Armed Forces Day at Vado Speedway Park — May 16, 2026
VADO, NM — Armed Forces Day at Vado Speedway Park carried a little extra meaning before the first green flag ever flew. The night opened with military appreciation, an invocation, and the national anthem from Naomi Vega, setting the tone for a race program built around the same theme that kept showing up on the clay all night: discipline under pressure. The pre-race call framed it perfectly — this was never going to be just about speed or bravery. It was about who could stay calm when the racetrack got loud.
By the end of the night, that theme had been tested in every possible way. The surface changed from early moisture to late-night momentum. The top came alive but started charging rent. Turn four paid the bills. The Stock Cars gave the crowd two red-flag resets and one of the most memorable Sherman Barnett moments Vado has seen. The non-wings gave Colt Treharn another chapter. The Pure Stocks gave Robert Dominguez the finish he had been chasing. And the Modifieds closed the night with a full Gallardo-family headline.
Hulsey Racing Legends: Cale Riggs Stays Perfect From Eighth
The first feature of the night belonged, once again, to Cale Riggs.
Riggs started eighth in the Hulsey Racing Legends A Feature, but the story stayed the same: traffic, restarts, and pressure still were not enough to keep the No. 96 from Hatch, New Mexico, out of victory lane. Brandon Williams had already made noise earlier by winning Heat 1 from fourth, while Riggs won Heat 2 from fifth, setting up a feature that asked whether anyone could finally make the measuring stick uncomfortable.
They made him work. They did not stop him.
Riggs drove from eighth to first, surviving traffic and a late green-white-checkered style reset to keep his perfect season alive. Behind him, RJ Garay came from sixth to second, and Daniel Dean held on for third after being in the middle of several of the night’s best Legends battles. Officially, Riggs finished first from eighth, Garay second from sixth, and Dean third from third.
Top 5 — Hulsey Racing Legends:
- Cale Riggs
- RJ Garay
- Daniel Dean
- Kyle Burnette
- Angel Garcia
The line of the race still fits: the road runs through the 96.
S.H. Automotive Pure Stocks: Dominguez Finally Finishes the Job
The S.H. Automotive Pure Stocks gave the crowd one of the cleanest, most satisfying feature battles of the night.
Miguel Rincon started on the pole and looked smooth early, using clean air and disciplined laps to control the first half of the 15-lap feature. But Robert Dominguez was coming. Starting sixth in the Minx Motorsports No. 67, Dominguez worked his way forward and closed the gap through lap traffic, eventually forcing a side-by-side battle with Rincon that turned into a true racecraft chess match.
Dominguez had been close before. The live call noted that he had been on the bitter end of tight finishes before, but this time he secured the pass out of turn two with three laps to go and defended the final corner cleanly. The official results show Dominguez winning from sixth, Rincon second from the pole, and Bryce Archuleta charging from ninth to third in the 777X with his dad, Mike Archuleta, riding passenger on Armed Forces Night.
Top 5 — S.H. Automotive Pure Stocks:
- Robert Dominguez
- Miguel Rincon
- Bryce Archuleta
- Carlos Irvin
- Robert Glass II
For Dominguez, this was more than a win. It was a response.
Sunset Grill POWRi 360 Non-Winged Sprint Cars: Treharn Writes the Next Chapter
The Sunset Grill POWRi 360 Non-Winged Sprint Cars entered the night with serious emotional weight. Last time the non-wings were at Vado, Colt Treharn, Dylan Harris, and Don Grable were all part of a wild, high-intensity feature that shifted from aggression to discipline after major incidents. On Armed Forces Day, the class came back with many of those memories still hanging in the air.
Early, it looked like the night might belong to Don Grable. The 45X won his heat and started on the pole of the feature, driving like a racer with something to answer after being part of the last-time-out chaos. But a left-rear issue sent Grable to the work area and changed the race completely. That opened the door for Colt Treharn, and the No. 77 from Los Lunas did exactly what winners do: he stepped through it.
Treharn started fifth and won the 20-lap feature. Robert Marfia came from sixth to second, and Grable recovered for third after the early command and later trouble. Official results list Treharn, Marfia, and Grable as the podium, with Justin Lasiter fourth and Lorne Wofford fifth.
