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Irwindale, CA., Aug. 30 – Tim Huddleston and Travis Irving, 23, won the NASCAR Auto Club Late Model twin 40-lap main events Saturday on the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale progressively banked half-mile. An estimated 3,000 spectators attended the kick-off to the Labor Day holiday weekend event billed as the annual Unions Appreciation Night. Huddleston, who is a distributor for Justice Brothers Car Care Products, parked his No. 50 Justice Brothers High Point Distributing 2008 Chevy Monte Carlo at the starting line for 7:00 pm opening ceremonies. He gave a heartfelt tribute over the PA microphone to Ed Justice, Sr, 87, who succumbed from kidney failure Saturday at 5:00 am in nearby Arcadia Methodist Hospital. Justice and his two older brothers Gus and Zeke founded their automotive additive business in 1952 and were early, innovative sponsors in NASCAR and at the Indianapolis 500. They sponsored teams, individuals and racing series for decades to the current season from their headquarters in Duarte, a few miles northeast of the Irwindale track.
1ST ACLM 40: Huddleston, the 2005 & 07 ACLM champion, started the event second in series points, two points in back of Nick Joanides. A strong 30-car field was on the grid for the first 40 with Huddleston starting second in his Jeff Schrader Race Car Factory chassis number 55 next to his rookie protege Benny Moon. The 23-year old USAC Ford Focus Midget graduate and resident of Shingle Springs near Sacramento, was competing in his fourth ever ACLM event at Irwindale. He set fastest qualifying time in the No. 51 HPD Ford Fusion during 4:00 pm single car qualifying and then spun one on the inversion wheel. Moon lost the lead to Huddleston on the original start and restart caused by a one car spin near the back of the field. Irving started fourth and took second from Moon on the first lap and Moon settled into third position. The top three positions remained unchanged. Joanides took fourth from third starter Brian Wong on lap six. However, Joanides dropped from first to second in points, four points in back of new point leader Huddleston.
Sean Woodside, the 1999 NASCAR Grand National West champion, started seventh and finished fifth in just his fourth ACLM race this year. Mike Johnson started and finished sixth in his RCF-built Chevy Monte Carlo that needed about $6,000 in repairs, including a new front clip, following his crash two weeks ago. Title-hopeful and five-time 2008 feature winner Andrew Myers came from tenth to seventh. Series rookie Colin Fleming, Lindsey King and Wong completed the top ten. The 27-minute race had five yellow flags following spins. Twenty-three drivers finished and 20 of them completed all 40 laps. Huddleston's fourth victory this season and second in a row was his 37th at Irwindale. He broke his tie at 36 with two-time ACLM champion Todd Burns. Huddleston now ranks third in all-time main event triumphs at the track.
2ND ACLM 40: The second feature started straight-up in the finishing order from the first feature and 26 cars answered the call for race two. Irving drove a new No. 85 Toyota, the 62nd RCF-built chassis. His black and white car, painted to resemble one of his California Highway Patrol sponsor patrol cars, was making only its second racing appearance..Irving grabbed the lead from his outside front row starting slot on the original and restarted first lap. A jam-up as cars exited the fourth turn for the first lap green flag involved inside row cars from the third through sixth rows. Woodside's car received RF damage that sidelined his car on lap 15. Myers and Dan DiGiacomo got hit from behind and spun to the inside. King got into Myers and received LF damage, a bent hood and broken radiator that sidelined her HPD Chevy. She placed last (26th) and dropped from fifth to seventh in point standings. DiGiacomo continued, but his electronic transponder was disabled and he was not shown on the top ten scoring pylon. Hand scoring gave him seventh in the official finish. Irving, a resident of Corona, coming off best finishes of third and second, led all 40-laps and scored his first feature victory at Irwindale. The Formula 2000 national circuit veteran said he wants to make it on NASCAR national circuits and stated, "This is my best and last chance to make it." The happy winner of the 31-minute race with four cautions had to withstand the passing attempts of winning ACLM drivers--Huddleston (4) and Joanides (3)--to log his first victory by five-yards (0.403).
Irving, who handles accounts for his father's Great Central Transport trucking company in Carson, earned $1,000 for his first triumph. He was scheduled to display his winning car Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana at the CHP recruitment display during NASCAR's Sprint Cup 500. He could add a sign that identified his car as "the second and first place car at Irwindale last night." Irving also hoped to make useful racing contacts to further his career. Huddleston ran second from lap 1-33 when he tried to take the lead and lost second and two vital points to his championship rival Joanides on the backstretch. Joanides closed ground and got to the leader's back bumper with three laps remaining, but Irving held on for his eagerly anticipated first victory to cheers from grandstand fans. He thanked his hard-working crew, his family, girl friend, car builder Jeff Schrader and Frank Loverock for his help, advice and belief in his ability. Loverock was on the roof spotting and on radio contact with his son Brandon who charged from 26th to ninth and received the hard charger $100 award in post-race ceremonies.
