Nelson edges Spangler at wire to win Modified Main Event at Speedway

Nelson edges Spangler at wire to win Modified Main Event at Speedway

June 26, 2001

RICK HOBBS OF DOVE CREEK takes car no. 82 out for a spin during warm-ups Friday night at Fairgrounds Speedway. Hobbs, who is the current points leader (as of June 15) in the IMCA Modifieds Class, came in sixth place in the Modifieds Main 20-lap event. In the first heat, he took third place. The eighth annual Jim Henry Modifieds Shoot-Out will be held this Friday and Saturday, June 29-30, at the local dirt track.

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

It was quite a night of dirt-track auto racing Friday night, June 22, at Fairgrounds Speedway.

Despite several crashes, rollovers, restarts, it was well worth the wait as the IMCA Modified Main event saw Craig Nelson (car no. 11X) of Farmington come from behind to nip Aaron Spangler (16) of Dove Creek at the wire.

This is only a tune up as the eighth annual Jim Henry Memorial Shoot-Out will be held this Friday and Saturday, June 29-30. Not only will the modifieds be zipping around the track but the Mini, Hobby, and IMCA Stock Cars will be running as well. A children’s foot race for 8-9 year-olds will be held. The two days at the races is being sponsored by KRWN-FM Radio Station in Farmington.

Not counting Friday night’s races, here are the top drivers in the standings of the International Motor Contest Association’s Modifieds classification: Rick Hobbs 145, Craig Nelson 144, Robert Gallegos 141, Larry Cornell 141, Dennis Reib 138, Tom Cadle 134, Vern Hisel 120, Aaron Spangler 103, Rick Anderson 101, Michael Barber 81, Daniel Nelson Jr. 77, Tyrone Yazzie 67, Taylor Yazzie 67, and Tony Hill 64.

After three restarts because of crashes on the initial lap, the race finally got under way. Tyrone Yazzie (16) of Bloomfield, who had won an earlier heat race, took the lead with Taylor Yazzie (18) and Spangler trailing. Taylor Yazzie and Tyrone Yazzie changed leads and the changed again. But it was during the first turn of the third lap that Spangler moved out front.

Spangler battled with Reib of Cortez (00) for the lead while Nelson, the Yazzies, and Eddie Farley of Farmington (51) were in the second pack by the 10th lap while the Tyrone Yazzie spun out and dropped way back. Spangler maintained control and the lead. By the 12th lap, Spangler and Reib were right at the top with Nelson, and Hobbs (82) of Dove Creek now challenging. Veteran driver Hill (007) of Cortez could not get his car in a position to challenge.

By the 16th lap, Spangler was definitely the driver to beat. But Nelson had moved into second and Rieb was holding on to third. That’s the way it was after the 19th lap. But on the final lap, Nelson made his move and beat Spangler at the wire. Farley came in third, Taylor Yazzie fourth, Hobbs fifth, Tyrone Yazzie sixth, and Hill seventh.

In the first Modified Heat race, the elder Taylor Yazzie went wire-to-wire in winning. Spangler followed closely behind him the whole 10 laps. The closest race was actually back in the second pack between Tony Cadel (3), Hobbs, and Hill, and Gallegos (11). Hobbs finished in third, Cadle took fourth, Hill fifth, and Gallegos sixth.

The Modified Heat No. 2 followed. Tyrone Yazzie blitzed the field. He grabbed the lead and never looked back at least through the first eight laps. But Rieb challenged in the final two laps. Farley came in third and Nelson fourth.

The Hobby Stocks Main 15-lap event was certainly interesting. Wayne O’Dell (28) of Pleasant View held the first lap lead but Ron Leonard (7X) of Cortez moved out front while Russ Hammell (11) of Dolores was in second with Michelle McDonald (3) of Cortez in third while O’Dell had dropped to third after a spin out. Hammell grabbed the lead in the third lap while Leonard fell into second. Dropping back was McDonald but coming on was Marvin Cramer (Mr.X) of Dove Creek. It was during that lap that O’Dell was involved in a spin out and rolled over. His car was out with a broken axle.

Hammell and Leonard battled but by the 10th lap, Hammell drove his car way out front. Leonard chased while falling way back were McDonald and Jason Duggins (33) of Aztec, and Cramer. Moving up was Cody DuFrene. Hammell won easily, Leonard came in a distant second, while Duggins, Cramer, DuFrene followed.

McDonald led the Hobby Stocks Heat race for the first seven laps of the 10-lap race. Duggins, Cramer, and Leonard were right there. Cramer made his move and grabbed the lead by the end of the seventh lap. McDonald and Leonard were battling for second and third while DuFrene, O’Dell, and Hammell were in the next group. Cramer won while McDonald finished second, Leonard third, DuFrene fourth, and O’Dell fourth.

