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Blake Adams (Contributed Photo)

Adams powers to victory during first night of the Wild West Shootout in Arizona

By Meghan Diemel, Editor
All The Dirt! Racing News

CASA GRANDE, AZ (January 10) – The 20th annual Wild West Shootout got underway on Saturday, January 10 in a return to one of its former homes — Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande, Arizona — after several years of action at Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico. A great number of WISSOTA racers were on hand to kick off their 2026 race season and performed well in the opening night races.

Reigning WISSOTA Modified National Champion Blake Adams topped the Limited Modified class Saturday, beginning his stay in the desert with a checkered flag. Other winners included Ricky Thornton, Jr. in the Super Late Model class, and Cade Dillard in the Modifieds.

In the Super Late Models Thornton had the early lead in the 50-lapper, as Hudson O’Neal moved by Dillon McCowan to second. Garrett Alberson and Tyler Erb were the early top five, with Mike Marlar peeking to the inside of Erb in sixth. With five laps in the books, Thornton’s lead was about 1.5 seconds ahead of O’Neal, with McCowan trying to hold off Alberson in third, and Erb under pressure again from Marlar for fifth. Marlar made his move and cracked the top five a half lap later.

As the field approached 10 laps in the books, Thornton remained strong in the lead, and began to navigate lapped traffic. O’Neal began to cut into Thornton’s lead in small increments, as the race track remained fast, before the caution fell with 15 laps scored for Ethan Dotson, who had a flat tire.

Following the restart, Thornton moved back out front with heavy pressure from O’Neal, who drove by the following lap along the high side. Tyler Erb was on the move into third, with Alberson fourth and Drake Troutman moving into the top five. As the lead pack became strung out around the track, Ryan Gustin was charging forward and worked his way into seventh from his 18th starting spot.

Out front Thornton started to reel O’Neal back in with 25 laps scored, as O’Neal began to approach the tail of the field and Erb held third. O’Neal came to a three-wide battle among the backmarkers, drifted wide, and that allowed Thornton to pull alongside the No. 6. O’Neal escaped and set back out to a half-second lead with 18 laps to go. Erb, Alberson and Marlar held top five spots.

Two laps later Thornton changed his line and began to cut into O’Neal’s lead before a caution for Jake O’Neil brought the field to a halt with 16 laps to go.

Back under green, O’Neal set back out into the lead, as Alberson and Thornton fought over second, and Gustin worked his way into fourth before another caution fell for Erb, who had a flat tire.

The field was reset with 14 laps to go and with the green back in the air, O’Neal came under immediate pressure from Thornton, as Gustin moved by Alberson into third. O’Neal was able to pull away slightly from Thornton with 12 laps to go, before a flat tire for Alberson two laps later brought the field back together.

Back under green, Thornton and O’Neal traded sliders, with Thornton shaking loose out into the lead before the yellow fell again for Jake O’Neil, who lost a wheel down the backstretch.

As the field regrouped following another caution for their final run to the checkered flag, Thornton had a healthy command out front and drew first blood in the 2026 installment of the Wild West Shootout. O’Neal was second, Cade Dillard made a late-race charge to third, Gustin was fourth and Marlar completed the top five.

Tyler Peterson was the lone WISSOTA-licensed driver to qualify for the feature, and he finished one spot better than he started, in 21st.

In the Limited Modifieds, a rocky start to the feature ended with Jamestown, North Dakota’s Scott Bintz stopped along the backstretch, with the nose of Tyler Potter squarely spearing the rear quarter of the race car.

Rob Mosely was the early leader when the green dropped for the full restart, and a three-wide battle for second was settled as Blake Adams moved into the spot, with Jacob Hodges third, Josh Cain fourth and Chance Kodet in fifth. Adams had just made the pass on Mosely for the lead before a caution for a two-car wreck involving former WISSOTA National Champion Lucas Rodin brought the field back under yellow. Another yellow on the restart for a spun Kodet regrouped the field once more, with just four laps complete.

