centralarizonaspeedway Archives

Taylor tops Desert Thunder Nationals finale, Thompson sweeps Casa Grande SportMods

By Lonnie Wheatley CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Nov. 24) – Central Arizona Speedway’s sixth annual Desert Thunder Nationals came down to the final lap with Jeff Taylor denying R.C. Whitwell a sweep of the three-race weekend by winning Sunday afternoon’s 30-lap IMCA Modified main event atop the 3/8-mile clay oval in Case Grande. Taylor jumped into the lead at the outset of the $3,000 to win IMCA Modified feature and led throughout, fending off a late challenge from Whitwell. “We got a little more balance in the car today,” Taylor said afterward. “We held on, the car was pretty good so we’re happy with that.” While Taylor set the pace ahead of Alex Stanford, Whitwell was working his forward from 16th in his quest to sweep the weekend. Reaching the fourth position by the time a caution flew after 19 laps, he made quick work of Jason Noll and Stanford on the restart to take command of second and set his sights on Taylor for the lead. A final caution with five laps remaining put Whitwell on Taylor’s rear [Read More]

Central Arizona hosts Nov. 22-24 Desert Thunder Nationals

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – A top check of $3,000 is at stake for IMCA Modifieds on the third and final night of Central Arizona Speedway’s Desert Thunder Nationals. Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23 features at Casa Grande both pay the Modified winner $1,000. The Sunday, Nov. 24 feature pays $1,500 to the runner-up and $1,000 for third. All three features are 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events. Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods race for $500 to win Friday and Saturday and for $1,000 to win on Sunday. Pit gates open at 4 p.m., the front gate opens at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, the pits open at 3 p.m., the grandstand opens at 4 p.m. and racing is at 6 p.m. And on Sunday, pits open at 10 a.m., the front gate opens at 11 a.m. and racing gets underway at 1 p.m. Grandstand admission is $20 for adults and free for kids ages 11 and under. Pit gate admission is $35 for adults, $20 [Read More]

Kirchoff adds his name to Arizona Mod Tour win list

By Jackson Braun CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Feb. 11) – There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Eddie. Gillette, Wy.’s Eddie Kirchoff, a weekly contender back at home, grabbed the $1,500 Monday win at Central Arizona Speedway to become the 12th driver to win an Arizona Modified Tour feature in the IMCA Modified division. He held off a hard-charging Ricky Thornton Jr. in lapped traffic to earn his victory, as it has been no small feat to fend off the 20RT machine this week. Travis Olheiser and Kirchoff set the pace for the field coming to green. Kirchoff was fast off the start, but his advantage was erased by an early caution. Kirchoff led Drew Armstrong and Olheiser back to the green. Racing was close throughout the pack early on as drivers fought for every position they could get. The previous two features had gone without a yellow so these drivers knew the contest could very well go without another caution. All the lead cars were hooked up around the high side as [Read More]

Dominant Thornton scores 2nd Arizona Mod Tour win

By Jackson Braun CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Feb. 10) – While day racing at the Central Arizona Speedway brought a completely different dynamic to the plate, the driver in victory lane following Sunday’s Arizona Mod Tour main event was celebrating a second straight victory. A familiar face returned to the winner’s circle as Ricky Thornton Jr. grabbed his fourth career tour win, tying him with Hunter Marriott for the most overall wins in the third running of the tour. Also the $1,500 winner Saturday at Arizona Speedway and a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier six times over, Thornton used his outside starting spot to grab the lead early. Clint Reichenbach, who had faced struggles at Queen Creek, used his fourth place spot on the starting grid to catapult himself into 2nd early on. Jake O’Neil worked his way past Reichenbach and set his sights on Thornton. Thornton had a comfortable cushion once he reached lapped traffic and once again was able to maneuver very efficiently. For the second night in a row, the Modified feature [Read More]

Madrid storms past Summer Shootout foes

By Jeff McSpadden CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (July 14) – With monsoons threatening the surrounding areas all evening, and a light sprinkle during intermission, Zachary Madrid proved to be too much for the weather and his competition to stop in the headlining IMCA Modified division during Saturday’s Summer Shootout at Central Arizona Speedway. Madrid bolted to the low side of the high banks entering turn one to start the IMCA Modified feature and went from fifth to second in the first two corners behind pole sitter Dan Radcliffe. Madrid then stayed low coming off the fourth corner to complete lap one and swept by Radcliffe for the lead entering turn one. Chaz Baca Jr. was also on the move from the ninth spot, jetting by Radcliffe to take the runner-up position by the end of the second lap. Jeremy Thornton entered the fray following an early restart, taking third away from Radcliffe and stalking the duo of Baca and Madrid. Thornton would high side hustle his way past Baca and Madrid in one corner on lap seven, but Madrid got his elbows up and [Read More]

