February 9th, 2009
The wind blew….and blew….and blew….and just for kicks it blew some more as it seemed the afternoon was just about lost for the El Paso Speedway Park as with the winds came the rain. As the rain was certainly dampening everyone’s spirits, the wind was right there to freeze them in their dampened state But just as it looked like the races were done the rain moved on and the wind became a manageable, all be it cold breeze.

Las Cruces driver Eric McNutt led the field to the green flag in the Vista Serena Homes Limited Late Models with Troy Miller along side. As the field made it’s way down the front straight, McNutt jumped out the early race lead with Miller dropping back on the start and Curt Barnet charging from the 3rd starting position in pursuit of McNutt’s number 5 Limited Late Model. With in a matter of laps, the 82 of Barnett had run down McNutt and taken the lead and from there would never look back as the El Paso native ran away leaving only Eric McNutt left on the lead lap.

Up next the Xtreme Modifieds made their way to the El Paso Speedway Park with Las Cruces driver Jonathan Burton with Paddy Rush along side. Burton jumped out front with Rush having trouble on the start but an early race caution would again bunch the field back together. The green flew and racing resumed as Burton again began to pull way with Rush getting a much better start running in second with Austin Adams, Levi Roberts, and Curt Barnett in two in the opening laps. While Barnett and Roberts battled for position both drivers ran the mid to upper lines through turns 3 and 4 leaving the low side wide open for Decatur, Illinois driver Jason Suhl as he was able to sneak by on bottom and take over the 4th running position. With less than 10 laps remaining, it was still Burton leading with Rush in second and now Suhl running third and on the move. With only 5 laps to go, Suhl was running in second as Rush made his way to the pit area with mechanical problems on his 52 Xtreme Modified. Two laps to go and Burton showing the way would take his 18 off the high side of turns one and two, giving the lead to Jason Suhl as the Decatur, Illinois drivers took the win but it was only for the sake of gaining experience as Suhl was allowed to run his DIRTcar West Modified in the Xtreme Modifieds thus handing the win to Curt Barnett giving him 2 wins on the afternoon with one more class for him to run.

Mercedes Harris led the field to the green as the baby blue number 29 showed the way down the front straight with Jerry Cline running right on her back bumper. Side by side, it was Harris on the high side and Cline on the low side as Jerry Cline made the pass coming off of turn 4. The caution waved with 13 laps remaining with Cline showing the way, Harris in second, and Kenny Medina rounding out the top 3. As the green came out, Cline would now begin to pull away as the battle for second was between Medina and Harris with Medina making the pass on the low side after battling for nearly half the race. With the laps exhausted, it would be Jerry Cline with the win with Kenny Medina taking second and Mercedes Harris holding for third. Nicky Rivera and David Fountain would round out the top 5.

With the sun beginning to set in the west Texas sky, the clouds finally parted as the Renegade Sprint Car Series came around turns three and four in their traditional 3-Wide salute to the race fans. With the rock and roll blaring over the El Paso Speedway Park public address system, the field of 17 Renegade Sprint Cars made their way down the front straight, breaking off into their respected side by side starting positions as they entered turn one.

Joe Alvarado and Kyle McCutcheon in row number one, John Carney II and J.T. Imperial in row number two, JR Patton and Royal Jones in row three all lined up by virtue of pill draw at intermission after finishing first or second in their heat races. As the field marched down the back straight, the caution lights were down and 30 laps of racing were set to get underway.

As the green flag dropped, Kyle McCutcheon took off into the early race lead with Joe Alvarado and John Carney II in tow as the field raced down the back straight and into turns 3 and 4 on the opening lap of the Renegade Sprint Car A-Main event. Within 5 laps, McCutcheon had already built a nearly a half a straight a way lead and was already running down the back of the field with Carney up to second and Joe Alvarado running in third.

With just over 20 laps left to run, the 5 of McCutcheon raced into heavy lapped traffic with Carney on the hunt. Through turns 3 and 4, McCutcheon ran the low side; Carney ran the high side with lapped traffic blocking McCutcheon as Carney made the pass for the lead. Into turns one and two, McCutcheon raced back to the lead with Carney still on the high line as the two drivers battled side by side down the back straight, swapping the lead into turns three and four with McCutcheon still on the low side. Into turns one and two, Carney dove up the middle with McCutcheon on the inside and two lapped vehicles racing nose to tail on the high side and in one move shot into the lead.

With Carney leading the field, McCutcheon took his car back the high line and began to run down the 3s but lapped traffic would stop McCutcheon’s run allowing Carney to run away. It was Carney, McCutcheon and now Jones making the pass on Alvarado for third and as the laps began to wind down no one was able to run down the 3s as Carney shot through lapped traffic on his way to his second A-Main win of the weekend; leaving only Kyle McCutcheon and Royal Jones on the lead lap as Carney lapped all the way up to 4th place.