1 Late Model winner Cody Leonard
2 Limited Modified winner Johnny Torres
3 Factory Stock winner Jared Maupin
4 Fireball winner AJ Dancer
5 Sport Compact winner Stephen Stiteler
by JM Hallas
Pleasanton, TX.,(April 5th, 2025) And, they're off(finally)…..
With rain, hail and snow throughout the state, and tracks dropping like flies shot with a salt gun, I-37 Speedway was lucky enough to dodge the wrath of Mother Nature and get a show in. Several drivers from other tracks made the haul south, along with a few others that got rained out mid-race on Friday in Waco.
With a couple of big shows and a non-points night under their belt this year, I-37 Speedway finally kicked off the 2025 points season after last weeks rain out. Tonight's action on the ¼ mile, semi-banked, clay oval included the five regular classes; Limited Modifieds, Factory Stocks, Fireballs, Sport Compacts and Late Models.
Who will come out on top by the seasons end? Last year these classes pretty much were dominated points wise with Trent Beaver taking the Limited Modified class title. Michael Keylich (Factory Stocks), Howie Marcx (Fireballs) and Eric Wilson edging out Josh Jones in Sport Compacts. The Late Models were kind of a family feud with Ray Doyon III getting the title by one point when nephew, Robby Minten had mechanical issues in the final race.
Late Model Loot to Leonard
As the Late Model main roared to life it was Robby Minten first into turn 1, but it was Cody Leonard powering around the high side in turns 3-4 to grab the point. Minten fell in line second followed by Jared Maupin, Ray Doyon III and Austin Thiess. Someone shed a body support on track for a quick, lap 1 caution. On the restart Maupin edged ahead on Minten for second with Doyon and Thiess door to door for fourth.
By lap 5, Leonard was already checking out as Minten retook second from Maupin. Doyon took up the challenge on Maupin for third as they ran side by side. By the midway point, Leonard had built a huge lead over Minten, Maupin, Doyon and Thiess as he approached traffic.
With five to go, Leonard had built a full straightaway margin on Minten who now had Maupin and Doyon closing as they ran up into traffic. Doyon was able to take third from Maupin in that battle. Up front it was Leonard, despite being laid up for several months, recovering from a motorcycle crash, going to the checkers unchallenged in the Chris Swenson owned, Smileys, On Demand Shirts, All in Design, 366 Motorsports, DB Insurance, Swenson Racing Products, QA1 Shocks, VP Racing Fuel, Farm & Ranch, Ingram Race Engines, Swenson Racing Chassis.
“It's been a bit of a hiatus,” commented Leonard. “I've been out since I broke my leg and had surgery in November. Last week I tested a car, my first time back in one since that. It's good to be back in one. We were supposed to race last weekend and rain plagued us. Then we were supposed to go to 105 Speedway tonight and Waco last night with the Modified and rain got both of those places. Luckily we got this show in and tested some things.”
“I don't know how Chris(Swenson) and them do their thing when switching tracks so fast. It's kind of a base set up and tweak on it depending on which place you go to. I think it's the same starting point between here and Cleveland. You just make changes throughout the night. So there's not much difference between those two.”
“With those restarts at the end you start thinking about it. I just got to a point where I locked in and focused on what was ahead of me and not worry who's behind me. I couldn't hear anyone and just figured I'd run my race and do what I can. Restarts you just look for noses, listen for motors.”
“We're going to do all kinds of racing this year. I redid my old Longhorn Modified during my down time. With the open motor we plan to do some USMTS and TOMS races. I'll run my other car in the STIMS races and Chris has been putting a new car together, but that isn't ready yet.”
Late Models by Nogalitos Gear
48 Cody Leonard, 24 Robby Minten, 9 Ray Doyon III, 91 Jared Maupin, 7d Austin Thiess, 53x Chandler Fox, 12 Kody Hardage, 14 Ty Walley, 26w Donald Lehman,77 Mark Taylor
Late Model heat
Heat 1; 24 Robby Minten, 48 Cody Leonard, 91 Jared Maupin, 9r Ray Doyon III, 7d Austin Thiess, 14 Ty Walley, 12 Kody Hardage, 77 Mark Taylor, 26x Donald Lehman, 53x Chandler Fox
Team Torres/Terry Tally Again
As the 17-car Limited Modified feature took the green Steven Whiteaker III brushed the front stretch wall. This bunched the pack up going into turn 1 where Whiteaker went around with Trent Beaver, Justin Randal and Lupe Gomez getting caught up. Oddly enough, the races only caution.
