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Irwindale, CA., July 12, 2008- Rain interrupted Toyota Speedway at Irwindale racing Saturday during the fifth of seven scheduled main events in front of more than 2,000 spectators. The featured NASCAR AC Delco Super Late Model 50-lap main and the Pick Your Part Outlaw Figure 8 20-lap race will be rescheduled later this season. Management advised fans to bring their ticket stubs next Saturday for free admission to the five division event, topped by the Auto Club Late Model Series. The mid-80s, humid evening had a weather forecast of 20% chance of thunderstorms. Heavy rain hit suddenly at 9:12 pm during lap 22 of the scheduled 30-lap Legend Cars feature. Several cars, including ninth place Ryan Reed, a 14-year old two-time feature winner as a rookie, spun in the third turn. Race control ordered the yellow flag and then the checkered flag after lap 25. Reed's car was removed on the back of a tow truck. The thoroughly drenched track surface precluded racing as fans scurried for cover. Lightning flashes caused track executive Bob DeFazio to cancel the final two features of the night. Officials had consulted Accu-weather on computers and learned the storm was not an isolated cell, but part of a widespread storm system in the area.
Main event winners (in the order the races were run): BANDOLEROS: Andrew Porter, 14, won his first D & D Construction Bandolero feature in a 20-lap race on the third-mile. He started fourth in a nine-car field of Briggs & Stratton-powered cars and took the lead on lap four. Porter, the grandson of long-time stock car and truck racer Kenny Smith, won by 0.172 over newcomer J. A. Junior, 13. Fastest qualifier Aaron Anderson, 12, came from seventh to third, with Ricky Schlick, 11, and Sammy De Los Angeles fifth, one lap down. A fourth lap multi-car crash sidelined four cars, including that of point leader Lexi Moore.
SUPER STOCKS; A 14-car Vista Paint Super Stock field used the half-mile oval for a 35-lap main that went one extra lap because of a late race caution that caused a green, white, checkered flag. The race had three leaders and six lead changes among Chevy Camaro drivers. Greg Crutcher started eighth in the fully inverted lineup and fastest qualifier Bryan Harrell started from position 13. Both drivers entered the race tied for the series point lead at 284 points. The two veterans had won all six prior VPSS features this year, with each driver posting three victories. Crutcher led lap 3-25, 28-30 and 32-36. Harrell weaved through traffic quickly and reached second place on lap 6. With Crutcher high and Harrell low, the duo began lapping slower cars on lap 13 and thrilled fans with their close duel. Whichever driver prevailed would emerge with the point lead and a four to three edge in main event triumphs. Following a yellow flag on lap 26 for a single-car spin, Harrell shot past Crutcher on the inside from turn four to the starting line and led laps 26-27. Crutcher went to the inside and used the same move on Harrell to retake the lead on lap 28. After another caution for a two-car mishap in turn four, Harrell used his earlier inside move to take first from Crutcher on lap 31. But Crutcher used the same move a lap later to recapture the point for good. Harrell trailed by 0.373 of a second at the end. Rich DeLong III took third on lap 14 and finished third for the fifth consecutive race in his No. 84 Camaro. He trailed the winner by 0.744. Larry Cerquettini took fourth place again, with Jeff "Hibachi" Grill fifth, 1.864 behind Crutcher. Eleven of 14 starters finished the 21-minute race with four cautions and ten drivers on the lead lap at the finish. Crutcher now leads 2007 series champion Harrell by two points–334-332.
MINI STOCKS: Action returned to the third-mile for a 35-lap Justice Brothers Mini Stock race. Officials fully inverted the starting lineup after time trials. Fastest qualifier Kevin Bernhardt started 11th after his Ford Pinto had a mechanical problem that parked it. He borrowed Ron Schmitt's Datsun 510 and drove to seventh place. Series champion Tyler Rogers, in a Rogers family Pinto, started eighth and led lap 11-35 for his 16th victory in the four-cylinder series. His younger brother Jacob, 18, came from tenth in another Pinto and led laps 3-10. However, his hood flew off during lap 33 and landed at turn one, causing the only yellow flag of the 12-minute race. He had to restart at the back for causing the yellow flag and finished ninth. Daryl Scoggins' Pinto finished second, 0.388 back. Rich Garver's Toyota Celica was third, 0.657 behind the winner. Ted McDonald and Richie Altman placed fourth and fifth as 11 of 12 starters reached the checkered flag—nine of them on the lead lap.
