Brandon Riehl, from Boring, Ore., helped produce an exciting finish in Sunday’s delayed running of the Auto Trader 150 at Colorado National Speedway.
Riehl, a NASCAR Southwest Series regular, passed defending NASCAR Midwest Series champion Justin Dierks on lap 143 and held on to win the first-of-its-kind stock car race at the three-eighths-mile oval in Erie. The $67,000 event, which was postponed from Saturday night, was sanctioned under the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division umbrella and drew 38 entries from the Midwest and Southwest series, and CNS late-model regulars.
Drivers in the two series were awarded championship points based on their finishing order relative to other drivers in their regular series. The two circuits use identical race cars and have the same Elite Division rules.
“To beat these guys is a big, big deal,” Riehl said from victory circle.
Dierks settled for second and Southwest driver Burney Lamar finished third. Midwest stars Eddie Hoffman and Steve Carlson rounded out the top five in the 32-car field.
Bruce Yackey of Greeley was ninth for the best local result.
Footnote
The runner-up finish by Thornton’s A.J. Allmendinger on Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile was the best Champ Car result of his career. It also was his third career podium finish and fourth for Loveland-based Ru- Sport. Allmendinger, last year’s Champ Car rookie of the year, moved to fifth in the standings with 53 points, six behind the injured Bruno Junqueira. The next race is June 19 in Portland, Ore.
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