The complete restart had James Cole first to turn 1 pursued by Brandon Welker, Johnny Torres, Whiteaker and Jared Maupin. Torres made quick work of getting second from Welker and was starting to pressure Cole for the lead. Torres would take some looks low in turns 1-2 and look for a higher option in turns 3-4. In the meanwhile Whiteaker and Welker were wheel to wheel for third.
Torres switched up, trying low off turn 4 to get alongside Cole for the lead, taking control on lap 8. Coming to the mid point it was Torres, Cole, Whiteaker, Kaden Morosky, Welker and Maupin trying high on Welker. The top three then separated by a few car lengths, and had a gap back to Morosky.
Whiteaker pulled out of that top three spot while Torres and Cole ran up on traffic. Cole would never get close enough to mount a serious challenge. This gave Torres(San Antonio) a clear run to the finish in the Mike Terry owned, Comanche Concrete, TexMix, Western Concrete Pumping, SWL Inc, Concrete Clean up, Supreme Graphics, Head Racing, Mike Terry Motorsports, Rerher and Morrison powered IRP Chassis.
“It was a pretty tricky track tonight,” said Torres. “Patience seemed to work out tonight. I knew I could get a run out the outside of James(Cole) but I just waited till I could pull all the way beside him.” Johnny
“I really want to thank Mike Terry for letting me drive his car, again”
Limited Modifieds by
15t JohnnyTorres, 14c James Cole, 62hg Kaden Morosky, 21 Dustin Mooney , 58 Charles Flanagan, 11t Tom Grothues, 26w Robert Wiggins, 88k Kaden Moran, 8 Kaine Spurlock, 822 Clint Everage, 88 Steven Whiteaker III, 44x Brandon Welker, 91 Jared Maupin, 9s Bobby Smith, 7k Lupe Gomez, 14 Trent Beaver, 00 Justin Randal
Limited Modified heats
Heat 1; 44x Brandon Welker, 62hg Kaden Morosky, 822 Clint Everage, 21 Dustin Mooney, 91 Jared Maupin, 58 Charles Flanagan, 9s Bobby Smith, 8 Kaine Spurlock, 00 Justin Randal
Heat 2; 14c James Cole, 15t Johnny Torres, 88 Steven Whiteaker III, 14 Trent Beaver, 26w Robert Wiggins, 11t Tom Grothues, 88k Kaden Moran, 7k Lupe Gomez
Maupin Mops Up Factory Stocks
The 20-lap, 23-car Factory Stock feature saw Paul Reyes and Jared Maupin stay door to door in turn 1 but it was Maupin powering off the top of turn 2 with the lead. Reyes, Rusty Head, Allen Torres and Dillon Gaither completed the top five. A quick caution for a spin by Matthew Hollensbe followed by a multi-car tangle on the restart slowed the pace. Finally back to green, Head got by Reyes for second bringing Gaither along to third. Torres would kick Reyes back another spot a lap later.
Gaither had just taken second from when Gabiella King and Bud Jenkins got together for a lap 7 yellow. The restart saw Head retake second but another group spin in turn 3 brought caution back out. Once back to green, Gaither and Head continued to joust for second. Gaither finally secured the spot and began to put the heat on Maupin for the lead. At halfway it was Maupin, Gaither, Head, Torres and Reyes still holding down the top 5 spots.
The final half of the race saw Gaither, Head and Torres in a good scrap for second, going three wide for the spot, then three wide through lapped traffic. This gave Maupin(San Antonio) the chance to ease out to a lead and take the checkers in the Rick Pollaro Owned, RNM Install, JGR Fab, All in Designs, BMF Shocks & Chassis, 91 Specialties, Mission Race Engine, Medieval Chassis.
“I'm a little rusty I guess,” replied Maupin who has been doing some asphalt racing as well. “I think running three cars kind of bites me sometime. It's hard to keep up(with the track), especially running the Late Model. There's so much to keep up with. You've got to be on top of your game with (Cody) Leonard out there.”
“We just went with our basic set up. This a whole different car from Rick Pollaro. We just went with what we knew, scaled it, kept it simple and the car liked it. Running three cars I do know what the track is doing, what I'm going to do to the next car or how it's going to bite me. It's a double edged sword.”
“I think running asphalt has been helping with my stamina. We run a lot of practice laps and that are back to back to back. So when it comes to this, I feel like I'm getting a little better shape.”
