Marriott has strong showing in Cactus Clash
If there are oddsmakers in Las Vegas figuring out the favorite to win it all in the second annual Arizona Mod Tour, which opens this week, Hunter Marriott would no doubt be everyone’s pick. That’s because the driver from Brookfield, Mo., flexed some serious muscle during the second annual Cactus
Clash on Friday and Saturday at Cocopah Speedway, winning both IMCA Modified Division feature events.
And it’s not just the fact that he won two nights in a row, it’s the way he won. On Friday night Marriott started outside on the front row and beat the pole sitter and local heavyweight Lance Mari, from Imperial, into Turn 1, had the lead at the exit of Turn 2 and steadily drove away from the 24-car field. At the checkered flag he had a full straightaway lead.
Then on Saturday night Marriott started eighth on the grid, drove to the front, passing Mari and a handful of other heavy hitters, including Gilbert’s Tim Ward and Brawley’s Russell Allen, in the process, and parked his ride again in victory lane.
He will carry that momentum into the 10-race Arizona Mod Tour, in which he is the defending Modified Division champion. The first race is Friday night at Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek.
The tour then races again Saturday night at Arizona Speedway before switching to Central Arizona Speedway in Casa Grande for racing on Feb. 11 and 12; moving to Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria for three nights (Feb. 13, 14 and 15); and finishing up with two night shows at Cocopah Speedway on Feb. 16 and 17, and an afternoon event at the Somerton oval on Feb. 18.
Marriott was the only driver in the Clash, which serves as a tuneup for the Mod Tour, to register back-to-back wins.
In Friday night’s other racing action, Yuma’s Kyle Smith looked as strong as Marriott in winning the IMCA Sport Modified feature event; Yuma’s Joe Haines won a 10-lap, Stock Car showdown with Yuma’s Manny Baldiviez; and Yuma’s Jason Beshears won the IMCA Hobby Stock feature.
On Saturday night, Baldiviez won the 15-lap Stock Car feature, Chase Alves, from Peoria, won the Sport Modified feature and Yuma’s Brian Johnson won his first career feature, taking home the Hobby Stock win.
Smith’s win on Friday extended his winning streak at Cocopah Speedway to four in a row. He started on the outside of the front row and took control of the race on the opening lap.
“The goal was to keep the car in one piece for the second night of the Cactus Clash, and starting outside pole the best way to do that was to push hard at the drop of the green and be the first car out of Turn 2,” said Smith. “After that it was all about hitting my marks.”
Smith finished sixth on Saturday night.
Haines’ win on Friday night was not about collecting another trophy but showing that his car was good enough to buy. He’s in the process of putting together a Sport Modified and needs to sell his Stock Car first. So, he put a new body and wrap on his Stock Car, which he drove to wins in the 2017 finale and the 2018 season opener in January.
“Everybody that calls wanting to buy the car sees it and it’s all beat up and it scares them off,” said Haines. “They kept asking if the car has been wrecked or clipped so I put a new body on it to stop all that, and hopefully it will sell faster.”
Putting it in victory lane no doubt helps too. Saturday night, however, he finished third.
Beshears’ win on Friday was his first time in victory lane since March 4, 2018.
“Did this really just happen?” exclaimed an exuberant Beshears when he parked in front of the flag tower.
Johnson’s win on Saturday was his first career trip to victory lane.
“It’s been a long time coming!” said Johnson.
“At the end of the race I felt a lot of pressure. I hoped that I wasn’t going to mess up or spin out. I just kept calm and hit my marks ‘till i seen the checkered flag.”