Vado, NM (7/20/21) – For the second time this season, local legend Rick Ziehl was the man to beat at Vado Speedway Park for round 10 of the Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Car Series. With his victory Saturday night, Ziehl now joins Josh Grady as the only other driver with multiple wins in 2021.
A stacked field of 23 drivers from three surrounding states made the trip to the state-of-the-art 3/8ths mile in New Mexico, and fans were eager to see the wingless warriors work their way around the tricky racing surface. After a lengthy wheel packing session, teams were allowed 3 quick “hot laps” to help gauge the handling on their cars before drivers were split into three heat races to determine the starting lineup for the feature event.
Heat 1 had some notable names with half of the field already capturing wins this season with Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA. A big moment on the opening lap would occur when Rick Ziehl and the No. 115 of Nick Parker made major contact for the lead, resulting in Parker parking his car at the topside of turn 4.
When racing resumed, it was Ziehl taking the victory over Arizona’s Shon Deskins and Caleb Saiz. Heat 2 would see teammates battle it out for the win with Rio Rancho, New Mexico’s Michael Fanelli taking the win in his blue deuce by just two tenths of a second followed by Caleb Stelzig and Travis Oldfield. Finally, Heat 3 was a wild one with Robert Marfia holding off multiple passing attempts by Dustin Cormany to take the win with Randy Nelson finishing third.
After the lineup was shuffled between the top heat race finishers, it was time to get dirty for 25 laps around the slicked off Vado Speedway Park. A pair of Caleb’s would bring the field under fire with the No. 1HA of Caleb Saiz and the No. 21 of Caleb Stelzig. Saiz would get the jump into turn one and immediately go top shelf but it was an intense battle for 2nd on back with cars three and four wide throughout the field. Saiz led the opening three laps but would lose the lead to Ziehl with a big slide job that stuck in turn four. Saiz would try to work the bottom but the grip on the cushion would be enough to propel the rookie, Caleb Stelzig, to the 2nd position on lap six.
The first caution flag went in the air with 11 laps to go for a two-car incident in turn three between the No. 77 of Colt Treharn and No. 24 of Marfia. Under the caution, 5th place Michael Fanelli took his No. 2 down to the hot pit to change a right rear tire that deflated after contact to the retaining wall in turn one while battling for 3rd on lap eight.
On the restart, it was the same song, different verse, as Ziehl launched back out to a six-car-length lead with Saiz and Stelzig fighting hard to keep the 2nd spot. With the top of the speedway getting more and more treacherous every lap, Stelzig came under fire from three cars for the runner up spot with six-to-go. Nelson, Saiz, Cormany, and Stelzig all seemed to bounce off the wall at least once until racing room was no longer given and Saiz was sent for a spin cycle off the exit of turn four, bringing out the second caution.
Ziehl again got to turn one first on the restart but the action was far from over as Cormany would pull alongside down the front stretch with five fingers shown from the flagstand. Ziehl held off the attempt, and would earn just enough breathing room to pick up his 2nd feature win of the season, followed by Treharn who would come from the 20th starting position and Cormany who nearly got close enough for another slider in the final corner. Travis Oldfield and Derek DeMartino would round out the top-five.
A major incident simultaneously unfolded in turn four with six cars unable to make it around to see the checkered flag. Among those involved were Nelson, Marfia, Stelzig, Spencer Hill, Justin Lasiter, and Troy Treharn. All drivers were okay.
“They showed me the rubber right below me on that last restart,” explained Ziehl. “Then I moved down after that, and we were okay. I would like to thank my Uncle John, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Lucas Oil, and all of my friends and family that help me get it done. I know my Uncle Paul is looking down from up above and helped us win this deal.”
With another round down south wrapped up, the Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Cars now head back to central New Mexico next Saturday for the Speedway Spectacular at Sandia Speedway on July 24th.
Results:
# Name Hometown +/-
- 20z Rick Ziehl Las Cruces, NM +6
- 77 Colt Treharn Los Lunas, NM +18
- 29 Dustin Cormany Peoria, AZ +1
- 11w Travis Oldfield Albuquerque, NM +5
- 97 Derek DeMartino Las Cruces, NM +8
- 20 Shon Deskins Waddell, AZ +2
- 2 Michael Fanelli Rio Rancho, NM -4
- 115 Nick Parker Tucson, AZ +6
- 1HA Caleb Saiz Albuquerque, NM -8
- 18 Asa Kesterson Phoenix, AZ +11
- 23 Craig Stringfellow Albuquerque, NM +1
- 65 Richard Wilbee Las Cruces, NM -1
- 92T Tim Shallenberger El Paso, TX +5
DNF 9x Randy Nelson Peoria, AZ -9
DNF 24 Robert Marfia Rio Rancho, NM -9
DNF 21 Caleb Stelzig Albuquerque, NM -14
DNF 7x Tory Treharn Peralta, NM -2
DNF 7D7 Spencer Hill Albuquerque, NM -1
DNF 22 Justin Lasiter Alamogordo, NM -3
DNF 81 Devon Jobin Alamogordo, NM -1
DNF 665 Roby Knight Las Cruces, NM +1
DNF 0 JR Bonesteel Albuquerque, NM -12
DNS 41 Devon Amos Rio Rancho, NM -
Heat 1 (Results): 1-Ziehl.R 2-Deskins.S 3-Saiz.C 4-Parker.N 5-Lasiter.J 6-Hill.S 7-Treharn.C 8-Kesterson.A
Heat 2 (Results): 1-Fanelli.M 2-Stelzig.C 3-Oldfield.T 4-Wilbee.R 5-DeMartino.D 6-Treharn.T 7-Jobin.D 8-Amos.D
Heat 3 (Results): 1-Marfia.R 2-Cormany.D 3-Nelson.R 4-Stringfellow.C 5-Bonesteel.JR 6-Shallenberger.T 7-Knight.R