Factory Stocks by All in Designs
96 Jared Maupin, 94 Allen Torres, 41 Dillon Gaither, 55 Rusty Head, 5r Anthony Gordon, 24 Paul Reyes, 39 Makayla Trimble, 40x Brian Mahler, 29k Dylan Kowalik, 113 113 Justin McClelland, 9c Caitlin Leonard, 28r Rowdy Chouinard, 14t Trey Heald, 44k Michael Keylich, 10m Matthew Hollensbe, 82 Treyler Caulfield, 757 Stephanie Green, 24h Randy Hollensbe, 1776 Bud Jenkins, 538 Albert Medillin, 22i Kevin Izzi, 11 Garrett Godfredson, 03 Gabriella King, 7 Johnny Walker Brown---dns
Factory Stock heats
Heat 1; 24 Paul Reyes, 55 Rusty Head, 40x Brian Mahler, 9c Caitlin Leonard, 29k Dylan Kowalik, 22i Kevin Izzi, 10m Matthew Hollensbe, 82 Treyler Caulfield
Heat 2; 96 Jared Maupin, 39 Makayla Trimble, 538 Albert Medillin, 28r Rowdy Chouinard, 14t Trey Heald, 11 Garrett Godfredson, 03 Gabriella King, 24h Randy Hollensbe
Heat 3; 94 Allen Torres, 41 Dillon Gaither, 5r Anthony Gordon, 113 Justin McClelland, 44k Michael Keylich, 7 Johnny Walker Brown, 1776 Bud Jenkins, 757 Stephanie Green
Fantastic Fireball Finish to Dancer
After Derek Windmeyer slammed the front stretch wall on the intial start, AJ Dancer got the lead on the next try. Howie Marcx, Jarrett Payton, Justin Henley and Michael Keylich sorted out in the top five. Zach Freeman started his march forward getting fifth from Keylich. Keylich would then spin collecting Mark Pivarnik and Blaine Markgraf for a lap 3 yellow.
The restart saw Payton get past Marcx with Freeman following to third. A lap later Sammy Smith, Justin Henley and Evahdent Carrasco would get together in turn 2 bringing the yellow back out. Once back to green, Freeman took second from Payton, but again caution was right back out for Carrasco and Markgraf around in turn 1 and Brandon Eure in turn 4.
Now to single file restarts, Dancer held Freeman off as green was shown again. Freeman tried the high line on Dancer until Eure and Zackry Dodson brought out another yellow. This time Payton challenged Freeman for second, but Freeman held the spot and was back on Dancer for the lead coming to halfway showing Dancer, Freeman, Payton, Henley and Marcx.
Freeman worked his way around Dancer for the lead on lap 11 leaving him side by side with Payton. Freeman began to inch ahead while Markgraf, Henley and Smith battled for fifth. William Cavender would loop it for a yellow on lap 15. When green waved, Dancer tried a look low in turn 1 on Freeman, as the top four pulled away.
A late spin by Dodson would set up a three lap shootout for the win. Dancer tried the low side on the restart while Freeman stuck to his higher line. The duo race door to door the final two circuits until turn 4 coming to the checkers. Dancer got better run off the bottom and beat Freeman back to the line for the victory by a truck length.(See what I did there.)
“I was as surprised as anyone,” joked Dancer. “For some reason my feet were not doing what I was telling them to do, but those last couple of laps they at least met me in the middle.”
Fireballs by Johnson HVAC Supply
52 AJ Dancer, 72 Zach Freeman, 18s Jarrett Payton, 13 Howie Marcx, 41 Blaine Markgraf, 37 Justin Henley, 86 Sammy Smith, h2s Shane Stonebraker, 4 Brandon Eure, 8 Zackry Dodson, 15 William Cavender, 329 Marcus Buckley, 08 Evahdent Carrasco, 44k Michael Keylich, 82/28 Levi Hernandez, m5 Mark Pivarnik, 93 Derek Windmeyer
Fireball heats
Heat 1; 52 AJ Dancer,18s Jarrett Payton , 44k Michael Keylich, 72 Zach Freeman, 86 Sammy Smith, 41 Blaine Markgraf, m5 Mark Pivarnik, 15 William Cavender, 329 Marcus Buckley
Heat 2; 13 Howie Marcx, 37 Justin Henley, 08 Evahdent Carrasco, h2s Shane Stonebraker, 93 Derek Windmeyer, 4 Brandon Eure, 8 Zackry Dodson, 26 Levi Hernandez
Stiteler Stylin for Sport Compact Score
Seventeen cars took the green for the 20-lap Sport Compact feature with two travelers on the front front row. Steven Stiteler beat Cody Foster into to turn 1 grabbing the top spot with Foster second trailed by Rod Tait, Josh Jones and Justin Van Winkle. Van Winkle quickly picked off Jones and Tait to move up to second before Anthony Norris got an infield tire for a lap 4 caution.