Back under green Mosely had a narrow lead ahead of Adams, as Cain held third, 12th-starter Curtis Stieh appeared in fourth, and Hodges fell back to fifth. About two laps later Adams worked past Mosely down the backstretch and into the lead with 16 laps remaining. He immediately drew away from the field, while Mosely held second ahead of Stieh and Cain in the top four. Former multi-time WISSOTA National Champion Jake Smith was on the move from his 18th starting spot, as he broke into the top five. He continued to move forward into fourth.

With five to go, Adams’ lead was a healthy one, with Moseley second, Stieh third, Smith challenging in fourth and Keenan Glasser now in fifth before another caution, this time for Tate Johnson, brought the field back under yellow. Another caution with two to go set up a final sprint to the checkered flag.

Adams drove a steady final couple of laps to the finish line, as Smith charged his way past Mosely into second. Mosely was third ahead of Cain and 12th-starter Stieh in the top five.

Of the other WISSOTA-licensed drivers to make the feature, 17th-starter Rodin finished eighth, Brandon Rehill was 10th from 23rd, Alan Farley was 11th, Kodet was 15th, Scott Tofte finished 17th, Jaden Christ was 21st, Duke Erickson was 23rd, and Bintz was scored in 24th.

In the Modified feature, polesitter Cade Dillard had the advantage from the front row, as Reece Solander was close behind in second, Jake Gallardo was third under pressure from Gabe Hodges, and Adams was fifth. Hodges got by Gallardo for third a half lap later, as Gallardo then felt the heat from Adams, on a track that had character along the low side, with 20 laps to go.

Out front Dillard continued to lead, with Solander in second, Hodges in third, Gallardo fourth and 16th-starter Tanner Mullens cracking the top five, while Adams was challenged by uncle Rodney Sanders for sixth; Sanders made the pass and took the spot.

Mullens continued his charge to the front in the Mark Dotson-owned No. 85, taking fourth before the caution fell once again for the door of Talan Willis, which had fallen off and was laying in the track.

Dillard led the field back to green, with Solander and Hodges fighting for second, Mullens in fourth, and Gallardo under fire for fifth from Dustin Sorensen. Mullens took third the next time by from Hodges, and Sorensen took fifth. Another caution, this time for a stalled Willis, regrouped the field with five to go.

Back under green Dillard stepped back out just a bit into the lead, under pressure from Solander, as Mullens watched the action closely in third. Sorensen was fourth and Sanders cracked the top five. Dillard took the checkered flag out front, and Solander was second. Mullens, Sorensen and Gary Christian completed the top five. Adams was seventh.

Other WISSOTA racers who made the feature included Cole Anderson (11th) and Brennan Gave (22nd).

SUMMARY

Super Late Models:

Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 6-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[16]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[18]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[8]; 6. 15S-Clay Stuckey[7]; 7. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 8. 22*-Drake Troutman[10]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson[9]; 10. 86-Kyle Beard[23]; 11. 1-Tyler Erb[6]; 12. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 13. 32-Bobby Pierce[13]; 14. 0-Jake O'Neil[19]; 15. 96-RC Whitwell[12]; 16. 75A-Daniel Adam[15]; 17. 13-Bricen James[20]; 18. 82-Eston Whisler[5]; 19. 128-Kylan Garner[25]; 20. 18-Chase Junghans[21]; 21. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[22]; 22. B5-Brandon Sheppard[11]; 23. 48-Billy Moyer Sr[24]; 24. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]; 25. 49-Jonathan Davenport[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 2. 82-Eston Whisler[1]; 3. 74X-Ethan Dotson[7]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 6. 0-Jake O'Neil[3]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans[8]; 8. 88-Chance Mann[9]; 9. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[12]; 10. 15*-Cole Schill[11]; 11. 11-Mike Greseth[10]; 12. 15D-Justin Duty[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Dillon McCowan[1]; 2. 15S-Clay Stuckey[3]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 4. 75A-Daniel Adam[2]; 5. 78S-Steve Stultz[7]; 6. 4TW-Tim Ward[8]; 7. 86-Kyle Beard[6]; 8. 75-Terry Phillips[4]; 9. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[9]; 10. 23-Brad Williams[10]; 11. (DNS) 19RT-Paul Rios

