PEORIA, Arizona — Jeremy Mills was in the right place at the right time to top Satur¬day’s Winter Challenge Series feature for IMCA Modifieds, while Terry Belcher Jr. bounced back to take the Sunday checkers at Canyon Speedway Park.
Mills was running a close third when front-running Belcher and J.J. Harpole tangled with five laps left in the first show of the weekend. Belcher chased Dylan Smith into lapped traffic, took the lead near midway and beat the defending series champion to the stripe by a comfortable margin.
Each race paid $1,000 to win and both drivers were already qualified for the 2011 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot.
Patience produced dividends for Mills on Saturday as he dropped as far back as eighth from his third starting spot, then worked his way back up behind Belcher and Harpole.
Belcher’s brief turn at the front ended when he got together with Harpole. Mills motored by and held Tim Ward off for the victory. Smith, Jason Noll and Will Brack rounded out the top five.
“I waited just long enough. I was right on the front two when they wrecked and I had plenty of tire left for the rest of the race,” said Mills, on his way home and trading the Ari¬zona sunshine for snowy northern Iowa after four series events. “You’ve got to be in the right place at the right time. I would have liked to have finished without the front two wrecking but we’ll never know what would have happened if they hadn’t.”
Belcher was still wrenching when the Sunday drivers’ meeting started. He drew the outside row four start for the main event and slowly reeled in Smith before edging ahead.
Getting a backrunner between his car and Smith’s, Belcher pulled away to win for the second time in four series starts so far in 2011.
“It was a real good race for us. We had just a couple cautions and green flag racing for a long while,” he said. “The track was racy and that was great.”
Following at the finish were Marlyn Seidler, Mills and Noll.
Their wins were the career 58th in the class for Mills and 37th for Belcher.
The series continues Feb. 5-6, 12-13 and 19-20.
| Canyon Winter Challenge Series - Jan 29 Feature Results |
|---|
| Jan. 29 – 1. Jeremy Mills; 2. Tim Ward; 3. Dylan Smith; 4. Jason Noll; 5. Will Brack; 6. Matt Mar¬tinez; 7. Guy Norton; 8. D.J. Wood; 9. Phil Penney; 10. J.J. Harpole; 11. Matt Brack; 12. Marlyn Seidler; 13. Jeff Conner; 14. Jeremy Osbourne; 15. Norman Upton; 16. Steve Stultz; 17. Terry Belcher Jr.; 18. Dave Baker; 19. George Fronsman; 20. Ricky Thornton Jr.; 21. Stacey Mills. |
| Canyon Winter Challenge Series - Jan 30 Feature Results |
| Jan. 30 – 1. Belcher; 2. Smith; 3. Seidler; 4. Jeremy Mills; 5. Noll; 6. Thornton; 7. Ward; 8. Will Brack; 9. Matt Brack; 10. Wood; 11. Harpole; 12. Martinez; 13. Conner; 14. Penney; 15. Stacey Mills; 16. Norton; 17. George Fronsman; 18. Stultz. |
