Wow, what a wild night of racing on the dirt at Motiva Speedway.

The NMMRA Non Wing Sprints returned after a successful show in Aztec last weekend. There were 19 cars and we saw the return of Rick Johnson #65 after a several year layoff. The Grady's came down from Farmington and showed they were here to win. Sprints had three heats races with Heat 1 going to David Dykes is #55 followed by Kristi Smith #4L and Jason Grady #45. Dykes and Smith looked good in this race and held off the hard charging Grady. Did I mention that Cody Mansfield rolled his sprinter down the back straight when he caught a wheel of a competitor, thus ending his night, no injury thank goodness. Heat 2 saw the #57 of Austin Mansfield take the win but not until he slid the car backwards in turn 4 and let off just enough to save it and stay ahead of the pack, as close to a 360 as possible w/o actually going all the way around, great job of driving. Heat 3 had Bill Mitchell #62 start on the pole and take a commanding lead and never look back. Dillon Tanner #11 tried to look like a funny car on the front straight and showed us a wheelie. Finishing second was Randy Smith #26 followed by Rick Johnson #65.

The Sprint car main was the typical wild sprinter show. Bill Mitchell #62 started on the pole and took off, looking like it was going to be his night, but at about 10 laps in it looked like his setup was going south and he started sliding back in the pack. Josh Grady #12J always puts on a slide clinic running the high grove and he looked like he might have a win, but his brother was having none of it. The finishing order was Grady #45, Randy Smith #26, Austin Mansfield #57, Bill Mitchell #62 followed by Jeff Brumfield, Michael Fanelli, David Dykes, Ronnie Smith, Josh Grady and after that I loose count. All in all it was a great NMMRA show.

The Mods had 5 honest A Mods and 3 X Mods to put on one hell of a show. They put on one of the best Modified shows of the year. The heat in which all eight cars started, with Toy Fisher #98 on the pole. Josh Cain #3j started last, and he fought up to only fourth, does that tell you how hard these guys were running. Toy Fisher #98 was as fast as I have ever seen him with Donald Clinger #05 following but not catching Toy. Third place went to Deral Meek who looked fast and held off Cain. Great side by side racing. The main was one of the best Modified races I have seen this year. If you missed it, sorry bout your bad luck. Clint Miller #58 had the car set up perfect, he had more forward bite coming out of mid turn than anyone, and it was a pleasure to see how hard he came out of the turns. Cain #3J and Miller had a multi lap duel until Cain seemed to develop some minor mechanical that caused him to slow just enough for Miller to take the lead. Seeing this made those X Mods race all the harder and at the finish Tom Melly #62 and Toy Fisher #98 were giving Cain all he could handle. The finish was Miller followed by Cain, Melloy, Fisher, Oneal, Lynch with Clinger DNF and Meek DNS due to a tangle with Clinger in the heat.

The Street Stocks had a repeat of every race this year. Any guesses as to who won everything? Of course R C Combs #53 he is reminding me of Gaylord Lippert and George Bazil of old. The fellow just cant be beat. The heat finishers as follow, Combs, Yates, Duke, Dutcher, Haste, Goss. The main was a repeat of the heat except the young Mr. Combs decided to show all how fast this car really is and lapped every one but Yates who was 1/2 lap back.

Now the Mini Sprints. They had short field of 8 cars. Several yellow flags prevented this race from ever getting going well. Patrick Hurtado #07 won with Robert Turner #22 second. Mike Barns #72 was looking strong and giving Hurtado some competition till he spun. The main was interesting with Tyler Gried #5JR leading for about 10 laps and looking his best this year, but it was not to be for the young driver as he got loose and allowed Hurtado and Turner to get by. The finish was a mess with yellow flag on white flag lap and the restart seemed out of order. Finishing first was Hurtado followed by Turner, Smith, Grier, Barnes, Mc Hugh, And these finishing results are NOT Official, so dont yell at me.

The Cruisers had a field of 9 cars. The heat race had Cody Sanchez #26 lead most of the way. Madison Conrad #76 looked good in the early running but fell back to third after the hard charging of Leo Dennison #00. If Leo can stop spinning at least once in every race, he will be the man to beat. Clearly the fasted Cruiser out tonight. The main more of the same, with Sanchez taking first place and Dennison following and Conrad third. We saw the return of long time racer Phil York #1 who ran hot and cold but were glad to see him back on the track.

The Hornets had small field with only 3 cars. Lena Duke #99 won the heat from the outside front. The main was also won by Lena after Justin Morgan the points leader sliding out and allowing the #99 of Duke to pass for the win.

It was a good night at Motiva. Good track prep, good car counts in most divisions, Large crowd, and many hambergers sold. Thanks to all that came out and shared this evening with the drivers and staff.

God Bless us All
Ray and Bob Ingram