Third place Huddleston finished 1.022 seconds behind Joanides and came away from the twin-40s with a two-point edge over Joanides (648-646) with three races remaining. M. Johnson, Fleming, Moon, DiGiacomo, Wong. Loverock, Myers, Chris Johnson and Mike Varela followed. All 21 finishers completed 40 laps, including Bakersfield's Tim Smith in his first night of racing anything. Proving his two 40-lap races were deserving of top finishes, Irving ran the fastest lap in both 40-lap mains. His 19.460 beat winner Huddleston's best lap of 19.462 and Joanides 19.510 in the first feature. Irving's 19.492 was quickest in the second race and beat Huddleston's 19.524 and Joanides' 19.593. Irving also was the fastest of 26 drivers who turned practice laps at 1:30 pm when he ran 19.497 (92.322 mph) in mid-80s heat. He did not practice during the second ACLM session at 2:20 pm.
SUPER STOCKS: Point leader Bryan Harrell, the 2006 series champion, continued his dominant season in the Vista Paint Super Stock division. After setting fastest qualifying time for the tenth consecutive event, Harrell won the 35-lap main event on the half-mile in a 12-car field. It was his seventh feature victory this year in ten events. It was his 25th main event trophy at Irwindale, making him the tenth most prolific winner in the track's ten year history. However, it wasn't easy for the Riverside resident and 1977 Camaro driver. He started fourth and became the third leader on lap 5. He traded the lead twice with Jeff "Hibachi" Grill before taking charge for good on lap 8 with an inside pass in turn four. He pulled away to a straightaway victory (4.350-seconds) over Grill with Larry Cerquettini third. Pole starter Rich DeLong III led the first two circuits before spinning to the third turn wall with second starter Gary Read. Both drivers returned. Grill led laps 3-4 and 6-7 before Harrell took charge. Harrell praised the power of his replacement engine installed in his car this week. The track pulled his all-conquering engine after the last race to check it for compliance with the rules. It was found to be legal, but Harrell did not get it back together in time for the race Saturday and used a different power-plant. Harrell increased his lead from 28 to 44 points over DeLong with three races to go. Eleven of 12 cars finished and eight drivers ran all 35 laps.
PURE STOCKS: The track's low budget, entry-level division produced a 14-car field for a pair of main events—a 30-lap run on the third-mile oval and a scheduled 15-lap Figure 8 race as the sixth of seven races. Mark Whitson started second and led all 30 laps on the oval to edge his fellow front row starter Tony Agosta by 0.202. Fastest qualifier Ken Michaelian came from fourth to earn third, 1.457-back. Jimmy Rouse was fourth. Thirteen of 14 starters finished and 11 ran all 30-laps in a 9:00.513 all green-flag race. The Pure Stock Figure 8 race went to Chad Kelly, who started his Olds Cutlass eighth and took the lead in the final turn on the last lap. Ken Michaelian trailed by 0.861. Ron Davis, Justin Good and lap 1-9 leader Agosta rounded out the top five. Twelve drivers started and eight finished and all of them ran ten laps. The race had one red flag to remove Tommy Mason's Chevy that had a broken axle and stalled in the third turn.
DRIVE TECH LATE MODELS: The first-ever appearance of the Drive Tech Race Driving School late models produced a field of 11 identical 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo school cars. Drivers were students who paid tuition for a weekend racing experience that included instruction Friday and on-track time at Irwindale with all racing attire and equipment provided. Students raced in a pair of heat races that kicked off racing Saturday at 7:00 pm. They all raced in a 20-lap main event on the half-mile. Drivers came from six states including California. Pole starter Bryan Regan, from Arizona, won the six-car first heat. Jason Wolf, from Chicago, started fourth in the five-car second six-lap heat and led the final three laps. In their feature, all 11 cars ran competitive laps and traded positions frequently in an eight-minute race with one brief yellow flag for a solo spin on the white flag lap. Chris Jordan, of Boise, ID, led all 20 laps from the pole. Dennis Tarlton, of Park City, N.C, started fourth and finished second, 0.374 back. Wolf started eighth and finished third, 0.647 back. The first-time drivers applied their Drive Tech training and ran laps in the 20.1 to 20.7 second range. Nine of 11 drivers finished and all drivers completed 20 laps in an entertaining race. Drive Tech ran a similar event for students at the Tucson three-eighths mile track in June and will run another TS@I event on October 4. Anyone interested in driving in the Drive Tech program may reserve space in one of the 24 Drive Tech school cars by checking [email protected] or DriveTech.com.
TRAIN RACE: The concluding event, a "Train Race" at 10:00 pm, was scheduled for 10 laps on the watered infield Figure 8 course. Eight teams of three connected cars had a driver in the first car and a brakeman in the third car with an unoccupied middle car. The winning team consisted of driver Mike Atkinson and brakeman Steve Cheek in cars No. 762A and 762B. A collision at the X intersection ended the event a few laps early at 10:10, Chico Powell and Robert "Flipper" Walker placed second, with Dan Pachella and Justin Stress the third place team. Fastest qualifiers were: (ACLM) – Moon – 19.116 (94.162 mph); (VPSS) – Harrell – 21.198 (84.914 mph); (Pure Stocks) – K. Michaelian – 17.497 (68.515 mph). Hard Charger Award $100 winners were Robbie Brand (P 22 to P. 15 in the 1st ACLM main) and Loverock (P. 26 to P. 9 in the 2nd ACLM main), and Curtis White (P. 8 to P. 4 in the VPSS main).
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