VADO, N.M. — Nobody reached Victory Lane from the front three rows Saturday night at Vado Speedway Park.
Cale Riggs started 10th. Christy Barnett and Josh Cain each started ninth. Caleb Smith and Carlos Ahumada Jr. each started seventh.
Five feature winners. Thirty-seven combined positions gained. Not one started better than Row 4.
Riggs found a paved-road feeling around the top of a changing Legends surface. Barnett trusted momentum where the traction felt uncertain. Smith rebuilt a major advantage after a caution removed it. Cain protected the shortest route through a two-lap, $1,000 shootout. Ahumada waited for the leader to touch the moisture one more time.
Eighty division entries began the five-class program. Every feature winner had to come through traffic to reach Rio Grande Waste Services Victory Lane.
Riggs takes the high road from 10th
The 15-lap Hulsey Racing INEX Legends feature opened with cars briefly stacked five wide and Jeremiah Duff stopped on the backstretch. The caution left 13 laps remaining and placed the early leader at the front with Kyle Burnette and Cale Riggs directly behind him.
The leader controlled the initial restart. Riggs kept searching.
The No. 96 eventually moved higher through Turns 3 and 4, preserved its momentum, and crossed into the lead with 10 laps remaining. Once Riggs found that lane, the separation grew. He cleared slower traffic and built nearly a full straightaway over the fight behind him.
Riggs drove from 10th to the checkered flag for what he called his 14th win of the season. In Victory Lane, he described the upper lane as feeling like a paved road compared with the character-filled bottom. The number carried a family connection: Riggs said his 14th victory tied the season total his father once recorded during a 14-race schedule.
Burnette advanced from ninth to second. The official final order lists Mike Money third.
Hulsey Racing INEX Legends — Official Top 5
1. Cale Riggs, No. 96 — started 10
2. Kyle Burnette, No. 32 — started 9
3. Mike Money, No. 65 — started 5
4. Brandon Williams, No. 82 — started 8
5. Douglas Collins, No. 43 — started 1
Barnett makes the move with two laps remaining
Ben Ives led the opening lap of the 15-lap Vado Speedway Super Trucks feature before Rusty Bowen drove underneath him and took command.
Bowen remained in front as traffic approached. Behind him, Scott Kinney advanced from eighth, while Barnett worked the No. 44 forward from ninth.
A caution with six laps remaining erased Bowen’s advantage and placed Kinney outside the leader with Barnett in the second row. Barnett reached second after the restart, then committed to the upper lane while Bowen protected beneath her.
With three laps remaining, the No. 44 carried its momentum around Turns 1 and 2. Barnett completed the pass and crossed the stripe as the leader with two to go. Kinney supplied the final challenge, but Barnett held the position through the checkered flag.
Barnett admitted afterward that she did not know the upper lane would work. She tried it because following the trucks ahead would not create a pass. The traction was limited, but the momentum was enough.
The ninth-to-first charge gave Barnett the victory over championship rival Kinney. Bowen completed the podium.
Vado Speedway Super Trucks Series — Official Top 5
1. Christy Barnett, No. 44 — started 9
2. Scott Kinney, No. 13 — started 8
3. Rusty Bowen, No. 98 — started 3
4. Cliff Evrage, No. 11 — started 4
5. Jaden Manicki Gallivan, No. 28 — started 5
Smith rebuilds what the caution removed
Championship leader Robert Dominguez did not start the 15-lap S.H. Automotive Pure Stock feature after leaving his heat on the hook. Heat winners Bobby Sandy and Jimmy Marta started second and fifth, while Caleb Smith began from seventh.
Sandy controlled the opening phase, but Smith quickly sent the No. 02C around the upper lane. He drove into the lead, found clear track, and opened nearly a quarter-lap advantage.
Then the caution appeared with six laps remaining.
The yellow removed every bit of separation Smith had created. An attempted restart ended before another lap was completed, and the field was reset single file with Smith still the last completed-lap leader.
The second opportunity produced the same answer. Smith returned to the upper lane, rebuilt the margin, and handled the slower traffic ahead without surrendering the lead.
Smith said the team had returned to an older engine after losing its other powerplant. Without the bottom-end power he wanted, he committed to holding the car wide open around the top. That decision carried him from seventh to the victory.
Sandy finished second, and Kristen Denman advanced from sixth to third.
S.H. Automotive Pure Stocks — Official Top 5
1. Caleb Smith, No. 02C — started 7
2. Bobby Sandy, No. B51 — started 2
3. Kristen Denman, No. 48 — started 6
4. Rudy Ramirez, No. 2R — started 3
5. Jimmy Marta, No. 28 — started 5
Cain protects the bottom and collects $1,000
Twenty-two Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars came for an increased purse provided by the division’s official class sponsor.
