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Irwindale, CA., Sept. 13 – Rip Michels, the king of "the Dale" (Toyota Speedway at Irwindale), stepped away from his 2008 crew chief duties at Dan Moore Racing and donned his racing togs Saturday. He proved that he is able to turn on his renowned racing talent at will. The 41-year old, three-time NASCAR AC Delco Super Late Model track champion made his presence known by setting fastest qualifying time and winning the twin-25 lap main events from the pole position in both races. Michels' twin wins on the half-mile increased his track victory total to 57, which is 17 more than the second best record. The 25-lap distance was the shortest ever for the SLM division during ten years of racing at the track. Distances of 75, 50 or 40 laps have been the TS@I standard for the SLM division.
The San Fernando resident drove a brand new Victory Circle Elite car. He said, "New cars don't always work out on their debut race and the last few cars I've built took a few races before they were capable of winning." This one is a keeper. With an inversion of one, the winner started from pole position and led every lap. The finish of the first 25 set the starting lineup for the second 25, so Michels earned the pole again. This time "the Ripper" led the first lap and yielded the point to second starter Andy Allen from lap 2 through 14. Then Michels tested the passing power of his new mount and shot past Allen for the lead during lap 15 from the fourth turn to the starting line. He quickly opened a 20-yard advantage and won by 30-yards (1.481) over Allen.
Michels complimented SLM champion Nick Joanides, 38, and said, "He's been on fire all year. It's your night as the champ, you earned it. Enjoy." A playful e-mail exchange on a local racing website during mid-week took place between 2007 SLM champion Michels and Joanides, his SLM championship successor in 2008. The three-car DMR team open challenge said "We're coming for you Saturday." Joanides replied, "I'm not in the same car that finished second to you four times last year. The championship is clinched. I got nothing to lose, 2007 was last year. You vacated the premises, this is my house now. LOL. All in good fun, looking forward to the challenge."
Joanides practiced during the open session for all teams Friday night and blew his good SLM engine. His team installed a less desirable engine that was "30 pounds heavier and down on power." Joanides could muster only the seventh fastest qualifying time of 22 drivers with times. He finished seventh and eighth in the two features and won his first-ever racing championship by 76 points. Runner-up Travis Thirkettle, a five-time winner this year, also struggled and finished ninth in both races. Joanides, a 15-year racing veteran, finished ninth in NASCAR'S Elite Division Midwest Series despite missing one race and made the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale that year. At Irwindale he finished fourth in track points in 2001. Joanides entered the race Saturday ranked second in 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American California State Series points with 804 points. Altamont Motorsports Park driver Jason Gilbert led with 844 points. Both drivers had ten victories and 17 top fives, but Gilbert had 20 top tens in 21 races to 17 top tens for Joanides in his 19 starts.
The track statement last Saturday that Joanides was the 2008 SLM track champion was premature despite his 70-point lead with one race and 50-points available for the winner of the final race on September 13. During mid-week, track GM/COO Bob DeFazio switched the SLM race Saturday from one 50-lap race to twin-25s to make the evening more exciting. Each race awarded 50 points to the winner, so with 100 points available, Joanides had to compete to successfully ward off Thirkettle's bid for his first SLM championship. He did so in a new yellow and black driving uniform that matched the colors of his No. 71 Chevy. Joanides' new uniform was a gift from his appreciative car owner Loyd McGhee, a first-time car owner champion at the track. Joanides thanked Jackson race cars, for whom he had raced 15 years, car owner McGhee and his sponsors, including Mr. Crane.
Ironically, the two SLM features had the exact same top three finishers. Allen was second in both 25s. David Ross, a 19-year old SLM veteran, matched his career-best third place in both events. Stephen Peace and Matt Hicks were fourth and fifth in the first 25. Dan Moore and Mark Perry took fourth and fifth in the second 25. Michels ran the fastest lap in race one and Allen had the fastest lap in the second event. Nineteen of 21starters finished each race, with 17 drivers on the lead lap in both features. The time of the first race was 7:52.851 in an all-green flag race. Race two also was caution-free and took 7:55.492.
The SLM rookie of the year contest between Randel King, 16, and fellow teen Luis Martinez, Jr. was close with King 44 points ahead of 13th place Martinez entering the first 25. King's No. 35 broke a connecting rod in the first main and was a DNF, while Martinez finished tenth. In the second 25, King sub-drove the No. 66 car that was qualified and raced in race one by Matt Eshleman. King finished 17th, on the lead lap, in his replacement ride. Martinez was tenth in race two. King edged Martinez by less than ten points for the SLM 2008 rookie trophy at the November 15 TS@I championship awards banquet.
LATE MODELS: The 40-lap Auto Club Late Models main went to two-time series champion and 2008 point leader Tim Huddleston in his "blue crew" No. 50 High-Point Distributing, Justice Brothers-sponsored Chevy Monte Carlo. It is the 55th car built by Racecar Factory in Irwindale. He started from pole position and led all the way. It was his fifth victory in 16 races this year. Huddleston now has 38 feature triumphs at Irwindale—all in ACLM—and ranks second in all-time main event victories at the track. He won by 0.487 over his Reno, NV-based rookie HPD Racing protege--Beau DeBard, the fastest qualifier in a 22 car field. The 21-year old was driving the No. 51 Ford Fusion in only his second ACLM race. DeBard was on the cover of "Reno Now" magazine and the subject of a 16 inch story about his racing career and NASCAR goals. DeBard is a graduate of shifter karts, Skip Barber's open-wheel racing series, and the USAC Ford Focus Midgets as a Ron Sutton Winners Circle driver development program. DeBard has been a Bill McAnally late model stock car driver development program rookie driver this season at All-American Raceway in Roseville, CA.