Top 5 — Sunset Grill POWRi 360 Non-Winged Sprint Cars:
- Colt Treharn
- Robert Marfia
- Don Grable
- Justin Lasiter
- Lorne Wofford
The story was simple: Grable had the redemption arc early, but Treharn owned the ending.
Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars: Burton Official Winner After Josselyn DQ
The Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars delivered the longest, heaviest, most emotional feature of the night.
On track, Jason Josselyn looked like the story. The No. 74 from Hobbs started outside front row, found the top, and took the checkered flag after holding off heavy late pressure from Jonathan Burton. The live call captured Josselyn using the high side, Burton searching underneath, and the two of them turning the final laps into a tense momentum-versus-pressure battle.
But the final story changed after the race.
Following a protest from Jonathan Burton, Josselyn was disqualified for a muffler issue. That moved Burton — who had started 12th — to the official win. The official MyRacePass results list Jonathan Burton first from 12th, Justin Allen second, Loren East third, Matthew Machen fourth, and Justin Garrett fifth, with Josselyn listed as DQ after starting second.
The Stock Car feature also produced the night’s most unforgettable safety moment. Sherman Barnett went up and over in turn two, bringing out a red flag. Barnett climbed out okay, and the crowd gave him the ovation he deserved. The call framed him as more than a driver: 90 years young, still strapping into a Stock Car, still living that Harley-Davidson, open-road spirit.
Official Top 5 — Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars:
- Jonathan Burton
- Justin Allen
- Loren East
- Matthew Machen
- Justin Garrett
This one had everything: a wild ride, a comeback, a protest, a disqualification, and an official winner who turned a deep starting spot into a major points-night statement.
Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds: Fito Gallardo Wins the Chess Match
The final feature of the night was every bit the late-night Vado problem it promised to be.
The Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds rolled out 23 cars for 25 laps on a racetrack that had already been through Legends, Pure Stocks, Non-Wings, and Stock Cars. The top was alive, but dangerous. The cushion had speed, but it was biting back. That became the defining story of the feature.
Early, Hunter Sandy looked like he might be the breakout headline. He fired off strong, raced toe-to-toe with Fito Gallardo, worked the top, crossed over, and showed the 12S had race-winning speed. But with 11 laps to go, Sandy got into the wall, ending his run near the front and changing the complexion of the race. The live transcript called it a heartbreaker and described the top as fast but “charging rent.”
From there, Fito Gallardo took control. Jake Gallardo continued his familiar late-race climb, Carlos Ahumada Jr. managed the kind of chaos that defines championship nights, and Christy Barnett charged from 18th to fourth.
Officially, Fito Gallardo won from sixth, Jake Gallardo finished second from tenth, and Carlos Ahumada Jr. finished third from eighth. Christy Barnett’s run from 18th to fourth was one of the biggest moves of the night, while Nick Rivera rounded out the top five.
Top 5 — Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds:
- Fito Gallardo
- Jake Gallardo
- Carlos Ahumada Jr.
- Christy Barnett
- Nick Rivera
The final image of the night was fitting: a Gallardo win, a Gallardo runner-up, Ahumada still right where a points leader needs to be, and the Vado clay once again proving that the fastest lane is not always the safest one.
Full Feature Winners
Hulsey Racing Legends: Cale Riggs
S.H. Automotive Pure Stocks: Robert Dominguez
Sunset Grill POWRi 360 Non-Winged Sprint Cars: Colt Treharn
Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars: Jonathan Burton
Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds: Fito Gallardo
Night Summary
Armed Forces Day at Vado Speedway Park was not a clean, quiet race night. It was something better.
It was a night where the track changed constantly, where drivers had to choose between patience and panic, where the top lane gave speed and took cars, where the Stock Cars turned into survival, where the non-wings rewarded discipline, and where the Modifieds closed the show with a true family-name, points-board, fear-board showdown.
Cale Riggs stayed perfect.
Robert Dominguez finally finished the job.
Colt Treharn went back-to-back in the non-wings.
Jonathan Burton became the official Stock Car winner after post-race tech.
Fito Gallardo owned the A-Mod finale.
And through it all, the theme held.
Respect before the green. Chaos after it. Discipline under pressure.
That was Armed Forces Day at Vado Speedway Park.
