If it weren’t for a final-lap accident Sunday at the new Colorado Motorsports Park in Byers, brothers Will and Matt Brack might have delivered consecutive-day 1-2 finishes at different dirt tracks last weekend.
Will, 22, won Saturday’s IMCA modified feature at I-76 Speedway in Fort Morgan, with Matt coming in second. Matt, 20, won Sunday’s feature in Byers, but watched from his rear-view mirror as Will spun out while racing to the checkered flag for second.
Still, it was a remarkable weekend for the Brack boys from Mead.
“We just had really good luck,” said Will, his accident Sunday notwithstanding. “The track on Saturday night was really racey, and my brother and I were running up front the whole time. On Sunday, Matt led the majority of the race, and I came on late. We just had some decent luck all weekend. Matt obviously did better with a first and second.”
The Brack brothers participate full-time in the BST Modified Series, a 60-race, four-state commitment. They are sponsored by Buckeye Welding Supply, their father’s company.
Dirt introduction.
Colorado Motorsports Park, located just off Interstate 70 about 30 minutes east of E-470, is in its first full-year of hosting dirt-racing enthusiasts. The facility originally was a quarter-mile dog track, which explains its indoor/outdoor grandstands, but has long been vacant.
Track owner Jerry Kendall, a Denver-area commercial mortgage banker from Indiana, purchased the 250-acre property and turned the infield into a 1/3-mile semi-banked oval. The facility helped replace the void left when Rocky Mountain National Speedway shut down in 2005.
“The indoor grandstands gives us a little niche, something special that nobody else has,” said track promoter Joe Bellm, a former Colorado National Speedway late-models champion. “We’re just about 50 percent done, but the future of the facility is going to be a special deal. We want to get the (World of) Outlaws back and get a bunch of other national events in there.”
CMP’s weekly series compete on Sundays, allowing its racers to race elsewhere on Saturdays.
“Since we’re the new kids on the block, we decided to go with Sundays and just try to get a piece of the pie,” Bellm said.
Stars of NASCAR.
Saturday’s 21-car Sprint Cup All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway will pay $1 million to the winner, no chump change for an introductory event to next week’s Coca-Cola 600. The field will be comprised of 2009 and 2010 Sprint Cup race winners, past All-Star winners and former series champions, the two top finishers from the preceding Sprint Showdown and one driver from a fan vote.
Regan Smith, driver of Denver-based Furniture Row Racing, will be looking to get into the main event by producing a top-two result in the Showdown.
Spotlight: “Night of Fire and Thunder”
Venerable Bandimere still the best place for “Thunder”
Bandimere Speedway’s season-opening night race last Saturday drew an estimated crowd of 19,800, according to track spokesman Jeff Sipes. The big winners included Arvada’s Mitch Mustard (super comp), Denver’s Jerry Aragon (super gas), Rick Freeman of Lakewood (super street) and Bennett’s Mark Faber (fast 16). The quarter-mile drag strip known as “Thunder Mountain” is the surest thing in Colorado motorsports. Built in 1958, racers continue to flock to the unique venue for side-by-side entertainment. Check out Sunday’s “Mopar at Thunder Mountain,” featuring some of the finest Mopar show cars in the country. Gates open at 8 a.m., and fans can obtain discount coupons from any Front Range Dodge, Chrysler or Jeep dealer.
On the move: Kyle busch
Legend is building
The 25-year-old Las Vegas native is turning his racing career into legendary stuff. He swept the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races last weekend at Dover, Del., giving him a combined six victories (two Cup, four Nationwide) in 11 weeks of competing in NASCAR’s top two circuits. He also has captured one of six races in the Camping World Truck Series. Busch, who began his elite-level career at age 18, has 69 career wins in the three divisions, putting him ninth all-time. And his 18 Cup wins has him tied with Geoffrey Bodine, Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 21st all-time in the modern era.
Race schedule
NASCAR SPRINT CUP NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Site: Concord, N.C.
TV: Saturday, Speed Channel, Showdown 5:30 p.m.; All-Star Race, 7 p.m.
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles).
Race distances: Sprint Showdown, 60 miles, 40 laps; All-Star Race, 150 miles, 100 laps in segments of 50, 20, 20 and 10, with only green-flag laps counting in the final segment.
Driver standings Points
1. Kevin Harvick 1,768
2. Kyle Busch 1,699
3. Matt Kenseth 1,642
4. Jimmie Johnson 1,637
5. Denny Hamlin 1,618
6. Jeff Gordon 1,605
7. Greg Biffle 1,581
8. Jeff Burton 1,569
9. Kurt Busch 1,531
10. Carl Edwards 1,487
11. Mark Martin 1,475
12. Martin Truex Jr. 1,434
13. Ryan Newman 1,404
14. Tony Stewart 1,397
15. Clint Bowyer 1,392
CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS
North Carolina Education Lottery 200
Site: Concord, N.C.
TV: Today, Speed Channel, 6 p.m.
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles).
Race distance: 201 miles, 134 laps.
NHRA Summer Nationals Site: Topeka, Kan.
TV: Sunday, ESPN2, 5 p.m. (tape).
Track: Heartland Park Topeka.
INDYCAR Indianapolis 500 Site: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis.
Qualifying schedule: Saturday, Versus, 9 a.m.; Sunday, Versus, 10 a.m.
