Race Results From The LVMS! Jordan Dean Wins Big!

 Jordan Dean gave himself a birthday present he will never forget at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on last Saturday night. The Henderson, Nev., driver celebrated his 17th birthday in style by claiming his first 2015 victory in the USLCI Legends class, crossing the line first after 30 laps of tight racing. Cameron Morga of Albuquerque, N.M., was leading and pulling away on lap 16, but fell victim to a blown motor.

That opened the door for Dean to chase down the checkered flag. He dedicated the win to 2012 USLCI Legends season champion Joshua Jackson, who was severely injured in a wreck in Las Cruces, N.M., on Aug. 8. “I’d like to give this night to Joshua Jackson, and this is for him,” Dean said. “I’ve been getting help from Peyton Saxton all season long, and he’s had that car on rails all season long.”

The full night of racing effectively kicked off the 2015 season’s stretch run after a seven-week break to avoid the summer heat. The ninth installment of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series schedule also followed the inaugural LVMS Show & Shine car show.

More than 500 spectators stopped by the 3/8-mile track to check out more than 125 impressive vehicles and help raise money for the Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.

Ryan Vargas of La Mirada, Calif., held off Joe DeGuevara and Jason Kiser on two late re-starts to earn his first career NASCAR Super Stocks victory. Vargas lost a heartbreaker to Matt Larsen by a nose on the Night of Fire on July 3 and was emotional in Victory Lane after the 25-lap triumph. "This is the greatest day of my life,” said Vargas, who won by .441 of a second. “Those were the most stressful few laps of my life, and I’m speechless. I’ve learned so much, and those little cars (in the other classes) are a lot of fun, but this is a whole different ballgame.”

David Anderson survived a number of cautions and a wild final lap to win his first NASCAR Super Late Models feature since last August. Anderson was leading the race when second-place Chris Trickle spun him out in turn four on the final lap, and even though Trickle crossed the line first, the final race order reverted back to the 39th lap and Anderson’s win was confirmed. The North Las Vegas driver was happy to find Victory Lane and credited a car setup change for the victory.  “To be perfectly honest, we went back to what we had last season,” Anderson said. “Obviously, it works.”

Court Connell battled NASCAR Bombers points leader Aaron McMorran for nearly all of the 30 laps of the division’s feature and held McMorran off down the stretch by .237 of a second to earn his second win in a row and third of 2015. It took everything Connell had to hold off the hard-charging McMorran. “That guy has a whole lot more motor than I do, so I had to keep it to the bottom side of the track and not let him get around me,” said Connell, of Las Vegas. “It was a little bit faster on the low line, and it’s hard for the Bombers to get up there on the outside. I did a whole lot of blocking.”

Las Vegas’ Ian Anderson made it 6-for-6 on the season in the USLCI Thunder Cars division after winning the class’ 20-lap feature. He made some adjustments to his car during the seven-week summer break that helped him on Saturday night. “What we found when we went to Laguna Seca (Calif.) was that the brakes we were using were way too small for this car,” said Anderson, who won by 6.343 seconds. “I won that race by about 15 seconds.”

R.J. Smotherman of Pahrump, Nev., continued his 2015 dominance in the USLCI O’Hanley’s Bandolero Bandits division by notching his track-leading eighth victory of the season. McKenzie Eshleman of Twin Peaks, Calif., followed a class track record of 19.033 seconds from qualifying with a 12-lap feature victory in the USLCI O’Hanley’s Bandolero Outlaws division in her first race at The Bullring.

NEXT RACE – Saturday, Sept. 5 – The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series continues with the first of back-to-back race nights at The Bullring over Labor Day weekend. There will be a full slate of racing on both Saturday and Sunday nights, and fans can see virtually every class of car that races at LVMS’ short track, including NASCAR Super Late Models, USLCI Legends cars, USAC HPD Midget Series cars and even Southwest Tour Trucks.

The Bullring’s concession stand offers $2 hot dogs, $2 Coca-Cola products and $3 Budweiser beer on each NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race night. For more information on all events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, please visit www.LVMS.com and follow LVMS on Facebook and Twitter.