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Blake Adams (Contributed Photo)

Night two of the Wild West Shootout: Adams scores second straight win in Limited Mods

By Meghan Diemel, Editor
All The Dirt! Racing News

CASA GRANDE, AZ (January 11) – Cameron, Wisconsin’s Blake Adams made his way back into victory lane Sunday night, January 11 in the Limited Modified class, as the reigning WISSOTA Modified National Champion scored his second straight victory during the 20th annual Wild West Shootout in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Other winners included Hudson O’Neal in the Super Late Models and Tyler Wolff in the Modifieds.

In the Super Late Models, Bobby Pierce — who has been a dominant force in recent years of the series — held the early lead in the 40-lapper. O’Neal was second, with Jonathan Davenport third. Mike Marlar and Drake Troutman fought for fourth, with Marlar taking the spot. Four laps into the race Pierce and O’Neal had a healthy advantage ahead of the rest of the top five, as Davenport came under fire from Marlar and Troutman, who continued to trade fourth and fifth. A caution for Tim Isenberg with nine laps in the books regrouped the field.

Pierce remained the leader for a lap back under green, as O’Neal pulled even with him in corner one during the following lap; behind them, Davenport was trying to put distance on Troutman and Marlar, who were nipping at his heels. The exciting action was halted for another caution, for a flag that had broken off the backstretch fence.

Pierce led the field back to green, but overshot his entry into turn one and opened the door for O’Neal to get by along the bottom as they headed out of two and down the backstretch. O’Neal made the pass as they raced into turn four, but Pierce fought back and they were side by side for a lap in close quarters racing until O’Neal was able to pull away slightly with 14 laps scored. Davenport was in third and Marlar had supplanted Troutman once again for fourth. Another caution fell for a muffler on the race track.

Following the restart O’Neal remained in the lead, as Davenport shot to the top side of the track and it paid dividends, slinging past Pierce and setting off after O’Neal. Marlar and Troutman were close behind in the top five. Davenport had a great run off the top coming through turn four to complete the following lap, but O’Neal washed up into the high line and stifled his advance. Davenport had to regroup, allowing Pierce to close in once again for the runner-up spot with 21 laps to go. Five laps later another caution fell, this time for Brandon Sheppard’s No. B5, which had a flat tire.

O’Neal led the field back to green, with Davenport choosing the inside line below Pierce. O’Neal took off into the lead once more, as Pierce tried to use the top side to get by Davenport to no avail, dropping back through the top five and allowing Marlar to get by into third. Pierce was fourth under pressure from Ryan Gustin for the spot.

Marlar drove by Davenport the next lap by, as Davenport was feeling the heat from Gustin along the bottom and Pierce up top. Gustin and Pierce continued to fight for fourth just behind Davenport for several laps; with about 10 laps left, Pierce moved back to the bottom and tucked in behind Gustin. A caution for Jake O’Neil regrouped the field with nine laps to go. Gustin also headed to the pits for a flat left rear tire.

With the field back under green, O’Neal was under pressure from Marlar; O’Neal was using the bottom lane through turn one and the high side through turns three and four. The caution then fell for debris left behind by Clayton Stuckey, who had left the track with problems.

O’Neal had pressure from Marlar on the restart, as Alberson moved to third and was immediately engaged in a three-wide battle for the spot with Davenport and Pierce. Pierce got third at the line the next time by, while Marlar tried to get past O’Neal out front but didn’t have enough to finish the slider in turns three and four, falling back from O’Neal some the next lap.

It was all O’Neal during the final lap around Central Arizona Raceway, with Marlar second, Pierce third, Alberson fourth and Davenport fifth.

Of the WISSOTA-licensed drivers on hand, Menomonie, Wisconsin’s Sam Mars was the hard charger, starting 25th on the grid following his Pro Power Dash victory and making his way forward into 14th, gaining the $500 dollar bonus for him, with his crew receiving $1000 cash for their efforts. Frequent WISSOTA Challenge Series competitor Gunner Frank also made the feature, starting 23rd and getting 17th.

Jacob Hodges and Ken Schrader led the field to the green flag in the Limited Modified class, but the original start was called back. Hodges had trouble entering turn one, hitting a rut, shooting across the track and nearly rolling over after hitting wall. The field was bunched up in trying to avoid catastrophe, but the race stayed green, with Schrader taking the lead and Scott Bintz in second. Blake Adams worked his way into third. Madison, Minnesota’s Scott Tofte was fourth and Scott Francoeur completed the top five to complete the third lap.

