|
Irwindale, CA. - Apr. 3 – Travis Irving, a three-time late model feature winner last year, drove his No. 85 CHP Designated Driver Program Toyota Camry to a convincing Auto Club Late Model victory Saturday on the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale banked half-mile. About 3,000 fans on “Family Night” attended on a chilly evening. Irving started sixth, took second on lap 3 and became the leader on lap 19 after a double-file restart. The Corona resident won the 40-lap contest by two lengths (0.122) in a competitive, 26-car field. Other feature winners on the half-mile were: impressive Ryan Partridge, 21, in a 40-lap King Taco Super Truck race with 18 starters, and Rich DeLong, in a nine-car Super Stock 35-lap event that took 21-minutes because of two yellow flags.
Two series used the third-mile oval. Reigning series champion Ken Michaelian, 21, became the fourth leader on lap 7 and won the 30-lap Ken Porter Auctions Classic Stock eight-car, 30-lap main aboard his championship-winning 1975 Dodge Dart. Jacob Rogers started fourth in a 1970 Ford Pinto and led all but the first lap of a 35-lap Justice Brothers Mini Stock race. The final event of the night was a six-car Pick Your Part Demolition Derby in the infield. After five minutes of smashing and bashing on the watered surface Bill Thiebert, a 2009 TS@I demo derby winner, won the $1,000 first place check from the $2,000 PYP DD purse. With only three cars remaining, newcomer John Northcutt, from Escondido, hit Adam Ditto's drivers side door hard, causing a red flag. Northcutt was disqualified for his illegal hit and with Ditto's car sidelined Thiebert received the victory.
The six-fastest qualifiers in the 26-car ACLM field ran a six-lap trophy dash at 7:10 with a fully-inverted starting lineup based on afternoon qualifying results. Fifth quickest qualifier George Atkinson, Jr., a 25-year old, four-year ACLM veteran, started second and led all the way for his 0.464 second, $200 triumph. The finishing order of the dash—Sean Woodside, Rod Johnson, Jr., Mike Johnson, Tim Huddleston and Irving-- set the starting order for the 40-lap feature. Atkinson used the same rebuilt-No. 65 Jackson Race Cars mount that had its roof cut off to rescue injured Atkinson from his perch atop a front-straight K-rail. The incident occurred during the late model support main of the January 2010 Toyota All-Star Showdown. The car had a new body for the first 2010 ACLM point race.
ACLM: The 26-car field required 38-minutes to complete the entertaining, competitive race because of four cautions. Pole starter Atkinson led the first 18 laps by a steady ten yards over Irving. Two cars spun across the starting line for the first yellow flag. Another caution soon followed for a two car spin in the second turn. The new for 2010 double-file restarts resulted in Irving gaining the lead from the outside front row position. A multi-car crash entering the first turn involved Atkinson, Sean Woodside, Grant Hebner, Dallas Colodny, Tim Huddleston, Larry Cerquettini and Dalton Kuhn. Woodside's car contacted Atkinson's leading to an accordion effect crash. Hebner's car vaulted the back of Woodside's car into the crash-wall at the RF end of Hebner's No. 21, which received significant damage. The back of Cerquettini's car was torn off. Kuhn's car also was eliminated. Other involved drivers pitted for repairs and returned to the back of the field.
Irving led lap 21 over Rod Johnson, Jr., 20, who won the 2009 KTST championship and is a 2010 ACLM rookie. He drives forTim Huddleston's High Point Racing “blue crew” five-car Chevy team. Mike Johnson, second year ACLM driver Chris Holloway, 22, 2009 ACLM champion Nick Joanides, Kenny Smith, from Bakersfield, Darren Cheek, Christian Copley, 18-year old truck veteran and ACLM rookie, Mark Whitson and Tim Smith completed the top ten to lap 25. Holloway and Joanides dropped M. Johnson to fifth place as the former third place driver slowed with a deflating RF tire that finally sidelined his No. 17 Chevy on lap 30. Another two-car crash at the starting line on lap 35 involved Whitson and T. Smith and resulted in both cars exiting at the back of tow trucks. Joanides, in fourth place, dropped out under the caution flag before the lap 35 green flag. The final six laps became an exciting three-car battle with leader Irving and third place Holloway using the outside groove and second running R. Johnson attacking from the inside. The three leaders were separated by a few lengths at the white flag.
On lap 40 Holloway took second from “R.J” via an outside pass through the third and fourth turns to edge “R.J's” No. 15 by 0.151. Winner Irving beat Holloway by a mere 0.122. It was Holloway's career-best finish in his No. 44 Four Star Fruit mount. His best result as a rookie last year was sixth. Cheek, K. Smith, Copley, Travis Motley, second year ACLM driver Kyle McGrady, Dallas Colodny and Atkinson rounded out the top ten. Eighteen of the 26 starters finished and 17 drivers completed all 40 laps. Irving, the third place driver in final 2009 ACLM points, told the media: “I had some new, younger drivers racing up front with me this week and I didn't know if I could trust them. Usually I'm racing with Nick (Joanides), Tim (Huddleston) and Mike (Johnson). Rod and Chris have excellent rides and handled them very well tonight.”
