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Sweetwater Speedway Season Opener a Huge Success Despite Frigid Temps

(Rock Springs, WY) – Sweetwater Speedway opened the race season on Friday May 24th and 25th with 91 competitors from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. It was a frigid weekend with late rain on Saturday making track preparations difficult and a later than usual start time. Track Promoter Kara Beech stated, “I am so thankful for the drivers and mud trucks that helped to get the track into running condition. Without their effort it would have possibly meant a cancellation. While fan count was not great on Saturday, the racing was amazing in all classes.” The Wyoming Dwarf Car Shootout only saw 11 drivers, but they put on a great show for the fans. With the 88R of Keith Welch out of Greeley Colorado taking home the win on Friday and the 63D of Dalton Hatton out of Craig Colorado taking home the win on Saturday.
Dwarf A Feature – May 24

1. 88R-Keith Welch[3]; 2. 63D-Dalton Hatten[6]; 3. 22R-Blair Ruppell[2]; 4. 27AZ-Rusty Degroat[4]; 5. 397-William Valdez[1]; 6. 183-Justin Wright[9]; 7. 89R-Dale Welch[7]; 8. 58-Cole MacEwen[5]; 9. 19-Wyatt MacEwen[11]; 10. 333-Mike Oakley[10]; 11. 16R-Jerry Hunter[8]
   A Feature – May 25
2. 63D-Dalton Hatten[1]; 2. 88R-Keith Welch[9]; 3. 183-Justin Wright[8]; 4. 397-William Valdez[3]; 5. 58-Cole MacEwen[10]; 6. 27AZ-Rusty Degroat[5]; 7. 22R-Blair Ruppell[4]; 8. 89R-Dale Welch[7]; 9. 19-Wyatt MacEwen[2]; 10. 333-Mike Oakley[6]; 11. 16R-Jerry Hunter[11]

In the IMCA Sport Mods, #75 Scott Francour of Queen Creek Arizona took home the checkered only .025 seconds in front of #55c of Brian Carey from Aztec New Mexico. On Saturday there was great racing through the class but it was Dave Pitt int eh #28 that drove from an eleventh place starting position to take home the checkers.
IMCA Sport Mod A Feature – May 24

1. 75-Scott Francour[1]; 2. 55C-Brian Carey[4]; 3. 88-Cole Marlatt[6]; 4. 4V-Scott Verner[3]; 5. 28-David Pitt[11]; 6. 31JR-Shawn Parish[10]; 7. 33J-Josh Pate[14]; 8. 14S-Traeger Sperry[5]; 9. 16C-Kendrick Chapman[19]; 10. 300-Justin Verner[8]; 11. 5-Verlon Lee[9]; 12. 183-Justin Wright[12]; 13. 745-Eric George[20]; 14. 20-Larry Kaml[17]; 15. 18-Joe Gamper[16]; 16. 64A-alek marsing[13]; 17. 57-Ron Swanson[18]; 18. 5D-Tony Dugan[2]; 19. 18K-Jay Mathews[7]; 20. 397-William Valdez[15]; 21. 17N-Curt Nance[23]; 22. (DNS) 35-Slade Pitt; 23. (DQ) 19-Myron Kaml[21]
   A Feature – May 25
2. 28-David Pitt[11]; 2. 183-Justin Wright[8]; 3. 31JR-Shawn Parish[3]; 4. 55C-Brian Carey[7]; 5. 4V-Scott Verner[6]; 6. 14S-Traeger Sperry[16]; 7. 5-Verlon Lee[10]; 8. 20-Larry Kaml[18]; 9. 18K-Jay Mathews[14]; 10. 64A-Alek Marsing[1]; 11. 300-Justin Verner[21]; 12. 17N-Curt Nance[12]; 13. 18-Joe Gamper[23]; 14. 19-Myron Kaml[24]; 15. (DNF) 397-William Valdez[2]; 16. (DNF) 16C-Kendrick Chapman[19]; 17. (DNF) 33J-Josh Pate[13]; 18. (DNF) 75-Scott Francour[4]; 19. (DNF) 5D-Tony Dugan[17]; 20. (DNF) 745-Eric George[15]; 21. (DNF) 35-Slade Pitt[5]; 22. (DNF) 57-Ron Swanson[20]; 23. (DNS) 88-Cole Marlatt; 24. (DNS) 692-jared Huntington

