Sandy Closes Wild First Week of Summer at Vado Speedway Park After DuBois, Grable, Knight and Cruse Score Feature Wins 

VADO, N.M. — First Week of Summer at Vado Speedway Park turned into one of those nights that only a dirt track can create. 

It started with heat, dust, speed, and a racetrack that changed every time a new division rolled onto the clay. It ended late, under a strange power and lighting delay, with every Modified driver choosing to stay, refire, and send the final feature anyway. 

By the time the final checkered flag flew at the Diamond in the Desert, Jeremy DuBois, Don Grable, Francisco Knight, Brandon Cruse, and Hunter Sandy had all written their names into a night that kept getting stranger, louder, and better. 

The first half of the show gave fans the questions. The features gave them the truth. 

The cushion came in. The bottom still had life. The middle got slick enough to punish mistakes. And the drivers who adjusted fastest were the ones standing in Victory Lane. 

Jeremy DuBois Breaks Through in the Super Trucks 

The Vado Speedway Super Trucks opened feature racing, and the division wasted no time turning the second half into a story. 

Earlier in the night, Scott Sullivan and Billy Roy Harris had won the two Super Truck heat races. Sullivan showed patience. Harris got smoother every lap and held off pressure from Christy Barnett in one of the better early-race displays of control. 

But the feature belonged to Jeremy DuBois. 

DuBois started outside the front row, got himself to clean air, and then had to survive everything that makes Super Truck racing so difficult at Vado: pressure, traffic, heavy trucks, narrow exits, and a closing Christy Barnett. 

DuBois had been chasing a Super Truck feature win for a long time. On this night, he finally refused to let it get away. 

The 9 machine held on through the late laps, handled lap traffic, and beat one of the toughest drivers in the division to the checkered flag. After 45 feature starts without a win, DuBois finally broke through. 

It was not just a win. It was a reminder of why drivers keep showing up. 

One night, the truck stays underneath you. One night, the line comes to you. One night, you do not give it away. 

For Jeremy DuBois, this was that night. 

Don Grable Controls the Non-Wing Feature 

The Sunset Grill POWRi 360 Non-Winged Sprint Cars changed the sound, the speed, and the mood of the night. 

The heat races had already shown what was coming. Robert Herrera won the opening heat with veteran smoothness, keeping the car planted and controlled from start to finish. Diego Alvarado then answered in heat two with one of his strongest sprint car drives at Vado, attacking the cushion, fighting the race car, and showing he was ready to be a factor. 

But in the A Feature, Don Grable got the line he needed. 

Robert Marfia started from the pole. Grable started alongside him. Once the 45X found the top and got to the lead, he made the rest of the field chase his race. 

Behind him, Dylan Harris, Diego Alvarado, Colt Treharn, Robert Herrera, Mike Ziehl and the rest of the field kept searching. Alvarado continued to show speed and versatility, moving around the racetrack and putting together one of the stronger overall nights of his sprint car season. 

But Grable’s advantage was clean air, control, and knowing when the cushion was grip instead of danger. 

Twenty laps in a non-wing sprint car is never simple. No wings. No bailout. No hiding. 

Grable made it look controlled, and that is usually what makes it fast. 

Francisco Knight Makes a Stock Car Statement 

The Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars brought full-body pressure, championship tension, and one of the clearest statements of the night. 

The division’s heat races set the stage perfectly. David Garcia Jr. charged from fifth to first in heat one, finding speed every lap and showing one of his best Stock Car runs at Vado. Francisco Knight answered in heat two with the kind of clean, composed drive that championship contenders need to make. 

Then Knight did it again in the feature. 

Craig Walker led early from the front row, while Dawnica Minks, Cameron Martin, Chris Dewald, Sherman Barnett, Jonathan Burton, Bobby Sandy, and the rest of the field fought through a packed opening stretch. Minks had a strong start before trouble sent her around and brought out an early caution. 

That caution changed the race. 

On the restart, Knight took the top, trusted the line, and rolled the 665 machine into command. Once he had the lead, he made the racetrack work for him. The car stayed smooth. The exit speed stayed clean. The gap opened. 

Behind him, Cameron Martin stayed strong. Craig Walker remained in the fight. Sherman Barnett and Bobby Sandy had a physical late battle, while Jonathan Burton kept clawing forward in the points conversation. 

But the story was Knight. 

Stock Cars reward patience, and Knight never looked rushed. He waited for the racetrack to give him the line, then he was brave enough to take it. 

Francisco Knight left Vado with the heat win, the feature win, and the kind of night that matters in a championship fight. 

Brandon Cruse Turns the Late Model Feature Into a Missile Launch 

The Anthony Sosa Roofing Late Models had already produced one of the best heat race moments of the night before the feature ever rolled out. 

