It was quite fitting that the local Las Vegas short track drivers dominated round three of the Star Nursery Series Saturday night at the Bullring at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway which saluted the local “Hometown Heroes” with a great display of First Responders and their vehicles in the pre-race ceremonies.

Each year, the Bullring holds a special evening to celebrate the “Hometown Heroes” and thank the personnel for their commitment to protecting the Las Vegas community. Local Bullring racer Michael Abbate, the defending “Battle of the Badges” champion and longtime Legend cars racer, was tragically killed last year in serving the Nevada Highway Patrol with his partner Alberto Felix. Members of the Abbate and Felix families were honored prior to Saturday events.

And to make the evening special again, the local racers produced winning performances on the fast 3/8-mile paved oval.

Young Tyler Reif of Henderson, NV, returned to the Bullring from his regular ARCA Menards West series events to pilot his No. 9 USLCI M&H Building Specialists/JBM Underground Legend car against another strong lineup Saturday night and held off challengers Cody Brown and Branden Giannini to score his second 2024 Bullring feature. Starting on the pole, Reif held off Stephen Brucker early in the 25-lap main event before battling nose-to-tail with former Legends Pro-Am national champion Brown and U.S. Legends race winner Giannini at the checkered flag. Fourth went to Brucker with fifth to Payton Garofalo followed by Keller Meechudhone, Scott Harbison, Sean Salazar, Bryanna Bruce and Cade Fox.

“That wasn’t any easy race,” said Reif in victory lane. “Cody might have had a faster car tonight, but he started back in the field. It was fun to race with those guys. It’s great to race in front of my family and friends at my home track. Now, we are back in the ARCA Menards series next week at Irwindale.”

Young Jaron Giannini of Las Vegas looked to be on his way to two Pro Late Model feature wins with his No. 25 stock car, but three-time Bullring winner Amilleo Thomson had another idea with a slick inside move in turn three with his No. 14 Star Nursery machine. It was the fourth Pro Late Model win for the 17-year-old local driver in the 30-lapper and Giannini had to settle for the runner-up spot. Rounding out the podium was former track champion Scott Gafforini followed by Arizona’s T.J. Roberts and Bullring veteran Mark Allison.

“I’m not sure I would have gotten by Jaron without that yellow flag and the restart in the middle of the race,” said Thomson. “On the restart, I got into a zone in the last few laps and that really made the difference.”

In the 40-lap Pro Late Model event, Gafforini jumped to the advantage at the start and Giannini tracked him down to take the lead and not look back. The No. 25 looked to be on rails throughout the race and he easily scored the win over Gafforini, young Ashton Leonard, Allison, Roberts, local veteran Johnny Spilotro, Gavin Ray and David Anderson.

“I think that was probably a boring race for the fans,” said Giannini. “But we will take the win. The car felt good, and I was trying to save my stuff with the car at the end. We are planning to race all season at the Bullring, and this is a good way to get the season rolling.”

Local racer Sam Jacks upset nine-time Bullring track champion Doug Hamm in the 30-lap 602 Modifieds finale Saturday in his No. 29 car with a great outside move on a restart. Hamm’s No. 4x is a perennial winner at the Las Vegas short track and looked to be on his way to another victory, when Jacks made the stellar pass and drove to the win. Third went to Brian Williams, followed by Kyle Jacks, Chris Cook, Ben Williams, Brian Reed, Josh Fanopoulos, Scott Ozborn and Branden Giannini.

“Doug has been whooping us for so long that it feels great to get the win tonight,” said Jacks. “We have been working hard for a long time to get this car back in the winner’s circle. The restart was great, and I got Doug on the outside. The car stuck right there, and we made the pass. Thanks to Battleborn Racing and all of our guys. We want to continue to win in the future.”

The wild and crazy Skid Plate division featured two mains on Saturday with one race going the usual direction and the other race going in reverse. In the first 12-lapper, former track champion Ben Williams took his No. 6 to an easy win from the back of the field over Dylan Hummel, Jeff Dailey, Zach Satkowiak, Camren Sorensen and Greg Matta.   

In the second final, the crowd voted for the race to be run in reverse and Williams had to start a lap behind the field. Ben made the chase towards the front but had to settle for second to veteran Jeff Dailey, who took the Jim and Ann Chadwick No. X to victory lane. Third went to Ed Shoemaker followed by Sorensen, Hummel, Greg Lee and last year’s track champion Ken Coombs.

