Marriott Scores Second Arizona Mod Tour Victory
By Mike Spieker
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (February 11, 2018) – Round three of the second annual Karl Performance Arizona IMCA Modified Tour continued with a Sunday matinee at Central Arizona Speedway.
Just as he did on opening night, Hunter Marriott picked up the $1,500 feature win.
“I just had to keep hitting my marks. The checkered came out and I thought it was the yellow. I figured we had another 10 laps to go. I was just focused on keeping my speed up and not letting them get too close,” said Marriott in victory lane.
Marriott, who started on the outside of the front row, grabbed the lead on the opening lap over pole sitter, Chaz Baca Jr. Third place starter, Casey Arneson, moved into second and rode right on the rear bumper of Marriott in the early going of the 25-lap event.
By lap 10, 19th place starter Ricky Thornton Jr. moved into third with a pass on Russel Allen.
With nine circuits remaining, Allen’s top five effort came to an end when he and Ethan Dotson were racing for the fourth position. Dotson gave Allen a hip check entering turn one, which sent Allen up and over the embankment as the remainder of the field drove on by.
In the waning laps, Marriott began to extend his advantage over Arneson. As Arneson continued to fade, he began to fall into the clutches of Thornton.
Marriott drove away to a two and a half second lead en route to the victory; his second in the first three rounds of the Karl Performance Arizona IMCA Modified tour. Arneson fended off Thornton to finish second, while Thornton, Dotson, and Ryan Gaylord rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Northern SportMod portion of the event had a different winner after Ethan Braaksma swept the action at Arizona Speedway. Chase Alves led all 20 trips around Central Arizona Speedway. Alves
held off Brady Bjella by a half second, as Fred Ryland, Arie Schouten, and Braaksma rounded out the top five.
Photo by Melissa Coker.
RESULTS:
IMCA Modifieds:
- Hunter Marriott, 2. Casey Arneson, 3. Ricky Thornton Jr., 4. Ethan Dotson, 5. Ryan Gaylord, 6. Cody Laney, 7. Chaz Baca Jr., 8. Shane DeVolder, 9. Tripp Gaylord, 10. Lucas Schott, 11. Greg Gustus, 12. Lance Mari, 13. Jeff Larson, 14. Kody Scholpp, 15. Zachary Madrid, 16. Riley Simmons, 17. Dylan Goplen, 18. Spencer Wilson, 19. Russel Allen, 20. DJ Shannon, 21. Rick Spencer, 22. ED Turnbull, 23. Marlyn Seidler, 24. Chad Anderson, 25. Rolls Royce Henry, 26. Thor Anderson
