|
Irwindale, CA., Sept. 12 –There were 31 NASCAR AC Delco Super Late Models in the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale pits Saturday, a series car count second only to opening point night on March 21. Fastest qualifier Rip Michels and Travis Thirkettle came from the front row and won the twin-40 lap features on the banked half-mile. It was Michels' third and Thirkettle's first 2009 feature victory. Nick Joanides started and finished fifth in the first 40 and then came from fifth to second in the second 40 to earn his second consecutive SLM track championship in the Jackson Race Cars No. 71 of Loyd McGhee. He also won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series 2009 California State Championship, and the first six-race Lucas Oil Slick Six SLM title within the TS@I series track championship. Joanides also finished third in NASCAR short track Whelen National Championship, won by Virginian Philip Morris for the third consecutive year. Joanides told the media, “Rip (Michels) can no longer call me a one championship wonder.” He added that he needed one more position in either 40-lap race to finish second in national points and earn $5,000 more. In addition to his 13 SLM wins Joanides logged 21 top five finishes in 21 races. He won the 2009 TS@I championship by 88-points (1,026-938) over three-time track SLM champion Michels.
In other main events, Randel King, 18, came from seventh starting position in the eight-car, fully inverted field on the half-mile. He led all but the first two laps in a Langers Juice S2 series 25-lap race. It was his fourth triumph in the series. Fastest qualifier/pole starter Billy Ziemann led all 20-laps of the Pick Your Part Outlaw Figure 8 main. Ken Metts, of Sun City, triumphed in a $2,000 nine-car demolition derby in the infield that concluded action at 10:12 pm. The latter two events helped pack the grandstand with about 4,500 fans on “Back to School Night” despite the NASCAR Sprint Cup final race to make the championship chase live on ABC-TV from 5:00-8:00 pm.
The four-degree banked third-mile track was the setting for Jan's Towing Bandolero and Legend Cars series drivers during the busy night at the San Gabriel Valley track. Rookie Ryan Cansdale, 10, solidified his hold on the point lead by leading the final 11 laps of a 20-lap main with 13 starters. It was his 11th feature victory in 19 races to date. He also has five second place finishes. He also won a Friday night Bandolero main in a 13-car field during the weekly all division practice night. A 29-car Legends field had a five-car inverted lineup. That fact did not faze rookie Dallas Montes, from Bakersfield. He won his fourth consecutive Legends feature at Irwindale and jumped from ninth to seventh in points, only two points out of fifth position. Montes led a sweep of the top three positions by 16-year old drivers for the second race in a row. Point leader Ryan Reed (P.2) and Brent Scheidemantle (P.3) duplicated their podium finishes from a week earlier when Scheidemantle edged Reed for runner-up honors.
1ST SLM 40: Pole starter/high groove runner Michels led laps 1-4, 6 and 39-40. Fellow front row starter Thirkettle ran the low groove and led laps 5 and 17-38. Two yellow flags (laps 8 and 39) slowed the race, which took 23-minutes. Andy Allen (14th starter) caught the wall leaving turn four and stopped at the starting line with suspension damage. The lap 39 caution flew after Thirkettle had taken the white flag with a 15-yard lead over Michels. Cars running fifth through ninth were nose-to-tail lap after lap when sixth place Derek Thorn and eighth place Justin Johnson stalled in turn four after several cars made contact. On the lap 38 restart, Michels went to the outside and passed Thirkettle as they exited the fourth turn. Thirkettle fought back on the final lap, but trailed by 0.266 at the checkered flag. Luis Martinez, Jr., 19, finished third (-0.641) and 17-year old Las Vegan Bear Rzesnowiecky was fourth (-0.834). Joanides, with his Chevy at less than full power, placed fifth (-1.254) . Danny Gay (-1.424), David Beat (-1.845), Chris Johnson (-2.157), David Ross (-2.552) and Andrew Phipps (-2.823) completed the top ten. Twenty-one of 29 drivers finished and 16 drivers completed all 40 laps. Michels victory was his 60th at the track (in three divisions). All three of his SLM victories this year came in the first of twin 40-lap mains during the last three months. He now has 17 feature triumphs more than the second most prolific winner, Tim Huddleston, who has 43 Auto Club Late Model victories.
