Opening Night for the Super Stocks at Colorado National Speedway

Welcome back, and welcome to the 2017 season! It was a beautiful day at the track, the high temperature was 75 - the same as the car count (unless you count the trains as three cars each instead of one). Along with 23 Super Stocks, there were 24 Super Late Models, 22 Pure Stocks, and 6 Trains. The Rental Racers also had a good field of 9 cars.

The off season brought a new paint job for Jax Hughes' number 51, along with many other cars. That new look and some changes in the set up were good for 5th quick in practice. Unfortunately, that didn't transfer to the starting grid in the Fast Dash, as Jax felt the car lose all power as he pulled on to the track at the turn four entrance for qualifying. He rolled on down to the infield with a broken throttle linkage and posted "no time."

We dug through our spare parts and found a replacement that almost fit. With the help of Curtis Heldenbrand, Kyle Patee, and Kenton Gross, we got our red-neck on and made it fit just as the National Anthem was finishing up and the Super Stock Dash began. Jax pulled up to the rear of the field of 12 cars and took the green flag. By lap 2 he was in 5th, and spent the next few laps battling with Rob Davey and Darrell Smith. After getting by Glen Poston for second, there was just not enough time left to try to reel in William Simmons in the 04, who jumped out to an early lead and stayed there for the win with Jax right behind.

The car felt good to Jax, and we made no changes for the main. He started in the 12th position. The first few laps saw lots of position changes with a couple of spins. Shelby Cortese found herself quickly going from up front to near the back with some first lap bumping and rubbing, but was able to work back up through the field for a 12th place finish. Jax followed the 49 of Chris Cox through a couple of the crazy moments and made up positions quickly. The 22 of Rob Davey was back in top form after running on 6 cylinders in the dash, and was a strong competitor right in front of Jax for the rest of the main. Kody Vanderwahl had an early lead, but lost a few positions as Nicholas Brinlee and Mike Cox got by. The car of the day was definitely the Brewster Baker number 49 Ford of Chris Cox. Chris set quick time, won the fast dash, and had more than anyone else could handle in the main, and even added a little drama to the finish as he crossed the stripe with a cloud of smoke trailing the car. Congrats to Chris and the Adam Hilton team.

Jax ended the main in 6th place and we were very happy with the day. Behind Chris Cox was the 99 of Brinlee, the 3 of Papa Mike Cox, Kody Vanderwahl's 43 Monte Carlo, and number 22 Rob Davey rounding out the top 5. We want to say a big thanks to Kyle and Curtis, and to Kenton Gross at KLG Motorsports for the help and know-how in getting us ready for the season. Also a shout out to Joe Mares, Jr. for bailing us out whenever we ran into trouble. As always, a big thanks to Colorado Axle and Gear for the help and support - and watch for a big announcement in the next day or so for a new name in our circle of friends and supporters!

The Super Stocks will be back at CNS on May 13 and are joined by the Super Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, Figure 8s, and - oh, a "Mother's Race?"