Champagne and celebrations flowed at The Bullring on Saturday night.
More than 150 drivers took to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 3/8-mile paved oval to battle for event and national titles at a windswept US Legends Asphalt Nationals, and there was plenty of drama to keep fans happy. Matthew Haufe won the Pro division national championship by way of his 15th-place finish in the 35-lap finale, hanging on to unofficially edge Jordan Black by 10 points for the season crown.
Mike Alcaro had a chance to unseat Haufe from the top spot, but wrecked with 12 laps remaining while in a battle for second place with Kaden Honeycutt. Michael Womack made a last-lap pass to win the race, Alcaro finished 27th, and Haufe held on for the championship.
"It's pretty incredible and feels totally unreal," said Haufe, of Stittsville, Ontario, Canada. "You've got to work hard all year and figure out what you've got to do each race to get the maximum INEX points. I just kept it going, tried to stay out of trouble and then see how it all fell.
"Tonight, we'll do it big here in Vegas and try to recover enough tomorrow to get on a plane and head back to Canada tomorrow night."
Larrel "Scotty" Scott clinched the Masters division's national championship after finishing fifth in the 35-lap season-ender, a race won by Albuquerque's Robert Gayton by .318 of a second over Las Vegas' T.J. Clark. Scott's closest competitor for the season points title was Tim Brockhouse, who led the race before falling out with engine trouble with just three laps remaining.
"This feels great, and we worked hard for that one," Scott said of his second consecutive points championship. "We really wanted to win this race, but the car was a little tight and at some point in the middle of the race, you've just got to decide to make sure you get the national championship instead of doing something silly. I knew I needed to at least finish ninth, but when Tim went out, I knew I just needed to keep my nose clean.
"Vegas is always fun for us. It's such a fun track to race and is so fast, and the banking is so high that it feels so different than anything else we drive."
By virtue of a second-place finish in the Semi-Pro 35-lap feature, Hudson Halder jumped from fourth place in the points standings to win the national title. Cory Hall and Darrell J. Stewart Jr. were tied for the points lead coming into the race, but crashed together in Turn 4 of the final lap while running in the top 10 to open the door for Halder.
Stewart Jr. fell to 21st, while Hall, who was faulted for the crash, dropped to 22nd. Nicholas Naugle won the race after finishing .161 of a second ahead of Halder.
"It's great (to win) in Vegas, and we're going to have some fun tonight to celebrate," Halder said of his national title. "I was in fourth and thought I had to win the race to get (the title), but they messed up and I got second and ended up with the title. I'm going to remember fun times with the crew, being up front a bunch and just having fun out there on the track."
Sam Mayer of Franklin, Wis., won a wreck-plagued 35-lap Young Lions feature to claim the division's national championship. Mayer finished .225 of a second ahead of Sammy Smith in the race and broke a tie with Austin Teras, who finished two laps down, in the national points battle.
"This was our third time racing here, and we're in Vegas, so this is our favorite time (of year)," Mayer said. "I'd like to thank my team owner for putting together a great machine for us to race today."
In other action, newly minted USLCI Thunder Cars Bullring track champion Ron Reed cruised to another victory at the LVMS short track. He finished nearly 10 seconds ahead of the second-place car in the 25-lap feature to also clinch the Thunder Cars national championship.
Amilleo Thomson, who finished second in the USLCI Bandolero Bandits division at The Bullring this season, won the Bandolero 20-lap race. Thomson crossed the line 6.681 seconds ahead of second-place Owen Romzek for the win.
NEXT RACE: The Senator's Cup Fall Classic runs Oct. 20-21, with appearances by U.S. Senator Dean Heller, the USAC HPD Midgets Series and Southwest Tour Truck Series highlighting the action. The West Coast Short Track Championships will put a cap on The Bullring's 2017 racing season on Nov. 18.
US Legends Asphalt Nationals
Complete results
Semi-Pro B feature
1. Colton Page; 2. Christopher Burgess (-.410 of a second); 3. Austin Elder (-.699); 4. Braeden Rogers (-2.850); 5. Treyce Capers (-2.975); 6. Eddie Garone (-3.269); 7. Breann Adkison (-12.299); 8. Joe Pike (-13.570); 9. Austin Farr (-6 laps); 10. Chad Nascimento (-12 laps).
Masters B feature
1. Steve Fensler; 2. Bruce Silver (-.167 of a second); 3. Robbie Woodall (-.500); 4. Rusty Young (-.880); 5. Craig Bruce (-1.191); 6. Danny Cisson (-1.435); 7. Joe Graf (-2.439); 8. Gary Wegener Jr. (-3.139); 9. Troy Briesch (-3.580); 10. Paul Himler (-4.373); 11. Dwayne Rumsey (-4.910); 12. Jeffrey Lefcourt (-5.556).
Pro B feature
1. Gus Dean; 2. Brady Fox-Rhode (-.379 of a second); 3. Christopher Clanton (-.587); 4. Jace Hansen (-.681); 5. Nick Cooper (-.974); 6. Devin Lane (-1.241); 7. Tyler Hicks (-1.399); 8. Baiden Hesket (-2.033); 9. Robbie Johnston (-4 laps); 10. Dean Thornton (-9 laps); 11. Denny Hadler Jr. (-16 laps); 12. Bryan Barber (-25 laps).