THUNDER ROADSTERS: The first-ever 600 Racing Thunder Roadster Cars Series race at Irwindale had seven cars. They usually race at the Las Vegas Motors Speedway "Bullring" three-eighths mile paved oval. They used the TS@I half-mile. The roadsters resembled 1950-60 era Indianapolis 500 roadsters with open-wheel chassis and modern roll cages for driver protection. All cars used 1,250-cc Yamaha motorcycle engines for power as do the Legend Cars. The all-green flag race, scheduled for 25 laps, ran 15 laps and took 5:13.630. Fastest qualifier Justin Johnson, a SLM driver from Las Vegas, started seventh and during four-wide racing, took the lead on the second lap. He ran away from the field quickly to win by almost half a lap in the Al Budd Racing orange No. 17. Johnson won by 9.987 seconds over Jared Carpenter, of St. George, UT. carpenter took second from Legends regular Gary Scheurell on the final lap. Scheurell, Josh Gross, Bob Cooke, Al Budd and Bob Warren followed in that order. Six drivers completed every lap. Johnson who finished fourth in a SLM race at Irwindale late last season, set fast time of 20.616 (87.311 mph) during 4:00 pm time trials. During the race, Johnson ran an even faster 20.601. The next fastest main event lap was 21.158 by Gross. The second and third finishers had best laps of 21.208 and 21.201 respectively.
LEGEND CARS: A huge field of 29 Legends took the green flag on the third-mile at 8:57 pm. There were four caution flags for multi-car spins. Brandon Toy, from Bakersfield, led the first 19 laps from pole position after he out-gunned second starter and five-time track champion Tom Landreth at the start. Eric Gunderson started fifth and took second from Landreth via an inside move entering the third turn on lap 15. Gunderson passed Toy on the inside leaving turn two on lap 18, but tenth place Jake Engle spun in turn one and caused a yellow flag, restoring Toy to the lead. On lap 20 Gunderson went to the inside in the second turn to officially pass Toy for the lead. Two laps later rain started suddenly and drenched the track surface. After circling the track slowly four laps under the yellow flag the field received the checkered flag, ending racing for the night with lightning flashing. Rookie Gunderson, 14, had his third feature victory of the year. Toy had his career-best second place. Gary Scheuerell, fresh from his third place in the Thunder Roadsters, placed third. Newcomer Cole Cabrera, from Exeter, T. Landreth, Cory Miles, Michael Springer, teenager Brent Scheidemanltle, newcomer Chris Wesson, from Bakersfield, and Mark Iungerich rounded out the top ten. Twenty of 29 starters finished and 15 drivers completed all 25 laps.
In the only SLM race run Saturday, Scott Conaway started fourth and led all six laps of the four-car trophy dash at 7:00 pm. There were 13 SLM drivers present, the lowest Irwindale SLM car count, lined up on the backstretch holding area ready to race 50-laps. Then rain hit and canceled remaining races. The SLM field also had a fully inverted lineup with fastest qualifier and point leader Nick Joanides scheduled to start 11th. The ten-car PYP Outlaws Figure 8 field was set to run a 20-lap race at the conclusion of competition. Hard charger award winners by series were Cerquettini (VPSS), Bernhardt (JBMS), and Chris Wesson (Legends). Fast time honors went to Bernhardt (JBMS), Aaron Anderson (Bandoleros), Josh Geer (Legends), Harrell (VPSS), Justin Johnson (Thunder Roadsters), Joanides (ACD SLM) and Steve Stewart (PYP F8).
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