Hornet action at CNS (Starr photo)
On championship night it was Mitch winning the final main event by nearly a half lap of his nearest competitor. But it was his dad Lanny who took home the season championship in the division.
#24 Lanny Bolten on his way to the Hornet track championship (Starr photo)
Mitch Bolten won the final Hornet feature at CNS (Starr photo)
Champion: #24 Lanny Bolten
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Super Late Model 80 Lap Feature Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 6 Dominic Ursetta Arvada 2. 74 Dan Savage 3. 11 Darren Robertson Westminster 4. 21 Conner Snow Morison 5. 12 Bruce Yackey Greeley 6. 27 Roger Avants 7. 8 Jeff Walbaum (R) Brighton 8. 28 Dan Alamaa Colorado Springs 9. 4 Bradley Tilton 10. 6D Rick Duckworth (R) Arvada 11. 43 Kody Vanderwal LaSalle 12. 24 Cody Dempster 13. 79 Brad Jenkins Castle Rock 14. 32 Brett Yackey Greeley 15. 84 Matt Zwingelberg Parker 16. 19 Matthew Martinez Parker 17. 48 Eddie Vecchiarelli 18. 88 Jonathan Knee (R) Fort Collins DNS 34 Rudy Vanderwal LaSalle
Super Late Model 30 Lap Feature Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 6 Dominic Ursetta Arvada 2. 48 Eddie Vecchiarelli 3. 21 Conner Snow Morison 4. 11 Darren Robertson Westminster 5. 74 Dan Savage 6. 32 Brett Yackey Greeley 7. 12 Bruce Yackey Greeley 8. 27 Roger Avants 9. 84 Matt Zwingelberg Parker 10. 19 Matthew Martinez Parker 11. 43 Kody Vanderwal LaSalle 12. 24 Cody Dempster 13. 88 Jonathan Knee (R) Fort Collins 14. 28 Dan Alamaa Colorado Springs 15. 8 Jeff Walbaum (R) Brighton 16. 4 Bradley Tilton 17. 34 Rudy Vanderwal LaSalle 18. 6D Rick Duckworth (R) Arvada 19. 79 Brad Jenkins Castle Rock
Super Stocks Feature 2 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 32 Cody Milan Fort Collins 2. 49 Chris Cox 3. 60 Jonathan Lindberg 4. 21R Robert Hoard 5. 55 Damian Lockhart 6. 86 Tim Coate (R) 7. 99S Sam Messerli 8. 28S McCaslin Cain 9. 55J Jesse Runkle 10. 03 Tyler Mander (R) Evans 11. 02 Sean Smith (R) 12. 90 Alexander Rodriguez (R) 13. 11W Scott Long Lyman 14. 31 Ronnie Duran Jr 15. 45E Rebecca Simpson Colorado Springs 16. 19 Shelby Cortese 17. 81 Kyle Shanahan Peyton 18. 29G Justin Griffin Weldona 19. 3.2 Robert Davey Erie 20. 51X Joseph Dike (R) 21. 21 Chris Nelson 22. 35D Greg Dreiling Strasburg 23. 4 Chris Jordan Lafayette
Super Stocks Feature 1 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 32 Cody Milan Fort Collins 2. 49 Chris Cox 3. 60 Jonathan Lindberg 4. 99S Sam Messerli 5. 03 Tyler Mander (R) Evans 6. 3.2 Robert Davey Erie 7. 02 Sean Smith (R) 8. 55 Damian Lockhart 9. 86 Tim Coate (R) 10. 19 Shelby Cortese 11. 21R Robert Hoard 12. 21 Chris Nelson 13. 90 Alexander Rodriguez (R) 14. 28S McCaslin Cain 15. 51X Joseph Dike (R) 16. 31 Ronnie Duran Jr 17. 35D Greg Dreiling Strasburg 18. 29G Justin Griffin Weldona 19. 81 Kyle Shanahan Peyton 20. 55J Jesse Runkle 21. 45E Rebecca Simpson Colorado Springs 22. 11W Scott Long Lyman 23. 4 Chris Jordan Lafayette
Figure 8 Feature 2 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 15 Jereme Wall Commerce City 2. 18 Dennis Stepanich III (R) Thornton 3. 25 Phil Taylor 4. 7 Daniel Wood 5. 2 Jeremy Jackson Denver 6. 17 Harry Livermore Jr Denver 7. 9 Brent Cave Brighton 8. 8 Brian McCartney Colorado Springs 9. 88 Thomas Huffman Littleton 10. 12 Harvey Webb Jr Thornton 11. 4 Isaac Martinez 12. 52 Jared Wall Commerce City 13. 08 JJ Sanders (R) Aurora 14. 50 Justin Mckeachie
Figure 8 Feature 1 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 15 Jereme Wall Commerce City 2. 52 Jared Wall Commerce City 3. 17 Harry Livermore Jr Denver 4. 25 Phil Taylor 5. 18 Dennis Stepanich III (R) Thornton 6. 50 Justin Mckeachie 7. 7 Daniel Wood 8. 88 Thomas Huffman Littleton 9. 4 Isaac Martinez 10. 8 Brian McCartney Colorado Springs 11. 12 Harvey Webb Jr Thornton 12. 2 Jeremy Jackson Denver 13. 08 JJ Sanders (R) Aurora 14. 9 Brent Cave Brighton
Hornets Feature 2 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 5 Mitch Bolten (R) Grand Junction 2. 24 Lanny Bolton (R) Aurora 3. 15 Sean Frank (R) Colorado Springs 4. 3 Daniel Thompson (R) Cheyenne 5. 12C Craig Furstenau (R) Strasburg 6. 64 Trent Young 7. 57 James Embree 8. 58 Christopher Davis Longmont 9. 13x Sean Drieth 10. 69x Wyatt Fitzgerald 11. 11x Eric Johnson
Hornets Feature 1 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 11x Eric Johnson 2. 5 Mitch Bolten (R) Grand Junction 3. 24 Lanny Bolton (R) Aurora 4. 3 Daniel Thompson (R) Cheyenne 5. 15 Sean Frank (R) Colorado Springs 6. 12C Craig Furstenau (R) Strasburg 7. 57 James Embree 8. 58 Christopher Davis Longmont 9. 13x Sean Drieth 10. 69x Wyatt Fitzgerald 11. 64 Trent Young