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Irwindale, CA., Aug 8 –On Saturday evening, in front of 5,500 spectators, Mike Johnson backed up his July 25 victory lane statement. He promised to win every NASCAR Auto Club Late Model main event at the half-mile Toyota Speedway at Irwindale for the balance of the season. He led all 40 laps for his second consecutive triumph in his Racecar Factory Chevy Monte Carlo, the last RCF-built spring car. “It can't be the driver because I'm old and not that good. The car is that good,” said the 52-year old Covina resident. He praised his chassis expert, Dean Kuhn, his crew chief, team and sponsors for his strong-running car. With six races remaining in the 18-race season, Johnson repeated his promise to win every remaining ACLM race this season. His victory Saturday was his eighth career victory at Irwindale; he said he should have won about ten races this year, but bad luck cost him victories. Johnson won the late model preliminary feature to the Toyota All-Star Showdown in January and has three 2009 point-race feature victories.
Two truck racing series shared the spotlight Saturday and in fact overshadowed the late model race in excitement and fantastic finishes. The touring South West Tour Trucks (ex-West Coast Pro Trucks and ex-American Race Trucks) ran the most exciting and best four-truck battle in series history. In fact the two races justified the overused term awesome. Jeff Williams won the 40-lap SWT feature after leading for 39 and a half laps. He lost the lead on the last lap from the second to fourth turn and then regained the point as the top four drivers charged to the finish line. TS@I King Taco Super Truck racers were in staging beyond the backstretch and watched the SWT trucks stage their outstanding race. The KTST field continued the excitement with their own four-truck lead pack that included a 50-year old father and his 18-year old son. The lead changed hands five times during the 40-lap race before Ryan Partridge scored his first career KTST victory.
The first race of the night at 7:30 was a 25-car, 35-lap Legends thriller on the third-mile inner track. Fastest qualifier/point leader Ryan Reed, 15, led for 26 laps before 16-year old rookie Dallas Montes made an inside pass without contact entering the third turn. He led laps 27-35 for his first Legends feature victory. Keeping up with the night's first-time winners thread, Shayla Zins, of Acton, won the eight-car demolition derby in her first attempt at DD mayhem. She became the first female DD winner at the track in a demo derby that was not exclusively for female competitors. Zins is the girl friend of Tommy Mason, the No. 96 classic stock car driver. She borrowed his helmet and driving uniform. They paid $100 for the 1970s Chevy station wagon. The six-minute contest concluded at 10:08 pm. The evening also included two sessions of XDL sport motorcycle freestyle championship competition for a handful of riders who performed one-wheel tricks and various fan-pleasing maneuvers in the infield and on the front straight of the half-mile.
LEGENDS: Point leader Ryan Reed, son of past NASCAR Southwest Tour driver Mark Reed, started first and led the initial 26 laps. Fifth starter Dallas Montes, part of the five-member Bakersfield posse in TS@I Legends racing, was third on lap 1. He took second in Steve McGowan's No. 17 sedan on lap 11 following a caution flag. A red flag stopped the race on lap 21 after the engine erupted in flames as second-time driver Jonathon St. Ours, the 14-year old brother of past winner Donny St. Ours, exited turn four. He parked his No. 07 car on the half-mile near turn one and emerged without injury. The track crew extinguished the blaze quickly. Montes closed quickly on Reed after a brief caution for a one-car spin. Montes used an inside move and passed Reed entering the third turn on lap 27. Reed, the feature winner last week and a three-time winner last year, pressured his rookie rival to the checkered flag, but he trailed by two lengths (0.260). Chad Schug started second, dropped to fifth by lap 13 and charged back to third on lap 33. He trailed the winner by 1.825 seconds. Title-contender and past point leader Brandon Toy, 19, started and finished fourth. Brent Scheidemantle, 16, started seventh and finished fifth as 24 of 25 starters finished with 23 drivers on the lead lap in a 14-minute event.
