Central Arizona hosts Nov. 22-24 Desert Thunder Nationals

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]

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Jan. 28 and 29) – A rare visit to Central Arizona Speedway saw Don Shaw sweep $1,000 to win IMCA Modified features at Casa Grande.  Shaw swept Friday and Saturday main events, taking the checkers ahead of fellow Minnesotan Matt Aukland both nights. He led all 25 laps from the outside pole on opening night, then worked his way up from ninth starting on night two.  “The car was really good and we were able to pull away again following a yellow later in the race on Friday,” said Shaw, newly eligible to qualify for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. “I didn’t know if I had what I needed to win it Saturday. I got stuck behind another car and fell back to about 12th before I found a good line in (turns) three and four and was able to pass some guys.” Restarts helped him stay close and ultimately catch Aukland for the front spot late in the contest. Cody Thompson, Devon Fouquette and Spencer Wilson followed the front pair across the [Read More]

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Jan. 21) – Winning the first feature of the night helped Zachary Madrid win the last one. Madrid was a double winner in the 2022 lidlifter at Central Arizona Speedway, topping both the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main event and the IMCA Modified headliner. While he’s won two IMCA features twice on the same night before at other venues, Friday marked the first time he accomplished the feat at Casa Grande.  “The track was heavy. Running the Stock Car feature first helped me a ton figuring out where to run and what line I should follow in the Modified,” Madrid said. “I ran high in (turns) three and four, the middle to bottom in one and two, and wherever I could to get through traffic.” He crossed the stripe ahead of Scott Sluka and Eric Lloyd in the Stock Car feature. Jacob Pace and Kelsie Foley ran 2-3 in the Modified finale. “Everything worked out for us pretty good,” said Madrid, who earned Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility along with the [Read More]