Las Vegas racing legend Chris Trickle was saluted Saturday night at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with more sensational short-track racing in the “Chris Trickle Classic” at the fast 3/8-mile paved oval as Tanner Reif and Justin Johnson repeated with top honors.
With the Trickle family in attendance as a tribute to son, Chris’ legacy, the wild wheel-to-wheel competition continued in the sixth round of the 10-event Bullring series with the teenager Reif and the veteran Johnson taking their respective 30-lap main events in the Sigma Performance Services Pro Late Model feature and the NASCAR Power Grade Inc. Modified finale.
It was also a special evening for the racing families as many celebrated Fathers’ Night with third and fourth generations at the track and many participating in various classes of racing.
In the Pro Late Model main, Reif, 15-year-old from Henderson, NV, piloted his brother’s Late Model machine last Saturday and the new car never hampered the Foothill High School student during the evening. Tanner grabbed the advantage on lap 18 from leader Jeffrey Peterson and held off the two-time Bullring winner by 0789 seconds to record his second straight Pro Late Model feature this month.
“I want to thank my brother, Tyler, for letting me race his car tonight,” said Reif, the current Pro Late Model class point leader at the Bullring. “I only had three practices in the car, but it ran well, really strong. I am happy with this car. I want to thank King Cooling and Heating for the swamp coolers in the pits, keeping us cool, so we don’t overheat. I want to thank Boulder Boats and everyone who helps get us here. And I want to thank Jeff Peterson and Kyle Keller for a great battle."
Keller, another Las Vegas area high schooler, took third in the Pro Late Model finale with fourth to a third-generation Trickle racing family member, Chris, and fifth to Jaron Giannini.
In the always-competitive NASCAR 602 Modifieds, Johnson collected his second consecutive main event and third win in six races this year at the Bullring. As in the previous June Modified event, Johnson had to track down multi-time track champion and three-time 2021 feature winner Doug Hamm in claiming the victory. Hamm led over 20 laps Saturday night before Johnson patiently moved into position for the lead and slid by with eight laps remaining. At the checkered flag, it was Johnson by 0.934 seconds over Hamm followed by Jonathan Mawhinney and Kayli Barker.
“I want to thank the fans for coming out on such a hot night,” said Johnson. “It was hot in the car, I can tell you that. Thank you to Doug Hamm for running me clean tonight. I couldn’t do this without Al Budd, my tire guy Tony, Johnny Budd, John-boy Keller, Charlie Wahl for making this baby turn, and Chris Bray for building a great car. We still have more to go. I want to thank all the fathers out ther,e and Happy Fathers’ Day to my dad. He’s the one who got me into this racing business. I couldn’t have done it without him.”
Speaking of generations in action Saturday night, the Ash family saw father Dustin Ash capture the 25-lap USLCI M&H Building Specialists/JBM Underground Legend Cars main event, while his son, Tanner, placed second in the 12-lap USLCI Bandoleros feature by a mere 0.060 seconds to Keller Meechudhone. There were three fathers and four generations of Ash family celebrating in victory circle.
Dustin Ash collected the checkered flag for the third time this year at the Bullring with a tight win over Bradley Erickson by just 0.192 seconds with third going Cody Brown. In Friday night’s 20-lap Legends main, Erickson took the win over Brown and Andy Hulcy.
In the 12-lapper for the USLCI Bandoleros, Meechudhone, Tanner Ash and four-time feature winner Ashton Leonard were 1-2-3 for the night’s opening event.
In the 25-lap NASCAR Nostaglia Street Rods Bombers division finale, Aaron McMorran took top honors with second taken by Michael Miller and third to Jacob Quartaro. It was McMorran’s first Bullring main event in 2021.
“It’s hot out here and we started slowing down a little at the end,” said McMorran. “The water temperature got to 240. I want to thank VegasMade racing, Peter Meyer, my teammate, Mike Miller. It’s cool to get to race with him. And I want to thank all the fans. You are brave to come out here when it is this hot. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. And thank you to TJ Clark for running this deal. He is a dad and could be with his daughter this weekend, but here he is running the racetrack.”