Local favorite Vinny Raucci went wire-to-wire in the 20-lap NASCAR Nostalgia Street Rods Outlaw Factory Stock feature in his No. 911 over Rob “P” Pfaffly followed by Jacob Quartaro, former track champion Michael Miller, Justin Cicchini, Nick Nuccitelli and track veteran Pete Meyer.

Kyle Jacks won again in the 20-lap Super Stock finale with his potent No. 4 stock car as he took an outside restart position and was gone to the checkered flag. Runner-up went to Colton Ray followed by Don Geary, Jacob Quartaro, Mike McKearn, Robbie Hewitt and Bill Paddack Jr.

“We just bring out ‘ole reliable’ and she continues to win,” said Jacks. “I went to give a shout out to our ‘Hometown Heroes’ tonight. We wouldn’t be able to race here if we didn’t have you taking care of us. We didn’t know if we would race tonight but the Modified race in Roseville was rained out, so we came back and won here and with Sam in the Modifieds. It was a great night.”

The only non-Las Vegas winner on Saturday night at the Bullring was young Aspyn Lange in the 12-lap USLCI M&H Building Specialists/JBM Underground Bandoleros main event. It was Lange’s second win at the Bullring this year as he defeated Wyatt Dent, Siena Nuccitelli, James Trimmer, Peyton Harbison, Wyatt Layne, Jeff Connors, Dylan Layne and Leila Trimmer.

NEXT RACE: The 2024 Star Nursery Series at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway comes back on Saturday, April 6, for the popular “Throwback Night” featuring Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Legend cars, Factory Outlaw Stocks, Super Stocks and Bandoleros plus the popular Skid Plate cars. Adult general admission is $8.00 with children 12 & under free. For more information, please contact the LVMS ticket office at 800-644-4444 or online at LVMS.com. For stockyard passes, please call 800-644-4444, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. PST.

2024 Bullring Racing Season, Round 3 for the Star Nursery Series

Saturday, March 23, 2024 (Starting position in [ ])

PRO LATE MODELS

NASCAR Pro Late Models A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 14X-Amilleo Thomson[2]; 2. 25-Jaron Giannini[1]; 3. 38-Scott Gafforini[6]; 4. 24-TJ Roberts[3]; 5. 5A-Mark Allison[12]; 6. 77-Johnny Spilotro[9]; 7. 17-Ashton Leonard[4]; 8. 71-Colton Ray[7]; 9. 5-David Anderson[8]; 10. 44-Dave Campoverde[10]; 11. 71G-Gavin Ray[5]; 12. 95-David Fountain[11]

NASCAR Pro Late Models A Feature 2 (40 Laps): 1. 25-Jaron Giannini[5]; 2. 38-Scott Gafforini[6]; 3. 17-Ashton Leonard[7]; 4. 5A-Mark Allison[3]; 5. 24-TJ Roberts[4]; 6. 77-Johnny Spilotro[2]; 7. 71G-Gavin Ray[11]; 8. 5-David Anderson[1]; 9. 44-Dave Campoverde[9]; 10. 14X-Amilleo Thomson[8]; 11. 95-David Fountain[10]

NASCAR Pro Late Models Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 25-Jaron Giannini, 00:15.521[6]; 2. 14X-Amilleo Thomson, 00:15.618[12]; 3. 24-TJ Roberts, 00:15.671[10]; 4. 17-Ashton Leonard, 00:15.765[7]; 5. 71G-Gavin Ray, 00:15.775[9]; 6. 38-Scott Gafforini, 00:15.832[5]; 7. 71-Colton Ray, 00:15.900[8]; 8. 5-David Anderson, 00:16.034[3]; 9. 77-Johnny Spilotro, 00:16.172[11]; 10. 44-Dave Campoverde, 00:16.441[1]; 11. 95-David Fountain, 00:19.033[4]; 12. (DNS) 5A-Mark Allison

NASCAR Pro Late Models Hot Laps 1: 1. 14X-Amilleo Thomson, 00:15.678; 2. 25-Jaron Giannini, 00:15.806; 3. 71G-Gavin Ray, 00:15.888; 4. 17-Ashton Leonard, 00:15.913; 5. 71-Colton Ray, 00:15.934; 6. 38-Scott Gafforini, 00:15.971; 7. 24-TJ Roberts, 00:15.987; 8. 77-Johnny Spilotro, 00:16.114; 9. 5-David Anderson, 00:16.267; 10. 5A-Mark Allison, 00:16.390; 11. 44-Dave Campoverde, 00:16.800

