DOSS DOMINATES VEGAS OPEN COMP

Although Doss had one of the fastest NASCAR Super Late Models all weekend, he qualified a disappointing 14th out of 39 cars on Friday and had to race his way into the 26-car Open Comp because only the top eight qualifiers were guaranteed a spot in the field.

Doss, a 17-year-old from Upper Lake, Calif., won his heat race on Friday and started the $10,000-to-win Open Comp from the 10th position. It took him all of four laps to get to the front of the field, a position he held for the remainder of the race.

“The crew just had it perfect all weekend,” Doss said of his car. “We unloaded good and we were fastest all weekend. We kind of blew qualifying because the car was dragging the ground. I ended up 14th and (had to run) the heat and I was able to get the lead in that.

“In this race, everything just worked out and we got in the right places. I just can’t thank my crew enough for a perfect race car. This thing ran lap after lap consistent and perfect. I’ve got to thank Tom and Brenda Gabel for giving me the opportunity to drive their car.”

Doss’ performance was nothing short of dominant. In addition to leading 147 laps, he built up a lead of nearly three seconds in the first half of the race, before a competition caution came out for a halfway break. In the second half of the race, Doss built up a lead of more than half a straightaway before posting a 5.193-second win over Linny

White. Jonathon Gomez was third and Charley Price and Dylan Lupton rounded out the top five.

Local drivers Dylan Kwasniewski, Jay Beasley and Scott Gafforini, considered by some to be among the pre-race favorites to win the Open Comp, suffered a variety of problems and were not running at the end of the race. Beasley, Friday’s fastest qualifier, bowed out after he was spun on the third lap of the race. Gafforini, a six-time winner at The Bullring this season and a five-time track champion, dropped out with a mechanical issue after 17 laps and Kwasniewski, who returned to The Bullring during a break in the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule, exited the race after 72 laps after being beset with mechanical problems all weekend.

Matt Johnson of Ontario, Calif., walked away from a nasty crash on the third lap of the Open Comp when his car was clipped from behind, flipped and landed on its roof. The race was red-flagged for close to 15 minutes while track safety workers turned his car back over and cleaned up the resulting mess, but Johnson was not injured in the incident.

Ryan Partridge of Burbank, Calif., led all but 10 laps of the 100-lap Late Model feature and held off fellow Californians Luis Martinez of Baldwin Park and Toni McCray of Highland for the victory.

Mason Newhouse, 15, grabbed the lead on lap 41 and held on to win the 50-lap Pro Truck/Southwest Tour Truck Series North-South Shootout. Daniel Shirley was second and Kevan Larson finished third.

Phil Goodwin of Henderson, a five-time track champion, won the 50-lap NASCAR Super Stock main event; Shawn Buckley won the 30-lap USAC HPD Midget Series feature; Michael Greve of Las Vegas won the 50-lap NASCAR Bombers main event; and Las Vegan Kyle Jacks captured the 20-lap Bandolero feature.
NEXT RACE ­ Nov. 22: West Coast Short-Track Championships: SRL Spears Southwest Tour Series championship, SRL S2 Late Models championship, Lucas Oil Modifieds championship, SRL Legends championship, USAC HPD Midget Series championship. The Bullring continues to be one of the best entertainment values in the Las Vegas Valley with affordable ticket prices and family-friendly concession prices including $1 hot dogs, $1 Coca-Cola products and $2 Budweiser beer.