LAS VEGAS — Derek Thorn and Cole Moore will remember Saturday night in Las Vegas for quite some time.
Thorn, of Bakersfield, Calif., won the $10,000 SPEARS Southwest Tour Retro Custom Metals 150 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after crossing the line .844 of a second ahead of Tyler Fabozzi at the West Coast Short Track Championships.
It was the first time Thorn, a regular at The Bullring’s Winner’s Circle, had won the track’s season-ending event.
“These guys are good,” Thorn, who won five of the eight races he ran this season, said of his team. “Mike, I don’t know what he did at the halfway break, but he took us from a fourth- or fifth-place car to a first-place car. It’s been a good season, but unfortunately we missed a race and were out of the points contention.
“I’m always contending for the championship and finish like third, fifth or second at this event. We didn’t win the championship, but did win the race.”
Moore, of Granite Bay, Calif., finished fifth, 3.296 seconds behind Thorn, in the 150-lap feature to secure the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series season championship. He entered the race 19 points ahead of Linny White, who finished in third place, 1.384 seconds back.
“This year was insane,” said Moore, who overcame a head injury earlier in the week to run the season-ender. “We were right there so many times and almost won so many races, but I kept telling myself it was about the war and not the battles. It really came all the way to the end, and my hat’s off to Linny (White), Derek (Thorn) and all the competitors.
“I had some real adversity with a head injury this week, and I’d like to thank my team for everything. They put their heart and soul into it, and I don’t even know what to say right now.”
Jeremy Doss from Upper Lake, Calif. – who won last November’s SPEARS Southwest Tour Series race at The Bullring – won the SPEARS Modified Series 75-lap feature from the pole after withstanding a plethora of re-starts. He finished 1.242 seconds ahead of Ryan Partidge for the win.
“This thing’s got so much power, it’s kind of hard to re-start,” Doss said of his car. “I knew after we made it through Turn 1, we had such a great car, we were able to walk away with it. I’ve just got to give it up to Eddie Wilcox for giving me the opportunity to drive here, and I’d like to thank everyone who helps with this thing. I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Dylan Cappello won the 2019 SPEARS Modified Series season championship and ended his campaign with a fourth-place finish in Las Vegas.
“It’s awesome,” Cappello said. “We had (the title) clinched coming in here, but we just wanted to end the year with a win. Jeremy (Doss) was really, really good tonight, and I think we had a second- or third-place car. I just want to thank this RVK Racing team. They’ve done a heck of a job all year.”
Phoenix’s Ricky Bogart raced to his second consecutive Late Model Truck Series victory, crossing the line 3.033 seconds ahead of Andrew Porter. Bogart made his way through lapped traffic to take the checkered flag.
“I had to give it 100 percent, and I knew traffic was going to be an issue at some point,” Bogart said. “I want to thank Sean Davis, Brian and Fisher Industries for giving me a great truck. This thing’s awesome, and I can’t wait for next year.”
Lee Keach was third, Bill Black fourth and Mark Allison finished fifth to clinch his second straight season championship.
Jadan Walbridge, who won The Bullring’s Jr. Late Models season title, led the 40-lap feature at the midway break, then held off Tyler Reif by .397 of a second to put an exclamation point on his year.
“It’s been a great year, especially this being our rookie year,” Walbridge said. “To come out here, get four wins and a championship and top it off like this is great. It’s just been a great year for our rookie season, and I can’t wait to get back next year.”