VADO, N.M. — Cale Riggs started his feature twelfth and finished first. Scott Kinney found the winning Truck move underneath Luis Esquivel. Christy Barnett’s night ended with a season championship celebration.
Those were three of the stories from September 19, when Vado Speedway Park hosted El Paso County Night. Robert Dominguez is the Pure Stock winner in the published classification, Zach McCoy took both a Stock Car heat and the feature, and Jake Gallardo closed the program with the A-Mod victory.
Across five divisions, the event recorded 72 division entries and ten heats. The feature racing offered different reasons to keep watching: a charge through the Legends field, a Truck crossover, late Pure Stock moves, a Stock Car contest that changed at each end of the track and an A-Mod lane decision that became a pass for the lead.
Riggs works from twelfth to the Legends win
Elden Radcliffe was out front early in the Hulsey Racing INEX Legends feature before Tony Martin moved into the lead contest. Jerod Candelaria was part of that early group, and Riggs soon brought the No. 96 into the picture.
Riggs reached second, challenged Martin and took over at the front. Martin remained in the chase while Kyle Burnette and Candelaria supplied a developing fight behind them.
At the finish, Riggs had the victory from a posted twelfth-place start. Martin finished second from fifth. Burnette advanced from eleventh to third, ahead of Candelaria and Chase Collins.
The winner was still thinking about the car afterward. In his post-race interview, Riggs said he had tried changes from the previous week and wanted to continue getting the setup where he wanted it.
Douglas Collins and Mike Money won the two Legends heats.
Hulsey Racing INEX Legends — published top five
| Finish | Original start | Driver | Car |
| 1 | 12 | Cale Riggs | 96 |
| 2 | 5 | Tony Martin | 4 |
| 3 | 11 | Kyle Burnette | 32 |
| 4 | 8 | Jerod Candelaria | 33 |
| 5 | 3 | Chase Collins | 34 |
Kinney finds the crossover in the Super Trucks
The Vado Speedway Super Truck Series feature brought Scott Kinney and Luis Esquivel together at the front, with slower traffic adding another decision to their contest.
Esquivel took the lead. Kinney stayed close enough to use the next opening: when the No. 7 moved higher, Kinney crossed underneath and put the No. 13 back in front.
A debris caution with four laps remaining interrupted the run, leaving another restart before the result was settled. Kinney finished first, followed by Esquivel and Christy Barnett. Sherman Barnett was fourth, with heat winner Cliff Evrage fifth.
Kinney explained afterward that the opening had developed in front of him and he took it. The interview also supplied a personal detail behind the winning number: No. 13 connects to his wedding anniversary.
Ben Ives won the division’s first heat; Evrage won the second.
Vado Speedway Super Truck Series — published top five
| Finish | Original start | Driver | Car |
| 1 | 6 | Scott Kinney | 13 |
| 2 | 9 | Luis Esquivel | 7 |
| 3 | 8 | Christy Barnett | 44 |
| 4 | 3 | Sherman Barnett | 82 |
| 5 | 4 | Cliff Evrage | 11 |
Barnett’s championship celebration includes the fans
The Truck feature and the season championship produced separate celebrations.
After finishing third, Christy Barnett received her recognition as the 2026 Vado Speedway Super Truck Series champion. The No. 44 driver’s message included the people on the other side of the fence: fans spending their Saturdays at the track, the children cheering from the stands and the people supporting her team.
Kinney had the night’s feature win. Barnett had the championship recognition. Both achievements were part of the September 19 Truck program.
Dominguez is the Pure Stock winner in the published classification
Robert Dominguez’s closing run put the No. 67 ahead of Jaxon Beyer and Kristen Denman in the S.H. Automotive Pure Stock feature.
Cory Stone crossed first, but the published results list him as disqualified. Dominguez is classified first, followed by Denman and Beyer. Jimmy Marta and heat winner Rudy Ramirez complete the top five.
Dominguez started fourth. In the post-race interview recorded before the classification changed, he emphasized keeping momentum and staying consistent. He also described adjusting around other drivers rather than remaining committed to an occupied lane.
Denman, classified second from fifth, described a left-rear problem in the closing laps in her interview. Beyer is classified third from sixth.
The results below reflect the published classification, not the provisional order presented immediately after the checkered flag.
