Central Arizona winners are Mecl, George

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – A top check of $3,000 is at stake for IMCA Modifieds on the third and final night of Central Arizona Speedway’s Desert Thunder Nationals.  Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23 features at Casa Grande both pay the Modified winner $1,000. The Sunday, Nov. 24 feature pays $1,500 to the runner-up and $1,000 for third.  All three features are 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events.  Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods race for $500 to win Friday and Saturday and for $1,000 to win on Sunday.  Pit gates open at 4 p.m., the front gate opens at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m. on Friday.  On Saturday, the pits open at 3 p.m., the grandstand opens at 4 p.m. and racing is at 6 p.m.  And on Sunday, pits open at 10 a.m., the front gate opens at 11 a.m. and racing gets underway at 1 p.m.  Grandstand admission is $20 for adults and free for kids ages 11 and under. Pit gate admission is $35 for adults, $20 [Read More]

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]

By Lonnie Wheatley CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Nov. 24) – Central Arizona Speedway’s sixth annual Desert Thunder Nation­als came down to the final lap with Jeff Taylor denying R.C. Whitwell a sweep of the three-race weekend by winning Sunday afternoon’s 30-lap IMCA Modified main event atop the 3/8-mile clay oval in Case Grande. Taylor jumped into the lead at the outset of the $3,000 to win IMCA Modified feature and led through­out, fending off a late challenge from Whitwell. “We got a little more balance in the car today,” Taylor said afterward.  “We held on, the car was pretty good so we’re happy with that.” While Taylor set the pace ahead of Alex Stanford, Whitwell was working his forward from 16th in his quest to sweep the weekend.  Reaching the fourth position by the time a caution flew after 19 laps, he made quick work of Jason Noll and Stanford on the restart to take command of second and set his sights on Taylor for the lead. A final caution with five laps remaining put Whitwell on Taylor’s rear [Read More]