SWT TRUCKS: Thirteen trucks ran a 40-lap race with the four leading trucks in a tight pack all the way. Fastest qualifier/pole starter Jeff Williams ran out front in the outside groove. Outside front row starter Dalton Kuhn, 17, was second for 27 laps. Second row starters Christian Copley, a 17-year old truck and IMCA Modified Series racer, was third and Ronnie Davis, Jr. fourth as they tried to pass the two leaders. On lap 28 Davis shot from fourth to second with Kuhn and Copley on his rear deck. On lap 31 Copley duplicated Davis' move and made a two truck pass on the outside from the second to third turns. A yard separated each of the four lead trucks at the checkers. Williams edged back to first place on the outside as the four trucks raced towards the waving checkered flag. Inside-running Copley, the SWT truck feature winner last Saturday at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, had taken the lead from Williams by a few feet from turn two to turn four, and appeared to have victory in his grasp. However, his truck got loose exiting turn four and cost him his first TS@I victory. The final order—Williams, Copley, Davis and Kuhn—had a mere 0.532 between first and fourth. Williams edged Copley by 0.062. Neil Conrad, the last driver on the lead lap, was fifth, 8.005 seconds behind Williams. Ten of 13 starters finished the all green flag race in a time of 14:54.282 for an average speed of 86.302 mph.
KTST: Versatile Ryan Partridge, 21, has raced Legends and won, trucks and late models at Irwindale, but his winning ride Saturday wads his first KTST triumph. He started second and led laps 1-23, 25-30 and 33-40. Third starter Rod Johnson, Jr., 19, led lap 24 and 31-32. Ron Peterson, the 50-year old father of fifth starter Jeff Peterson, 18, is a 31-time feature winner and 2004 and 2006 TS@I champion of the series. Both Petersons were in the four truck lead pack all the way. The first four positions changed hands frequently. Partridge worked the outside groove best and Johnson made his passes on the inside leaving turn four. The Peterson duo traded third place throughout the race until dad Ron passed Johnson for second on lap 36 as they exited the fourth turn. Only 0.768 separated the first four trucks at the end. Ron P trailed by 0.160 and said he was happy to beat his son. Third place Johnson was 0.499 back and Jeff P was fourth, 0.768 back. Point leader/fastest qualifier Pat Mintey, Jr., a three-time 2009 feature winner, started fourth and placed fifth, 1.625 seconds behind the winner. Grant Hebner, Todd Cameron, Mason Britton, 62-year old past California Lottery winner Kenny Smith and Bob Barker completed the top ten. The 17-minute race had one caution for a two truck crash that sidelined both vehicles. Partridge ran the fastest lap of the race at 20.170 (89.241 mph) on lap 2.
ACLM: With a field of 18, quickest qualifier Tim Huddleston started second, with Travis Irving alongside on the pole. Irving got the jump at the green flag and rode Huddleston up the track entering the first turn. That allowed third-starter Johnson to pass both front row drivers on the inside in turn one and he led all 40 laps. Johnson won by 0.571 (10 yards) over series rookie Dallas Colodny, from Reno, and by 0.881 over third place Irving. Rookie Beau DeBard, also from Reno, started fifth and finished fourth (-0.994). He passed his HPR team leader Huddleston during lap 10 on the inside entering the first turn. Point leader Huddleston finished fifth, 1.424 back, and extended his point lead over 11th place Nick Joanides, who started tenth. Joanides pitted on a lap 9 for an adjustment under a caution flag. He returned to the back, still on the lead lap, and ultimately reached 11th position. On the white flag lap, the 16th and 17th place cars of Rodney Peacher and Jobe Spyres tangled and spun in the third turn in front of leader Johnson, who slowed and avoided contact. A green, white and checkered flag finish cost rookie Kyle McGrady, 16, eighth position. On lap 39 his car was crowded into the wall between the third and fourth turns, causing a broken RF wheel. He slowed and pulled into the infield and was the only non-finisher. The 20-minute race had two cautions. All 17 finishers completed 40 laps. Johnson (19.314) and Colodny (19.359) ran the fastest laps of the race on lap 2.
DEMO DERBY: Call it beginner's luck or expert training from her boyfriend Tommy Mason, Shayla Zins made TS@I history by winning the six-minute DD in her first try at the event. She won $1,000 from the $2,000 DD purse. She defeated DD veterans Steve Cook ($500) and Justin Stress ($350). Louise Johnson (fourth) and Ken Metts (fifth) were the only other money earners in the eight-car field. Competitors smashed and bashed cars on a watered area in the infield with large tires marking the “contact ring” for authorized hitting.
Hard charger $100 award certificates went to the following: (LC) – Ryan O'Conner (from Bill Simpson's Impact Racing); (KTST) – T. Cameron (from K1 Speed Karting Centers); (ACLM) – rookie Tim Smith (from Racecar Factory). Fastest qualifiers were: (LC) – Reed at 16.908 (70.901 mph); (SWT) – Williams at 20.075 (89.664 mph); (KTST) – Mintey at 19.932 (90.307 mph); (ACLM) – Huddleston at 18.923 (95.122 mph).
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