Schindler, 17, first female to rule Bullring division
Cheyanne Schindler became the first woman to win an adult division track championship in the NASCAR All-American Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night when she finished in second place for the third straight race in the Legends Cars Semi-pro category.
Schindler, a 17-year-old junior at Eldorado High School, is in her eighth year of racing.
Schindler was part of two history-making moments in the regular season-finale in the series.
"I'm just so excited," said Schindler, who plays shortstop for Eldorado and the Bulldogs club team. "After (my aunt, Donna Gunther) let me drive her Super Late Model last year, I started getting more comfortable going fast and it helped when I got back into the Legend Car."
The other groundbreaking part of Saturday night's racing was more one of omission.
Wade Pearson and Pete Meyer finished tied in points for the Bombers division championship after Meyer won the feature and Pearson finished second.
Because the track has no criteria for a tiebreaker, the drivers competed in a five-lap shootout.
Meyer won the shootout to win the title.
There was less drama in Super Late Models where Dustin Ash won his eighth feature race and fifth straight after clinching the championship the previous week.
Ash, 22, competed in Thunder Cars for the first time and won Saturday's feature race.
Ash, however, had more to celebrate than his second championship in four years.
He also saw two Legends Cars drivers -- Frank McCourt in Masters and Robert D'Ambra in Pro -- win track championships in cars prepared by Ash and his father, Ken Ash.
"I've sat up in the grandstands and felt as good watching them win as when I've won races," Ash said.
"I love trying to figure out how to make these things go faster," he said.
In Chargers, Phil Goodwin won his 10th feature of the year to wrap up his fifth championship in six years.
Other champions crowned at the Bullring were: Jacksen Smith (Thunder Cars), Jason Irwin (Legends Young Lions), Jacob Tilton (Bandolero Outlaws) and Chris Trickle (Bandolero Bandits).
Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.
