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Lucas Rodin (Nick Anderson Photo)

Rodin rocks rivals in Limited Mods to win on night four of Wild West Shootout

By Meghan Diemel, Editor
All The Dirt! Racing News

CASA GRANDE, AZ (January 16) – Former WISSOTA National Champion Lucas Rodin scored another victory on behalf of WISSOTA racers on hand at Central Arizona Raceway Friday night, January 16, as the Marion, North Dakota driver won the Limited Modified feature during the fourth night of action during the Wild West Shootout.

Other winners included Hudson O’Neal in the Super Late Models, as well as Rodney Sanders in the Modifieds.

Ryan Gustin was the early leader in the Super Late Model feature ahead of Tyler Erb, with O’Neal close behind in third and Jonathan Davenport and Bobby Pierce arguing over fourth. Pierce briefly took third, with O’Neal fourth and Davenport fifth, before O’Neal shot back past Pierce the next lap.

With five laps in the books Gustin continued to lead, while O’Neal had moved into striking distance of Erb in second. O’Neal took the lead down the backstretch the next lap, before the caution fell for Drake Troutman, who had a flat tire.

Gustin led the field back to green, with O’Neal looking to his inside on the restart. Pierce worked into third past Erb, while Dustin Sorensen cracked the top five just ahead of Davenport. With 10 laps in the books, Gustin and O’Neal were side by side for the lead, with O’Neal using a slider to garner the top spot. Pierce began to catch the top two, with Erb holding fourth and Sorensen steady in fifth. Four laps later Pierce drove past Gustin in the runner-up spot before the yellow dropped for a slowed Brandon Sheppard.

O’Neal jumped out to a healthy lead back under green, as Pierce and Gustin fought for second, with Pierce keeping the spot. Sorensen had supplanted Erb for fourth before another caution fell, this time for Ethan Dotson.

Back under green, O’Neal had a slight lead as Pierce used a full head of steam down the backstretch to use a slider in three and four. O’Neal turned back his efforts, and Gustin closed back in on Pierce. Pierce wound his ride back up on the top, using another slider on O’Neal in turns three and four with eight to go, but couldn’t make it stick. This was just ahead of Gustin, who was right on their bumper with seven to go. Erb moved back forward into fourth, with Garrett Alberson using the high side to take fifth.

With three laps to go, O’Neal had put distance on Pierce, while Pierce had to fend off Gustin. Out front O’Neal took the victory, with Pierce, Gustin, Erb, and Sorensen in the top five.

The WISSOTA-licensed drivers who made the feature was limited to Sam Mars, who started 24th and was a DNF in 20th.

Jamestown, North Dakota’s Scott Bintz and Christy Barnett led the field of Limited Modifieds to their green flag and after a spun racer marred the first start, Bintz slid up the track in turns three and four and took the lead, with Barnett settling into second, Tyler Johnson third, Madison, Minnesota’s Scott Tofte fourth and Josh Cain fifth. Another caution appeared for a spun Jacob Hodges.

Bintz led the field back to green, with heavy pressure from Barnett in second and Johnson in third. Johnson continued to work the high side, and Barnett to the inside along the low side, as they worked Bintz for the lead. Barnett took the lead four laps in, as Johnson drove by Bintz the following lap. Ninth-starter Lucas Rodin had worked his way into fourth, and Tofte was fifth. A caution fell for a dustup farther back in the pack, regrouping the field with just six laps in the books.

Barnett led the field back to green, as Johnson held second and Rodin drove by Bintz for third. Jake Smith, who started 11th, took fifth.

Barnett continued to stretch her lead as Johnson and Rodin raced side by side for second and Smith was on their bumpers in fourth. About two laps later Rodin raced into second, with Johnson and Smith in the top four. Cain had regained fifth before the yellow flew again, this time for Aasa Flores.

Following the restart, Rodin had a good run off the top of the track to drive by Barnett with six to go, but Barnett battled back the following lap and regained the lead. Smith was third, Johnson fourth and Cain fifth. Rodin regrouped and again used the high side to drive back into the top spot, holding the position narrowly as they drove down the backstretch — but a yellow halted the excitement.

Rodin had the lead for the restart, which was called back for contact from Barnett. Back under green Rodin held off Barnett and Smith in close-quarters racing across the finish line to take the victory, with Cain fourth and Johnson fifth.

Of those who made the feature from WISSOTA, Bintz was eighth, Curtis Stieh was 10th, Duke Erickson was 14th, Tofte was 15th, Parker Anderson was 20th and Jaden Christ finished 22nd.

In the Modifieds, Gabe Hodges led early on, with Rodney Sanders and Dustin Sorensen side by side for second. Sorensen caught the concrete, allowing Sanders to escape solidly in second, as Jeremy Payne drove by into third. Jason Noll was fifth.