2ND SLM 40: With the starting lineup for the second 40 set by the finishing order of the first 40, Michels and Thirkettle again shared the front row. This time Thirkettle was determined to avenge his disheartening loss in the first 40. He grabbed the lead at the start and led all 40 laps, despite pressure from Michels (L 1), Martinez (L 2-29) and then rejuvenated Joanides (from L 30-40). It was Thirkettle's 34th triumph, including the shortened Toyota All-Star Showdown preliminary SLM race in January. Michels faded to 11th about the three-quarters mark. Joanides took fourth at lap 21, third on lap 24 and second on lap 30. With Thirkettle high and Joanides low, Joanides closed quickly and was a mere length back as they took the white flag at lap 39. Nearly all eyes were on the dueling leaders and their intense battle for victory. Martinez and Rzesnowiecky were about 30-yards in back of the leaders battling just as intensely for third place. As Thirkettle and Joanides raced from turn four towards the finish line, the cars of Rzesnowiecky and Martinez slammed together into the outside wall with a loud impact. Flames erupted briefly from the engine area of Rzesnowiecky's Jackson Racing Chevy after the heavy impact caved in the right front end and side frame to the engine. Both angry drivers climbed out quickly. An experienced observer said Rzesowiecky passed Martinez on the outside on the backstretch and Martinez tried to regain the final podium position with an inside pass as they entered turn three. Their cars came together and shot up the track into the wall between the third and fourth turns. Neither driver was injured but both cars received heavy damage. Because the two leaders received the checkered flag before the starter waved the red flag, the race was complete. Martinez (17th) and Rzesnowiecky (18th) were credited with 39 laps and finished in their running order on that lap.
Danny Gay, running fifth after 39 laps, finished third officially, 4.329 seconds in back of winner Thirkettle, who edged Joanides by 0.212 in the 15-minute event. Past Irwindale track champion Andrew Phipps, in one of three Vision Airlines cars from Las Vegas, came from tenth starting spot to earn fourth. Chris Johnson, a TS@I regular and current NASCAR Camping World West driver, finished fifth. Dan Moore, who spun to the backstretch infield in the first 40 and was a non-finisher, charged from 22nd in the 27-car field to finish sixth. Derek Thorn, David Ross, Michels and Ryan Partridge rounded out the top ten, with 20 cars still racing at the end; 16 drivers were credited with 40 laps. The race had a single yellow flag on lap 19 after David Beat spun out as he exited the fourth corner. He returned and placed 16th.
LANGERS S2: Female racer Kendell Lopez, an 18-year old resident of Independence, MO. who flies to California to race, started fourth and led the first two laps in her HPR rent-a-ride No. 59. ASA Speed Truck veteran King, from Riverside, charged from seventh to second in one lap and led laps 3-25. It was his fourth S2 victory in the King Taco/Molecule Position One Motor-sports No. 77 that has won five of the six S2 races to date. King opened a 25-yard advantage by lap 15. A solo spin by new S2 driver Bobby Kelley on lap 21 produced the only caution flag. Ryan Reed, 16, set fast time and a new track record in time trials in his third S2 event. Reed came from eighth to pass Lopez on lap 9 and trailed by 0.326 at the checkers in a 10:39.832-timed race. Lopez held on to third for her first podium finish in the brand new track series that debuted on July 4 with six cars. Bandolero, Legends and super stock veteran Andrew Anderson, 16, finished fourth, with Kyle Longmore, 19, fifth. All eight starters completed the full 25 laps. Two races remain in the inaugural S2 series.
LEGENDS: Cale Kanke, 16-year old son of SRL stock car winner M. K. Kanke, set the fastest qualifying time in a 29-car field and started from pole position. He led the first four laps. Montes was second on lap 4; he used the same successful inside move in the third turn three times before his pass for the lead became official. A dropout car engine fire in the infield caused a brief red flag. Then after restarting lap 5, he duplicated his pass for the lead but the yellow flag flew after several cars collided in the third corner and two cars stalled. His third pass took and Montes opened a steady ten-yard lead to the finish. Second starter Reed took second from Scheidemante on lap 31 and the top three finished in that order. It was the second runner-up finish for Reed during the evening. Reed opened a 74-point lead over former point leader Brandon Toy, 17, who placed 11th. Tom Landreth, the series six-time track champion, came from 11th to earn fourth. Donny St. Ours, 15, charged from 17th starting slot to fifth, 2.395-seconds behind the winner. Chad Schug, former late model driver Tony Green, Ryan Schug, Michael Smith, 17, and 2008 Legends track champion Darren Amidon completed the top ten in that order. Twenty-five of 29 drivers finished and 23 of them ran all 35 laps.