The Mini Main event had troubles at first with a yellow flag going out right away. Jimmy Scott (1) of Pagosa Springs held the early lead. Steve McDaniel (50) of Aztec chased behind him. Levi Hill (80) of Cortez and Billy Schaaphok (61) of Farmington was next. Schaaphok took the lead on the final turn of the third lap. He lead through the fourth but McDaniel came on strong and overtook him in the fifth. McDaniel and Schaaphok battled the whole way until right at the wire when Schaaphok zipped past for the win. McDaniel was second, Hill finished way back in third, and Jimmy Wilson (7) of Cortez captured fourth.

The Mini Stocks Heat race saw Schaaphok lead from start to finish. Hill was right there for two laps but slipped way back after a spin. Scott tried to catch Schaaphok but he was way out front, even lapping the slowest drivers. Scott came in second, McDaniel came up and edged Hill for third.

IMCA Street Stocks Main had its share of wrecks and yellow flags through the first four laps. John Hank (32) of Aztec took the early lead. Bucky Knipp (29), Gary Smouse (42) of Mancos, Paul Milano (45) of Durango, and Ralph Klemish (21R) of Farmington were right there. Hanks relenquished his lead as Klemish raced in front. Klemish, a veteran driver on the local scene, dominated. He put so much room between himself and the rest of the pack through the rest of the 20-lap race. Mike Farley (4) of Farmington, Roger Cordary (3) of Hesperus, Smouse, and Milano composed the next group. Farley finished in second, Cordary took third, Milano fourth, Jim Montgomery of LaPlata, N.M., slipped into fifth, and Smouse ended in sixth.

In the first Street Stock Heat, Cordary took control and never let up. He and Smouse battled for much of the time, but Cordary won easily. Smouse came in second and finishing way back were Hank, and Milano. In the second Street Stock Heat, Ryan Neely (8) of Cahone led after the first lap but Klemish grabbed the lead and held on for the 10-lap event. Mike Farley moved right up by Klemish in the fourth lap. Montgomery, Neely, Knipp and Robert Reed (8) of Cortez followed.

The Dwarf Main Event, scheduled for 15, finally made it around in 10. There were three restarts. But during the second lap Dale Kibel (45) of Cortez hit the big white-painted heavy-equipment tire going around the final turn and broke his arm. Speedy Raymie Bistow (6) of Farmington took the lead away from Billy Kibel (68) of Cortez in the second lap. Bristow and Kibel got tangled up with Harry Nelson (14) of Farmington in massive wreck between turns three and four. Bistow was out of the race but Billy Kibel made his way back in. Nelson ended up with a broken leg and was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital where he was treated.

Finally, after a long delay, the race resumed. Shane DeVilbiss (43) of Farmington had the lead. Jarrett Guillory and Nick DeVilbiss (42) of Farmington chased him. Nick DelVilbiss won the shortened race (10 laps) while Billy Kibel drove himself back into contention and took second while Shane DeVilbiss grabbed third.

In the Dwarf Heat race, Billy Kibel held an early lead but quickly yielded to Bristow. Bristow blew away the field and won easily while Nick DeVilbiss, Guillory, and Dale Kibel followed.

A special Quad exhibition race (not sanctioned by American Motorcycle Association) was held. In the heat race, Jerry Baker captured first, Brandon Porter took second, Scott Schmidlin third, and Brandon McLauglin fourth. In the finals, it was Baker, Porter, and Schmidlin.

On June 15, all classes raced.

Dwarf racers went around this way with Nic DeVilbiss taking first, Shane DeVilbiss second, Dale Kibel third, Zane DeVilbiss fourth, and Bistow fifth. In the Mini Stocks, Schaaphok grabbed first, Wilson second, McDaniel third, Matthew Smith fourth, and Scott fifth. The Hobby Stocks went this way: Russ Hammell first, DuFrene second, Leonard third, McDonald fourth, and Dave McFalls fifth. Klemish won the IMCA Stocks while Smouse took second, Cordary third, Neely fourth, and Hank fifth. Spangler captured top honors for IMCA Modifieds. Nelson took second, Brandon Carley third, Rieb fourth, Hobbs fifth, Cadle sixth, and Taylor Yazzie seventh.

All classes will run on July 6. The Mid-Season Championship will be held July 13 with the Hobby Stocks Shoot-Out July 20. All Classes will race on July 27 and Aug. 3. The Mini-Stock Shoot-out will be held Aug. 10 with all classes racing Aug. 17, Aug. 24 and Season Championship set Aug. 31.