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The first So Cal rain of January followed a record ten days of 80+ degree local highs from January 11 through January 20. No additional rain fell in So Cal before February 1 and highs of 80+-degrees returned from January 29-31. January has been a relatively dry month for years in So Cal. The only two days with rain this year were January 23-24—the two days of TASS racing at Irwindale. In fact, racing Friday was a washout. The 7:00-10:00 pm live telecast of CWS qualifying and a 50-lap "open" race for slower qualifiers (to transfer the top six finishers to complete the 40-car, 250-lap feature), plus a 150-lap SLM race could not be run Friday. They were moved to Saturday. SPEED Channel aired five-minutes live from Irwindale at 7:00 pm and gave rain as the reason for no live racing. The washout announcement had been made over the track PA system at 6:25 pm. The network went to alternative programing. Track officials kept trying to dry the track to provide CWS drivers some practice time. They put two trucks towing jet dryers from the Fontana track and trucks towing huge tires circulating the half-mile. CWS teams were able to practice Friday night from 9:45 to 11:00 pm. Matt Kobyluck blew a tire and hit the wall during that late Friday practice session and had to unload his backup Mohegan Sun Resort Chevy for Saturday racing. The backup No. 40 was his winning ride in the 2006 TASS race. That car is a keeper.
Saturday had practice and more rain at mid-day. NASCAR officials present from the Daytona Beach headquarters to run the TASS revised the Saturday schedule for all three series. They canceled qualifying for SLM and LM series and allowed all drivers to start those races. The top 20 drivers in 2008 Irwindale point standings were to start in the first 20 positions based on point positions. Positions 21 and lower were determined by the drawn time trial order. All 47 LM starting positions were set by time trial order. Only CWS cars qualified from 3:45 to 4:37 pm Saturday. Only seven of the 56 qualifiers logged their faster lap on the first of two consecutive timed laps. That included Jason Patison whose right side grazed the first turn wall and caused him to slow (and finish the lap a second slower than the next slowest qualifier). He did not run a second lap and used his backup car and one of four provisional berths for the 250. Greg Pursley spun on his first lap and backed the LR end into the fourth turn wall ending his TASS. The 1-L track record is 17.781 (101.232 mph), set during Irwindale's inaugural season in 1999. Fastest qualifier Chris Johnson, a TS@I veteran in trucks and cars, was the 39th driver to qualify; he turned his best lap of 18.299 (98.366 mph) on his second lap. The TASS was only his third attempt to race in the series. The 21-car CWS "open" race, won by No. 77 Andrew Myers who led all 50 laps, ran from 5:39 to 6:01 pm. Driver introductions on a truck-pulled stage followed for drivers in all three series features. On stage receiving line dignitaries shook hands with all 138 drivers who made the three features. Dignitaries included 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones, TS@I executives Jim Williams and Bob De Fazio, and representatives from Toyota, Whelen and NASCAR. It was 58 degrees, 80% humidity, wind @ 5 mph and mostly cloudy at race time per SPEED-TV.
With no time trials for the two support series, SLM and LM, it's interesting to note the best practice speeds for those drivers. Friday morning rain caused the track to use two jet dryers and trucks towing huge tires to dry the track. Finally, at 3:50 pm 47 of the 52 SLM cars practiced before more light rain ended practice. The top ten SLM in speed were: No. 55 D. Gilliland--18.468, 80 Matt Jaskol—18.682, 99 B. Loverock—18.692, 71 Joanides—18.700, 08 Toni Marie McCray—18.728, 28 M. Hicks—18.729, 70 K. Thompson—18.739, 38 B. Fitzgibbons—18.770, 6 D. Beat—18.772 and 22 A. Allen. The next fastest cars in order were: 47, 75, 25, 5, 88, 67, 59, 21, 76, 01, 32, 15, 10, 61, 83, 11, 35, 05, 93 (USAC 2008 National Midget champion Cole Whitt @ 19.198 in his first stock car attempt), 30, 63, 4, 33, 43, 20, 18, 3, 48, 7, 98, 95, 44, 89, 9, 77, 2 and 12. Cars that did not go on the track were: 03, 17, 57, 60 and 96. A three car mishap produced a noticeable dent in the left side door of Bear Rzewnowiecky's No. 95. On Saturday about noon the LM cars were able to practice before light rain again fell and washed out SLM and LM qualifying. Fastest of the 43 late models that practiced was No. 50 Tim Huddleston at 19.104. Next fastest in speed order were: 85 T. Irving, 77 N. Joanides, 05 E. Schmidt, 8 M. Copenhaver, 28 K. Callahan, 38 S. Gafforini, 2 M. Holeman, 07 Candace Muzny and 88 B. Hodges at 10th fastest. Next in the speed order were cars, 4, 78, 89, 10, 21, 12, 40, 44, 32, 57, 19, 61, 81, 0,. 5, 62, 24, 91, 33, 58, 7, 1, 35, 65, 15, 37, 51, 59, 09, 17, 52, 55 and 25. Some drivers only logged a few warm-up laps before rain started and prevented them from practicing at full speed.
