The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Terry Phillips used the same strategy he did last year as he once again won the IMCA Duel in the Desert on Saturday night. Phillips started the 40 lap race on the wide ½ mile track 5th and quickly went to the high side of the race track. Phillips used that high line last year to drive to victory and once again, he made the high line work and drove to back-to-back $7,777 victories. Phillips was driving a RevHoney Energy drink sponsored Razor chassis owned by 2011 IMCA National Champion Jordan Grabouski. Grabouski also made Saturday’s 28 car A Main but retired in 25th position with mechanical issues. Phillips was able to overcome late race engine woes (likely a broken rocker arm) and hold off a hard charging Dominic Ursetta over the final laps to “got ‘er did,” as he put it to his crew in victory lane.
After taking the lead from the outside of the front row, Colorado star Ricky Alvarado looked to avenge himself from two years ago, when he made one slip up while leading that virtually handed victory to Johnny Saathoff late in the race. After earning a preliminary feature win on Friday, it looked like Alvarado was going to have that chance to get redemption and finally claim victory. Alvarado was able to grab the lead as the field entered turn 1 of the first lap, with pole starting Dylan Smith, Ursetta and Phillips in tow.
Most of the top 10 cars quickly got into a single file line, riding the bottom side of the track, with the exception of Phillips. Phillips moved up to the middle and high groove in the turns and was able to maintain his spot as the cars all ran high on the front and back straights. A couple of early cautions slowed the race but the top 6 cars remained virtually the same, with Matt Brack running behind the lead four, followed by Justin O’Brien (who also won a Friday preliminary feature) and Jeff Taylor.
On lap 12, Ursetta made a move to get under Smith and was able to grab second away, while Alvarado maintained the point. A couple laps later, 23rd starting Darin Duffy was charging his way to the front, taking over the 10th spot on lap 12. On lap 15, Phillips was able to get around Smith on the top side, while Duffy moved up another spot to 9th. Just a few laps later, on lap 18, Phillips got around Ursetta for second, then Brack went up high to get around Smith for 4th. Duffy also moved up another spot to 8th on that lap.
A caution just passed the half way mark of the race on lap 23 bunched the field up. Just before the caution, Phillips and Ursetta had chased down Alvarado and were right on his back bumper when the caution flew. Under the caution, O’Brien stopped with severe mechanical damage to the underside of his car and would be towed back to the pit area. As the race resumed, the top 3 cars entered turn three 3 wide, with Phillips up high, Alvarado pushed to the middle and Ursetta on the bottom. As the cars raced off turn 4, it was Phillips who took over the lead. Alvarado was moved back to second with Ursetta, Brack and Smith giving chase.
Behind the top 5, Taylor and Duffy were still in the hunt and looked to hang with the leaders with 15 laps still remaining in the race. Just before another caution flew on lap 25, Brack was able to get by Ursetta and move into 3rd. After the restart, Phillips adjusted his middle and high groove in turns 1 & 2, instead opting to run the bottom groove. The move allowed him to open up a lead over Alvarado. On the restart, Brack and Smith also charged and shuffled Ursetta back to 4th.
The final caution of the night flew on lap 29 when Alvarado suffered a right front broken ball joint and his car darted towards the outside retaining wall in turn 4, coming to a stop and ending his bid to secure a Duel victory. With just 11 laps remaining, Phillips lined up with Brack, Ursetta, Taylor, Smith and Duffy giving chase. On the restart, this time it was Ursetta who charged back under Brack to move into second. A few laps later, Smith was able to get by Brack and was followed by Taylor who also moved up.
With 5 laps remaining, Ursetta had been able to chase down Phillips and was on his back bumper. Phillips continued to run the bottom groove in turns 1 & 2, while Ursetta moved up the track. Phillips also ran up high in turn 3 & 4, forcing Ursetta to try to run down on the bottom. Over the last few laps, you could hear Phillips’ motor making popping noises as he motored down the straights but he was able to stay hard on the throttle and keep the lead. As the two competitors entered the final set of turns, Ursetta made a charge to the bottom and got along side Phillips. They exited turn 4 still side-by-side but it was Phillips who had just enough momentum from the high groove that allowed him to secure the win, with Ursetta just behind. Smith gave chase but ended a strong run in 3rd, followed by Taylor, Duffy and Brack.
“The car worked good but we had something break on the motor but other than that, it was on the money all night,” Phillips said afterwards. “I hit the hole on the back straight a couple times so hard, all I could see was the air,” he added. When he crew came over to congratulate him in victory lane, he told them in his Midwest Missouri accent, “ got ‘er did!” He certainly did! Congratulations to Phillips and the Grabouski team on back-to-back Duel wins.
Making their Duel debut were the IMCA Sport Mods. It was to be a battle between the Northern Sport Mods and the Southern Sport Mods. While the rules are noticeably different between the two, it was believed that the competition would be pretty equal. Sixteen drivers made the tow to Vegas and early on in the 15 lap feature, it was Southern driving Matt Mueller leading the way over Northern driving Jesse Sobbing. On lap 8, it was Sobbing who was able to drive around the outside of Mueller and he would go on to claim his 55th victory of the 2011 season. The win paid Sobbing $777, while Mueller settle for the runner up spot.
The 14th annual Duel was highlighted by a record car count of 240 Modifieds, with entrants representing 25 different states and 3 Canadian provinces. In past years, the weather has provided very cold evenings with strong winds blowing. This year, the weather was near perfect, with cool evenings for a mid-November battle of some of the best Modified drivers in the country. While the good weather was noted by many, so were the track conditions, as both Friday and Saturday, drivers had to contend with several large ruts that developed on the racing surface. While drivers crashing into one another is always a topic of discussion of mechanical woes, after the weekend was over, many drivers suffered damage as a result of the deep ruts. After Friday night that saw several ruts all over the track, track crews late into the night ripping and putting the track back together. For most of the night Saturday it had held up, but with more than 250 cars making laps all night long, some more ruts began to surface.
