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Aztec, NM....May 10......Veteran New Mexico racer Beau Binder was impressive as he drove around the six fastest qualifiers to win the 30 lap USAC Southwest unwinged sprint car feature Saturday night at Aztec Speedway. Binder timed in 7th quick and only managed a 4th in his heat race, but was hooked for the feature as he drove by Texan Rick Ziehl on alp 10 for the top spot. Arizona female racer Kaylene Verville ran second in the 30 lapper ahead of Yuma, AZ long tow Mike Martin. Martin came out of the night with a two point lead on Ziehl in the series title fight with Verville just four more points back. After earlier winning his heat race, Danny Bradford won his second straight Barnett’s Harley Davidson dirt modified feature. Former track champions Craig Nelson and Jeff Davis were 2-3 at the checkered flag. When apparent winner Garrett Higgins was found to have an illegal wheel spacer, he was disqualified from the win in the IMCA Stock Car main event. That handed the win to his uncle Rex Higgins, who carries the unique number AK47. Defending track champion Allan Bradley also came from the fifth row to place second ahead of Daniel Christensen.
The sprint car action drew a 19 car field and featured a rare qualifying session for Aztec Speedway. Bruce St James surprised with his fast time effort of 15.11 seconds as Martin was just a tick back at 15.12. Mike Boat ran a 15.18 lap and Verville was fourth quick at 15.20. Arizona’s Ron Clark posted a 15.45 and Ziehl clicked off a 15.50. Binder’s qualifying run was a 15.55. The fastest 13 cars were all in the 15 second bracket. Martin beat Verville in the dash. Robert Hall Jr beat Verville and St James in heat 1 and Shon Deskins outraced Clark in heat 2. Ziehl beat Ron Kratz and Boat in heat 3. Main event scratches included Asa Kesterson and Ben Cheevers. Dave Burns flipped during the 30 lap feature with Binder coming from behind the inversion to win. Binder made his winning pass on Ziehl on lap 10. Verville outdueled Martin for second with Deskins a solid fourth ahead of Hall, Ziehl, Gary Appel, Brandon Lane and Kratz. Binder and Deskins are tied for fourth in points, 6 behind Verville. Next action for the traveling series is a May 24th date at Thunder Raceway located in Arizona’s mountain country at Show Low.
The dirt modifieds ran four heat races and a B Main to set a 24 car grid for their A Main event. Bradford beat James Tabet in heat 1 and Danny Nelson Jr edged out Eddie Farley in heat 2. Brandon Carley won heat 3 ahead of C Nelson’s Ford. Dulane Colcleasure and rookie Randy Eitel were 1-2 in heat 4. Four cars transferred forward out of each heat and 8 more advanced from the B Main. Dwarf car graduate M E Eddleman won the B Main ahead of IMCA Stock Car graduate Jeff Graham, Ken Ward and Jesse Baldwin. Top runner Dean Brown failed to advance from the B Main action. Bradford came from 10th starting to win the feature race ahead of 7th starter C Nelson and 12th starting Davis. Tabet ran fourth ahead of back of the pack starters Ward, Eddleman and Jesse Baldwin. The top ten was rounded out by D Nelson Jr, Chase Burson and Tim Karl. Sixteen cars were running at the checkered flag with runaway point leader Aaron Spangler getting into the fence in the A Main to end his night. I want to correct some facts on the opening night story. Bradford’s disqualification for illegal fuel came after his heat race win. He was given the option of draining the tank and tagging a B Main, but elected not to race. Spangler was a runaway winner in the A Main that night.