In the IMCA Modifieds Michael Hale put on a commanding performance leading the first seventeen laps until he touched the outside wall and gave Braxton Yeager in the 33BY the opening he needed to make the pass. Yeager took home the checkers from the sixth place starting spot and started out the season strong. On Saturday, the #46 of Bert Beech out of Rock Springs started on the poll but gave up the lead to Ungaro in the 94U. He took it back on lap two and never looked back. Both Friday and Saturday the IMCA Modifieds went green to checkered with no cautions. Saturday lap times were some of the fastest ever seen at the track in the Modified division.
IMCA Modified A Feature – May 24

1. 33BY-Braxton Yeager[6]; 2. WW1-Ricky Alvarado[11]; 3. 51-Terrell Payne[4]; 4. 94U-Brian Ungaro[10]; 5. 21-Trayke Metz[7]; 6. 9M-Cody Malcom[3]; 7. 2W-Casey Delp[5]; 8. 01H-Michael Hale[2]; 9. 33Y-Bryson Yeager[9]; 10. 46-Bert Beech[12]; 11. 15C-Jeff Cooper[15]; 12. 44-Bill Brack[13]; 13. 29-Jim Shoemaker[1]; 14. 50SR-Tony Ross[17]; 15. 28-Cody Blixt[16]; 16. 13-Ronnie Roy[8]; 17. 01C-Lakota Cleveland[14]; 18. 81-Bill Cornwall[18]; 19. 14-Richard Ungaro[20]; 20. 217K-Brandon Phillips[19]
   A Feature -May 25
2. 46-Bert Beech[1]; 2. 33BY-Braxton Yeager[9]; 3. 33Y-Bryson Yeager[5]; 4. 21-Trayke Metz[7]; 5. WW1-Ricky Alvarado[8]; 6. 01H-Michael Hale[12]; 7. 51-Terrell Payne[3]; 8. 28-Cody Blixt[11]; 9. 9M-Cody Malcom[10]; 10. 01C-Lakota Cleveland[13]; 11. 44-Bill Brack[4]; 12. 2W-Casey Delp[6]; 13. 15C-Jeff Cooper[14]; 14. 81-Bill Cornwall[15]; 15. 14-Richard Ungaro[17]; 16. 13-Ronnie Roy[18]; 17. (DNF) 217K-Brandon Phillips[19]; 18. (DNF) 50SR-Tony Ross[16]; 19. (DNF) 94U-Brian Ungaro[2]; 20. (DNF) 29-Jim Shoemaker[20]

The IMCA Sport Compacts brought in 23 competitors for the weekend. There was close racing both nights with Cody Poll in the 18c of from Green River coming home the victor. Michael Piazza out of Green River was the first roll-over of the season when he took a hard left into an infield tire. He was unharmed due to great safety gear and able to fix his car and compete on Saturday. On Saturday night the 86 of Jonathan Crawford took a commanding lead when lap traffic made maneuvering difficult. Crawford went high, Marc Hammond and Cody Poll went low and Marc Hammond in the #2 took the lead and never gave it up. Hammond was the 2023 Sport Compact Track Champion, but Saturday night was his first ever event win.
IMCA Sport Compact A Feature – May 24