As the laps continued to click off, Hodges remained in the lead ahead of Sanders, who was under pressure from Payne for second. Payne took second with 10 laps in the books, with Sorensen in fourth and Carlos Ahumada Jr. into fifth. A caution two laps later for Travis Saurer regrouped the field.

Sanders used the restart to his advantage, slinging around the outside of the speedway and charging into the lead before the caution fell for a spun competitor.

Back under green Sanders continued to lead, as Hodges pulled into second, and Sorensen drove by Payne into third. Tyler Davis shuffled Payne back another spot, as he took fourth, and Reece Solander took fifth as Payne dropped back out of the top five. Sorensen drove into second about a lap later and immediately pulled away.

Sanders’ lead was about a second with seven to go, as Sorensen continued to cut into his advantage. In the closing laps Sanders was able to pull back out to a comfortable lead to the checkered flag, with Sorensen second, 14th-starter Solander was third, Davis was fourth and Hodges was fifth.

Travis Saurer was the lone entrant from WISSOTA to make the feature, and he was scored 17th.

SUMMARY

Super Late Models:

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[5]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[1]; 5. 19-Dustin Sorensen[7]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 7. 86-Kyle Beard[21]; 8. 157-Mike Marlar[10]; 9. 8-Dillon McCowan[11]; 10. 49-Jonathan Davenport[6]; 11. 15D-Justin Duty[13]; 12. 97-Cade Dillard[17]; 13. 15S-Clay Stuckey[12]; 14. B5-Brandon Sheppard[16]; 15. 74X-Ethan Dotson[8]; 16. 13-Bricen James[19]; 17. 128-Kylan Garner[23]; 18. 9T-Tim Isenberg[22]; 19. 4TW-Tim Ward[9]; 20. 28-Sam Mars[24]; 21. 0-Jake O'Neil[18]; 22. 75-Terry Phillips[20]; 23. 22*-Drake Troutman[14]; 24. 82-Eston Whisler[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 3. 4TW-Tim Ward[3]; 4. 15D-Justin Duty[4]; 5. 13-Bricen James[5]; 6. 86-Kyle Beard[6]; 7. 128-Kylan Garner[9]; 8. 49T-Jake Timm[7]; 9. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[8]; 10. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 19-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 4. 82-Eston Whisler[7]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 6. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[6]; 7. 15*-Cole Schill[10]; 8. 96-RC Whitwell[9]; 9. 11X-Austin Kuehl[8]; 10. 66-Eli Ross[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman[1]; 5. 0-Jake O'Neil[4]; 6. 9T-Tim Isenberg[7]; 7. 48-Tim Lance[11]; 8. 28-Sam Mars[6]; 9. 21F-Gunner Frank[9]; 10. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[8]; 11. 88-Chance Mann[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 2. 74X-Ethan Dotson[1]; 3. 15S-Clay Stuckey[2]; 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 5. 75A-Daniel Adam[5]; 6. 75-Terry Phillips[7]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans[6]; 8. 6T-Terry Carter[8]; 9. 0G-Matt Gilbertson[9]; 10. 28C-John Cornell[10]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 13-Bricen James[1]; 3. 86-Kyle Beard[3]; 4. 128-Kylan Garner[5]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[7]; 6. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[4]; 7. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[9]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[11]; 9. 66-Eli Ross[12]; 10. 15*-Cole Schill[6]; 11. 96-RC Whitwell[8]; 12. 11X-Austin Kuehl[10]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 0-Jake O'Neil[1]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips[4]; 3. 9T-Tim Isenberg[3]; 4. 28-Sam Mars[7]; 5. 18-Chase Junghans[6]; 6. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[11]; 7. 75A-Daniel Adam[2]; 8. 48-Tim Lance[5]; 9. 88-Chance Mann[13]; 10. 21F-Gunner Frank[9]; 11. 28C-John Cornell[12]; 12. 6T-Terry Carter[8]; 13. 0G-Matt Gilbertson[10]

Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 20S-Rodney Sanders[3]; 2. 19-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 3. 5-Reece Solander[14]; 4. 65-Tyler Davis[6]; 5. 7G-Gabe Hodges[1]; 6. 186-Jeremy Payne[7]; 7. 07X-Troy Morris III[23]; 8. 44N-Jason Noll[4]; 9. 38T-Dylan Thornton[5]; 10. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[11]; 11. 10M-Talan Willis[17]; 12. 50-Robert Adams[10]; 13. 4W-Tyler Wolff[15]; 14. 19SB-Lance Mari[22]; 15. 25-Kale Murphrey[12]; 16. 29-Chris Spalding[24]; 17. 88XXX-Travis Saurer[13]; 18. 2SS-Mark Smith[8]; 19. 24C-Joe Chisholm[16]; 20. 24-Rick Ortega[18]; 21. 12S-Hunter Sandy[9]; 22. 80XX-Jason Langford[20]; 23. P17-Peyton Gallardo[19]; 24. G17-Fito Gallardo[21]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[2]; 2. 186-Jeremy Payne[4]; 3. 71-Dustin Strand[1]; 4. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[3]; 5. G17-Fito Gallardo[8]; 6. 19R-Lucas Rodin[5]; 7. 07X-Troy Morris III[10]; 8. J17-Jake Gallardo[9]; 9. 46-Paul Miles[7]; 10. 22S-Cole Szlauko[11]; 11. 411-Todd Izzo[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 65-Tyler Davis[2]; 2. 20S-Rodney Sanders[6]; 3. 88XXX-Travis Saurer[5]; 4. 4W-Tyler Wolff[7]; 5. 25-Kale Murphrey[10]; 6. 0-Peyton George[8]; 7. 6F-Matt Fester[9]; 8. 57-Gage McCaughan[4]; 9. 02LZ-Ellsworth Conover[3]; 10. 73-Jeff Helget[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12S-Hunter Sandy[1]; 2. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[3]; 3. 2SS-Mark Smith[6]; 4. 24C-Joe Chisholm[7]; 5. 151-Lucas Gibbs[5]; 6. 413-Tate Johnson[4]; 7. 91-Joe Duvall[9]; 8. 51-Dallas Caldwell[2]; 9. 81-Devon Jobin[10]; 10. 131-Royal Jones[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7G-Gabe Hodges[6]; 2. 24-Rick Ortega[2]; 3. 96-Taton Hansen[3]; 4. 10M-Talan Willis[7]; 5. 58X-Gary Christian[9]; 6. 20-Cole Queensland[10]; 7. 11N-Gene Nicholas[4]; 8. J7-Jake Boles[8]; 9. 97A-Cole Anderson[1]; 10. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[5]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 44N-Jason Noll[3]; 2. P17-Peyton Gallardo[2]; 3. 5-Reece Solander[5]; 4. 80XX-Jason Langford[6]; 5. 44-Christy Barnett[8]; 6. M19-JC Mattingly[1]; 7. 721-Troy Gemmill[9]; 8. 112-Brennan Gave[10]; 9. 17-Brent Holman[4]; 10. L8-Ethan Stevens[7]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 2. 19SB-Lance Mari[1]; 3. 12-Jay Rosales[2]; 4. 50-Robert Adams[8]; 5. 29-Chris Spalding[9]; 6. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[5]; 7. 101-Luke Silber[3]; 8. 85D-Mark Dotson[4]; 9. 24X-Xavier Ortega[10]; 10. 26S-Steven Glenn[7]

B Feature 1 (8 Laps): 1. P17-Peyton Gallardo[1]; 2. 19SB-Lance Mari[2]; 3. 85D-Mark Dotson[11]; 4. 112-Brennan Gave[8]; 5. 44-Christy Barnett[3]; 6. 81-Devon Jobin[10]; 7. 19R-Lucas Rodin[7]; 8. 12-Jay Rosales[4]; 9. 97A-Cole Anderson[14]; 10. 22S-Cole Szlauko[12]; 11. 131-Royal Jones[13]; 12. 11N-Gene Nicholas[9]; 13. 0-Peyton George[5]; 14. 6F-Matt Fester[6]; 15. 411-Todd Izzo[15]

B Feature 2 (8 Laps): 1. 80XX-Jason Langford[2]; 2. 07X-Troy Morris III[5]; 3. 58X-Gary Christian[1]; 4. 71-Dustin Strand[4]; 5. 96-Taton Hansen[3]; 6. 91-Joe Duvall[6]; 7. M19-JC Mattingly[8]; 8. 24X-Xavier Ortega[10]; 9. 51-Dallas Caldwell[11]; 10. L8-Ethan Stevens[13]; 11. 17-Brent Holman[12]; 12. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[7]; 13. 101-Luke Silber[9]; 14. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[14]

B Feature 3 (8 Laps): 1. G17-Fito Gallardo[2]; 2. 29-Chris Spalding[1]; 3. J17-Jake Gallardo[8]; 4. 721-Troy Gemmill[6]; 5. 26S-Steven Glenn[13]; 6. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[4]; 7. 151-Lucas Gibbs[5]; 8. 413-Tate Johnson[7]; 9. 46-Paul Miles[11]; 10. 02LZ-Ellsworth Conover[12]; 11. 73-Jeff Helget[14]; 12. 57-Gage McCaughan[10]; 13. 20-Cole Queensland[3]; 14. J7-Jake Boles[9]