Luke Solis won heat one after Mercedes Abercrombie suffered mechanical trouble while leading. Brandon Cruse then won heat two in a two-lap shootout against Arturo Ordonez, staring down one of the toughest late-race challengers in the division and beating him straight up. 

That heat race mattered because it previewed the feature. 

Oscar Perez led early in the Late Model A Feature, with Keko Perez, Luke Vargas, Luke Solis, Arturo Ordonez, and Cruse all in the mix. Cruse started sixth, but every lap he looked more dangerous. 

Then the cautions came. 

Mercedes Abercrombie spun and collected Solis with nine laps to go, changing the shape of the race. On the restart, Cruse found the exit speed off turn two that had already made him dangerous earlier in the night. A second caution with seven laps remaining erased his gap, but it did not erase his speed. 

When the green came back out, the 151 was gone. 

Cruse loaded the car, kept the platform underneath him, and turned the bottom and exit of turn two into a launch pad. The “Cruise Missile” nickname fit perfectly. 

He started sixth. He found the line. He became the fastest car when it mattered most. 

Brandon Cruse drove to another Late Model feature win and made it clear that his season is not just about points anymore. It is about momentum. 

Hunter Sandy Wins the Modified Feature After the Whole Field Chooses to Race 

The final race of the night came with the biggest field, the biggest buildup, and the strangest delay. 

The Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds had already been loaded all night. Heat race winners included Jake Boles, Hunter Sandy, Royal Jones, and Fito Gallardo. Each one won differently. 

Boles defended. Sandy hunted. Jones put on a clinic. Fito found the top and flew. 

Then Devin Jobin won the Modified B-Main, finding the top and earning his way into the A Feature with a strong drive. 

The Modified A Feature was supposed to be the final exam. 

Then the lights went down. 

A power issue created a delay before the green flag. Race control parked the field, gave the drivers a chance to save their motors, and worked through the lighting problem before sending the cars back out. 

At that point, every driver had a decision to make. 

Nobody left. 

Not one. 

The field stayed. The fans stayed. The crews stayed. The drivers chose to race. 

That turned the final feature into something bigger than just another A-Main. 

After a complete restart for a driveshaft at the bottom of turn one, the Modifieds finally got going. Jake Boles was strong early on the bottom. Royal Jones worked the top with precision. Austin Adams, Christy Barnett, Robert Adams, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Lucas Ward and others all had moments in the fight. 

Then Hunter Sandy found his lane. 

The 12S went to the high side, got the race car pointed, and started driving away. Once Sandy got clean air, the rest of the field was chasing a moving target. 

Behind him, Ahumada charged forward. Christy Barnett kept pressure in the top five. Austin Adams, Robert Adams and Lucas Ward stayed in the battle. But Sandy was in control. 

The racetrack was tricky. The lights had made the night weird. The field was deep. The hour was late. 

Hunter Sandy got faster anyway. 

It was a masterclass in Modified racing: patience early, aggression when the opportunity appeared, and clean execution once the lead was his. 

After everything the night threw at the field, Hunter Sandy closed First Week of Summer with the Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modified feature win. 

Heat Race Winners 

The night’s heat race winners showed just how balanced the program was before feature racing began: 

Vado Speedway Super Trucks: Scott Sullivan, Billy Roy Harris
Sunset Grill POWRi 360 Non-Winged Sprint Cars: Robert Herrera, Diego Alvarado
Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars: David Garcia Jr., Francisco Knight
Anthony Sosa Roofing Late Models: Luke Solis, Brandon Cruse
Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds: Jake Boles, Hunter Sandy, Royal Jones, Fito Gallardo
Modified B-Main: Devin Jobin 

Feature Winners 

Vado Speedway Super Trucks: Jeremy DuBois
Sunset Grill POWRi 360 Non-Winged Sprint Cars: Don Grable
Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars: Francisco Knight
Anthony Sosa Roofing Late Models: Brandon Cruse
Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds: Hunter Sandy 

A Night That Got Weird, Then Got Better 

Some race nights are remembered for one pass. Some are remembered for one dominant drive. Some are remembered for a big crash, a late restart, or a first-time winner. 

This one had a little bit of everything. 

Jeremy DuBois finally got his Super Truck breakthrough. 

Don Grable controlled a non-wing sprint car feature with veteran calm. 

Francisco Knight made a Stock Car championship statement. 

Brandon Cruse turned the Late Model feature into a launch sequence. 

Hunter Sandy waited through a light delay, stayed locked in, and closed the night with a Modified win. 

The track changed. The cushion moved. The lights flickered. The night got late. 

But the drivers stayed. 

The fans stayed. 

And Vado Speedway Park got the finish it deserved. 

That is the sickness of dirt racing. 

At first, you watch the leader. 

Then you start watching the line. 

Then you start seeing the pass before it happens. 

And once that happens, you are hooked. 

First Week of Summer at the Diamond in the Desert delivered exactly that.