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 1-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 22*-Drake Troutman[3]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 6. 28-Sam Mars[7]; 7. 13-Bricen James[6]; 8. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[9]; 9. 28W-Ian Whisler[8]; 10. 21F-Gunner Frank[10]; 11. 6T-Terry Carter[11]; 12. 8B-Ashlee Buck[12]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 96-RC Whitwell[3]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 5. 128-Kylan Garner[4]; 6. 49T-Jake Timm[10]; 7. 48-Billy Moyer Sr[7]; 8. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[9]; 9. 66-Eli Ross[8]; 10. 0G-Peyton George[11]; 11. 9T-Tim Isenberg[6]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 0-Jake O'Neil[3]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 4. 86-Kyle Beard[6]; 5. 4TW-Tim Ward[4]; 6. 75-Terry Phillips[8]; 7. 88-Chance Mann[7]; 8. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[10]; 9. 11-Mike Greseth[13]; 10. 15*-Cole Schill[11]; 11. 23-Brad Williams[12]; 12. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[9]; 13. 19RT-Paul Rios[15]; 14. 78S-Steve Stultz[2]; 15. 15D-Justin Duty[14]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. 13-Bricen James[5]; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[8]; 4. 48-Billy Moyer Sr[6]; 5. 128-Kylan Garner[2]; 6. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 7. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[7]; 8. 28-Sam Mars[3]; 9. 66-Eli Ross[10]; 10. 28W-Ian Whisler[9]; 11. 21F-Gunner Frank[11]; 12. 6T-Terry Carter[13]; 13. 0G-Peyton George[12]; 14. 8B-Ashlee Buck[15]; 15. 9T-Tim Isenberg[14]

Pro Power Dash (8 Laps): 1. 128-Kylan Garner[2]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips[3]; 3. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 4. 66-Eli Ross[8]; 5. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[7]; 6. 88-Chance Mann[5]; 7. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[6]; 8. 4TW-Tim Ward[1]

Modifieds:

Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 2. 5-Reece Solander[2]; 3. 85-Tanner Mullens[16]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[10]; 5. 58X-Gary Christian[17]; 6. 20S-Rodney Sanders[7]; 7. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 8. 7G-Gabe Hodges[3]; 9. 0G-Tripp Gaylord[8]; 10. 19SB-Lance Mari[11]; 11. 97A-Cole Anderson[14]; 12. J17-Jake Gallardo[4]; 13. 2SS-Mark Smith[18]; 14. 4W-Tyler Wolff[15]; 15. 44N-Jason Noll[23]; 16. 50-Robert Adams[19]; 17. 10M-Talan Willis[21]; 18. 85D-Mark Dotson[20]; 19. 20-Cole Queensland[22]; 20. 91-Joe Duvall[9]; 21. 75-Terry Phillips[13]; 22. 112-Brennan Gave[24]; 23. 29-Chris Spalding[12]; 24. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 91-Joe Duvall[2]; 2. 29-Chris Spalding[4]; 3. 97A-Cole Anderson[6]; 4. 721-Troy Gemmill[3]; 5. 71-Dustin Strand[10]; 6. 77X-Austin Kuehl[9]; 7. 111-Logan Drake[1]; 8. 17-Brent Holman[5]; 9. 12J-Jay Rosales[7]; 10. M19-JC Mattingly[12]; 11. 64-Casey Fowler[8]; 12. 196-Matt Micheli[11]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 3. 0G-Tripp Gaylord[7]; 4. J17-Jake Gallardo[11]; 5. 151-Lucas Gibbs[1]; 6. 12S-Hunter Sandy[9]; 7. 81-Devon Jobin[8]; 8. 25-Kale Murphrey[12]; 9. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[10]; 10. 520T-Lukas Tellez[6]; 11. L8-Ethan Stevens[4]; 12. 24-Rick Ortega[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19SB-Lance Mari[2]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips[4]; 3. 2SS-Mark Smith[5]; 4. 58X-Gary Christian[7]; 5. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[6]; 6. 131-Royal Jones[1]; 7. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[8]; 8. 20-Cole Queensland[10]; 9. 02LZ-Ellsworth Conover[3]; 10. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[9]; 11. (DNS) 38T-Dylan Thornton

