Lonnie Wheatley, CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (February 11, 2020) – Fargo, North Dakota’s Casey Arneson pocketed Tuesday night’s $2,000 IMCA Modified winner’s share atop the 3/8-mile Central Arizona Speedway by wiring the field in the 25-lap feature event that capped off the fourth round of the Fourth Annual Arizona Dirt Track Tour.

While Arneson earned IMCA Modified honors, Nebraska’s Brian Osantowski took the $750 winner’s share in the IMCA Sport Modifieds while Arizona native Ricky Thornton, Jr., picked off his second $750 IMCA Stock Car win in as many CAS rounds.

Starting from the front row outside of the IMCA Modified main event, Arneson outgunned pole starter Drew Armstrong at the drop of the green flag and then fought off challenges from Jake O’Neil and Alex Stanford on a lap 17 restart en route to the checkered flag.

“I was comfortable the whole race until that last restart,” Arneson commented.  “I saw the zero there (O’Neil) and I knew I better get going.”

Stanford and O’Neil both slipped off the track briefly in separate corners after the restart, allowing Arneson to race on the stripe unabated.  Stanford worked back up to second after starting 14^th while Jeff Taylor rallied from 17^th to third.  Thornton, Jr., was fourth with Chaz Baca, Jr., rounding out the top five.

Columbus, Nebraska’s Brian Osantowski took full advantage of his pole starting position in the 20-lap IMCA Sport Modified feature and then fought off a Cody Thompson bid for the point on a lap 14 restart on the way to pocketing the $750 winner’s share.

Thompson briefly slid past Osantowski following a lap 13 caution, but Osantowski battled back into the lead and held point the rest of the way to take the win ahead of Thompson with Austen Becerra claiming the show position as Tyler Soppe and 14^th-starter Brady Bjella filled out the top five.

In the 20-lap IMCA Stock Car feature event, Ricky Thornton, Jr., raced from fourth into the lead on the opening round and then fought off a late challenge from Zach Madrid to secure the $750 victory.

“I kept getting tighter and tighter, I could hear him there and then he slid me but he gave me plenty of room,” Thornton, Jr., commented in victory lane.

With Thornton, Jr., setting the pace throughout, Madrid closed the gap and began to pressure for the point in the final handful of laps as the lead duo separated from the field.  Madrid pulled alongside and then slid into the lead briefly on the 19^th round only to have Thornton, Jr., counter the move to preserve the win.

“I should have just moved up and not thrown the slider, we may have been better off,” Madrid said afterward.  “I could see him getting tighter and I thought we might have a shot at it.”

Sean Gentry filled out the podium in third behind Thornton, Jr., and Madrid with Brendon LaBatte and Aaron Hetrick rounding out the top five.

Central Arizona Speedway is back in action on Saturday, February 22, with a $1,000-to-win IMCA Modified tilt along with Pure Stocks, Bombers, and Power 600 Micro Sprints.

Central Arizona Speedway – February 11, 2020, Arizona Dirt Track Tour Results:

IMCA Modifieds

Heat One (8 Laps):  1. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 09-Kelsy-Ann Hayes, 3. 6-Casey Skyberg, 4. 56d-Garth Dushanek, 5. 10s-Rick Spencer, 6. 71s-Brent Schlaffman, 7. V13-Grey Ferrando, 8. 4x-Joey Price, 9. 24cws-Jim Cocks.

Heat Two (8 Laps):  1. 77s-Bricen James, 2. 5m-Zachary Madrid, 3. 0-Jake O’Neil, 4. 32n-Mark Norris, 5. 44k-Kelsie Foley, 6. 23n-Clay Norris, 7. 77-Christy Barnett, 8. 24T-Ryan Jenkins, 9. 19p-Andy Papp.

Heat Three (8 Laps):  1. 2a-Casey Arneson, 2. 68-Heath Grizzle, 3. 21J-Jon Debenedetti, 4. 98-Alex Stanford, 5. 25R-Bryan Renken, 6. X-Mike Wedelstadt, 7. 82-Sherman Barnett, 8. 14a-Chase Alves.

Heat Four (8 Laps):  1. 01a-Drew Armstrong, 2. 45-Ryan Roath, 3. 5-Jeff Taylor, 4. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 5. 75-Spencer Wilson, 6. 15T-Erick Thiesse, 7. 34-Mark Gaylord, 8. 19sb-Lance Mari.

