Barton is victor in would-be farewell

The Las Vegan won his heat race, was the fastest qualifier and finished the night by winning the season opener in the Super Late Models division at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Barton, who won twice in the series last year and finished third in points, told the crowd of around 2,000 it would be his last race on his hometown three-eighth-mile oval before heading to Charlotte, N.C., where he hopes to advance his stock-car career.

He said he expects to sign a sponsorship agreement this week that will allow him to secure a position in a driver development program with NASCAR veteran Joe Nemechek’s Nemco Racing team.

"It’s all about this money," he said. "It’s all about moving up."

Barton said if all agreements are signed this week he could be driving in an ARCA stock-car race May 4 at Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina. If not, he said he’ll compete at the Bullring on April 12.

"I can’t be more grateful. This is my home track and where I created my fan base," he said.

On Saturday, Barton started sixth when the top six qualifying positions were inverted for the 40-lap feature.

After cautions slowed the race twice in the first eight laps, Scott Gafforini moved to the lead. Barton quickly climbed into second place and was able to hold a lower, quicker line than Gafforini through the corners. He passed Gafforini in the third turn on lap 28 and led the rest of the way.

The race ran under the green flag for the final 32 laps, and Barton posted a 1.848-second margin over Gafforini.

"The car just tightened up. I wasn’t expecting such a long, green-flag run and we weren’t set up for it," Gafforini said. "It’s just part of the game, part of racing. We guessed wrong."

Matt Jaskol finished third with support from new crew chief Aaron Jimenez, who joined the team late last week. Jimenez worked for last year’s Super Late Models champion Dustin Ash, who is not racing in the class this year.

In other races, Daren Amidon won the 25-lap Legends Cars feature by passing Bear Rzesnowiecky on the last turn of the last lap. Brandon Gianinni was declared the Late Models feature winner after apparent winner Chris Birdsong’s car failed inspection.

Other winners were: Dow Woerner (Modifieds), Phil Goodwin (Chargers), Patrick O’Hanley (Bandolero Young Guns) and Chris Warren (Bandolero Bandits).

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@ reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0247.