1. 18-cody poll[1]; 2. 2-Marc Hammond[3]; 3. 86-Jonathon Crawford[4]; 4. 81-Ashley Warner[2]; 5. 43-Travis Bott[12]; 6. 3T-Tavian Leonard[5]; 7. 26-Lane Owens[10]; 8. 22L-kolby licking[9]; 9. 79L-Ernie Licking[7]; 10. W73-Rob Williams[17]; 11. 26G-Guy Gardner[8]; 12. 20K-Lisa Adams[21]; 13. 17W-Cody Williams[13]; 14. 12L-Cody Henry[14]; 15. 16CC-Jamie Amrine[15]; 16. 8-Sam Ogden[16]; 17. 13D-Laurie Davis[20]; 18. 15L-Lila Pacheco[22]; 19. (DNF) 11G-Brian Goff[23]; 20. (DNF) 17N-Harlie Nance[11]; 21. (DNF) 2V-Jordyn VanAusdle[6]; 22. (DNF) 14M-Michael Piazza[18]; 23. (DNF) 28-Thomas Day[19]
   A Feature -May 25
2. 2-Marc Hammond[7]; 2. 18-cody poll[11]; 3. 86-Jonathon Crawford[4]; 4. 43-Travis Bott[16]; 5. 3T-Tavian Leonard[19]; 6. 26-Lane Owens[1]; 7. 81-Ashley Warner[13]; 8. 988-Kaden Wright[2]; 9. 26G-Guy Gardner[10]; 10. 22L-kolby licking[8]; 11. 17W-Cody Williams[3]; 12. 79L-Ernie Licking[9]; 13. 17N-Harlie Nance[6]; 14. W73-Rob Williams[5]; 15. 20K-Lisa Adams[12]; 16. 8-Sam Ogden[20]; 17. 21C-McKay Clark[18]; 18. 16CC-Jamie Amrine[22]; 19. 13D-Laurie Davis[21]; 20. (DNF) 2V-Jordyn VanAusdle[17]; 21. (DNF) 51-Monty Mandros[23]; 22. (DNF) 15L-Lila Pacheco[14]; 23. (DNF) 12L-Cody Henry[15]; 24. (DNS) 14M-Michael Piazza

In the Go Karts there were Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced competitors. This was the first time they were on the newly configured track done by Pitt Construction. The kids had a great time but there might be some parents with a few more grey hairs.
Go Kart - Beginner Feature – May 24

1. WW1-Hudson Alvarado[5]; 2. 5-Justice Lee[3]; 3. 11G-Urijah pitt[4]; 4. 9-McCoy Puckett[1]; 5. (DNF) 2B-Beau Delp[2]; 6. (DNS) 33K-Knox Doherty
   Go Kart - Beginner Feature -May 25
2. WW1-Hudson Alvarado[1]; 2. 5-Justice Lee[3]; 3. 2B-Beau Delp[2]; 4. 11G-Urijah pitt[6]; 5. 9-McCoy Puckett[4]; 6. 33K-Knox Doherty[5]
   Go Kart - Intermediate A Feature – May 24
3. 8H-Harley Jacobs[1]; 2. 94U-Weston Ungaro[5]; 3. 7-Mia Piazza[3]; 4. 73-Clay Miller[4]; 5. (DNF) 12C-Cooper Wright[2]
   Go Kart - Intermediate Feature – May 25
4. 73-Clay Miller[1]; 2. 12C-Cooper Wright[3]; 3. 7-Mia Piazza[2]
   Go Kart - Advanced A Feature – May 24
5. 73-Cale Miller[3]; 2. 2W-Danica Delp[2]; 3. 89-Michael Dever[1]
   Go Kart - Advanced Feature -May 25
6. 2W-Danica Delp[1]; 2. 73-Cale Miller[3]; 3. 89-Michael Dever[2]

All drivers came to a brand new Victory Lane provided by sponsor Jonathan Crawford of WyoMovies. It included neon signage and was a great place for photos with fans who came down to congratulate drivers and to get an up-close look at the cars.

The next races will be held on June 21st and 22nd. It will be the IMCA Sport Compact Special hoping to bring in competitors from all over the western region with the biggest purse the division has seen in the area. IMCA Modifieds, Sport Mods and Go-Karts will also be at the speedway. For more information, visit the website at www.sweetwaterspeedway.com.

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