Out front Schrader began to pull away from the fight for second, as Bintz was feeling the heat from Adams for second. Laps were quickly ticking off as Adams made his move into the runner-up spot with seven laps in the books.

Schrader had a 1.4 second lead, but Adams quickly ate into the advantage as Schrader started to work past a few backmarkers. Adams continued to shave off time, with Schrader a bit better in turns one and two and Adams gaining in turns three and four. Bintz was third, Tofte fourth and Tyler Johnson completed the top five around the mid point of the race.

With seven to go Adams moved to the outside of Schrader down the backstretch but it was all for naught, as the caution fell for Braxton James.

Back under green Adams used the inside line to take the lead from Schrader to complete the lap with six laps to go. Seventeenth-starter Jake Smith worked his way into third, with Bintz fourth and Josh Cain fifth; Cain then worked past Bintz for the spot.

With two laps to go Adams’ advantage had grown to nearly 2 seconds, and he drove away with the second-straight victory for the weekend. Schrader, Smith, Cain, and Tyler Johnson were top-five finishers.

Of those other WISSOTA racers to make the feature, Bintz was sixth, Tofte finished 10th, Curtis Stieh was 14th, Alan Farley was 15th, and Lucas Rodin was scored 23rd.

The Modifieds were led to green by Cade Dillard and former multi-time WISSOTA National Champion Dustin Strand. Dillard was the early leader, but it was temporary, as Gabe Hodges’ aggressive entrance into turn one ended poorly when he hit a rut and shot up clear across turn one, catching Tyler Wolff’s No. 4w as he worked past on the high side and causing the field behind to stack up. The caution fell for the incident.

The field was reset for a full restart; Dillard again drove out to the lead, with Strand close behind in second. Wolff and Jason Noll fought for third before the caution fell again for Reece Solander.

Following the restart Wolff passed Strand for second, as Dillard pulled away to a commanding lead out front. Noll and Dustin Sorensen completed the early top five. The caution then fell for a spun Rodney Sanders.

Dillard led the field back to green, with Wolff second, Sorensen moving past Strand for third, and Noll fourth and Hodges in fifth. As Dillard struggled with the cushion, Wolff was able to close in briefly, but Dillard worked his way back out into a healthy lead a lap or two later. Dylan Thornton had cracked the top five and was under pressure for the spot from Adams, who started 14th, before the yellow flew again for Reece Solander.

Dillard grabbed the lead once again at the drop of the green, with Sorensen taking second from Wolff. Noll was fourth and Thornton was fifth. Sorensen bobbled along the low line in turns three and four and this allowed Wolff to regain the runner-up spot, as Adams drove into fourth and Noll was fifth.

Out front Dillard continued to dominate, as Wolff and Sorensen fought side by side for second. Adams remained fourth and Noll was fifth. With nine laps to go Adams had moved in closer to the battle for second.

As the final laps wound down, Wolff and Sorensen continued to trade second place, with Adams in fourth and Noll steady in fifth.

With three laps to go, Dillard had about a 3 second lead as he navigated the first of the backmarkers. Dillard drove on to the checkered flag, with Wolff second, Sorensen third, Adams fourth and Noll fifth. However, upon tech inspection, Dillard was DQ’d, as was Sorensen, for missing mufflers. That elevated Wolff to the win, with Adams scored second and Noll third. Sanders, who started 24th prior to his spin while in sixth, regrouped and made his way back through the field for the second time, finishing fourth. Gabe Hodges completed the top five.

Minnesota’s Brennan Gave made the feature and was scored 17th, while North Dakota’s Strand was scored 19th. Fellow North Dakotan Lucas Rodin finished 22nd.

SUMMARY

Super Late Models:

A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 6. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 7. 1-Tyler Erb[7]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 9. 15D-Justin Duty[12]; 10. 49T-Jake Timm[9]; 11. B5-Brandon Sheppard[18]; 12. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]; 13. 8-Dillon McCowan[16]; 14. 28-Sam Mars[25]; 15. 86-Kyle Beard[21]; 16. 15S-Clay Stuckey[17]; 17. 21F-Gunner Frank[23]; 18. 66-Eli Ross[22]; 19. 22*-Drake Troutman[6]; 20. 0-Jake O'Neil[13]; 21. 48-Billy Moyer Sr[20]; 22. 75A-Daniel Adam[11]; 23. 96-RC Whitwell[19]; 24. 9T-Tim Isenberg[24]; 25. 13-Bricen James[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 3. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 4. 0-Jake O'Neil[3]; 5. 15S-Clay Stuckey[6]; 6. 21F-Gunner Frank[7]; 7. 11X-Austin Kuehl[10]; 8. 82-Eston Whisler[5]; 9. 87-Shawn Mann[9]; 10. 0G-Peyton George[11]; 11. 19RT-Paul Rios[12]; 12. 4TW-Tim Ward[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 1-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 75A-Daniel Adam[4]; 4. 13-Bricen James[5]; 5. 86-Kyle Beard[7]; 6. 96-RC Whitwell[6]; 7. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[8]; 8. 6T-Terry Carter[9]; 9. 23-Brad Williams[10]; 10. 8B-Ashlee Buck[11]; 11. 97-Cade Dillard[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. 22*-Drake Troutman[2]; 3. 74X-Ethan Dotson[4]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[3]; 5. 48-Billy Moyer Sr[5]; 6. 66-Eli Ross[6]; 7. 9T-Tim Isenberg[8]; 8. 128-Kylan Garner[10]; 9. 18-Chase Junghans[9]; 10. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[7]; 11. 88-Chance Mann[11]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 3. 15D-Justin Duty[4]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 6. 28-Sam Mars[6]; 7. 75-Terry Phillips[8]; 8. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[9]; 9. 28W-Ian Whisler[7]; 10. 11-Mike Greseth[11]; 11. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 15S-Clay Stuckey[1]; 2. 96-RC Whitwell[4]; 3. 86-Kyle Beard[2]; 4. 21F-Gunner Frank[3]; 5. 82-Eston Whisler[7]; 6. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[6]; 7. 4TW-Tim Ward[14]; 8. 11X-Austin Kuehl[5]; 9. 87-Shawn Mann[9]; 10. 6T-Terry Carter[8]; 11. 0G-Peyton George[11]; 12. 8B-Ashlee Buck[12]; 13. 23-Brad Williams[10]; 14. 97-Cade Dillard[13]; 15. 19RT-Paul Rios[15]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 2. 48-Billy Moyer Sr[1]; 3. 66-Eli Ross[3]; 4. 9T-Tim Isenberg[5]; 5. 28-Sam Mars[4]; 6. 128-Kylan Garner[7]; 7. 75-Terry Phillips[6]; 8. 18-Chase Junghans[9]; 9. 28W-Ian Whisler[10]; 10. 11-Mike Greseth[12]; 11. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[8]; 12. 88-Chance Mann[13]; 13. 78S-Steve Stultz[14]; 14. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[11]; 15. 15*-Cole Schill[15]

Pro Power Dash (8 Laps): 1. 28-Sam Mars[2]; 2. 4TW-Tim Ward[3]; 3. 75-Terry Phillips[6]; 4. 128-Kylan Garner[4]; 5. 11X-Austin Kuehl[5]; 6. 87-Shawn Mann[7]; 7. 82-Eston Whisler[1]; 8. 18-Chase Junghans[8]

Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 4W-Tyler Wolff[4]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[14]; 3. 44N-Jason Noll[3]; 4. 20S-Rodney Sanders[24]; 5. 7G-Gabe Hodges[5]; 6. 2SS-Mark Smith[23]; 7. 58X-Gary Christian[21]; 8. 0G-Tripp Gaylord[16]; 9. G17-Fito Gallardo[9]; 10. 151-Lucas Gibbs[18]; 11. P17-Peyton Gallardo[13]; 12. 413-Tate Johnson[15]; 13. 12-Jay Rosales[22]; 14. J17-Jake Gallardo[12]; 15. 50-Robert Adams[8]; 16. 38T-Dylan Thornton[19]; 17. 112-Brennan Gave[20]; 18. 5-Reece Solander[10]; 19. 71-Dustin Strand[2]; 20. 97A-Cole Anderson[11]; 21. 25-Kale Murphrey[17]; 22. 19R-Lucas Rodin[7]; 23. (DQ) 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 24. (DQ) 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. P17-Peyton Gallardo[1]; 2. J17-Jake Gallardo[4]; 3. 71-Dustin Strand[9]; 4. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[5]; 5. 38T-Dylan Thornton[7]; 6. 112-Brennan Gave[11]; 7. 11N-Gene Nicholas[10]; 8. 14T-Randy Thornell[3]; 9. 73-Jeff Helget[6]; 10. L8-Ethan Stevens[8]; 11. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 44N-Jason Noll[4]; 2. 0G-Tripp Gaylord[3]; 3. 7G-Gabe Hodges[8]; 4. D25-David Tanner[6]; 5. 02LZ-Ellsworth Conover[9]; 6. 196-Matt Micheli[7]; 7. 57-Gage McCaughan[10]; 8. 81-Devon Jobin[5]; 9. 19SB-Lance Mari[1]; 10. 26S-Steven Glenn[2]; 11. (DNS) 80XX-Jason Langford