Noll notches Central Arizona win

By Jeff McSpadden CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (June 2) – Jason Noll took top IMCA Modified honors on Ernie Mincy Tribute Night at Central Arizona Speedway. The 12th starting Noll made his charge on the low side and was up to the runner-up spot by just the fourth lap. He completed his pass of A.J. Huebner for the lead and opened a sizable advantage on the field by the half way mark. Behind Noll, Tyler Mecl drove around the high side to reach second and was followed by Chaz Baca into the third spot. Noll cruised to a 2.741 second victory over Mecl, with Baca, Trevor Miller and Huebner rounding out the top five.

Thornton stars at Central Arizona

By Jeff McSpadden CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (May 19) – Jeremy Thornton was the IMCA Modified star Saturday at Central Arizona Speedway. Starting seventh in the sixteen car IMCA Modified field, Thornton quickly made his way into the fourth spot diving low on the speedway entering turns one and two after the drop of the green flag, sixth starting Trevor Miller also made a bold move into the second spot behind pole starter and early leader, Mike Strobl. Trevor Miller drove by Mike Strobl for the lead on lap two while Thornton was working his way up from seventh starting to third. Thornton made quick work of Strobl for the runner up position and set out after Miller. Taking advantage of a lap five restart, Thornton pulled even with Miller and edged ahead as the sixth lap was scored. Thornton got a great jump on the next restart and began to put some distance between himself and Miller, with Tyler Mecl climbing into the third position. Thornton’s advantage of better than a second held up until the caution waved again with two laps left. [Read More]

Central Arizona winners are Mecl, George

By Jeff McSpadden CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (May 12) – Persistent Tyler Mecl and a very fast Jason George were IMCA winners Saturday at Central Arizona Speedway. Mecl used the outside of the speedway to surprise Jeremy Thornton and take over the lead coming to the stripe to complete the ninth lap of the IMCA Modified main. From there, Mecl weathered one last caution on lap 12 to take the checkered flag by more than two seconds over Thornton and Trevor Mille. Jason George shot from fifth to first, somehow going lower on the speedway than the three-wide trio of Gerry Glenn, Mark Farnes and Chris Tipton on the first lap of the Karl Chevrolet Northern Sport Mod feature. George pulled away to a full straightaway lead by the halfway mark and simply checked out over the last 10 laps of the race. George crossed the finish line almost nine seconds ahead of Glenn.

Thornton, Harrison prevail at Central Arizona

By Jeff McSpadden CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (April 28) – Jeremy Thornton rocketed to his second IMCA Modified victory of the season while Mark Harrison came back from early troubles to hold off Jason George in the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod feature Saturday at Central Arizona Speedway. Thornton shot into the lead following an early restart and left the rest of the field to battle for second. At the finish, Thornton took a 2.303 second win over Tyler Mecl, Darin Center, Trevor Miller and Chuck Grohnke. With two laps remaining and a bunched-up restart, it appeared as if George might be able to challenge Harrison for the Northern SportMod win. But Harrison was up to the task and got a nice jump at the green. George stayed close but, in the end, would cross the stripe .488 seconds behind Harrison at the finish. Arron Hetrick held on to the third spot after crossing the line side by side with a charging Jimmy Terstriep.

Thornton adds Arizona IMCA Modified Tour win to resume

By Mike Spieker CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Feb. 12) – He already has wins at many of IMCA’s biggest events on his resume. Ricky Thornton Jr. added another when he took the $1,500 Karl Performance Arizona IMCA Modified Tour checkers Monday night at Central Arizona Speedway. Thornton started outside of row two and quickly made his way to the front. By lap four of 25 circuits, Thornton had reeled in leader Ryan Gaylord. Thornton executed a perfect slide job in turns three and four to take the lead while Casey Arneson ran within striking distance in third. Once out front, Thornton set sail and checked out from the field throughout the remainder of the caution-free main event. Further back in the top five, Arneson and Hunter Marriott, battled for third. The door opened for Marriott when Arneson pushed up the track in turn two. Marriott took the position and set his sights on Gaylord for the runner-up spot. Marriott quickly erased Gaylord’s advantage but had trouble maneuvering by the no. 7R in lapped traffic. With six to [Read More]