Central Arizona winners are Mecl, George

By Mike Spieker CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Feb. 12) – He already has wins at many of IMCA’s biggest events on his resume. Ricky Thornton Jr. added another when he took the $1,500 Karl Performance Arizona IMCA Modified Tour checkers Monday night at Central Arizona Speedway. Thornton started outside of row two and quickly made his way to the front. By lap four of 25 circuits, Thornton had reeled in leader Ryan Gaylord. Thornton executed a perfect slide job in turns three and four to take the lead while Casey Arneson ran within striking distance in third. Once out front, Thornton set sail and checked out from the field throughout the remainder of the caution-free main event. Further back in the top five, Arneson and Hunter Marriott, battled for third. The door opened for Marriott when Arneson pushed up the track in turn two. Marriott took the position and set his sights on Gaylord for the runner-up spot. Marriott quickly erased Gaylord’s advantage but had trouble maneuvering by the no. 7R in lapped traffic. With six to [Read More]

By Jeff McSpadden CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (April 28) – Jeremy Thornton rocketed to his second IMCA Modified victory of the season while Mark Harrison came back from early troubles to hold off Jason George in the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod feature Saturday at Central Arizona Speedway. Thornton shot into the lead following an early restart and left the rest of the field to battle for se­cond. At the finish, Thornton took a 2.303 second win over Tyler Mecl, Darin Center, Trevor Miller and Chuck Grohnke. With two laps remaining and a bunched-up restart, it appeared as if George might be able to chal­lenge Harrison for the Northern SportMod win.  But Harrison was up to the task and got a nice jump at the green.  George stayed close but, in the end, would cross the stripe .488 seconds be­hind Harrison at the finish. Arron Hetrick held on to the third spot after crossing the line side by side with a charging Jimmy Terstriep.

By Jeff McSpadden CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (May 19) – Jeremy Thornton was the IMCA Modified star Saturday at Cen­tral Arizona Speedway. Starting seventh in the sixteen car IMCA Modified field, Thornton quickly made his way into the fourth spot diving low on the speedway entering turns one and two after the drop of the green flag, sixth starting Trevor Miller also made a bold move into the second spot behind pole starter and early leader, Mike Strobl. Trevor Miller drove by Mike Strobl for the lead on lap two while Thornton was working his way up from seventh starting to third. Thornton made quick work of Strobl for the runner up position and set out after Miller. Taking advantage of a lap five restart, Thornton pulled even with Miller and edged ahead as the sixth lap was scored. Thornton got a great jump on the next restart and began to put some dis­tance between himself and Miller, with Tyler Mecl climbing into the third position. Thornton’s advantage of better than a second held up until the caution waved again with two laps left. [Read More]