NEXT RACE: The annual ‘Night of Fire” is scheduled for Saturday night, July 3, with all regular Bullring class in action as well as the Late Model Truck Series plus 40-lap features in the Sigma Performance Service Pro Late Models and the NASCAR Power Grade Inc. Modifields. In addition, the “Night of Fire” will be highlighted by a fireworks show following the racing program. Other items as part of the evening will include a bicycle giveaway, live-streaming and T-shirt giveaways. The July 3event will begin with feature races at 7 p.m. Gates will open at 5 p.m. with practice in all classes set for 5:15 p.m. Opening ceremonies will take place at 6:45 p.m. Children 12 and under will be admitted free with a ticketed adult through the 2021 Bullring season. Tickets may be purchased in advance by visiting or calling the LVMS ticket office at 800-644-4444 or online at LVMS.com.
37th Short Track Season Opener at The Bullring at LVMS
Saturday, June 19, 2021
USLCI Bandolero Bandits 12-lap feature
1.Keller Meechudhone; 2.Tanner Ash (-0.060) 3.Ashton Leonard (-4.064)
NASCAR Nostalgia Street Rods Bombers 25-lap feature
1.Aaron McMorran; 2.Michael Miller (-0.555); 3.Jacob Quartaro (-1.053); 4.Adam Simon (-11.989) 5. Rob Pfaffly (-12.525); 6.Court Connell (-16.765); 7.Carl Duryee (-1 lap); 8.Dylan Reinke (-1 lap); 9.Pete Meyere (-1 lap); 10.Josh Quartaro (-9 laps); 11.John Hans (-20 laps).
USLCI M & H Building Specialists/JBM Underground Legends 20-lap feature (Friday)
1.Bradley Erickson; 2.Cody Brown (-2.434); 3.Andy Hulcy (-4.108) 4.Enzo Lalama (-4.390); 5. Brenden Ruzbarsky (-4.750); 6.Lonnie Hochstetler (-8.417); 7.Landon Gresser (-9.499); 8.T.J. Roberts (-13.445); 9. Chloe Lynch (-16.115); 10.Jeff Regier (-1 lap); 11.Skyler Meisenbach (DNS).
USLCI M & H Building Specialists/JBM Underground Legends 25-lap feature (Saturday)
1.Dustin Ash; 2.Bradley Erickson (-0.192) 3.Cody Brown (-5.568); 4.Amileo Thomson (-7.277); 5.Enzo Lalama (-7.733); 6.Andy Hulcy (-8.572); 7.Brenden Ruzbarsky (-9.564); 8.Lonnie Hochstetler (-11.820); 9.Landon Gresser (-16.752); 10.Brendan Tracy (-16.915); 11.T.J. Roberts (-1 lap); 12. Chloe Lynch (-1 lap).
NASCAR Sigma Performance Services Pro Late Models 30-lap feature
- Tanner Reif; 2 Jeffrey Peterson (-0.789); 3.Kyle Keller (-1.586); 4.Chris Trickle (-5.888); 5.Jaron Giannini (-6.131); 6.R.J. Smotherman (-9.508); 7.Cole Ciraulo (-15.942); 8.Charlie Pike (-2 laps); 9. Hailey Lyles (-2 laps); 10.Scott Gafforini (-7 laps); 11.Derik Burns (DNS).
NASCAR 602 Power Grand Inc. Modified 30-lap feature
1.Justin Johnson; 2. Doug Hamm (-0.934 seconds); 3.Jonathand Mawhinney (-3.197); 4. Kayli Barker (-4.494); 5.Andy Hulcy (-11.480); 6.Ethan DeGuevara (-1 lap); 7. Tom Pfundstein (-1 lap); 8.Jim Petrie (-5 laps).