S.H. Automotive Pure Stocks — published top five
| Finish | Original start | Driver | Car |
| 1 | 4 | Robert Dominguez | 67 |
| 2 | 5 | Kristen Denman | 48 |
| 3 | 6 | Jaxon Beyer | 13 |
| 4 | 8 | Jimmy Marta | 28 |
| 5 | 1 | Rudy Ramirez | 2R |
McCoy and De La Fuente find speed in different corners
Zach McCoy and Jose De La Fuente gave the Extreme Landscaping Stock Car feature a contest to follow around the whole racetrack.
De La Fuente put the C7 in front during the race. Later, McCoy led with Jose continuing to challenge. In the closing green-flag run, De La Fuente’s speed through turns three and four contrasted with McCoy’s strength through one and two.
Neither end of the track told the whole story. A run at one corner could be answered at the next, and both drivers kept changing their approach.
McCoy finished first, De La Fuente second and Chris Dewald third. Mingo Jauregui and Sherman Barnett completed the top five.
Afterward, McCoy explained that seeing Jose’s line while the C7 was ahead helped him adjust. The feature victory followed his heat win; Jonathan Burton won the other Stock Car heat.
McCoy’s published original start was first. That starting entry does not describe an uninterrupted pole-to-win race: the opening launch was called back, and De La Fuente led later.
Extreme Landscaping Stock Cars — published top five
| Finish | Original start | Driver | Car |
| 1 | 1 | Zach McCoy | 25 |
| 2 | 6 | Jose De La Fuente | C7 |
| 3 | 5 | Chris Dewald | 13X |
| 4 | 9 | Mingo Jauregui | 47 |
| 5 | 7 | Sherman Barnett | 82 |
Gallardo’s different lane leads to the A-Mod win
Jake Gallardo had already tried following Hunter Sandy on the outside. A later restart put the J17 on a different route.
Gallardo selected the inside, made his run along the bottom and reached the lead in the Mendoza Law Firm A-Mod feature. That pass came before Sandy’s later mechanical trouble; Gallardo had earned the lead while the two were still racing.
The closing sequence still required an answer to Mark Smith. Gallardo finished first from a posted sixth-place start, with Smith second from eighth.
The published classification places Austin Adams third from tenth, Fito Gallardo fourth from fifth and Carlos Ahumada Jr. fifth from seventh. Robert Adams is listed as disqualified.
In his winner interview, Jake described the challenge of keeping the car consistent through the rough spots and settling back into his marks in the closing laps. He then looked ahead to Fall Nationals, describing what the event means to him and his ambition to win it.
John Neal Reid, Ahumada and Stormy Scott won the three A-Mod heats.
Mendoza Law Firm A-Mods — published top five
| Finish | Original start | Driver | Car |
| 1 | 6 | Jake Gallardo | J17 |
| 2 | 8 | Mark Smith | 2SS |
| 3 | 10 | Austin Adams | 85 |
| 4 | 5 | Fito Gallardo | G17 |
| 5 | 7 | Carlos Ahumada Jr. | 65X |
All ten heat winners
– Hulsey Racing INEX Legends: Douglas Collins; Mike Money.
– Vado Speedway Super Truck Series: Ben Ives; Cliff Evrage.
– S.H. Automotive Pure Stocks: Rudy Ramirez.
– Extreme Landscaping Stock Cars: Zach McCoy; Jonathan Burton.
– Mendoza Law Firm A-Mods: John Neal Reid; Carlos Ahumada Jr.; Stormy Scott.
Original starts in the tables are the positions published by MyRacePass, not a reconstruction of every amended grid or restart. See the complete September 19 classifications: https://www.myracepass.com/events/647517/races.
Thank you, El Paso County Night fans
Thank you to everyone who made Vado part of their Saturday: the fans in the grandstands, the drivers and crews in the pits, and the partners and track team behind the program.
If this was your first dirt-track night, pick a car number to follow next time. Watch where that driver gains in the corner and how the car ahead answers. That small contest can become the story you remember all week.
Next Saturday: September 26
Vado Speedway Park’s next scheduled program is Saturday, September 26, with 305-Winged Sprint Cars, X-Mods, Pure Stocks, INEX Legends and Stock Cars.
Pit gates open at 4 p.m., front gates at 5 p.m. and racing begins at 7:30 p.m. Check the September 26 event page for current admission options and details: https://vadospeedwaypark.com/events/fall-nationals-night-3-522-706-528-735-585-560-478-316-226-259-407-714-183-871-954-687-994-805-306-888-268-964-660/, or choose your September 26 tickets: https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/vadospeedwaypark/5988/event/1461503.
