Albuquerque, NM (4/21/21) – With weather surrounding the Albuquerque metro area, the fate of Sandia Speedway’s season opener with the Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Car Series was quite literally up in the air.
Although many eyes were checking the skies, the action on the high-banked 3/8ths mile was fast and exciting throughout the entire evening. New Mexico’s wingless warriors would be split into three stacked qualifying heat races to determine the starting order for the A-Main. Heat 1 saw the Hal Burns Racing No. 1HA of Caleb Saiz bring his Hank Arnold tribute car across the line first, while teammate and NMMRA’s most-recent winner, Devon Amos, would win heat 2. In the 3rd heat of the evening, fans saw rookie Caleb Stelzig show why he will be a force to be reckoned with this season as he took a commanding victory over Spencer Hill and Josh Grady.
After a randomized redraw, the field was set for the 25-lap feature event and JR Bonesteel would share a front row with Rio Rancho’s Michael Fanelli. As soon as the action started, it would have to be paused for a violent flip in turn 2 for Troy Treharn, who hopped a right-rear wheel and went for a tumble in his Champion Heating & A/C No. 7x.
The field would reset and restart once again, and the battle was on up at the front of the pack. Added moisture in the desert air allowed for a nice cushion to be utilized by drivers, and it would show to be necessary to get through lap traffic for your leaders. Bonesteel led the way in the first half with Fanelli and Hill working traffic over hard to try and run the veteran down.
Lap 13 would see the second caution of the feature when Randy Smith went for a spin cycle in turn 1. Hill would also be collected when his car bicycled and flew off the clay surface in the same corner working to avoid the ailed No. 26 of Smith. Smith refired, and Hill would go down into the work area to check things out.
Unfortunately for Bonesteel, a caution also meant a reset for Farmington’s high-side hustler, Josh Grady. With just two laps to go, Grady found his way around the No. 0 of Bonesteel to win his first victory of the 2021 season. Don Grable would follow through to capture 2nd at the line, with Bonesteel, Fanelli, and Saiz rounding out the top-5.
The Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Car Series will once again have a weekend off before returning to Sandia Speedway on May 1st for their “Blazing Battle” event.
Results
A Feature 1 - 25 laps
Pos | Car | Driver | Hometown
1 12J Josh Grady Farmington, NM
2 45X Don Grable El Paso, TX
3 0 JR Bonesteel Albuquerque, NM
4 2 Michael Fanelli Rio Rancho, NM
5 1HA Caleb Saiz Albuquerque, NM
6 92 Dillon Tanner Rio Rancho, NM
7 58 Clint Miller Los Alamos, NM
8 24 Robert Marfia Rio Rancho, NM
9 26 Randy Smith Peralta, NM
10 21 Caleb Stelzig Albuquerque, NM
11 50X Jerry Higginbotham Rio Rancho, NM
12 (DNF) 7D7 Spencer Hill Albuquerque, NM
13 (DNF) 23 Craig Stringfellow Albuquerque, NM
14 (DNF) 41 Devon Amos Rio Rancho, NM
15 (DNF) 52NM James Hatch Rio Rancho, NM
16 (DNF) 11W Travis Oldfield Albuquerque, NM
17 (DNF) 7X Troy Treharn Peralta, NM
Heat 1 - 8 laps
Pos | Car | Driver | Hometown
1 1HA Caleb Saiz
2 7X Troy Treharn
3 2 Michael Fanelli
4 26 Randy Smith
5 52NM James Hatch
DNS 24 Robert Marfia
Heat 2 - 8 laps
Pos | Car | Driver | Hometown
1 41 Devon Amos
2 45X Don Grable
3 0 JR Bonesteel
4 11W Travis Oldfield
5 50X Jerry Higginbotham
Heat 3 - 8 laps
Pos | Car | Driver | Hometown
1 21 Caleb Stelzig
2 7D7 Spencer Hill
3 12J Josh Grady
4 58 Clint Miller
5 (DNF) 92 Dillon Tanner
DNS 23 Craig Stringfellow