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Irwindale, CA., Sept 5 – Mike Johnson is a man of his word. When he won the NASCAR Auto Club Late Model main event on July 25 he vowed to win every main event remaining on the schedule this year because his car and team are so good. The 52-year old driver from Covina won again Saturday on the half-mile Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in front of about 2,000 spectators on the Labor Day weekend. It was the annual Pipe Trades & Labor Appreciation Night. A moment of silence to honor late track officials Robert “Chico” Powell and Chuck Matthews preceded the National Anthem. Johnson's fourth consecutive ACLM victory in his No. 17 Racecar Factory-built Chevy Monte Carlo was a dominating, yet lucky performance in the 50-lap feature. As fastest qualifier for the second straight week, Johnson started second in the 18-car field with two new tires and had a sense of confidence that he would win again as he had promised.
On the initial lap, the caution flag appeared after a backstretch crash and Johnson got tapped from behind and spun in turn four, flat-spotting his tires. Travis Irving had nudged Tim Huddleston who hit the backstretch wall with his right front and continued slowly. Miles Copenhaver also spun in turn four to avoid Johnson's car. Officials restarted the race with all cars in original positions because several cars were involved on lap one. Huddleston drove to the pits and his crew applied tape to the right front fender under caution; he returned just in time to start at the back. The restart also had a yellow flag after Chris Holloway, in mid-pack, broadsided the wall exiting turn four and again on the front straight after a bump from Kenny Smith. His car veered at speed onto the pit entrance road near the first turn and stopped. He was uninjured but his car was sidelined. The third green flag was the charm and drivers ran 50 green flag laps in 16-minutes. Total time of the event was 28 minutes, including time lost because of the two restarts.
ACLM: Pole starter Travis Motley, 19, led the first lap before Johnson passed him on lap 2 and opened half a straightaway lead over Motley by mid-race. Johnson still held that comfortable advantage with five laps remaining when he felt his RF tire going flat. “I prayed there would not be a yellow flag that would cost me the race,” Johnson said. On the final lap Johnson slowed in the final turn and won by 30-yards (1.513) over Motley. It was Johnson's fifth ACLM 2009 point-race victory and his sixth late model triumph, including the televised late model preliminary main during the January 2009 Toyota All-Star Showdown. Motley, from Tucson, AZ., enjoyed his career-best runner-up finish. His best result had been a fifth place two months ago in the same No. 59 HPR Chevy. His best result in his own No. 91 that he raced in 2007-08 had been eighth place.
Rookie Beau DeBard, 22, started third as third quickest qualifier in 7:00 pm time trials and ran third all 50 laps. It was his fifth top three finish in 14 ACLM features this season. He trailed his HPR Chevy teammate Motley by 1.510 and edged his HPR teammate and fellow Reno resident Dallas Colodny, also an ACLM rookie, by 0.695. Travis Irving finished fifth after starting sixth. Point leader Nick Joanides started ninth and finished sixth. Copenhaver, teenager/rookie Kyle McGrady, teen Connor Cantrell and rookie Kenny Smith completed the top ten. Huddleston, in 14th place, was the last car running at the finish and was three laps in back of the winner.
When interviewed at the finish line, Johnson thanked God, his crew chief Tony Stone, sponsors Hot Wire Electrical, Cash Grading Contracting and Pegasus Hobbies, plus his wife Janice for attending for her third time this year when he won. The jubilant winner also thanked Kevin, “my buddy from high school, for buying me race tires three times this year to run with all the talented young drivers in this series.” Johnson's 50 points for winning moved him from third to second position in current standings, only 26 points behind Joanides (610-584). Three-time ACLM champion Huddleston scored only 24 points and dropped from second to third in points with 578. Four point races remain this season. Johnson said he wasn't thinking about a possible first track championship after he scored only 2-points when he did not finish the first 2009 race on March 28.”I only race for wins,” he said. When informed of his current point position he said, “I'll still race for wins, but we'll see (about the championship).” He reiterated his promise to win every remaining 2009 ACLM feature.
