Dylan Cappello took a weekend off from his regular job – race engineer for the No. 38 NASCAR Craftsman truck driving by Zane Smith – to return to his childhood passion of driving race cars and Cappello did not disappoint in only his second ARCA Menards West stock car event “Star Nursery 150” Friday night at the Bullring at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Cappello, driving the No. 88 Quick Response Garage Services Toyota for Haake-Klauer Motorsports, set a patient pace coming from eight in the 21-car field at the fast 3/8-mile paved oval south of the 1.5-mile LVMS Super Speedway and holding off Trevor Huddleston and Las Vegas racer Tanner Reif in an exciting green-white-checkered finish.
Cappello’s victory took 155 laps to complete in a wild door-to-door battle with Huddleston, Tanner Reif, Tyler Reif, Eric Nascimento Jr. and Kyle Keller.
“This is an incredible win tonight,” said Cappello, the Peoria, Ariz., racer who now lives in Charlotte, N.C., to engineer Smith’s truck on the national circuit. “I really don’t know what has happened tonight. This car is so fast, and Mike Haake builds a great piece. I had to work on getting the car better in practice and the driver messed up in qualifying. The final restart was going to be tough because I knew these guys would be ready for the green. I wanted to get the tires just right and I was able to get through the gears properly. That gave me the jump into turn one.
“I went high a few times in the early going and I wasn’t right where I wanted to be. But the car was so good, and I could get to the bottom and drive off the corners well. Man, I still can’t believe we won it. I hope this is a good omen for the next few weeks with Zane’s truck too now. This is just kind of a one-off deal, just come out to have fun with family and friends.”
Pole winner and ARCA Menards West points leader Sean Hingorani held the advantage for much of the 150-lapper with his No. 15 Mobil 1/Venturini Motorsports Toyota. The 17-year-old driver from Newport Beach, Calif., jumped to the lead at the green flag and fought with Tyler Reif the first seven laps before Bullring favorite and legend Dustin Ash just to second.
Ash, the former Bullring track champion, narrowed the margin on Hingorani by lap 30 and looked to be the next challenger for the lead. But Hingorani, a four-time 2023 ARCA Menards West race winner, continued to hold off Ash by lap 50.
But Ash’s chances for victory went away on the lap 70 when the No. 5 Jerry Pitts Racing Toyota slowed and headed to the pit area. By lap 75, Cappello had moved to third and pressured Tyler Reif for second before snatching the position on lap 90.
A good battle developed with Hingorani and Cappello from lap 90 to 124 when the red flag came out for a fire on Hingorani’s Toyota as a brake caliper was ablaze. With quick work from the LVMS Safety team, Hingorani was restarted but had to go to the back of the field.
This left the door open for Cappello and he never looked back despite several restarts and an overtime finish.
Following Cappello, Huddleston and Tanner Reif were Tyler Reif, Nascimento Jr., Keller, Todd Souza, Robbie Kennealy, Kaden Honeycutt and R.J. Smotherman.
Huddleston’s runner-up finish was a personal victory. Entering the race second in the championship, Huddleston took a big chunk out of Hingorani’s lead in the standings after Hingorani finished 16th.
“At the end of the year we all want that championship,” Huddleston said. “Sean had a rough night tonight with a mechanical failure. We needed this night. To come home second to Dylan, congrats to him, amazing talent, but I’m going to take this as a win for us.”
The ARCA Menards West Series now travels to Madera Speedway next Saturday night (Oct. 21) for the penultimate round of the 12-race West Coast stock car series.
A replay of the Star Nursery 150 from The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will air on Saturday, Oct. 28 on CNBC at 11 a.m. ET.
In the special “Star Nursery Series” event for the Bullring regulars Friday night as part of the big South Point 400 weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bullring legend Doug Hamm drove his quick No. 4X to the winner’s circle in the 60-lap 602 Modifieds feature.
Hamm, the veteran racer from North Las Vegas, started from the pole position and survived a late series of caution flags to take the dominant victory by leading every lap in scoring his fourth win in four tries during the 2023 campaign.
“This new car is very good and it’s fun to drive,” said Hamm, an eight-time Bullring champion. “You know, I wanted to retire and watch my daughter’s dancing classes and take it easy. But my wife said, ‘Get out of the house and go back racing.’ So here I am and it’s great to race in front of super fans here at the Bullring and, of course, get back to victory lane.”
Second in the 60-lap Modified event was 2023 Bullring champion Sam Jacks of Las Vegas followed by Brian Williams of Las Vegas, Jimmy Sloan of Indio, Calif., and Kyle Jacks.
