Tayler Riddle kicked off the West Coast racing season with victory by the narrowest of margins Saturday night.
The Naches, Washington, driver collected the win in the Chilly Willy 100 at Tucson Speedway, as his Super Late Model crossed the finish line in a photo finish with Austin Reed. It was the first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event of the season at the .375-mile oval.
Riddle and Reed battled door to door following a Lap 91 caution, before Riddle got the nose ahead at the line.
Riddles’ margin of victory: .005.
The race weekend was streamed live on FansChoice.tv.
Gracin Raz finished an impressive third. Raz, 17, from Lake Oswego, Oregon, will drive in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West this season for the new Jefferson Pitts Racing team formed by Jason Jefferson and championship crew chief Jerry Pitts.
Veteran Ron Norman was fourth, followed by Riddle’s brother, Owen.
Five-time Colorado National Speedway champion Bruce Yackey finished sixth, followed by Linny White, Paul Banghart, Barry Karr and Dylan Smith.
Defending race winner Dustin Ash was one of five cars involved in a Lap 1 incident.
Raz set fast time for the weekend with a lap of 15.812, edging Jefferson’s 15.836. Brandon Schilling, Reed and Dustin Jones won qualifying heats, while Jefferson beat Tayler Riddle in the Dash For Cash race between the top qualifiers.
Also at Tucson, Andrew McGuinness won the Hornet Division feature and Will Hunholz won the Modified Division race.
Tucson Speedway, formerly Tucson Raceway Park, was home of the NASCAR Winter Heat Series from 1994 through 1999, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from 1995 through 1997. These programs helped launch the careers of drivers such as Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Matt Crafton.
The track was closed from 2011 to 2013; John Lashley purchased the track and it underwent an extensive make-over and upgrade. The track re-opened in April of 2013 and became a NASCAR-sanctioned track in May of 2014. It has previously been a part of NASCAR from 1987-2008.