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Tanner Mullens[1]; 2. 20S-Rodney Sanders[5]; 3. 7G-Gabe Hodges[9]; 4. 85D-Mark Dotson[4]; 5. 44N-Jason Noll[8]; 6. 24X-Xavier Ortega[2]; 7. 413-Tate Johnson[11]; 8. 26S-Steven Glenn[7]; 9. 73-Jeff Helget[3]; 10. 73S-Mike Szlauko[10]; 11. 57-Gage McCaughan[6]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[10]; 2. 98-Alex Stanford[2]; 3. D25-David Tanner[3]; 4. 6F-Matt Fester[6]; 5. J7-Jake Boles[7]; 6. 10M-Talan Willis[9]; 7. 19R-Lucas Rodin[8]; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas[5]; 9. 22S-Cole Szlauko[1]; 10. 16OZ-CR Eisenzimer[4]; 11. 112-Brennan Gave[11]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Reece Solander[5]; 2. 50-Robert Adams[1]; 3. 4W-Tyler Wolff[6]; 4. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[10]; 5. 80XX-Jason Langford[8]; 6. G17-Fito Gallardo[7]; 7. 88XXX-Randy Klein[2]; 8. P17-Peyton Gallardo[3]; 9. 14T-Randy Thornell[4]; 10. 51-Dallas Caldwell[11]; 11. (DNS) 12-Paul Miles

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 58X-Gary Christian[2]; 2. 50-Robert Adams[3]; 3. 10M-Talan Willis[7]; 4. 44N-Jason Noll[4]; 5. 71-Dustin Strand[1]; 6. 77X-Austin Kuehl[6]; 7. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[9]; 8. 19R-Lucas Rodin[12]; 9. D25-David Tanner[5]; 10. 88XXX-Randy Klein[14]; 11. 81-Devon Jobin[11]; 12. 24X-Xavier Ortega[13]; 13. 111-Logan Drake[15]; 14. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[20]; 15. 16OZ-CR Eisenzimer[23]; 16. 413-Tate Johnson[8]; 17. 17-Brent Holman[16]; 18. M19-JC Mattingly[18]; 19. 51-Dallas Caldwell[19]; 20. L8-Ethan Stevens[25]; 21. 73-Jeff Helget[21]; 22. G17-Fito Gallardo[10]; 23. P17-Peyton Gallardo[17]; 24. 520T-Lukas Tellez[22]; 25. 196-Matt Micheli[24]; 26. 38T-Dylan Thornton[26]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 2SS-Mark Smith[1]; 2. 85D-Mark Dotson[7]; 3. 20-Cole Queensland[12]; 4. 112-Brennan Gave[22]; 5. 151-Lucas Gibbs[10]; 6. 12J-Jay Rosales[17]; 7. 11N-Gene Nicholas[16]; 8. 131-Royal Jones[13]; 9. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[11]; 10. 02LZ-Ellsworth Conover[20]; 11. 26S-Steven Glenn[14]; 12. 22S-Cole Szlauko[21]; 13. 64-Casey Fowler[23]; 14. 24-Rick Ortega[25]; 15. 73S-Mike Szlauko[18]; 16. 57-Gage McCaughan[24]; 17. 80XX-Jason Langford[4]; 18. 721-Troy Gemmill[8]; 19. 98-Alex Stanford[2]; 20. 12S-Hunter Sandy[6]; 21. 25-Kale Murphrey[9]; 22. 14T-Randy Thornell[19]; 23. 6F-Matt Fester[3]; 24. J7-Jake Boles[5]; 25. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[15]; 26. 12-Paul Miles[26]