Another Bullring legend was back in the winner’s circle Friday night when Chris Clyne drove the No. 14 Star Nursery machine to victory in the 25-lap NASCAR Nostalgia Street Rods Outlaw Factory Stocks main event. Clyne, a multi-time Bullring champion, filled in for regular driver, Sheri Goldstrom, who had a previous commitment, and Chris fought hard with Vinny Raucci and Aaron McMorran before taking the checkered flag. Fourth went to Pete Meyer with Rob Pfaffly rounding out the top-five.
“It’s great to be back in victory lane with the No. 14 Star Nursery car and especially on the ‘Star Nursery 150’ Night,” said Clyne. “Aaron and Vinny were tough competitors tonight and I’m happy to give Sheri another win in the No. 14. It was so exciting seeing her win in this car earlier this year.”
The wild and crazy 15-lap Skid Plate race was just that for the 11-car field with spinning cars and collisions immediately at the drop of the green flag.
But multi-time Bullring champion Ben Williams guided his way through the carnage and took the easy win in his black No. 6 machine.
When the dust and smoke cleared Friday night, Williams cruised into victory lane followed by Jeff Dailey, 2023 Bullring champion Ken Coombs, Ed Shoemaker and Connor Hart.
The 20-lap Super Stock feature proved to be a tight battle with young Gavin Ray, Kyle Jacks and Don Geary fighting nose-to-tail for much of the event. As the race moved into the late stages, the leader Ray’s machine began to slide in the turns and Jacks was able to take over the advantage. Kyle took the checkered flag over Ray, Geary and John Wright.
NEXT RACE: With the 2023 Star Nursery Series at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway concluded for the season, the Bullring will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 28, for the big season final with the Star Nursery Classic featuring Super Late Models (100 laps), Pro Late Models (100 laps), Pro Modifieds (75 laps) and Jr. Late Models (60 laps). Adult general admission for the ARCA Menards event is $XX.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.
“Star Nursery 150” Night
Friday, October 13, 2023 (Starting position in [ ])
ARCA Menards Series West (Unofficial)
A Feature 150 Laps
1. 88-Dylan Cappello[8]; 2. 50-Trevor Huddleston[5]; 3. 16-Tanner Reif[6]; 4. 13-Tyler Reif[2]; 5. 4-Eric Nascimento[4]; 6. 70-Kyle Keller[11]; 7. 3-Todd Souza[7]; 8. 1-Robbie Kennealy[10]; 9. 17-Kaden Honeycutt[21]; 10. 38-RJ Smotherman[14]; 11. 66-Eric Rhead[16]; 12. 21-Greg Potts[15]; 13. 5-Dustin Ash[3]; 14. 05-David Smith[18]; 15. 77-Mariah Boudrieau Mariah[20]; 16. 15-Sean Hingorani[1]; 17. 71-Nick Joanides[12]; 18. 49-Monty Tipton[17]; 19. 7-Takuma Koga[13]; 20. 27- Bobby Hillis[19]; 21. 23-Bradley Erickson[9]
Qualifying
1. 15-Sean Hingorani, 00:14.781; 2. 13-Tyler Reif, 00:14.824; 3. 5-Dustin Ash, 00:14.875; 4. 4-Eric Nascimento, 00:14.875; 5. 50-Trevor Huddleston, 00:14.940; 6. 16-Tanner Reif, 00:14.949; 7. 3-Todd Souza, 00:14.989; 8. 88-Dylan Cappello, 00:14.994; 9. 23-Bradley Erickson, 00:15.103; 10. 1-Robbie Kennealy, 00:15.158; 11. 70-Kyle Keller, 00:15.209; 12. 71- Nick Joanides, 00:15.300; 13. 7-Takuma Koga, 00:15.372; 14. 38-RJ Smotherman, 00:15.392; 15. 21-Greg Potts, 00:15.404; 16. 66-Eric Rhead, 00:15.426; 17. 49-Monty Tipton, 00:15.556; 18. 05-David Smith, 00:15.747; 19. 27-Bobby Hillis, 00:16.073; 20. 77-Mariah Boudrieau Mariah, 00:16.073
