One of the biggest Super Late Model races west of the Mississippi River takes place this weekend at Dacono, Colorado’s Colorado National Speedway. It’s the 47th edition of Challenge Cup 150, and it pays a prize of $5,000 to the victor. 

The Challenge Cup began way back in 1975. It was won by local hero Odie Robertson. Since then, 34 drivers have visited Challenge Cup victory lane across 46 races. Larry Phillips and Rick Carelli are the winningest drivers in event history with wins each. Jerry Robertson is the only other driver to have at least three Challenge Cup victories, and there have only been four drivers to win the event in consecutive years with Phillips and Carelli both accomplishing that feat, along with Terry Phillips and Dominic Ursetta, who is the most recent driver to do it in 2014 and 2015.

Kody Vanderwal is hoping to add his name to that prestigious list of back-to-back Challenge Cup winners. Vanderwal dominated the 2021 version of the event, leading a race-high 114 laps en route to the victory. 

Another driver to keep an eye on is Brett Yackey. Yackey won the 2018 Challenge Cup and is the defending track champion. Yackey scored a second-place finish the last time Super Late Models raced at Colorado National back on July 9.

Chris Eggleston is looking to become just the fourth driver to have more than three Challenge Cup victories. He scored wins back in 2009 and 2011, but it’s now been more than ten years since Eggleston’s second Challenge Cup win.

The current Super Late Model points leader at Colorado National is Nick Cooper. Cooper won Rookie of the Year honors in the division last year. This year he has two victories already, the most of any Super Late Model driver. A win in Saturday’s Challenge Cup would be his first. He finished sixth in last year’s race, his first and so far only Challenge Cup start.

Colorado National Speedway is a 3/8-mile asphalt oval that first opened in 1965. It’s located in the small town of Dacono, a town of just 6,297 people that sits a little more than 30 minutes to the north of Denver, and just to the east of the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Race fans can watch Saturday’s Challenge Cup 150 from the Colorado National Speedway at 8:30 p.m. ET live on FloRacing.