Vado, NM (4/5/2021) – The 2021 season kicked off on Saturday night for the Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Car Series at Vado Speedway Park for their annual EgggggStravaganza event. As kids hunted for Easter eggs around the speedway, competitors were hunting for their first opportunity to stand in victory lane this year.
A beautiful spring day welcomed 20 drivers to the 3/8th’s mile clay oval in southern New Mexico, where three qualifying heat races would determine the starting lineup for a 25-lap feature.
Heat 1 saw Rio Rancho, New Mexico’s Devon Amos (No. 41) take the win with the top four cars staying together for a close battle. Heat 2 would see a two-car breakaway up front with Caleb Saiz (No. 1HA) taking the win over veteran Rick Ziehl (No. 20z) as the track started to widen out a bit. Heat race action would then conclude with Travis Oldfield finding the top side of the speedway to finish first in his No. 11w SEH Motorsports entry.
After a redraw for the top three in each heat, Rick Ziehl and Robert Marfia (No. 24) would fire first and bring the field to green for 25 laps around the Vado Speedway Park. With the surface widened out and grip slipping away fast, three wide action was seen all around the track until a scary incident stopped action early with rookie contender Caleb Stelzig (No. 21) cutting a left-rear tire up front after contact with another car, causing a traffic jam on the front stretch ultimately ending with Las Cruces’ Ricky Holden to go airborne in his No. 2WILD; flipping end-over-end and hanging a throttle on landing. Holden would walk away with some assistance but his night was over with a destroyed chassis.
After the race resumed, Amos found his mojo at the bottom of the speedway and marched his way to the front from the 7th starting spot, holding off Don Grable and his Budlong Motorsports No. 45x, to capture his first career Lucas Oil POWRi New Mexico Motor Racing Association victory for car owner David Burns. Derek DeMartino (No. 97) would be the hard charger of the evening, finishing 3rd from 13th with Colt Treharn (No. 77) and Rick Ziehl rounding out the top five.
“I’d like to give a huge thanks to our entire race team for all their hard work,” said Amos. “This is an awesome way to start the season and we couldn’t do it without Hal Burns Racing, ROC Real Estate Partners, J&J Auto Racing, SMII, NAPA Belts & Hoses, JMS Voip, Performance Plus Racing Engines, Wiese Auto Supply, Schaeffer’s Racing Oil, FK Rod Ends and CSI Shocks.”
The Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Car Series will take an off-week before returning on April 17th for Sandia Speedway’s Season Opener.
Results
Feature – 25 Laps
No. Name Hometown Start +/-
- 41 Devon Amos Rio Rancho, NM 7 6
- 45x Don Grable El Paso, TX 5 3
- 97 Derek DeMartino Las Cruces, NM 13 10
- 77 Colt Treharn Los Lunas, NM 11 7
- 20z Rick Ziehl Las Cruces, NM 1 -5
- 2 Michael Fanelli Rio Rancho, NM 6 0
- 7x Troy Treharn Peralta, NM 16 9
- 11w Travis Oldfield Albuquerque, NM 8 0
- 65 Richard Wilbee Las Cruces, NM 12 3
- 24 Robert Marfia Rio Rancho, NM 2 -8
- 9 Robert Herrera Las Cruces, NM 14 3
- 1HA Caleb Saiz Albuquerque, NM 3 -9
- 7D7 Spencer Hill Albuquerque, NM 10 -3
- 58 Clint Miller Los Alamos, NM 17 3
- 0 JR Bonesteel Albuquerque, NM 9 -6
- 52NM James Hatch Rio Rancho, NM 15 -1
- 6 Jett Carney El Paso, TX 19 2
- 21 Caleb Stelzig Albuquerque, NM 4 -14
- 92 Dillon Tanner Rio Rancho, NM 20 1 (DNF)
- 2WILD Ricky Holden Las Cruces, NM 18 -2 (DNF)
Heat 1 – 8 Laps
1-Amos.D 2-Fanelli.M 3-Stelzig.C 4-Hill.S 5-Treharn.T 6-Herrera.R 7-Tanner.D
Heat 2 – 8 Laps
1-Saiz.C 2-Ziehl.R 3-Grable.D 4-Wilbee.R 5-DeMartino.D 6-Miller.C 7-Carney.J
Heat 3 – 8 Laps
1-Oldfield.T 2-Marfia.R 3-Bonesteel.J 4-Treharn.C 5-Hatch.J 6-Holden.R