CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – Starting with the recent Duel In The Desert in Las Vegas and continuing until mid-February, IMCA-sanctioned events will keep racers busy on the West coast.
This year’s Duel on the half-mile Las Vegas dirt track, part of the huge complex of many types of tracks at the facility, was one of the best in recent years. A few years back the track conditions were bad and this resulted in a drop in car count.
A new track prep plan has led to much better racing conditions and the mid-November three day series had four and five-wide racing all three nights. Only a 2:06 a.m. finish on Friday night (or Saturday morning) served to blemish the event, running for the 22nd time.
At 304, the car count total was one more than last year with IMCA Northern Sport mods setting a new record with 102. A significant and wonderful change this year was to delete hot laps from the plan each night of racing. Only the Wednesday practice session offered a chance to shake things down for the teams.
Not pounding the track with 304 cars running hot laps saved not only time, but track conditions from premature fatigue. Between the days of pre-event track prep and nightly grooming, the track was able to offer excellent racing not seen in quite some time.
Saturday night’s finals are always dominated by the front couple of rows as those drivers represented preliminary night winners. But this year even the two event closing mains were better than they have been in years.
IMCA Northern Sport mod ace Cody Thompson took the championship race along with the $1,777.77 check, taking 19 of the 25 laps to make his winning pass. R.C. Whitwell earned $7,777.77 for the IMCA modified 40-lap win, taking the lead on lap 30 and holding off fellow Tucson driver Jake O’Neil for the first Grand Canyon State championship.
It sounds as if IMCA is serious about adding the IMCA stock cars to next year’s Duel in the Desert. A prior try was not successful in terms of car count, but if the interest is shown by drivers it looks to be likely next year.
How more cars will be worked into a 304 or so field of modifieds will be interesting and hopefully the early morning finishes don’t become the norm.
The following weekend it was the Desert Thunder Nationals at Central Arizona Speedway at the fairgrounds east of Casa Grande. IMCA divisions again were modifieds and sport mods for the three day event.
Rain during the week lasted until Thursday night, canceling the practice and keeping staff very busy to try and get the Friday races in. Their effort was successful and a tacky and fast three-eighths-mile oval on Friday, followed by a more normal somewhat drier surface on Saturday, then an expected daytime type track on Sunday afternoon for the finale gave 3 distinctly different sets of track conditions each race.
Cody Thompson didn’t seem to be bothered any by the variety as he swept the sport mod mains, winning each from eighth on the grid. That brought his win total for the year to 44 with one weekend left racing the car. Thompson noted he believed the car has been sold and the Razor chassis will be in new hands.
The Las Vegas champion in modifieds was also on his game when Whitwell won the two first nights, but a fourth-place heat finish on Sunday led to starting 16th in the finale. Whitwell had redrawn the front row Friday and Saturday so Sunday’s deep starting spot was quite a change.
Jeff Taylor won off of the front row but Whitwell made it interesting when he moved into second with 10 laps remaining and put pressure on Taylor. A sweep was not to be and Taylor eventually put some space between himself and the two-time winner to claim the $3,000 prize as event champion.
Central Arizona Speedway is in the hands of Dave Ellis for the second year and continued improvements display his dedication and effort in promoting the fairgrounds oval. Ellis has been involved in racing for many years as a car builder before filling his plate further by taking the reins of the track.
IMCA racing continues this coming weekend at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz., at the Northwest edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area while the Southeast portion of the metro has Arizona Speedway running wing and non-wing sprints plus late models.
Even in the Southwest part of the country, tracks are idle in December but come 2020 things really happen. Six IMCA races at Cocopah Speedway as well as the huge Wild West Shootout at Arizona Speedway for USRA modifieds, X mods, as well as the headline super late models give the new year a huge kickoff for dirt track racing.
January ends and February starts with IMCA racing at Canyon Speedway Park, then a stretch of modifieds, sport mod, and stock car action following the IMCA Arizona Modified Tour lasts until Feb. 15.
This fourth year for the tour will see the return of one of the most popular Midwest divisions when IMCA stock cars again get a chance to race the tour.
Having all this racing in a state adjacent to California helps make the downside of living in the Golden State easier to accept.