The large turnout of IMCA Stock Cars required five heat races and two B Mains to set the lineup for the 25 car A Main. Three cars transferred out of each heat and five more came from each of two B Main events. When G Higgins lost his feature win, he was also stripped of his heat race finish. Heat winners were Larry Bradley, Arlen Cochran, R Higgins, Tim Nobis and A Bradley. The first B Main saw Frank Powell Jr on top of Michael Farley and Charlie Hicks. Kenny Hendershot, Andy Hockenhull and Ray Hollingsworth were the top three finishers in the second B Main. G Higgins came from fifth starting to be the first car across the finish line in the A Main, but his illegal wheel spacer forced the disqualification and handed the win to 9th starter R Higgins. A Bradley also came from the fifth row to place second ahead of Christensen, Greg Ruybalid, point leader Tim Hopper, Nobis, Scotty Beasley and Hendershot. With his win, R Higgins climbed into second in track points.
The next special event on the Aztec Speedway calendar is the annual Fiesta Days race on June 6-7. The dirt modifieds and ASCS sprint cars will race both nights. The dirt modifieds race for $750 to win on Friday night and $1,000 to win on Saturday night.
Summary
IMCA Stock Cars
Heat 1-Larry Bradley, John Hank, Jerald Wright, Frank Powell Jr, Terry Hopper.
Heat 2-Arlen Cochran, Daniel Christensen, Ralph Klemish, Kenny Hendershot, Michael Farley.
Heat 3-Rex Higgins, Greg Ruybalid, Brandon Tenski, Randall Dorsett, Jason
Hockenhull.
Heat 4-Tim Nobis, Tim Hopper, Andy Hockenhull, Mike Losing, Cody DeFrene.
Heat 5-Allen Bradley, Scotty Beasley, Richard Trujillo, Bill Cochran, Dan Philpott.
1st B Main-Powell Jr, Michael Farley, Charlie Hicks, Melissa Farley, B Cochran, Losing, Beth Hartsfield, Allen Anderson, Micah Kitts, Leroy Hartsfield.
2nd B Main-Hendershot, A Hockenhull, Ray Hollingsworth, Sean Duff, Terry Hopper, Philpott, Wayne Soares, DeFrene, Samuel Sansoni, Caroline Kircher.
A Main-Higgins, A Bradley, Christensen, Ruybalid, Tim Hopper, Nobis, Beasley, Hendershot, Klemish, A Cochran, Powell Jr, L Bradley, Hank, Melissa Farley, Hicks, B Cochran, Duff, Tenski, Trujillo, Wright, A Hockenhull, Michael Farley, Hollingsworth, Terry Hopper.
Dirt Modifieds
Heat 1-Danny Bradford, James Tabet, Lee Moss, Frank Powell Sr, M E Eddleman.
Heat 2-Danny Nelson Jr, Eddie Farley, Aaron Spangler, Derek Neil, Ken Ward.
Heat 3-Brandon Carley, Craig Nelson, Jeff Davis, Kevin Brown, Garland Tucker.
Heat 4-Dulane Colcleasure, Randy Eitel, Mark Brown, Tim Karl, Dean Brown.
B Main-Eddleman, Jeff Graham, Ward, Jesse Baldwin, Tucker, Chase Burson, Jody Cornell, Donny Carey, Chris Vivolo, Kyle Herrin.
A Main-Bradford, C Nelson, Davis, Tabet, Ward, Eddleman, Baldwin, D Nelson Jr, Burson, Karl, Tucker, Graham, K Brown, Neil, Powell Sr, Eitel, M Brown, Spangler, Carey, Colcleasure, Moss, Farley, Carley, Cornell.
USAC Unwinged Sprint Cars
Fast Time-Bruce St James 15.11 Dash-Mike Martin, Kaylene Verville, Mike Martin.
Heat 1-Robert Hall Jr, Verville, St James, Beau Binder, Leighton Crouch.
Heat 2-Shon Deskins, Ron Clark, Brandon Lane, Martin, Steve Stone.
Heat 3-Rick Ziehl, Ron Kratz, Mike Boat, Asa Kesterson, Dave Burns.
Main-Binder, Verville, Martin, Deskins, Hall, Ziehl, Gary Appel, Lane, Kratz, Jim Pless, Stone, Crouch, St James, L C Kesterson, Clark, Boat, Burns.
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