Limited Mods:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 2. 21-Jake Smith[18]; 3. M17-Rob Moseley[1]; 4. 3J-Josh Cain[5]; 5. 32C-Curtis Stieh[12]; 6. 22-Keenan Glasser[15]; 7. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[24]; 8. 19-Lucas Rodin[17]; 9. 94-Tyler Potter[8]; 10. 34-Brandon Rehill[23]; 11. 29-Alan Farley[10]; 12. 81-Scott Francoeur[14]; 13. 0-Dakota Girard[21]; 14. 413-Tate Johnson[19]; 15. 77-Chance Kodet[2]; 16. 11DW-Danny Wagner[20]; 17. 28-Scott Tofte[11]; 18. 50-Braydon Whitfield[22]; 19. 14J-Jacob Hodges[4]; 20. 12-Mike Rosales[9]; 21. 79-Jaden Christ[13]; 22. 75-Tyler Johnson[7]; 23. 57-Duke Erickson[16]; 24. 1S-Scott Bintz[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3J-Josh Cain[4]; 2. 1S-Scott Bintz[6]; 3. 50-Braydon Whitfield[2]; 4. 44-Eric Winemiller[5]; 5. 05-Aasa Flores[3]; 6. 509-Brennan Davis[1]; 7. 11D-Dave Smith[7]; 8. 980-Kaden Woodie[8]; 9. 27P-Parker Anderson[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 94-Tyler Potter[3]; 2. 75-Tyler Johnson[6]; 3. 0-Dakota Girard[1]; 4. 21-Jake Smith[5]; 5. 34-Brandon Rehill[4]; 6. 71B-Dave Siercks[8]; 7. 13-Josh Beyer[7]; 8. 54-Lance Relf[9]; 9. 21B-Braxton James[10]; 10. B52-Michael Hartman[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Mike Rosales[2]; 2. 14J-Jacob Hodges[7]; 3. 22-Keenan Glasser[3]; 4. 11DW-Danny Wagner[4]; 5. 29-Alan Farley[10]; 6. 81S-Bubba Stafford Jr[5]; 7. 27-Andy Davis[9]; 8. 14-Erick Barraza[8]; 9. 30-Blake Davis[6]; 10. (DNS) 0G-Matt Gilbertson

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. M17-Rob Moseley[8]; 2. 28-Scott Tofte[2]; 3. 77-Chance Kodet[10]; 4. 413-Tate Johnson[4]; 5. 23H-Hector Barraza[1]; 6. 02-Deuce Teague[6]; 7. 50X-Paul Parks[3]; 8. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[5]; 9. 316-Brandyn Johnson[9]; 10. 9-Ken Schrader[7]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 2. 32C-Curtis Stieh[1]; 3. 57-Duke Erickson[3]; 4. 79-Jaden Christ[6]; 5. 81-Scott Francoeur[8]; 6. 19-Lucas Rodin[10]; 7. 8X-Arturo Ordonez[7]; 8. 93-Greg Gorham[2]; 9. 23B-Israel Ortega[4]; 10. 5C-Chandler Dodge[9]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 19-Lucas Rodin[1]; 2. 413-Tate Johnson[4]; 3. 0-Dakota Girard[3]; 4. 34-Brandon Rehill[5]; 5. 44-Eric Winemiller[2]; 6. 8X-Arturo Ordonez[9]; 7. 9-Ken Schrader[16]; 8. 0G-Matt Gilbertson[17]; 9. 02-Deuce Teague[7]; 10. 27P-Parker Anderson[13]; 11. 27-Andy Davis[6]; 12. 980-Kaden Woodie[11]; 13. 54-Lance Relf[10]; 14. 11D-Dave Smith[8]; 15. 21B-Braxton James[12]; 16. 93-Greg Gorham[14]; 17. 23B-Israel Ortega[15]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 11DW-Danny Wagner[3]; 3. 50-Braydon Whitfield[1]; 4. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[12]; 5. 05-Aasa Flores[5]; 6. 509-Brennan Davis[9]; 7. 71B-Dave Siercks[4]; 8. 13-Josh Beyer[8]; 9. 50X-Paul Parks[10]; 10. 81S-Bubba Stafford Jr[7]; 11. 5C-Chandler Dodge[15]; 12. 316-Brandyn Johnson[13]; 13. 23H-Hector Barraza[6]; 14. 14-Erick Barraza[11]; 15. 30-Blake Davis[14]; 16. (DNS) B52-Michael Hartman