BANDOLEROS; Ricky Schlick, 12, led the first nine laps after starting third. Lap 2 produced the most spectacular Bandolero flip in track history. Devan Newberry, a 13-year old girl from Bakersfield and a newcomer to TS@I competition, had set fifth fastest qualifying time and was in third position on lap 2. As the leaders raced onto the backstretch her car was tapped by fastest qualifier Aaron Anderson and another car in close quarters. Her car turned sideways and began flipping in a series of eight rapid barrel-rolls. It landed upright in the infield, about 30-yards from the track. Newberry, whose older brother Brennan raced USAC Ford Focus Midgets and currently races in the touring SRL stock car series, was uninjured. She rode back to the pits in the ambulance as a wrecker returned her No. 35 to the pits on a hook. Ryan Cansdale, 10, led laps 10-20 for another dominating victory in his inaugural Bandolero season. Anderson took second from Schlick on lap 14. Rookie Trevor Huddleston, 12, took third three laps from the finish. Schlick was fourth. Lexi Moore, 10-year old daughter of SLM driver Dan Moore, sub-drove Blake Dunkleberger's No. 4 car from ninth to fifth in a 13-car field. The 15-minute event included one red and one yellow flag. All 12 finishers completed 20 laps. On Friday night Cansdale beat Anderson with Schlick, Christian McGhee and Devan Newberry, in her first TS@I race, fifth. Eleven of the 13 starters finished and all logged 25 laps in a 16-minute event during the regular all division Friday night open practice. Cansdale holds a 54-point lead over Anderson.
PYP FIGURE 8: Pole-man “Barefoot” Billy Ziemann, who shuns shoes, scored his third $1,000 F-8 victory this season in eight races. He only cut two points from the series lead of three-time 2009 race winner and 2005-07-08 track champion Steve Stewart, who trailed Ziemann by 40-yards at the end and now leads by 20-points (436-416). Tony Curtis, Willy Voesten and Jerry Toporek followed. The ten-car field included a classic stock and the NASCAR No. 3 SLM driven by Richie Altman, who dropped out on lap 7 after one close call at the intersection. The race took 13-minutes, including one red flag to remove a stalled car near the intersection.
DEMO DERBY: The fan-popular demolition derby lasted 12-minutes and produced a first-time DD winner in Ken Metts, who drove the only station wagon against nine American-made sedans. Past demo derby winner Stan McDonald was among the final three cars running, but officials disqualified his car. The top five were Metts, Justin Stress, May 23 DD winner Bill Thiebert, three-time 2008 DD winner Dan Pachella, and Louise Johnson. Shayla Zins, the last DD winner on August 8, did not compete.
Hard Chargers/Fastest Qualifiers: Hard charger $100 gift certificate winners were: (SLM) – Dusty Davis for both 40-lap mains (P. 22 to P. 15 in the first 40 and P. 15 to P. 12 in the second 40); (Legends) – D. St. Ours (P. 17 to P. 5). Fastest Qualifiers: (SLM) – Michels, 18.069 (99.618 mph); (S2) – R. Reed., 20.154 (89.312) - a NTR (the old record by King on August 1 was 20.178 (89.206 mph); (F-8) – Ziemann, 18.995 (71.450 mph); (Legends) – D. Montes, 16.846 (71.162 mph); (Bandoleros) – (Sat.) - A. Anderson, 18.914 (63.382 mph) ands (Fri.) - Trevor Huddleston, 18.694 (64.128 mph).
P.S # 1 - If you wondered why you did not see Lugg Nuttz, the costumed track mascot perform Saturday in his custom-made car, the reason was his wall-contact last week as he executed his usual smoking donuts on the front straight. His mini-Legends convertible blue car was not ready to go yet.
P.S # 2 – SLM champion Joanides' NASCAR Whelen bonus earnings are as follows: third place in national points - $5,000, California state championship $2,000, and TS@I track championship $3,000 for a combined $10,000 in extra 2009 SLM earnings. The Lucas Oil Slick Six winning share will be presented at the annual TS@I championship awards dinner. Other SLM series awards will be the car owner and crew chief awards and the rookie of the year award.
P.S # 3 – A TS@I announcement this week shows a new non-point, SLM open race scheduled for Saturday, September 26. The Eibach Springs of Corona 100 will pay $5,000 to win, $2,000 for second, $1,000 for sixth, plus $350 for P. 11-20, $250 for P. 21-30 and $150 for P. 31-40. NASCAR SLM cars, All-American, and Southwest Tour cars will be allowed to compete. The sound requirement is 90 decibels at 100 feet. Only Sunoco fuel bought at TS@I will be allowed. See the TS@I website for additional details and entry information.
|
|