Back under green, Tait got by Foster and was challenging Stiteler for the lead. Jones retook fourth and then got third from Foster with Eric Wilson taking fifth from Van Winkle. At halfway it was Stiteler holding off Tait, Jones, Foster and Wilson in the top five. Stiteler was now dicing in traffic and Jones getting by Tait as they encountered that traffic.
Sonny Kinnaman brought out a late caution, erasing Stitelers big lead on lap 16. Stiteler was able to get away while Tait, Jones and Tyler Moran battled for second. Jones and Moran made some contact giving Tait the spot and Stiteler the chance to pull ahead. Stiteler(Decatur) would go on to the win, in his first trip to I-37 in the RCM Trucking, KR Racetech, Andrews-Miller Racing, Gaston Racing, Lanes Automotive Machine, STR Transport, Shakers Paint & Fabrication, 04 Chevy Cavalier.
“This is my first win for a big plastic check,” laughed Stiteler whose car has actually won at I-37 before, albeit with a different driver. “I've won in this car, but it's the first plastic check. Sean Leasure owned this car for a long time and he's raced here before. He sold it to someone else, and I ended up with it. It's a fast car.”
“I love this track. It reminds me of a track in Stuart, Iowa that we ran. The people have been friendly down here. The only down side, the long drive. It's a hike. The last hour seemed like you're never going to make it.”
“Normally I'd watch heats to see how others are doing. We were so late getting here I was not even in the original line up. They added me to the tail of the last heat at the pit shack. I was going to just take it easy and see what happens. Just try to get a better starting spot in the feature. I didn't even know their line procedure. I thought it was draw/redraw.”
“In the heat I saw there was good dirt on the top, and everyone was fighting for the bottom. So I just stood on it, jumped up top and, and I was third. From there I just tried to pick them off one at a time. The car was set up pretty good and it was easy to work the bottom as well. The track got slick on the bottom and guys were having trouble staying down there.”
“This is the same set up I run at Boyd, Kennedale I run a smaller time. When Sean came down he ran the smaller tire. I prefer running the bigger to stay off the chip. A lot of guys like to max out the rev limited. I personally don't go by that. You're pretty much out of power at that point anyway. It works for me. There's more set up than a lot of people know on these cars.”
“I've watched some race here online because we planned to come down here once before. It's just so far from home, that there's always something closer. I didn't even know RaceOn did this track until a couple days ago. I run a lot of IMCA stuff, so I watch IMCATV and RaceOn does a couple of our local tracks. We just basically watch our own stuff back home. Our group is a pretty tight little group up where we're from. I've had several guys text me already.”
“Since I just started racing a couple years ago I always try to be respectful. When I race with the fast guys I give more than I ever take. I feel I haven't reached that level in the pecking order yet to be the one moving people out of the way. So I was just going to cruise in the heat race and see what they gave me. They just kind of gave it to me. In the feature I started alongside Cody Foster and I race against him back home and knew what to expect. He always drives pretty clean too. I knew between he and I, it was going to be a race down to turn 1. I got in there, it held. I knew I couldn't stay up there or I'd roll a tire off. So I got to the bottom as soon as I cleared him.”
“My biggest sponsor and supporter is my fiancée, Amanda. She makes it easy for me to come home from work and have everything ready to just load the car and go. Today she was so sick, and all of a sudden she said, 'don't we have to leave?' I didn't have anything hooked up, loaded and was just to stay home and hang out. I was like, she made the first move, so I guess we'll load and go. I'm glad we did, it worked out.”
Sport Compacts
88 Steven Stiteler, 70 Rod Tait, 11j Josh Jones, 88t Tyler Moran, 825 Justin Van Winkle, 22 Fons Ponsioen, 18 Eric Wilson, 28 Leslie Chouinard, 38 Sonny Kinnaman, 008 Travis Dean, 88d AJ Norris, 3 Daelyn McQueen, 7 Mason McQueen, 34x Cody Foster, k1s Kynzi Starry, 43 Joshua Garcia, 81 Anthony Norris
Sport Compact heats
Heat 1; 34x Cody Foster, 825 Justin Van Winkle, 38 Sonny Kinnaman, 18 Eric Wilson, 28L Lesie Chouinard, 22 Fons Ponsioen, 3 Daelyn McQueen, 7 Mason McQueen
Heat 2; 88 Stephen Stiteler, 70 Rod Tait,11j Josh Jones, 43 Joshua Garcia, 88t Tyler Moran, 81 Anthony Norris, 88d AJ Norris, 008 Travis Dean, k1s Kynzi Starry