Marfia Wins As The Sprint Cars Return To Aztec Speedway
Posted by Lynn Hensley on July 20, 2014, 10:38 am
The return of the NMMRA to Aztec Speedway made for a long night of racing. And the race fans showed their approval of the return of the sprints by fillng the stands to capacity.
Twenty five sprint cars raced for the 20 spots in the feature by way of heat races and a B-main. Nine cars took the green flag in the B-main with only the first four transferring to the Main. Dillon Tanner won from the pole with James Hatch, Butch Box and Glen Brace rounding out the top four.
The A-main was set with 20 cars to run the 25 laps. Problems developed early in the race with a few cars heading to the pits. Bill Mitchell had the early lead with Josh Grady moving up and out front. Josh Grady looked as though nobody would catch him but they did. Robert Marfia blew by about lap 7 and looked to be the fastest car on the track. Jason Grady started a move to the front on lap 8 only to have his race night come to an end on the next lap as he and Jessie Baker and Bill Mitchell tangled in turn one. All three cars ended up out of the race. Jessie Baker was driving his dad's back up car as Jessie had blown an engine earlier in the day in his #7 machine. Robert Marfia went on to win with Randy Smith making a late charge for 2nd and Josh Grady held onto 3rd. In 4th was Bo Baker and Steve Nix nailed down 5th. The rest of the field in order were: Cody Mansfiled, James Hatch, Austin Mansfield, Michael Fanelli, Matthew Cardenas,and Chris Perea. The rest of the cars were out of the race.....Glen Brace, Bill Mitchell, Jessie Baker, Jason Grady, Jason Tanner, LC Kesterson, Butch Box, and Dillon Tanner. The heat race winners were: Josh Grady, Jason Grady and Randy Smith.
The New Mexico Mini sprints had 7 cars on hand to run a 20 lap main. Spencer Hill showed no mercy as he handled this small field of cars to take the win. Eric Smith was closing a bit at the end but had to settle fro 2nd. In 3rd was Robert Turner followed by Bradley Huish in 4th and Patrick Hurtado 5th. Tyler Greer was 6th with Randy Turner awarded 7th. Randy Turner hit the wall on lap 8 and flipped. He was attended to by the track paramedics and finally released at the track. Spencer Hill also won the heat race.
The IMCA stock car 20 lap feature saw lots of close racing along with crashes and confusion be fore it finally came to an end with Kenny Hendershot winning again. Stephan Carey took 2nd after restarting in the back and fighting his way back through the pack. In a very strong run was Jeramey Bradley in 3rd. Fourth went to Travis Southerlin after he ran in front for several laps..5th was Traci Jennings. Sixth and back were: Tony Hill, Michael Farley, Richard Trujillo, Larry Bradley. The rest did not finish...Josh Turnbull, Ron Brewer, Jerald Wright, Skyler Heath, Race Fisher and Frankie Hendershot. Heat race winners were: Kenny Hendershot, Stephan Carey and Jeramey Bradley.
The IMCA sport modifieds had 11 cars take the green for a 20 lap feature. This race saw a lot of tight racing with a little too much aggressive driving at times. The end result was Jessie Baldwin, driving a great race, taking the checkers. Jordan Eddleman maintained 2nd most all of the race with Julie Boettler moving up for 3rd. Fourth went to Brian Carey and fifth to Joey Klemmish. The rest of the field in order were: Dylan Terry, Glenn Spangler, Darrell Cordary, Rex Higgins, Luke McCormick and Anthony Ludwig. The heat race winners were: Jessie Baldwin and Jordan Eddleman.
The modified feature was a wild one with the Spangler/Devilbiss fued continuing. Ryan Spangler was in front for the first 4 laps till Dereck Rhoden took over for the next 10 laps. At lap 11 the race heated up with Aaron Spangler taking over first followed by Zane Devilbiss. These two raced hard for the next four laps. After running side by side for a lap and a half with some extra paint swapping going on, the #18 of Devilbiss spun out of turn 4 and was unable to continue. Some race ending damage occurred in the last encounter with the #16 of Spangler. Aaron Spangler went on to win. In 2nd with a strong race was Jeremy Farley followed by Shane Devilbiss in 3rd. Fourth went to Matt Ratzlaff of Monte Vista, Co. and fifth was Jody Cornell. Sixth on back were: Nick Nelson, Allen Bradley, Jeff Jennings, Ryan Spangler, Charlie Felker, Regan Tafoya, Danny Bradford, Julian Garcia,sr. Zane Devilbiss, Ed Mangum and David Davis. The Bradford, Tafoya, and Rhoden cars received some heavy damage in a last lap crash. The heat race winners were: Jeremy Farley, Regan Tafoya and Aaron Spangler.
The Hobby stock feature was a miled race compared to the earlier heat race. In the feature: Randy Dorsett took the win with Andy Hockenhull (in the #19 car) 2nd. Luke Klemm took 3rd and Kelly Klemm 4th. Fifth went to Jordan Hockenhull, and Jason Hockenhull was 6th (in the #3 car). The heat race was taken down by Randy Dorsett. During this heat Freddie Brooks came out of turn four a little to high. The back of the car tagged the wall and turned the nose straight in to wall. The car then started a series of rollovers with Brooks ending up on the wall at the flag stand. Brooks climbed out uninjured. The crash is most likey viewable on Youtube today.
The sport compacts had six cars on hand with Tom Dutton winning the feature followed by Austin Maxwell, Ranai Toler, Stacey Southerlin, Camron Spangler and Michael Cody.
After a very long and late night of racing I will say thanks to all the fans for coming out and staying till the end. A great crowd....like the "old" days. We race again on August 2nd at Aztec Speedway. I'll see you there!
Re: Marfia Wins As The Sprint Cars Return To Aztec Speedway
Got to watch the mod A main. The best race I have seen in years! I got a lot of satisfaction watching that race and the events in hot pit area as Mr. develbliss has taken me out twice in the past at Hollywood hills. Its nice to know that based on the fans reactions my feelings are not alone, and that Karma has a way of creeping up on people. I wish him the best as he learns lifes lessons. He has the potential of being a respected champion someday. JMO
Congratulations Mr Spangler, you are an awesome driver!,, You were the show of the night!
Re: Marfia Wins As The Sprint Cars Return To Aztec Speedway
And Yes....sitting in the grandstands on the top row and not knowing any of the mod drivers and no favorites ...it was clear Zane Develbliss was driving rough...tried to muscle his way THRU Spangler for the lead and broke himself. Spangler takes the win. The fans loved it.
Re: Marfia Wins As The Sprint Cars Return To Aztec Speedway
No Question...one of the best nights of racing in NM and AZ I have seen in the past several years. Glad I made the trip. Thought NMMRA put on a great show in El Paso and Las Cruces in June...but this was even better.
on July 20, 2014, 10:38 am