SUPER TRUCKS: Rod Johnson, Jr., who turned 20 two days earlier, started second as second fastest qualifier and led laps 8-40 in the King Taco Super Truck feature. It was his second consecutive victory in the series, sixth this year and eighth in his two-year truck career. He won the 2008 series rookie of the year trophy. Johnson moved from third to second in series points, only six behind 2007-08 series champion Pat Mintey, Jr. (536-530) and two points in front of Jeff Peterson. Only two races remain. Pole starter Grant Hebner, 20, led the first seven laps and was second, 40-yards in back of Johnson with three laps to go after a 30-lap duel with Peterson. On lap 39 Peterson's No. 38 drove deep into turn three side-by-side with Hebner and moved him up the track as he took second position. Hebner charged back on the final lap and attempted to duplicate Peterson's move on him. Hebner's No. 31 got into Peterson's left side in the fourth turn and both drivers moved up the track. Hebner bounced off the wall as Ryan Partridge shot from fifth place to second, 4.323 seconds in back of winner Johnson. Peterson recovered and placed third. Mintey gained two positions (P. 6 to P.4) during the final turn confusion. Hebner lost two positions and crossed the finish line fifth. Mason Britton also dropped two positions (P. 4 to P. 6). Fastest qualifier Ron Peterson, the 2004 and 06 series champion and father of the third place finisher, placed seventh. Quick Pick Motorsports owner/driver Kenny Smith, Dennis Arena and Scott Dodd completed the top ten. In a 19-truck field, 16 drivers finished with 15 on the lead lap. The only caution of the 21-minute race flew on lap 14 after rookie Andrew Anderson got hit from behind and spun in turn two. Ryan Fortier and Robbie Ragains collided and were eliminated in the same accident.
LEGENDS: Dalles Montes, a 16-year old rookie from Bakersfield, started fourth and won his third consecutive Legend Cars main event, the only race run on the four-degree banked third-mile. He led only laps 34-35 and his 50-points moved the leading rookie from tenth to ninth in point standings. Second fastest qualifier Brent Scheidemantle, 16, started fifth and led laps 4-33 before finishing a length in back of Montes (0.176). Point leader Ryan Reed, also 16, came from seventh grid position to earn a challenging third, only 0.006 behind Scheidemantle. Reed opened a 56-point lead over Brandon Toy. Scheidemantle said, “Oil was getting on my tires at the end and I was glad to finish second.” Fastest qualifier Mark Borchetta started sixth and finished fourth—his best finish this year. Kenny Maler, Jr. was fifth with Chad Schug, Jordan Hyland, Rick Clark, Toy and Josh Geer rounding out the top ten. Twelve drivers completed all 35 circuits and three lapped drivers also reached the checkers in a 19-car field.
SOUTHWEST TOUR TRUCKS: Dalton Kuhn, 17-year old son of 2001 Irwindale modified champion Dean Kuhn, started fourth and became the third and final leader two laps from the conclusion of the 40-lap SWT main. Neil Conrad paced the first six laps from the pole. Christian Copley, 17, started fifth and led laps 7-38. Entering the first turn on lap 39 Copley's RF tire went flat and his truck bumped the second turn wall as inside-running challenger Kuhn passed him for the lead. Kuhn led laps 39 and 40 as Copley fell a full straightaway behind him on the final lap. With his flat RF tire making turning left difficult, Copley placed the right side of his truck against the fourth turn wall and rode it to the finish line, 7.829-seconds behind Kuhn. Closing Jeff Williams earned third, 15-yards in back of Copley. The all-green flag race took 13:49.060. Kuhn's winning average speed was 86.845 mph. He ran the fastest lap of the race (88.561 mph) on lap 6. Conrad, Ronnie Davis, Jr., Gus Nanos and Kirk Knostman all completed 40 laps in that order with 11 of 12 starters racing at the finish. The victory was Kuhn's fourth in five SWT Truck features at Irwindale this season. He extended his point lead to 20 (244-224) over Copley after five of seven scheduled TS@I events.
Hard Chargers & Fastest Qualifiers: Hard Charger $100 gift certificate winners were: (SWT Trucks) – Kirk Knostman; (Legends) – Chad Schug; (KTST) – Dennis Arena; (ACLM) – Johnny DeLuca. Fastest qualifiers during the 3:45 to 4:30 pm afternoon sessions were: (Legends) – Mark Borchetta, 16.862 (71.095 mph); (SWT Trucks) – Jeff Williams, 20.251 (88.884 mph); (KTST) – Ron Peterson, 20.039 (89.825 mph); (ACLM) – from 7:06 to 7:22 – Mike Johnson, 18.814 (95.673 mph).
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