Hot Laps
1. 88-Dylan Cappello[20]; 2. 13-Tyler Reif[6]; 3. 70-Kyle Keller[15]; 4. 5-Dustin Ash[2]; 5. 15-Sean Hingorani[11]; 6. 3-Todd Souza[1]; 7. 4-Eric Nascimento[3]; 8. 16-Tanner Reif[13]; 9. 50-Trevor Huddleston[14]; 10. 49-Monty Tipton[16]; 11. 1- Robbie Kennealy[12]; 12. 66-Eric Rhead[21]; 13. 38-RJ Smotherman[9]; 14. 23-Bradley Erickson[19]; 15. 7-Takuma Koga[17]; 16. 71-Nick Joanides[5]; 17. 21-Greg Potts[8]; 18. 77-Mariah Boudrieau Mariah[18]; 19. 17-Kaden Honeycutt[7]; 20. 05-David Smith[10]; 21. 27-Bobby Hillis[4]
602 Modifieds
A Feature 60 Laps
1. 4X-Doug Hamm[1]; 2. 29-Sam Jacks[2]; 3. 6-Brian Williams[7]; 4. 19J-Jimmy Sloan[9]; 5. 41-Kyle Jacks[3]; 6. 24-Ben Williams[14]; 7. 12-David Boardman[15]; 8. 2B-Stephen Brucker[4]; 9. 25C-Aaron Coonfield R[11]; 10. 2-Adam Coonfield[10]; 11. 1-Jimmy Petrie[13]; 12. 100-Weston Marthaler[6]; 13. 21-Billy Mitchell[8]; 14. 4N-Brian Reed[12]; 15. 75- Robby Clutts[16]; 16. 34-Kayli Barker[5]
Qualifying
1. 4X-Doug Hamm, 00:15.395; 2. 29-Sam Jacks, 00:15.404; 3. 41-Kyle Jacks, 00:15.494; 4. 2B-Stephen Brucker, 00:15.516; 5. 34-Kayli Barker, 00:15.536; 6. 100-Weston Marthaler, 00:15.571; 7. 6-Brian Williams, 00:15.618; 8. 21-Billy Mitchell, 00:15.643[1]; 9. 19J-Jimmy Sloan, 00:15.644; 10. 2-Adam Coonfield, 00:15.693; 11. 25C-Aaron Coonfield R, 00:15.800; 12. 4N-Brian Reed, 00:15.824; 13. 1-Jimmy Petrie, 00:15.841; 14. 24-Ben Williams, 00:15.952; 15. 12-David Boardman, 00:16.061; 16. 75-Robby Clutts, 00:16.224
Hot Laps
1. 4X-Doug Hamm; 2. 41-Kyle Jacks; 3. 29-Sam Jacks; 4. 2B-Stephen Brucker; 5. 19J-Jimmy Sloan; 6. 100-Weston Marthaler; 7. 4N-Brian Reed; 8. 6-Brian Williams; 9. 25C-Aaron Coonfield R; 10. 24-Ben Williams; 11. 1-Jimmy Petrie; 12. 2- Adam Coonfield; 13. 21-Billy Mitchell[1]; 14. 12-David Boardman
Skid Plate Cars
A Feature 15 Laps
1. 6-Ben Williams[11]; 2. 911-Jeff Dailey[9]; 3. 1W-Ken Coombs[8]; 4. 48-Ed Shoemaker[4]; 5. 10 4-Connor Hart[3]; 6. 21- Greg Lee[10]; 7. 7-Christina Harper[2]; 8. 84-Dustin Orth[6]; 9. 59-Christian Chadwick[1]; 10. 22-Adam Simon[7]; 11. 71- Matthew Rothman[5]
NASCAR Nostalgia Street Rod Outlaw Factory Stocks
A Feature 25 Laps
1. 14C-Chris Clyne[6]; 2. 86-Vinny Raucci Jr[5]; 3. 21-Aaron Mc Morran[4]; 4. 96-Pete Meyer[2]; 5. 11-Rob Pfaffly[1]; 6. 97- Nick Lautenbach[7]; 7. 09M-Anthony Mann[3]
Qualifying
1. 14C-Chris Clyne, 00:18.210[1]; 2. 86-Vinny Raucci Jr, 00:18.560; 3. 21-Aaron Mc Morran, 00:18.693; 4. 09M-Anthony Mann, 00:19.052; 5. 96-Pete Meyer, 00:19.273; 6. 11-Rob Pfaffly, 00:19.588; 7. 97-Nick Lautenbach, 00:19.955
Hot Laps
1. 14C-Chris Clyne; 2. 11-Rob Pfaffly; 3. 97-Nick Lautenbach
NASCAR Super Stocks
A Feature 20 Laps
1. 4-Kyle Jacks[2]; 2. 18-Gavin Ray[1]; 3. 45-Don Geary[3]; 4. 00-John Wright[4]
Qualifying
1. 18-Gavin Ray, 00:16.775; 2. 4-Kyle Jacks, 00:16.845; 3. 45-Don Geary, 00:16.987[1]; 4. 00-John Wright, 00:17.570
Hot Laps
1. 4-Kyle Jacks; 2. 18-Gavin Ray; 3. 45-Don Geary; 4. 00-John Wright