NASCAR Pro Late Models Hot Laps 2: 1. 14X-Amilleo Thomson, 00:15.759; 2. 25-Jaron Giannini, 00:15.786; 3. 71G-Gavin Ray, 00:15.828; 4. 71-Colton Ray, 00:15.886; 5. 24-TJ Roberts, 00:15.933; 6. 5-David Anderson, 00:16.088; 7. 5A-Mark Allison, 00:16.097; 8. 77-Johnny Spilotro, 00:16.177; 9. 44-Dave Campoverde, 00:16.626[1]; 10. 95-David Fountain, 00:21.869

602 MODIFIEDS

NASCAR 602 Modifieds A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 29-Sam Jacks[3]; 2. 4X-Doug Hamm[1]; 3. 6-Brian Williams[2]; 4. 41-Kyle Jacks[4]; 5. 2-Chris Cook[10]; 6. 24-Ben Williams[5]; 7. 14X-Brian Reed[6]; 8. 21-Josh Fanopoulos[9]; 9. 0Z-Scott Ozborn[8]; 10. 25-Branden Giannini[7]

NASCAR 602 Modifieds Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 4X-Doug Hamm, 00:15.436[5]; 2. 6-Brian Williams, 00:15.506[11]; 3. 29-Sam Jacks, 00:15.540[7]; 4. 41-Kyle Jacks, 00:15.564[6]; 5. 24-Ben Williams, 00:15.681[10]; 6. 14X-Brian Reed, 00:15.776[9]; 7. 2-Chris Cook, 00:15.782[1]; 8. 25-Branden Giannini, 00:15.873[4]; 9. 0Z-Scott Ozborn, 00:15.937[8]; 10. 21-Josh Fanopoulos, 00:16.132[3]; 11. (DNS) 75-Robby Clutts

NASCAR 602 Modifieds Hot Laps 1: 1. 41-Kyle Jacks, 00:15.602; 2. 6-Brian Williams, 00:15.736; 3. 4X-Doug Hamm, 00:15.746; 4. 29-Sam Jacks, 00:15.757; 5. 14X-Brian Reed, 00:15.765; 6. 24-Ben Williams, 00:15.847; 7. 21-Josh Fanopoulos, 00:15.921; 8. 0Z-Scott Ozborn, 00:15.976; 9. 2-Chris Cook, 00:16.389[1]; 10. 75-Robby Clutts, 00:16.475

M&H BUILDING SPECIALISTS/JBM UNDERGROUND BANDOLERO

US Legend Cars International Bandolero Feature (12 Laps): 1. 12-Aspyn Lange[1]; 2. 14D-Wyatt Dent[2]; 3. 86-Siena Nuccitelli[6]; 4. 56-James Trimmer[4]; 5. 9-Peyton Harbison[3]; 6. 21W-Wyatt Layne[5]; 7. 7X-Jeff Connors[9]; 8. 18B-Dylan Layne[8]; 9. 16T-Leila Trimmer[7]

US Legend Cars International Qualifying 1: 1. 12-Aspyn Lange, 00:19.569[1]; 2. 14D-Wyatt Dent, 00:19.736[3]; 3. 9-Peyton Harbison, 00:20.331[4]; 4. 56-James Trimmer, 00:20.380[8]; 5. 21W-Wyatt Layne, 00:20.536[6]; 6. 86-Siena Nuccitelli, 00:20.685[7]; 7. 16T-Leila Trimmer, 00:21.177[9]; 8. 18B-Dylan Layne, 00:22.137[5]; 9. 7X-Jeff Connors, 00:22.740[2]

US Legend Cars International Bandolero Practice 1: 1. 12-Aspyn Lange, 00:19.372; 2. 14D-Wyatt Dent, 00:19.663; 3. 56-James Trimmer, 00:20.022; 4. 9-Peyton Harbison, 00:20.467; 5. 16T-Leila Trimmer, 00:20.680; 6. 7X-Jeff Connors, 00:22.730[1]