Shane McNutt started from the pole and controlled the opening portion of the 25-lap feature. The challengers arrived from deeper in the field after repeated restarts compressed the race.
Cain started ninth and used the outside to draw alongside McNutt before returning to the shorter bottom. The No. 3J completed the pass, opened its advantage, and began cutting through slower traffic.
With two laps remaining, the caution flew.
The separation disappeared. McNutt lined up beside Cain, Francisco Knight restarted directly behind them, and the entire $1,000 decision became one final two-lap sprint.
Cain chose the inside and protected it. McNutt remained close, but the opening never developed. Cain carried the No. 3J to the checkered flag and collected the four-figure victory.
In Victory Lane, Cain explained that he had tested the top and the middle before recognizing the bottom as the decisive lane. When the final restart left the car too tight to rotate cleanly, he stopped it on the bottom and made every challenger find another route.
McNutt finished second from the pole. Knight charged from 11th to third. Jonathan Burton supplied the feature’s largest advance, climbing from 22nd to fourth, while RC Combs moved from 15th to fifth.
Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars — Official Top 5
1. Josh Cain, No. 3J — started 9
2. Shane McNutt, No. 5M — started 1
3. Francisco Knight, No. 665 — started 11
4. Jonathan Burton, No. 00 — started 22
5. RC Combs, No. 53 — started 15
Special thanks to Extreme Landscaping, the official Stock Car class sponsor, for providing the additional purse money and raising the stakes throughout the field.
Ahumada waits for the opening and finishes the night
Twenty-seven Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds entered the program, requiring a B Feature before the 25-lap main event.
Bryan Bennett started third and took the lead on the opening lap. Ahumada advanced from seventh into the front group before an early series of cautions repeatedly broke the field’s rhythm.
When the race developed a sustained green-flag run, Bennett continued to control the bottom. Ahumada tested the higher lane, searching for the traction that could carry the No. 65X around him.
The answer eventually returned to the inside.
With 13 laps remaining, Bennett touched the moisture and pushed away from the shortest route. Ahumada filled the opening beneath him and completed the pass for the lead.
Austin Adams charged from 11th and moved around Bennett for second with seven laps remaining. He began reducing the leader’s advantage, but Ahumada kept the No. 65X planted along the bottom and never reopened the door.
Ahumada drove from seventh to the final checkered flag of the night. Adams completed a nine-position charge to second, and Bennett finished third after leading the opening half.
Ahumada explained in Victory Lane that he had watched Bennett touch the moisture and move up the track. He tried to use the traction higher on the speedway, returned to the bottom when that experiment did not produce the pass, and capitalized when the same opening appeared again.
Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds — Official Top 5
1. Carlos Ahumada Jr., No. 65X — started 7
2. Austin Adams, No. 85 — started 11
3. Bryan Bennett, No. 81B — started 3
4. Jay Rosales, No. 12 — started 2
5. Robert Adams, No. 50 — started 9
Heat and B Feature winners
– Hulsey Racing INEX Legends: Douglas Collins and Jerod Candelaria
– Vado Speedway Super Trucks: Ben Ives and Jaden Manicki Gallivan
– S.H. Automotive Pure Stocks: Bobby Sandy and Jimmy Marta
– Extreme Landscaping USRA Stock Cars: Shane McNutt, Danny Gross Jr., and Francisco Knight
– Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modifieds: Carlos Ahumada Jr., Josh Cain, Bryan Bennett, and Tom Georges
– Mendoza Law Firm USRA Modified B Feature: Lucas Ward
Thirty-seven positions forward
Riggs found the top. Barnett trusted momentum. Smith rebuilt the lead. Cain protected the bottom. Ahumada waited for the opening.
Their winning moves were different, but the starting sheet connected them. The five feature winners began 10th, ninth, seventh, ninth, and seventh. Together, they erased 37 positions.
Nobody started better than Row 4.
Everybody finished in Rio Grande Waste Services Victory Lane.
Next at Vado Speedway Park
Open Practice is scheduled for Thursday, September 3. Pits open at 5:00 p.m., with practice from 6:00–9:00 p.m.
The Labor Day Weekend Double Header follows Friday and Saturday, September 4–5, featuring:
– Gaerte Engines 360 Winged Sprint Series
– Hulsey Racing INEX Legends
– Extreme Landscaping Stock Cars
– Anthony Sosa Roofing Late Models
– Hacienda Carpet and Tile X-Mods
Pit gates open at 4:00 p.m., front gates open at 5:00 p.m., and racing begins at 7:30 p.m. both nights.
Complete event information is available at https://vadospeedwaypark.com/events/. Official August 29 results are available at https://www.myracepass.com/events/647502/races.