Bandoleros 20-lap feature
1. Amilleo Thomson; 2. Owen Romzek (-6.681 seconds); 3. Chloe Lynch (-7.928); 4. Levi Johnson (-16.182).
Thunder Cars 25-lap feature
1. Ron Reed; 2. Mark Anderson (-9.677); 3. Mark Anderson (-10.754); 4. Brian Reed (-16.459); 5. Darin Callaway (-1 lap).
Young Lions Nationals 35-lap feature
1. Sam Mayer; 2. Sammy Smith (-.225 of a second); 3. Jak Crawford (-1.249); 4. Harrison Halder (-1.543); 5. Haeden Plybon (-2.983); 6. Cody Dempster (-4.138); 7. Payton Garofalo (-5.225); 8. Kole Raz (-7.343); 9. Derek Debbis (-8.671); 10. Cale Hall (-8.795); 11. Jace Jones (-9.220); 12. Ryan Rackley (-9.334); 13. D.J. Canipe (-9.774); 14. Daniel Whitley (-10.629); 15. Donovan Barr (-14.246); 16. Zachary Telford (-16.334); 17. Jadon Fisher (-16.924); 18. Gracie Trotter (-17.009); 19. Jordan Holloway (-17.592); 20. Camden Prouty (-1 lap); 21. Austin Teras (-2 laps); 22. Eric Olsen (-2 laps); 23. Dino Lambros (-8 laps); 24. Alex Bartlett (-16 laps); 25. Ryan Schartau (-22 laps); 26. Holt Halder (-23 laps); 27. William Lambros (-26 laps); 28. Michael Causey (-26 laps).
Semi-Pro Nationals 35-lap feature
1. Nicholas Naugle; 2. Hudson Halder (-.161 of a second); 3. Bronson Butcher (-.382); 4. Devan West (-.799); 5. Glenn Korner (-2.559); 6. Josh Indig (-2.574); 7. Colton Page (-3.140); 8. Caiden Anderson (-3.844); 9. Christopher Burgess (-4.405); 10. Chris Lilly (-5.095); 11. Austin Eder (-5.291); 12. Drew Dollar (-5.685); 13. Braeden Rogers (-5.891); 14. Ethan Jones (-6.383); 15. Treyce Capers (-7.147); 16. Austin Farr (-7.528); 17. Eddie Garone (-8.941); 18. Breann Adkison (-9.654); 19. Joe Pike (-10.419); 20. Brian Williams (-11.348); 21. Darrell J. Stewart Jr. (-27.273); 22. Cory Hall (-14.950-penalty); 23. Cody Hall (-8 laps); 24. Travis Roe (-8 laps); 25. Tyson Goudy (-8 laps); 26. Rafe Slate (-8 laps); 27. Vincent Midas (-13 laps); 28. Dylan Fabozzi (-33 laps).
Masters Nationals 35-lap feature
1. Robert Gayton; 2. T.J. Clark (-.318 of a second); 3. Michael Todd Glazier (-.998); 4. Scott Anderson (-1.149); 5. Scotty Scott (-1.444); 6. Scott Moseley (-1.765); 7. Randy Schaaf (-1.980); 8. Randy Beddow (-2.270); 9. Darrell J. Stewart (-2.541); 10. Scotty Edwards (-2.871); 11. Todd Midas (-3.175); 12. Robbie Woodall (-3.775); 13. Steve Fensler (-4.380); 14. Hans Roeschli (-4.545); 15. Bill Plemons (-5.062); 16. Jason Hulvey (-5.270); 17. Bruce Silver (-5.585); 18. Doug Sheldon (-6.122); 19. Paul Himler (-6.669); 20. Tim Brockhouse (-3 laps); 21. Carl Cormier (-14 laps); 22. Greg Erhardt (-15 laps); 23. Gary Wegener Jr. (-15 laps); 24. Troy Briesch (-15 laps); 25. Kevin Foisy (-24 laps); 26. Jim Sylvester (-30 laps); 27. Andy Hulcy (-34 laps).
Pro Nationals 35-lap feature
1. Michael Womack; 2. Ricky Schlick (-.060 of a second); 3. Michael Dabney Jr. (-.163); 4. Noah Korner (-.240); 5. Jordan Black (-.543); 6. Kyle Beattie (-1.325); 7. Bryan Grandin (-1.442); 8. Darren Amidon (-1.532); 9. Mason Massey (-1.711); 10. Will Martin (-2.041); 11. Corey Heim (-2.300); 12. Tyler Fabozzi (-3.043); 13. Nick Halen (-3.113); 14. William Plemons (-3.161); 15. Matthew Haufe (-3.418); 16. Kyle Clegg (-4.081); 17. Nick Cooper (-4.260); 18. Gus Dean (-4.370); 19. Dawson Fletcher (-4.385); 20. Christopher Clanton (-4.803); 21. Baiden Hesket (-4.930); 22. Danny Medina (-4.959); 23. Jace Hansen (-5.362); 24. Tyler Hicks (-5.645); 25. Bryan Barber (-9.059); 26. Brady Fox-Rhode (-9 laps); 27. Mike Alcaro (-12 laps); 28. Kaden Honeycutt (-12 laps).