The Las Vegas Motor Speedway's three eighths of a mile oval, known as the Bullring, presented a full evening of racing from a variety of divisions, May 16th, that often brought the fans to their feet.
Headlining the show was the Metro PCS Super Late Models. Jeff Connors won the 40 lap feature but the process of getting to victory lane took awhile due to the presence of five yellow flags and one red flag.
The feature only made one lap before the first yellow came out. Early race leader Dustin Ash and Connors were racing hard through turn one when some slight contact was made and Ash went sailing sideways through turn two. The next yellow came out on lap four when Jimmy Parker Jr took a Bullring 360 ride through the second turn.
But the absolute worst incident of the evening occurred on lap five that involved three cars, the element of fire and a red flag. Dusty Davis went sideways coming out of turn four, following some contact from another car, and then slid towards the start finish line on the front straightaway. The incident unfolded so quickly that Fabian Bray virtually had no time to react and slammed into the left side of the Davis car. It was the same situation for Joe Deguevera who slammed into the rear of the Bray machine. Deguevera's car erupted into flames. The driver quickly emerged from the car and then rolled back and forth on the front stretch asphalt to extinguish any possibility of fire from his driver's suit. It was later reported that he suffered a slight burn on his right leg. Basically, all three drivers walked away from the horrific accident simply because the mandatory safety equipment did the job it's supposed to do.
Back under green flag racing again Connors paced the field while fending off the advances of Justin Johnson who was in second. The race rhythm was slowed again on lap 15 when Parker and Ash found each other in the middle of turn two.
With the race well beyond the halfway point, Johnson began to make his presence known and started putting some real pressure on Connors. By lap 27 the pair of drivers were literally door to door with the fans loving it. Johnson made a masterful move, on the inside line of turn three, to take the lead. Unfortunately the pass didn't stick due to the final caution flag of the race which was due to Glen Burke's spin in turn two.
Official speedway policy states that when a yellow caution flag is presented then the race line up automatically reverts to the previous completed green flag lap. That put Connors back into the lead. Following the restart Connors ran out the final 11 laps to the checkers, for his first win of the year, but still had to fend off a heated challenge from Johnson en route to victory lane. Taylor Barton, Scott Gafforini and Chris Bray followed the leaders under the checkers to complete the top five.
KWASNIEWSKI AND YOUNG TAKE CHECKERS IN LEGEND CAR ACTION.
A good field of Legend Cars were on hand during this night at the Las Vegas Bullring and proved why they're so popular with the fans. In their 20 lap feature Dylan Kwasniewski made a race winning move, on lap six, when he passed Justin Hurdle on the low side of turn two. That's all the driver needed and he made very quick work of running out the remainder of the laps while claiming his second feature win of the season. Nick Parmalee followed the race leader under the checkers to take second while Hurdle, Jack Madrid and Jairo Avila Jr completed the top five.
In the Legends' Developmental Division Alex Young was all smiles after scoring his first ever feature win. Young led the 15 lap event flag to flag. Austrailian Bronson Butcher followed the winner across the line while Mike Fox, James "Pork Chop" Manning and Cheyanne Schindler completed the top five.
CARPENTER TAKES THUNDER ROADSTER FEATURE.
St George-Utah's Jarrod Carpenter took the 20 lap Thunder Roadster feature after passing Fred Chase with only two laps left in the race. Then the race winner had to endure a green white checker finish when the last of three caution flags came out one lap later. In the early stages of this race there was a very hot, often side by side, duel between Ed Hohman and Johan Timmer that the fans really enjoyed.
But, by the end of the race, Chase and Carpenter became the major players for the win. On the final lap Timmer took over second, Chase held on to third while Chris "Spanky" Bosley and Damon Blakemon completed the top five.
SIMONETTE INHERITS SURPRISE WIN IN BOMBER FEATURE.
The always fun Bomber stocks were also a big part of the show at the Bullring. In their 25 lap feature Larry "The Torch" Dittman passed Dallas Simonette with five laps remaining following a winning move that saw him pass the leader on the high side of turn two. At least that's the way it seemed. Later in the night it was announced by speedway officials that Dittman's station wagon failed to pass a post race technical inspection. There was no formal announcement regarding exactly what the problem was.
That little post race surprise moved Simonette to the winner's spot. Ben "Big Jim" Sherard was promoted to second while Wade Pearson, Bryan Gearld and Scott Castle completed the top five.
TILTON AND O'HANLEY DOMINATES BANDOLERO FEATURES.
The youngsters in their small, but very fast, Bandolero cars are often thought of as the future of Saturday night racing. These young drivers put on a very fine show last Saturday night at the Bullring.
In the Bandolero Bandit division Jacob Tilton led the 15 lap feature flag to flag to score his third feature win of the year. Kayli Barker followed him in second while Christian Glass, Christian Warren and Vincent Raucci Jr completed the top five.
In the Bandolero Young Gun action Patrick O'Hanley also won his 15 lap feature flag to flag. Michael Morris and Rachel Brown, who put on a terrific side by side duel for second, followed the leader under the checkers. Ian Anderson and Kolleen Dresser completed the top five.
