Vado, NM (6/5/21) – Just one month removed from his thrilling 2nd place photo finish at Vado Speedway Park in May, Colt Treharn returned to victory lane on Saturday in convincing fashion to earn his first victory of the 2021 Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Car Series season.
Heat was the topic of discussion early in the evening as temperatures at the southern New Mexico speedway soared well into the triple digits. Although the weather was wild, the track held up quite nice and made for a fast set of heat races to determine the starting order for the feature event.
The first heat race was won by the No. 1HA of Caleb Saiz from Albuquerque, New Mexico after working his way around the Casey Minks No. 1 entry, driven by Dylan Harris, on lap four. Robert Herrera came within striking distance of Harris, but would settle for the 3rd position. Spencer Hill led all eight laps in the second heat race in route to his first heat race win of the year. Michael Fanelli and JR Bonesteel rounded out the top three.
Next on deck for the Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Cars were 25 circuits around the Vado Speedway Park. Courtesy of a random draw, Saiz and Treharn would get the honor of bringing the field to motion as they approached the exit of turn four. As Saiz jetted to an early lead on the cushion, Treharn came under fire from a gaggle of cars hungry to reach the runner-up spot. Through the entirety of the feature, cars could be maneuvered high and low on the speedway with no clear advantage either way. With 15 laps to go, Saiz would get checked up in lap traffic, allowing for Treharn to make a move to the inside in turn four to take the lead momentarily. Saiz fired back with multiple big-time slide jobs but some slip of the grip would allow the Jackson Compaction No. 77 of Treharn to pull away, now with just 10 laps remaining.
Meanwhile, the battle for 3rd was heating up as Don Grable, Hill and Harris exchanged the final podium position over and over. Lap traffic spiced things up some, but in the end all eyes were on Los Lunas, New Mexico’s Colt Treharn as he crossed the line first in convincing fashion; redeeming himself from falling short of the win by inches just one month prior. Saiz and Hill would rub tires across the line for 2nd and 3rd with Grable advancing six positions to earn the hard-charger award in 4th and Harris rounding out the top-five.
The caution-free feature was the 7th race of the season for the Lucas Oil POWRi NMMRA Sprint Car Series and Treharn becomes the 6th different winner that we have seen this year. This Saturday, the series will return to Sandia Speedway in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the “Summer Classic” along with Micro Sprints, A-Mods, Stock Cars, and Cruisers.
Results:
# Name Hometown +/-
- 77 Colt Treharn Los Lunas, NM +1
- 1HA Caleb Saiz Albuquerque, NM -1
- 7D7 Spencer Hill Albuquerque, NM +2
- 45x Don Grable El Paso, TX +6
- 1 Dylan Harris El Paso, TX -2
- 11w Travis Oldfield Albuquerque, NM -2
- 65 Richard Wilbee Las Cruces, NM +4
- 21 Caleb Stelzig Albuquerque, NM +1
- 0 JR Bonesteel Albuquerque, NM -2
- 2 Michael Fanelli Rio Rancho, NM -4
- 92 Dillon Tanner Rio Rancho, NM +1
- 9 Robert Herrera Las Cruces, NM -4
- 52NM James Hatch Rio Rancho, NM -
- 41 Devon Amos Rio Rancho, NM -
- 18 Asa Kesterson Phoenix, AZ -
- 4 David Dykes Los Lunas, NM +1
- 92T Tim Shallenberger El Paso, TX -1
- 665 Roby Knight Las Cruces, NM -
Heat 1 (Results): 1-Saiz.C 2-Harris.D 3-Herrera.R 4-Oldfield.T 5-Wilbee.R 6-Tanner.D 7-Amos.D 8-Kesterson.A 9-Dykes.D
Heat 2 (Results): 1-Hill.S 2-Fanelli.M 3-Bonesteel.JR 4-Treharn.C 5-Grable.D 6-Stelzig.C 7-Hatch.J 8-Shallenberger.T 9-Knight.R