“B” Main (12 Laps):  1. 5-Jeff Taylor, 2. 44-Christy Barnett, 3. 19sb-Lance Mari, 4. 56d-Garth Dushanek, 5. V13-Grey Ferrando, 6. X-Mike Wedelstadt, 7. 23n-Clay Norris, 8. 15T-Erick Thiesse, 9. 32n-Mark Norris, 10. 25R-Bryan Renken, 11. 24cws-Jim Cocks, 12. 14a-Chase Alves, 13. 19p-Andy Papp, 14. 82-Sherman Barnett, 15. 34-Mark Gaylord, 16. 71s-Brent Schlafmann, 17. 24T-Ryan Jenkins, 18. 4x-Joey Price.

“A” Main (25 Laps):  1. 2a-Casey Arneson, 2. 98-Alex Stanford, 3. 5-Jeff Taylor, 4. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 5. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 6. 0-Jake O’Neil, 7. 6-Casey Skyberg, 8. 01a-Drew Armstrong, 9. 77s-Bricen James, 10. 5m-Zachary Madrid, 11. V13-Grey Ferrando, 12. 44-Christy Barnett, 13. 23n-Clay Norris, 14. 45-Ryan Roath, 15. 10s-Rick Spencer, 16. 15T-Erick Thiesse, 17. 56d-Garth Dushanek, 18. 21J-Jon Debenedetti, 19. 09-Kelsy-Ann Hayes, 20. 68-Heath Grizzle, 21. 75-Spencer Wilson, 22. 44k-Kelsie Foley, 23. X-Mike Wedelstadt, 24. 19sb-Lance Mari.

IMCA Sport Modifieds:

Heat One (8 Laps):  1. 8T-Ty Rogers, 2. 71az-Bo Partain, 3. 22-Austen Becerra, 4. 3T-Tyler Soppe, 5. 99-Brady Bjella, 6. 303-Kyler Reynolds, 7. 34z-Cory Van Zante, 8. 21jr-Michael Egurola.

Heat Two (8 Laps):  1. 999-Brian Osantowski, 2. 25c-Cody Thompson, 3. 1s-Shelby Frye, 4. 96F-Eric Folstad, 5. 316-Brandyn Johnson, 6. 33s-Ben Stockton, 7. 12T-Dixon Tipton, 8. 6-Chris Theodore.

Heat Three (8 Laps):  1. 28-David Pitt, 2. 25-Andy Clower, 3. 06-Rex Hasley, 4. 56-Terry Bahr, 5. 27-Timonthy Allerdings, 6. 69x-Marcos Bojorquez, 7. 35-Slade Pitt, 8. 2k-Taylor Kuehl.

“A” Main (20 Laps):  1. 999-Brian Osantowski, 2. 25c-Cody Thompson, 3. 22-Austen Becerra, 4. 3T-Tyler Soppe, 5. 99-Brady Bjella, 6. 8T-Ty Rogers, 7. 71az-Bo Partain, 8. 1s-Shelby Frye, 9. 28-David Pitt, 10. 27-Timothy Allerdings, 11. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 12. 413-Tate Johnson, 13. 56-Terry Bahr, 14. 12. 69-Dwayne Melvin, 13. 56-Terry Bahr, 14. 96F-Eric Folstad, 15. 06-Rex Hasley, 16. 33s-Ben Stockton, 17. 25-Andy Clower, 18. 69-Dwayne Melvin, 19. 35-Slade Pitt, 20. 12T-Dixon Tipton, 21. 21jr-Michael Egurola, 22. 316-Brandyn Johnson, 23. 303-Kyler Reynolds, 24. 34z-Croy Van Zante, 25. 6-Chris Theodore (DNS), 26. 69x-Marcos Bojorquez (DNS).

IMCA Stock Cars:

Heat One (8 Laps):  1. 6-Chanse Hollatz, 2. 925-Zachary Madrid, 3. 84g-Sean Gentry, 4. 48-Craig Miller, 5. 88-Kevin Roberts, 6. 55-Joey McCullough, 7. 07x-Eric Lloyd.

Heat Two (8 Laps):  1. 01-Ty Warner, 2. 44-Aaron Hetrick, 3. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 4. 57-Brendon LaBatte, 5. 07-Andrew Mathers, 6. 42-Wayne Clink.

“A” Main (20 Laps):  1. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 925-Zachary Madrid, 3. 84g-Sean Gentry, 4. 57-Brendon LaBatte, 5. 44-Aaron Hetrick, 6. 48-Craig Miller, 7. 55-Joey McCullough, 8. 07x-Eric Lloyd, 9. 88-Kevin Roberts, 10. 6-Chanse Hollatz, 11. 01-Ty Warner, 12. 07-Andrew Mathers, 13. 42-Wayne Clink.