Limited Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 19-Lucas Rodin[9]; 2. 44-Christy Barnett[2]; 3. 21-Jake Smith[11]; 4. 3J-Josh Cain[5]; 5. 75-Tyler Johnson[3]; 6. 5-Shane McNutt[20]; 7. M17-Rob Moseley[15]; 8. 1S-Scott Bintz[1]; 9. 11DW-Danny Wagner[12]; 10. 32C-Curtis Stieh[13]; 11. 94-Tyler Potter[18]; 12. 22-Keenan Glasser[14]; 13. 9-Ken Schrader[8]; 14. 57-Duke Erickson[17]; 15. 28T-Scott Tofte[4]; 16. 0-Dakota Girard[6]; 17. 7X-Bubba Stafford Jr[24]; 18. 99-Jeremy Haddox[22]; 19. 10-Bryan Bennett[7]; 20. 27P-Parker Anderson[21]; 21. 05-Aasa Flores[23]; 22. 79-Jaden Christ[16]; 23. 75S-Cole Suckow[19]; 24. 14J-Jacob Hodges[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 75-Tyler Johnson[4]; 2. 94-Tyler Potter[1]; 3. 14J-Jacob Hodges[6]; 4. M17-Rob Moseley[7]; 5. 509-Brennan Davis[2]; 6. 34-Brandon Rehill[8]; 7. 196-Matt Micheli[3]; 8. 23H-Hector Barraza[10]; 9. 11D-Dave Smith[5]; 10. 562-Craig Walker[11]; 11. 13-Josh Beyer[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Christy Barnett[6]; 2. 79-Jaden Christ[2]; 3. 02-Deuce Teague[1]; 4. 05-Aasa Flores[5]; 5. 32C-Curtis Stieh[10]; 6. 50X-Paul Parks[4]; 7. 27P-Parker Anderson[3]; 8. 77-Chance Kodet[7]; 9. 50-Braydon Whitfield[9]; 10. 71B-Dave Siercks[8]; 11. 27-Andy Davis[11]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Bryan Bennett[2]; 2. 28T-Scott Tofte[6]; 3. 3J-Josh Cain[7]; 4. 7X-Bubba Stafford Jr[1]; 5. 99-Jeremy Haddox[8]; 6. 28-David Pitt[4]; 7. 5C-Chandler Dodge[5]; 8. 28M-Phil Marino[10]; 9. 54-Lance Relf[3]; 10. 711-Payce Herrera[9]; 11. (DNS) 88-Tyler Delong

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 1S-Scott Bintz[9]; 2. 57-Duke Erickson[1]; 3. 0-Dakota Girard[7]; 4. 11DW-Danny Wagner[8]; 5. 19-Lucas Rodin[11]; 6. 21B-Braxton James[4]; 7. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[5]; 8. 5-Shane McNutt[3]; 9. 14B-Erick Barraza[2]; 10. 30-Blake Davis[10]; 11. 980-Kaden Woodie[6]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[1]; 2. 89-Chris Mangum[2]; 3. 22-Keenan Glasser[5]; 4. 9-Ken Schrader[9]; 5. 75S-Cole Suckow[11]; 6. 161-Remington Budd[7]; 7. 12C-Cale Riggs[8]; 8. 3R-Mel Romero[6]; 9. 0G-Paxton George[10]; 10. 23B-Israel Ortega[4]; 11. 82-Sherman Barnett[3]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 57-Duke Erickson[2]; 2. 75S-Cole Suckow[5]; 3. 27P-Parker Anderson[11]; 4. 05-Aasa Flores[3]; 5. 34-Brandon Rehill[4]; 6. 509-Brennan Davis[6]; 7. 50X-Paul Parks[7]; 8. 50-Braydon Whitfield[13]; 9. 28M-Phil Marino[9]; 10. 21B-Braxton James[8]; 11. 89-Chris Mangum[1]; 12. 562-Craig Walker[14]; 13. 54-Lance Relf[16]; 14. 14B-Erick Barraza[17]; 15. 0G-Paxton George[12]; 16. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[10]; 17. 23B-Israel Ortega[18]; 18. 30-Blake Davis[15]; 19. 980-Kaden Woodie[19]; 20. 88-Tyler Delong[20]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 94-Tyler Potter[1]; 2. 5-Shane McNutt[13]; 3. 99-Jeremy Haddox[2]; 4. 7X-Bubba Stafford Jr[4]; 5. 161-Remington Budd[5]; 6. 3R-Mel Romero[12]; 7. 711-Payce Herrera[15]; 8. 27-Andy Davis[17]; 9. 196-Matt Micheli[10]; 10. 23H-Hector Barraza[8]; 11. 28-David Pitt[7]; 12. 77-Chance Kodet[11]; 13. 5C-Chandler Dodge[9]; 14. 71B-Dave Siercks[16]; 15. 02-Deuce Teague[3]; 16. 11D-Dave Smith[14]; 17. 13-Josh Beyer[18]; 18. 12C-Cale Riggs[6]; 19. 82-Sherman Barnett[19]