Wrecking his No. 1 car in practice may have been a blessing in disguise for Blaine Rocha.
The Oakdale, Calif., driver climbed behind the wheel of a dominant backup car and led nearly all 150 laps in the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series feature at the West Coast Short Track Championships at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Rocha guided his No. 21 car to the front early, led at the midway pit stop and took the checkered flag 3.778 seconds ahead of Brandon White.
"This race car was really good the whole race, but it was a little nerve-racking leading the whole thing," said Rocha, who earned $10,000 for the victory. "I knew that, as long as I could stay out front after the re-starts, I'd have a good chance of staying there. It's really exciting, and I'm really happy."
Christian McGhee, the 2016 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series rookie of the year, was third, nearly five seconds back. Derek Thorn, who broke his own track record from 2014 with a 14.165-second lap in qualifying, finished fourth and secured his third career season points championship.
"We hoped to be there in the points at the end, and it's a big testament to this team and how hard they've worked," Thorn said. "There's a lot of blood, sweat and tears that goes into this, and I'm honored to be behind the wheel for this team."
Lucas Oil Modifieds driver Ryan Partridge decided to double down in Las Vegas. After improving on his divisional track record with a 14.935-second lap in qualifying, the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., resident led most of the second half of the 101-lap feature en route to the victory.
Partridge took the race lead on lap 38 shortly before the mid-race break, then held on after weathering a number of re-starts in the second half on his way to the checkered flag.
"I thought it was obvious that we had the car to beat today," said Partridge, who pocketed $4,000 for the win. "We were trying to conserve (the car) in the first half of the race, but the Lucas Oil Modified Series cars are so competitive that you have to run hard and try to stay up front. We were able to make a pass for the lead before the break that we were ecstatic about and were able to stay up front."
Robby Hornsby of Yucaipa, Calif., won the 30-lap Race Car Factory Spec Late Models feature after a strong run at the 3/8-mile paved oval. He finished 1.301 seconds ahead of Dylan Garner of Yorba Linda, Calif., to earn the hardware.
"The car was just great all weekend," Hornsby said. "This was my first time racing at The Bullring, and I've got to say this is a track that's a lot of fun to race on. It was awesome, and I can't thank everyone enough who helped me."
Todd Conrad of Sierra Madre, Calif., won the Race Car Factory Spec Late Models series season title just by starting the race and finished fourth.
Caitlin Stroebel of Meridian, Idaho, and Justin Simonson of Wheat Ridge, Colo., won B features in the Lucas Oil Modifieds and SPEARS Southwest Tour Series, respectively, earlier in the night.
The event put a cap on an exciting season at The Bullring that included 14 event weekends and plenty of nail-biting action. Racing will return to the short track in March 2017.
West Coast Short Track Championships
Complete results
SPEARS Southwest Tour Series 30-lap B feature
- Justin Simonson; 2. Luke Hall (-2.154 seconds); 3. Jason Gilbert (-5.518); 4. Scott Sanchez (-6.420); 5. Rick Smith (-7.760); 6. Toby Becker (-11.968); 7. Billy Mitchell (-1 lap).
Race Car Factory Spec Late Models 30-lap feature
- Robby Hornsby; 2. Dylan Garner (-1.301 seconds); 3. Ed Cutler (-3.542); 4. Todd Conrad (-5.197); 5. Carson Woods (-6.516); 6. Johnny Butler (-6.547); 7. Craig Yeaton (-7.620); 8. Toby Stanford (-8.462); 9. Robert Arevalo (-2 laps).
Lucas Oil Modifieds 101-lap feature
- Ryan Partridge; 2. Taylor Miinch (-.467 of a second); 3. Kyle Tellstrom (-2.222); 4. Scott Winters (-2.660); 5. Dylan Cappello (-3.449); 6. Jim Mardis (-3.912); 7. Aaron McMorran (-5.306); 8. Shelby Stroebel (-6.937); 9. Wes Miller (-7.522); 10. William Camera (-8.766); 11. Trevor Cristiani (-9.003); 12. P.J. Pedroncelli (-10.987); 13. Darrin Knight (-12.862); 14. Rich Lindgren (-13.694); 15. John Zaretzke (-15.213); 16. Joe Rhodes Jr. (-16.534); 17. Lynn Hardy (-2 laps); 18. Jimmy Waters (-2 laps); 19. Jimmy Sloan (-2 laps); 20. Sierra Furia (-2 laps); 21. Rod Proctor (-3 laps); 22. Pat Petrie (-4 laps); 23. Chad Guilford (-4 laps); 24. William Guevara (-4 laps); 25. Jerry Toporek (-4 laps); 26. Mark Ith Jr. (-65 laps); 27. Doug Hamm (-77 laps); 28. Clint Schubert (-80 laps); 29. Kayli Barker (-89 laps); 30. Eddie Secord (-97 laps).
SPEARS Southwest Tour Series 150-lap feature
- Blaine Rocha; 2. Brandon White (-3.778 seconds); 3. Christian McGhee (-4.739); 4. Derek Thorn (-4.819); 5. Bobby Hodges (-5.329); 6. Donny St. Ours (-5.454); 7. John Nesmith (-6.233); 8. Eric Richardson (-6.484); 9. Ryan Cansdale (-6.945); 10. Eric Schmidt (-7.349); 11. Linny White (-7.430); 12. Matthew Meech (-8.189); 13. Keith Spangler (-8.707); 14. Carlos Vieira (-1 lap); 15. Justin Simonson (-2 laps); 16. Andre Prescott (-9 laps); 17. Dan Holtz (-15 laps); 18. Jason Gilbert (-15 laps); 19. Trevor Huddleston (-17 laps); 20. Luke Hall (-17 laps); 21. Cale Kanke (-27 laps); 22. Craig Raudman (-41 laps); 23. Ricky Schlick (-41 laps); 24. Lance Wilson (-85 laps); 25. Bob Lyon (-90 laps); 26. Stan Mullis (-95 laps); 27. Dennis Furden (-116 laps); 28. Jacob Gomes (-142 laps); 29. Toni McCray (-143 laps); 30. Jeremy Doss (149 laps).