One special mention to the top three drivers of the Last Chance qualifier #2 on Saturday night. Upstaged only by the late race finish to the A Main charge by Ursetta to catch Phillips, this race was one of the best races all weekend. Pole starting Kellen Chadwick jumped to the lead entering turn one of the first lap but slid high, allowing 2nd starting Jay Noteboom to drive into the lead. Chadwick slid back to 3rd as Noteboom began to run away from the field. Behind Chadwick, Jason Noll had started deep in the field but was quickly trying to charge his way to the front. With only the winner advancing to the A Main, it was a win or go home race. Chadwick regained his form and raced into 2nd and lap 6 of the 12 lapper, while Noll moved into the top 5. Chadwick patiently hit his marks and began to catch Noteboom, while Noll got into 3rd and stalked Chadwick. With only 2 laps remaining, Noteboom held the lead but was now having to deal with lapped traffic. As all the cars entered turn 4 of the final lap, Noteboom was able to get high around a lapper, while Chadwick and Noll had to split the lapper. All three headed to the finish line with Noteboom able to just hold off Noll and Chadwick. It was a thrilling finish that drew a huge cheer from the crowd.
A special thanks to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and IMCA, who was able to provide a live video broadcast of the event with help from sponsorship from Lucas Oil and K&N Filters. On Friday and Saturday, at times more than 2,000 viewers from around the country were able to log on and watch and listen live to the races, free of charge. Some of those viewers were crew and fans, watching the race on their smart phones in the pit area of the race track while the races were going on.
IMCA stages two huge Modified events each year. The IMCA Super Nationals, now held each year in Boone, Iowa is still the largest Modified race of the year with 254 cars competing this year. The Duel in the Desert is now inching closer to becoming the biggest event of the year, with 240 entrants this year. While the two events attract the huge fields and the top stars in IMCA Modified racing, the scene at the two events do not compare to one another. Boone is known as “America’s Racin’ Vacation.” Most of the drivers and fans all camp out at the track all week long and is legendary for being one big party every night after the races in the pit area and campground. A walk through the pits 1 hour after the races in Vegas, and you feel like you are literally in the middle of the desert, as nearly all the cars are loaded and drivers, crews and fans head back into the Vegas to spend their nights. The Duel is more like “The Racers’ Vacation” and continues to grow bigger and bigger each year.
Official Results
IMCA Modified A Main – 40 laps
1. (5) Terry Phillips (75T) Springfield, Missouri
2. (3) Dominic Ursetta (6U) Arvada, Colo.
3. (1) Dylan Smith (95) Ocsceola, Nebr.
4. (10) Jeff Taylor (5T) Cave City, Ark.
5. (23) Darrin Duffy (19D) Hazelton, Iowa
6. (8) Matt Brack (16M) Mead, Colo.
7. (16) Will Brack (15W) Mead, Colo.
8. (11) Justen Yeager (33Y) Green River, Wyo.
9. (9) Randy Hall (H20) Olean, N.Y.
10. (13) Bobby Hogge (2H) Salinas, Kans.
11. (25) Steve Arpin (01A) Cornelius, N.C.
12. (24) Tyson Turnbull (10T) Estevan, Sask., Canada
13. (21) Ryan McDaniel (10) Olivehurst, Calif.
14. (14) Kevin Stoa (98) Albert Lea, Minn.
15. (12) Justin Radcliff (11J) China Spring, Texas
16. (27) Alan Sharpensteen (75X) Springfield, Missouri
17. (6) Jason Pike (23) Pahrump, Nev.
18. (17) Jay Foster (09) Buckeye, Ariz.
19. (22) Kyle Heckman (11XX) Bakersfield, Calif.
20. (2) Ricky Alvarado (ww1) Delta, Colo.
21. (26) Tim Ward (4TW) Gilbert, Ariz.
22. (18) Jay Noteboom (7N) Hinton, Iowa
23. (4) Justin O'Brien (12J) West Union, Iowa
24. (7) John Hansen (8H) Brush, Colo.
25. (19) Jordan Grabouski (30) Beatrice, Nebr.
26. (15) Jacob Murray (48J) Hartford, Iowa
27. (20) Bob Moore (48) Sioux City, Iowa
28. (28) Kyle Lentz (99) Green Bay, Wisc.
Other Modified Results:
12-lap Modified Last-Chance Races (only the winner advances):
First: 1. Jay Foster.
Second: 1. Jay Noteboom.
Third: 1. Jordan Grabouski.
Fourth: 1. Bobby Moore.
Fifth: 1. Ryan McDaniel.
Sixth: 1. Kyle Heckman.
Seventh: 1. Darrin Duffy.
Eightht: 1. Tyson Turnbull.
Ninth: 1. Steve Arpin.
Tenth: 1. Tim Ward.
Eleventh: Alan Sharpensteen.
Twelfth: Kyle Lentz.
Wild West feature: 1. Cory Sample (Winnemucca, Nev.).
Old Timers' Race (55 and older): 1. Robert Heffer (Swift River, Sask., Canada).
Young Gun Race (17 and younger): 1. Riley Emmel (Estevan, Sask., Canada).
IMCA Sport Mods:
First heat: 1. Jesse Sobbing (Glenwood, Iowa).
Second heat: 1. Ken Graves (Tahoka, Texas).
15-lap IMCA Sport Mod feature: 1. Jesse Sobbing (Glenwood, Iowa), 2. Matt Mueller, 3. Ken Graves, 4. Jason Mallicoat.
