Raz & Hingorani Split Wins In Chilly Willy Opener

Kole Raz in victory lane Friday at Tucson Speedway. (To The Front Race Photos/Tucson Speedway photo)

TUCSON, Ariz. – Kole Raz and reigning ARCA Menards Series West champion Sean Hingorani shared the spoils of victory Friday night during the opening act of Chilly Willy 150 weekend at Tucson Speedway.

With a field of nearly 30 super late models in attendance, the field was divided in half for twin 50-lap features Friday, with Raz and Hingorani dominating their respective races.

Raz started from the pole and was stalked for much of the first feature by Michael Scott, though the young Raz eventually got away to a comfortable margin once he and Scott got into slower traffic.

Only one caution slowed the pace, coming with 23 laps to go after Weston Marthaler stalled on the high side of turn two and could not limp his car off the racetrack.

Raz was perfect on the ensuing restart and eventually drove away from Scott by 1.639 seconds.

“That was a really good 50-lap practice session for us, ultimately,” tipped Raz, who said he and his crew would discuss potential changes to his race car for the longer-distance feature later in the weekend.

“We know where we have to be better, and I know we’ve got the resources and the right group of people to make the changes that will lead to success,” he added. “I’m looking forward to 150 laps now. This is by far my favorite race track; I grew up racing here over the last six years or so … and I definitely love every chance I get to come back here because it’s a lot better than the snow back home [in Washington].”

Kyle Reid, Cassidy Hinds, and Tyler Herzog crossed third through fifth, respectively, in race one.

The second super late model feature ran from start to finish caution free. After also electing to start on the outside lane, polesitter Hingorani got the jump on the initial start and never looked back.

Hingorani led all 50 laps and cruised to victory by 4.760 seconds over Kleyn. Garret Archer, Brett Yackey and Zachary Riehl closed the top five in race two.

“Derek Thorn brought me a really good race car this weekend,” noted Hingorani in victory lane. “We’ve got a lot of speed and I think we showed it there.”

Bryceton Meyer (Semi-Pro division) and Tyler Reif (combined Pro and Masters divisions) each won Legend car features Friday night.

A full replay of Friday’s racing action from Tucson can be streamed through FloRacing.

Due to a projected Sunday washout, the Saturday program at Tucson Speedway has been adjusted, with the original Saturday racing slate scrapped and Sunday’s action moved to take its place.

Gates open at 1 p.m. Saturday with racing kicking off at 4 p.m., headlined by the $15,000-to-win Chilly Willy 150 for super late models. It’s the 11th running of the winter kickoff event.

The results:

SLM Feature #1 (50 laps): 1. 27-Kole Raz, 2. 82-Michael Scott, 3. 42-Kyle Reid, 4. 3c-Cassidy Hinds, 5. 1h-Tyler Herzog, 6. 11-John Dillon, 7. 14c-Brandon Carlton, 8. 14-Vanessa Robinson, 9. 81-Darrell Midgley, 10. 80-Andre Prescott, 11. 57-Jennifer Hall, 12. 05-John Lashley, 13. 34-Rudy Vanderwal, 14. 100-Weston Marthaler.

SLM Feature #2 (50 laps): 1. 13h-Sean Hingorani, 2. 1k-Kasey Kleyn, 3. 32-Brett Yackey, 4. 7-Zachary Riehl, 5. 43-Kody Vanderwal, 6. 22p-Ryan Phipps, 7. 12-Bruce Yackey, 8. 69p-Zandar Peters, 9. 28-David Levitt, 10. 63-Joe Paladenic, 11. 8-Mariah McGriff, 12. 52-Ryan Philpott, 13. 5-Garret Archer [DQ].

Sean Hingorani in victory lane Friday at Tucson Speedway. (To The Front Race Photos/Tucson Speedway photo)