US Legend Cars International Bandolero Practice 2: 1. 12-Aspyn Lange, 00:19.545[1]; 2. 14D-Wyatt Dent, 00:19.697; 3. 56-James Trimmer, 00:20.059; 4. 21W-Wyatt Layne, 00:20.263; 5. 9-Peyton Harbison, 00:20.349; 6. 16T-Leila Trimmer, 00:20.776; 7. 18B-Dylan Layne, 00:22.358; 8. 7X-Jeff Connors, 00:22.653

SATURDAY M&H BUILDING SPECIALISTS/JBM UNDERGROUND

USCLI MH Building Specialties/JBM Underground A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 9-Tyler Reif[1]; 2. 88XP-Cody Brown[4]; 3. 25B-Branden Giannini[5]; 4. 2SP-Stephen Brucker[2]; 5. 24SP-Payton Garofalo[3]; 6. 18MSP-Keller Meechudhone[6]; 7. 34M-Scott Harbison[7]; 8. 17SP-Sean Salazar[8]; 9. 12SP-Bryanna Bruce[10]; 10. 88FYL-Cade Fox[12]; 11. 14KSP-Roxali Kamper[11]; 12. 53M-Bruce Silver[9]; 13. 11YL-Tanner Ash[13]; 14. 7BYL-Ellie Brucker[14]; 15. 21YL-Madilyn Lange[15]; 16. 50YL-Ryder Juarez[17]; 17. 45ZSP-Zeke Anderson[16]; 18. 68-Connor Podloski[18]

USCLI MH Building Specialties/JBM Underground Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 9-Tyler Reif, 00:16.703[17]; 2. 2SP-Stephen Brucker, 00:16.783[6]; 3. 24SP-Payton Garofalo, 00:16.862[8]; 4. 88XP-Cody Brown, 00:16.870[4]; 5. 25B-Branden Giannini, 00:16.881[9]; 6. 18MSP-Keller Meechudhone, 00:16.887[15]; 7. 34M-Scott Harbison, 00:16.961[11]; 8. 17SP-Sean Salazar, 00:17.091[18]; 9. 53M-Bruce Silver, 00:17.119[19]; 10. 12SP-Bryanna Bruce, 00:17.183[1]; 11. 14KSP-Roxali Kamper, 00:17.243[13]; 12. 88FYL-Cade Fox, 00:17.265[7]; 13. 9YL-Keaton Harbison, 00:17.451[10]; 14. 11YL-Tanner Ash, 00:17.511[3]; 15. 7BYL-Ellie Brucker, 00:17.524[5]; 16. 21YL-Madilyn Lange, 00:17.748[14]; 17. 45ZSP-Zeke Anderson, 00:17.814[2]; 18. 50YL-Ryder Juarez, 00:17.939[12]; 19. 68-Connor Podloski, 00:18.203[16]

USCLI MH Building Specialties/JBM Underground Practice 1: 1. 25B-Branden Giannini, 00:16.659; 2. 2SP-Stephen Brucker, 00:16.673; 3. 24SP-Payton Garofalo, 00:16.810; 4. 12SP-Bryanna Bruce, 00:16.919[1]; 5. 17SP-Sean Salazar, 00:16.929; 6. 14KSP-Roxali Kamper, 00:16.953; 7. 18MSP-Keller Meechudhone, 00:17.011; 8. 53M-Bruce Silver, 00:17.022; 9. 34M-Scott Harbison, 00:17.026; 10. 11YL-Tanner Ash, 00:17.176; 11. 88FYL-Cade Fox, 00:17.225; 12. 21YL-Madilyn Lange, 00:17.246; 13. 9YL-Keaton Harbison, 00:17.348; 14. 7BYL-Ellie Brucker, 00:17.360; 15. 68-Connor Podloski, 00:17.900; 16. 50YL-Ryder Juarez, 00:18.072

USCLI MH Building Specialties/JBM Underground Practice 2: 1. 12SP-Bryanna Bruce, 00:17.079; 2. 53M-Bruce Silver, 00:17.258; 3. 88FYL-Cade Fox, 00:17.346; 4. 7BYL-Ellie Brucker, 00:17.356; 5. 9YL-Keaton Harbison, 00:17.455; 6. 11YL-Tanner Ash, 00:17.475; 7. 50YL-Ryder Juarez, 00:17.925; 8. 45ZSP-Zeke Anderson, 00:17.995; 9. 68-Connor Podloski, 00:18.021