DeBard trailed boss Huddleston by five to ten yards most of the race. A lap 14 crash on the backstretch involved cars in fourth through seventh positions and caused a yellow flag. Lindsey King, Andrew Myers, Colin Fleming and Mike Johnson all had to restart at the back. On the lap 14 restart DeBard's car accelerated slower than leader Huddleston. Third place Joanides (in his ACLM ride for McGhee's J & M Construction team) got into the back of DeBard's car and bent his hood upward significantly. He pitted and his crew quickly removed the hood. Joanides, who entered the race only two points behind Huddleston, returned to the back of the field under caution and raced up to eighth place. He now trails Huddleston by 16-points with two ACLM races remaining (September 27 and October 4). A lap 23 multi-car crash in turn two eliminated the No. 2 and No. 98 cars after nose-to-nose impact at the crash-wall. L. King and Travis Irving had to go the the back after their incident at the same time. Another crash on lap 37 caused the third caution of the 33-minute event. Myers climbed back to fifth place, the highest finish for any of the drivers with problems earlier.
PURE STOCKS: A 13-car pure stock 30-lap race on the third-mile was a three-car duel at the front. Tom Whitson led the first 19 laps from the pole. Second generation driver Ken Michaelian, in a No. 43 Petty blue 1975 Dodge Dart, passed him on the inside at turn four and won the first feature of his brief career by 15-yards (1.051) over Tommy Agosta. He said his dad was on a trip to Alaska, so maybe they should send him on more trips. Whitson settled for third, three lengths in front of his brother Mark. Mike Colato, Jr. was fifth in the 8:56.967 all-green flag race. Twelve drivers finished and nine of them completed all 30 laps. Agosta is now tied at 544 points with seventh place finisher Chad Kelly. Two races remain until the 11th and final race unfolds on October 25.
SUPER STOCKS: Point leader/2006 series champion Bryan Harrell came from fourth starting spot aboard his 1977 Camaro to win his eighth Vista Paint Super Stock 35-lap main in an 11-car field. Pole starter Gerrit Cromsigt led the first six laps in his 1977 Camaro formerly owned and raced by Eric Sunness and finished second, 1.451-seconds back. Gary Read finished third aboard his 1975 Camaro, 2.178-seconds behind the winner. Fastest qualifier Larry Cerquettini was fourth in his Camaro, 4.923-seconds back. Rich DeLong III, the second ranked driver in VPSS points, raced from eighth to fifth place during the second half of the race. Ten drivers finished and nine ran every lap. The all-green flag race took 12:37.127. Cerquettini ended Harrell's streak of fast times at ten with his first quick time this year. Harrell's eighth victory in 11 VPSS races this year was his 26th (all in VPSS) at Irwindale and he now ranks tenth on the list of all-time track feature winners. Harrell now enjoys a 52-point lead with a pair of races remaining on the schedule.
The evening was designated "Law Enforcement Appreciation Night" and a group of CHP patrol cars and a CHP motorcycle officer took parade laps on the half-mile before the National Anthem. A moment of silence for the victims of the Metrolink commuter train and Union Pacific freight train crash Friday at Chatsworth (San Fernando Valley) followed. A crowd of almost 3,000 watched the first race, a six-lap trophy dash for the six slowest VPSS cars. Curtis White won in his Camaro. Main event hard charger award winners were: Mark Perry (ACD SLM); Mike Varela (ACLM), and DeLong (VPSS). Fastest qualifiers were: Michels (ACD SLM); DeBard (ACLM); Cerquettini (VPSS), and Justin Good (PS).
TRAILER RACE: The sixth and final main event of the evening was the first-ever "Trailer Race" at Irwindale. A 13-car field, composed of Figure 8 and demolition derby veterans, raced for 15 laps clockwise on the third-mile oval, not on the Figure 8 course favored by tracks in the Midwest for trailer races. The winner received $600 and the cars used electronic transponders that enabled fans to follow the top ten cars on the scoring pylon. Printed rules called for American- made cars, not trucks or vans, and carnage was welcome. All cars had to tow a trailer that met published rules on the TS@I website. Single axle trailers had to be at least ten-feet long from a single ball hookup. Trailers had to carry at least 500 pounds. Starting position priority was given to longer trailers. There were three golden rules: 1- Safety for drivers and audience; 2- Entertainment for the crowd; 3- Have fun.
Participants used trailers carrying small to large boats, big truck tires on flat trailers, a horse trailer, low rider cargo carriers and car carriers. One car towed a VW bug (No. 53 car) that was the middle car in a recent TS@I "train race". The race started at 9:18 and lasted seven minutes. Pole starter Robert Rice, of Hawthorne, drove his orange Pick Your Part No. 7 Chevy El Camino with a decorated "pirate row boat" complete with a skull & crossbones pirate flag on a makeshift mast. Some of the participating cars were veterans of recent TS@I train races. Smashing and bashing of trailers was commonplace and debris littered the third-mile oval. NASCAR-like debris cautions were not used. Drivers drove over and through debris. One car backed down the track pushing debris and a slow speed, and a nose-to-nose collision followed. One car smashed head-on into the outer wall causing a track photographer to tumble and roll down the grass hillside to the edge of turn four of the half-mile. No serious injuries occurred. Ten cars were running at the checkered flag. Fans were vocal throughout the wild event and an encore is likely. .
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