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Reece Solander[2]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[7]; 3. 77X-Austin Kuehl[4]; 4. 20S-Rodney Sanders[5]; 5. 24X-Xavier Ortega[1]; 6. 51-Dallas Caldwell[3]; 7. 73S-Mike Szlauko[9]; 8. 2SS-Mark Smith[6]; 9. 721-Troy Gemmill[8]; 10. (DNS) 46-Paul Miles; 11. (DNS) 10M-Talan Willis

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 25-Kale Murphrey[3]; 3. 19-Dustin Sorensen[8]; 4. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[2]; 5. 58X-Gary Christian[9]; 6. 12S-Hunter Sandy[4]; 7. 85D-Mark Dotson[10]; 8. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[7]; 9. 6F-Matt Fester[5]; 10. M19-JC Mattingly[11]; 11. 22S-Cole Szlauko[6]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 4W-Tyler Wolff[4]; 2. 151-Lucas Gibbs[2]; 3. 50-Robert Adams[7]; 4. 97A-Cole Anderson[9]; 5. 17-Brent Holman[1]; 6. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[5]; 7. J7-Jake Boles[6]; 8. 29-Chris Spalding[10]; 9. 131-Royal Jones[3]; 10. 20-Cole Queensland[8]; 11. 111-Logan Drake[11]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 19R-Lucas Rodin[3]; 2. 64-Casey Fowler[2]; 3. G17-Fito Gallardo[7]; 4. 413-Tate Johnson[8]; 5. 88XXX-Randy Klein[1]; 6. 12-Jay Rosales[10]; 7. 520T-Lukas Tellez[9]; 8. 24-Rick Ortega[4]; 9. 16OZ-CR Eisenzimer[5]; 10. 85-Tanner Mullens[6]

B Feature 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[4]; 2. 12-Jay Rosales[3]; 3. 88XXX-Randy Klein[7]; 4. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[9]; 5. 111-Logan Drake[14]; 6. 73-Jeff Helget[11]; 7. 20-Cole Queensland[13]; 8. M19-JC Mattingly[12]; 9. 64-Casey Fowler[1]; 10. 51-Dallas Caldwell[8]; 11. 57-Gage McCaughan[5]; 12. 77X-Austin Kuehl[2]; 13. 24-Rick Ortega[10]; 14. 520T-Lukas Tellez[6]; 15. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[15]; 16. 10M-Talan Willis[16]

B Feature 2 (8 Laps): 1. 112-Brennan Gave[2]; 2. 2SS-Mark Smith[9]; 3. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[4]; 4. 85D-Mark Dotson[5]; 5. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[3]; 6. 80XX-Jason Langford[15]; 7. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[7]; 8. 24X-Xavier Ortega[6]; 9. J7-Jake Boles[8]; 10. 02LZ-Ellsworth Conover[1]; 11. 14T-Randy Thornell[10]; 12. 73S-Mike Szlauko[16]; 13. 19SB-Lance Mari[13]; 14. 26S-Steven Glenn[14]; 15. 131-Royal Jones[12]; 16. 6F-Matt Fester[11]

B Feature 3 (8 Laps): 1. 58X-Gary Christian[1]; 2. 20S-Rodney Sanders[3]; 3. 85-Tanner Mullens[13]; 4. 12S-Hunter Sandy[7]; 5. 11N-Gene Nicholas[4]; 6. D25-David Tanner[2]; 7. 17-Brent Holman[6]; 8. 29-Chris Spalding[8]; 9. 721-Troy Gemmill[10]; 10. 16OZ-CR Eisenzimer[11]; 11. 196-Matt Micheli[5]; 12. L8-Ethan Stevens[12]; 13. 22S-Cole Szlauko[14]; 14. 81-Devon Jobin[9]; 15. 46-Paul Miles[15]