BULLRING SKID PLATE CARS

Bullring Plate Cars A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 6W-Ben Williams[14]; 2. 22-Dylan Hummel[5]; 3. X-Jeff Dailey[13]; 4. 10 4-Zach Satkowiak[6]; 5. 5KS-Camren Sorensen[2]; 6. 11-Greg Matta[9]; 7. 23-Greg Lee[12]; 8. 1W-Ken Coombs[11]; 9. 6-AJ Hintsala[8]; 10. 911-Ed Shoemaker[4]; 11. 48W-Pete Wheeler[1]; 12. 11M-Charlie Martinez[3]; 13. 4X-Cecilia Dillie[7]; 14. 7-Christina Harper[10]

Bullring Plate Cars A Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. X-Jeff Dailey[12]; 2. 6W-Ben Williams[14]; 3. 911-Ed Shoemaker[5]; 4. 5KS-Camren Sorensen[10]; 5. 22-Dylan Hummel[13]; 6. 23-Greg Lee[8]; 7. 1W-Ken Coombs[7]; 8. 10 4-Zach Satkowiak[11]; 9. 7-Christina Harper[1]; 10. 6-AJ Hintsala[6]; 11. 11-Greg Matta[9]; 12. 11M-Charlie Martinez[3]; 13. 4X-Cecilia Dillie[2]; 14. 48W-Pete Wheeler[4]

NASCAR NOSTALGIA STREET ROD OUTLAW FACTORY STOCKS

NASCAR Nostalgia Street Rod Outlaw Factory Stocks Feature (20 Laps): 1. 911-Vinny Raucci Jr[1]; 2. 11-Rob Pfaffly[3]; 3. 43Q-Jacob Quartaro[4]; 4. 21-Michael Miller[2]; 5. 07-Justin Cicchini[6]; 6. 6N-Nick Nuccitelli[8]; 7. 96-Pete Meyer[5]; 8. 66-Tuscan Nuccitelli[9]; 9. 65-Gary Wyatt[10]; 10. 09M-Anthony Mann[7]

NASCAR Nostalgia Street Rod Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 911-Vinny Raucci Jr, 00:18.573[8]; 2. 21-Michael Miller, 00:18.677[4]; 3. 11-Rob Pfaffly, 00:18.914[7]; 4. 43Q-Jacob Quartaro, 00:18.954; 5. 96-Pete Meyer, 00:19.103[3]; 6. 07-Justin Cicchini, 00:19.175[1]; 7. 09M-Anthony Mann, 00:19.368; 8. 6N-Nick Nuccitelli, 00:19.507[5]; 9. 66-Tuscan Nuccitelli, 00:19.940[6]; 10. 65-Gary Wyatt, 00:20.360[9]

NASCAR Nostalgia Street Rod Outlaw Factory Stocks 1: 1. 911-Vinny Raucci Jr, 00:18.709; 2. 21-Michael Miller, 00:18.737; 3. 11-Rob Pfaffly, 00:18.793; 4. 07-Justin Cicchini, 00:19.082[1]; 5. 96-Pete Meyer, 00:19.173; 6. 65-Gary Wyatt, 00:21.630

NASCAR SUPER STOCKS

NASCAR Super Stocks Super Stocks A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 4-Kyle Jacks[2]; 2. 18-Colton Ray[1]; 3. 45-Don Geary[3]; 4. 44-Jacob Quartaro[6]; 5. 64-Mike McKearn[4]; 6. 22-Robbie Hewitt[7]; 7. (DQ) 60-Bill Paddack Jr[5]

NASCAR Super Stocks Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 18-Colton Ray, 00:16.689[7]; 2. 4-Kyle Jacks, 00:16.691[1]; 3. 45-Don Geary, 00:16.754[2]; 4. 64-Mike McKearn, 00:16.903[4]; 5. 60-Bill Paddack Jr, 00:16.916[5]; 6. 44-Jacob Quartaro, 00:17.272[6]; 7. 22-Robbie Hewitt, 00:17.602[3]

NASCAR Super Stocks Super Stocks Practice 1: 1. 4-Kyle Jacks, 00:16.854[1]; 2. 45-Don Geary, 00:16.921; 3. 44-Jacob Quartaro, 00:17.373; 4. 60-Bill Paddack Jr, 00:17.398; 5. 22-Robbie Hewitt, 00:17.736