KTST: The 18 super trucks used a six-truck inverted starting lineup with fastest qualifier Partridge starting sixth. He reached second place by the third lap and chased fifth FQ/second starter Todd Cameron, from nearby Monrovia, for 19 laps. On lap 20 Partridge took command and opened a ten-yard advantage over the former leader. Cameron fought off past champion Pat Mintey, Jr. during the closing five laps. Matt Kimball started fourth, ran third from lap 3-35 and settled for fourth. Dennis Arena, Ken Maler, Jr., Bob Barker, Ryan Fortier, Bandolero and Legends veteran Andrew Anderson and Kenny Smith, of El Monte, completed the top ten. Seventeen of 18 drivers finished and 13 ran all 40 laps in a 17-minute event. Winner Partridge thanked series sponsor King Taco and his truck owner, Steve Latina, a former series driver. He also appealed for sponsorship for his un-sponsored truck. It was the third different TS@I series in which Partridge has won a main event.
SUPER STOCKS: FQ Rich DeLong, in his Chevy Impala SS bodied No. 84, started at the back of a nine-car field in a fully-inverted lineup. He reached third spot by lap 3 as Camaro drivers Curtis White led lap1 and Eric Sunness led lap 2-19. Point leader DeLong led lap 20-35 and repeated his S/S victory of March 27 after Gerrit Cromsigt's car was disqualified for using unapproved shocks. After missing the season opener last week, Sunness trailed the winner by 0.207. Camaro drivers Bryan Harrell, White and Gary Read completed the top five. Mark Brinksma, a 46-year old Ontario resident, bought L. Cerquettini's 2009 S/S championship Impala SS and finished sixth as the last finisher on the lead lap. His wife Bonnie placed eighth (with 29 laps) aboard a Camaro in her first ever race. Her daughter, Cheyanne Izsak, crashed at the backstretch on the opening lap a week earlier in her first race ever aboard her step-father's Camaro. She complained of neck pain, and left the track in an ambulance. The 17-year old Montclair High senior was given medical tests, including a CAT-scan, hospitalized overnight at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in nearby Baldwin Park, and discharged the next afternoon.
CLASSIC STOCKS: Eight classic stocks had a new series sponsor—Ken Porter Auctions—and a 30-lap main event with a fully-inverted starting lineup. Mike Colato, Jr. paced the first two laps before pitting under caution and returning to last position. Tommy Mason, of Low Budget TV, inherited the point and led a lap in his 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo. Then Harry Michaelian, who retired his 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner in favor of his newly constructed Dodge Dart, passed Mason on the outside in turn four and led the next three laps. His son Ken Michaelian passed him on lap 7 and kept his 1975 Dodge Dart in front to the conclusion. He won by a straightaway. Colato charged back to second by lap 12 in his 1976 Chevy Nova and trailed by 6.240 seconds at the checkers. The senior Michaelian placed third, 6.882 in back of his son. Curtis Drye, in his 1972 Chevelle, and Mason followed. Only the top four finishers completed 30 laps. CHP Sergeant Mark Garrett started on the pole in the No. 17 TS@I “house car” Chevy Nova but he parked on lap 7 with an overheating problem in his second race. The 11-minute race had one caution to check for liquid on the track from retiree Patrick Miller's Chevy. During time trials K. Michaelian broke his own series one-lap track record of 17.233 (69.564 mph) from last May. His new mark is 17.166 (69.836 mph).
MINI STOCKS: There were 12 cars present for afternoon practice sessions. Ten cars started the 35-lap main and second starter Ted McDonald led the first lap. Jacob Rogers, the only family member of the usually three-strong Rogers family M/S racing team in the race, led lap 2-35. His No. 2 Ford Pinto won by 0.538 over Rod Schmitt's Ford Pinto. Daryl Scoggins, the series 2009 champion, placed third after being spun out on lap 24 in the second turn as he attempted to take second from Dusty Morgan's Pinto. He restarted at the back and moved from seventh to third during the final 12 laps. On lap 33 Steve Patterson, racing for the first time in 20 years, spun out leaving the fourth turn. Some cars dodged his car, but second place Morgan's Pinto clipped the back of Patterson's car and spun out., leaving a piece of Morgan's car embedded under the back bumper of Patterson's car. A wrecker towed Morgan's badly damaged Pinto to the pits. The 21 minute race had two cautions.
Fastest Qualifiers: (Half-mile)-- (ACLM)--Mike Johnson, 18.837 (95.557 mph); (KTST)--Ryan Partridge, 19.756; (S/S)--Rich DeLong III, 21.026; (Third-mile)-- (M/S)--Rod Schmitt, 17.028; (C/S)--Ken Michaelian, 17.166 (69.836 mph) – NTR (old TR 17.233 by himself on 5/23/09.
|