Limited Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 2. 9-Ken Schrader[2]; 3. 21-Jake Smith[17]; 4. 3J-Josh Cain[8]; 5. 75-Tyler Johnson[9]; 6. 1S-Scott Bintz[3]; 7. 94-Tyler Potter[12]; 8. M17-Rob Moseley[13]; 9. 0-Dakota Girard[21]; 10. 28-Scott Tofte[5]; 11. 11DW-Danny Wagner[19]; 12. 413-Tate Johnson[20]; 13. 93-Greg Gorham[11]; 14. 32C-Curtis Stieh[18]; 15. 29-Alan Farley[16]; 16. 12-Mike Rosales[14]; 17. 05-Aasa Flores[10]; 18. 21B-Braxton James[23]; 19. B52-Michael Hartman[7]; 20. 27R-Mike Goodwin[22]; 21. 14-Erick Barraza[24]; 22. 81-Scott Francoeur[4]; 23. 19R-Lucas Rodin[15]; 24. 14J-Jacob Hodges[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. B52-Michael Hartman[2]; 2. 9-Ken Schrader[6]; 3. 11DW-Danny Wagner[1]; 4. 79-Jaden Christ[3]; 5. 02-Deuce Teague[5]; 6. 21B-Braxton James[9]; 7. 27R-Mike Goodwin[8]; 8. 0G-Paxton George[10]; 9. 14-Erick Barraza[7]; 10. 77-Chance Kodet[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Aasa Flores[1]; 2. 93-Greg Gorham[3]; 3. M17-Rob Moseley[5]; 4. 509-Brennan Davis[2]; 5. 32C-Curtis Stieh[4]; 6. 0-Dakota Girard[7]; 7. 50-Braydon Whitfield[10]; 8. 980-Kaden Woodie[6]; 9. 27-Andy Davis[8]; 10. 23H-Hector Barraza[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14J-Jacob Hodges[10]; 2. 1S-Scott Bintz[6]; 3. 12-Mike Rosales[5]; 4. 71B-Dave Siercks[3]; 5. 413-Tate Johnson[1]; 6. 22-Keenan Glasser[4]; 7. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[9]; 8. 316-Brandyn Johnson[2]; 9. 5C-Chandler Dodge[8]; 10. 88-Tyler Delong[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Scott Tofte[3]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 3. 75-Tyler Johnson[6]; 4. 19R-Lucas Rodin[7]; 5. 57-Duke Erickson[1]; 6. 29-Alan Farley[10]; 7. 27P-Parker Anderson[9]; 8. 50X-Paul Parks[2]; 9. 28M-Phil Marino[4]; 10. 34-Brandon Rehill[8]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 3J-Josh Cain[2]; 2. 81-Scott Francoeur[6]; 3. 11D-Dave Smith[1]; 4. 30-Blake Davis[3]; 5. 94-Tyler Potter[10]; 6. 8X-Arturo Ordonez[4]; 7. 21-Jake Smith[7]; 8. 54-Lance Relf[5]; 9. 13-Josh Beyer[9]; 10. 23B-Israel Ortega[8]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[10]; 2. 11DW-Danny Wagner[1]; 3. 0-Dakota Girard[6]; 4. 21B-Braxton James[2]; 5. 22-Keenan Glasser[9]; 6. 27P-Parker Anderson[7]; 7. 02-Deuce Teague[5]; 8. 57-Duke Erickson[8]; 9. 34-Brandon Rehill[16]; 10. 5C-Chandler Dodge[13]; 11. 13-Josh Beyer[12]; 12. 980-Kaden Woodie[11]; 13. 71B-Dave Siercks[3]; 14. 50X-Paul Parks[14]; 15. 88-Tyler Delong[17]; 16. 509-Brennan Davis[4]; 17. 28M-Phil Marino[15]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 32C-Curtis Stieh[5]; 2. 413-Tate Johnson[7]; 3. 27R-Mike Goodwin[8]; 4. 14-Erick Barraza[14]; 5. 79-Jaden Christ[2]; 6. 11D-Dave Smith[1]; 7. 30-Blake Davis[3]; 8. 50-Braydon Whitfield[4]; 9. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[6]; 10. 8X-Arturo Ordonez[9]; 11. 54-Lance Relf[11]; 12. 316-Brandyn Johnson[13]; 13. 0G-Paxton George[10]; 14. 23H-Hector Barraza[15]; 15. 27-Andy Davis[12]; 16. 23B-Israel Ortega[16]; 17. 77-Chance Kodet[17]