Thirty Legends competed at Western Tech Speedway in El Paso, Texas for a $30,000 purse presented by Casa Nissan. Drivers from as far away as North Dakota made the trip to West Texas for three days of racing. The format was a round of hot laps, heat races, then an inversion for the feature. The 30 lap feature had the top 4 being locked in to the Saturday Night feature. Thursday night's race was in one word - insane. Cars racing 3 and 4 wide throughout the field after the number pulled for the inversion was 15. The top 4 locked in were Kyle McCutchen, CJ Hulsey, Jason Irwin, and Baiden Heskett. Friday Night's feature was tame with Tim Brockhouse, Drew Papke, Dusty Riggs, and Keith Schmidt locking in the outside row. This set up the 60 lap Saturday night feature with $5,000 to win.
The 60 lap feature was divided up into two 30 lap segments. The race began with Brockhouse, McCutchen, Papke, and Irwin in a lead pack with a gap to others who were saving their cars for the second half of the race. A caution on lap 15 would lead to a series of events. Luis Esquivel had a tire go down, after repairs he came back on track but then a series of cautions involving potential winners occurred. Jason Irwin blew an oil line, and CJ Hulsey had mechanical issues which ended their nights. Baiden Heskett spun in turn 3 and the car of Tom Zuloaga collided with Heskett. At the intermission Brockhouse held off McCutchen after McCutchen had several runs at him for the lead. McCutchen said at the break 'I'm either going to win or I'm going to lose in spectacular fashion'. The second 30 lap segment began quietly but on lap 36 Dylan Harris would spin by himself in turn 4 sending him to the back. A couple laps later the leaders would tangle and McCutchen would stop in turn 3, Brockhouse with a flat tire. Both Brockhouse and McCutchen would be sent to the rear of the field with 20 laps to go. The lead would then go to Dusty Riggs with Drew Papke right behind him. With 15 laps remaining the caution would come out, but Harris would move to 6th after spinning on lap 36. Brockhouse and McCutchen would move to 8th and 10th. A series of cautions would allow Harris, McCutchen, and Brockhouse all to move up into the top 5. While they were moving up through the field Riggs, Papke, Garner, and Nelson Stewart all ran in the top 5. Garner and Stewart would get together in turn 3 bringing out the caution with 5 laps to go. Moving into the top-5 were Harris, Brockhouse, and McCutchen all recovering from going to the back of the field. It would set up a shootout and a green white checker after another caution came out. On the first attempt to the GWC the 13's got together, ending Brockhouse's night. McCutchen would restart second. After the second attempt coming out of turn 4 Harris and McCutchen would make contact. Then the entire field would collect itself at the start finish line. Truly a situation where the track could not continue the race. Harris was declared the winner, and McCutchen second, Brockhouse third. Harris reflecting on his victory said, 'We recovered from the spin early on and I just can't thank my family enough. I also want to thank Casa Nissan. Just an amazing race'.
This was just an incredible race for anyone who was there in person. Constantly cars were 3 and 4 wide during the entire race. It was great to see such a mix of drivers from across the country compete in El Paso. If you are a Legend racer make sure you circle this event for 2017 on the calendar. It is simply one you can not miss out on.