The 250-lap CWS race started 40 cars and ran from 7:19 to 10:18 pm. Award ceremonies and photo taking followed. Then LM teams ran their scheduled 75-lap race from 10:55 to 11:31 pm. Wrecks were plentiful, so NASCAR cut the race from 75 to 55 laps. The SLM 150-lap race started at 11:46 and ran to 12:15 am. A massive wreck on the backstretch during the first lap caused NASCAR officials to cut that race from 150 to 75 laps. More yellows put a 12:15 am time limit on the race. It actually ran only 15 laps--12 laps under the yellow and three green flag racing laps. That is where SLM drivers felt they had been "robbed" of track time. Many of them congregated outside the NASCAR trailer in the pits after the race ended to voice their displeasure. Irwindale police were present to ensure peace. The full purse was paid to LM and SLM teams, but many of them went home with major damage to their race cars. There were a track record 47 starters in the LM feature. The old Irwindale high car count in a race was 43 cars some years ago. Then the SLM series broke the just set starting field record by starting all 51 cars available.
CRASHES: The CWS 250 had full field mandatory pit stops of ten minutes after 100 laps and 200 laps. There were 11 crashes or spins. A red flag at lap 143 involved up to 22 cars either wrecked or stopped following a bad passing move by Ron Hornaday. The three-time NASCAR truck champion tired to take the lead on the inside and slid into impressive race leader Brian Ickler, ending his night. During his interview on TV with a pit reporter, Ickler said, "I now have a huge loss of respect for Ron Hornaday." On lap 244 leader Joey Logano, 18, got slammed off the fourth turn wall by Peyton Sellers in three-wide racing with eventual winner Matt Kobyluck, the only driver to race in all six TASS races and the only two-time TASS race winner. Logano dropped to fourth place briefly before climbing back to second by lap 248. Joey closed in quickly on leader Sellers during the final two laps and then made his Hornaday-like, over-ambitious passing attempt, diving low in turn three and sliding into the left side of Sellers car at turn four. Both Sellers and Logano bounced off the wall. Sellers spun into the right side of passing fourth place Jason Bowles, who spun into the outer wall and careened across the finish line third. Cars behind the leaders got involved as Logano crossed the finish line a length ahead of Kobyluck. The checker and red flag followed. Sellers climbed from his wrecked car, which Antonio Perez had t-boned, and walked to the fourth turn where Logano had stopped. Sellers confronted Logano verbally in his car near the fourth turn outside wall. No injuries resulted. Logano, in his second race at Irwindale, appeared to be the back-to-back winner of the TASS, but NASCAR penalized him to 40th (last) position for rough driving. Question--why wasn't Hornaday penalized for his same disastrous move that took out leader Ickler and damaged many cars. At least Logano made his move in the final corner of the last lap with the checkered flag waving and he did so after being knocked out of the lead in similar fashion seven laps earlier. Hornaday made his dreadful move on lap 143 of 250. When interviewed by TV pit reporters, both Logano and Sellers handled themselves professionally in their remarks for the TV audience. Logano said, "I crossed the finish line first, but it is what it is. It's NASCAR's call. We came here to win and I feel like we did that, but we don't have a trophy."
MORE CRASHING: The LM 75-laps (or 40-minutes whichever came first) started 47 cars and had an immediate yellow flag. A complete double-file restart on lap 7 ran green to a yellow from L 28-38. A lap of green and another yellow consumed L 39-44, then another yellow flew from lap 46-50. On lap 51 race leader Ryan Kaplan and second place Mark Holeman crashed on the backstretch as they dueled for the lead. Both cars hit the backstretch wall and stopped at the third turn wall. Fourth running Bobby Hodges RR end caught the LR of Kaplan's car and partially tore off Hodges' back bumper, sending him to the pits. Seventh place Scott Gafforini spun to the backstretch infield in the same incident. Dual yellow and checkered flags ended the race after 55 laps at 11:31 pm, four minutes earlier than the 40-minute time limit as safety crews worked to remove the Kaplan and Holeman cars. Andrew Myers had passed Mike Johnson, from Covina, at the L 51 green flag, but the finish reverted to the running order on the last green flag lap. Johnson received the victory over Myers and Kevin Vernon. Long-haired Johnson, a TS@I veteran, said, "At 52 I'm the oldest late model driver here. This is the same car I raced last year." He thanked Race Car Factory for his chassis, Liz-zard Engines and his TASS-only sponsors—Jet Connect at Chino Airport and Fast Lane Indoor Karting. The 51-car SLM 150-lap race had a 90-minute time limit. It started at 11:46 pm and a large crash occurred on the backstretch on the first lap. It involved mid-pack and back of the field cars, more than 20 in all either wrecked or stopped to avoid contact. Clean-up took 20 minutes and once cars restarted the first six laps were run under caution. The green flag flew at 12:06 am for L 7 with teams told the race would end at 12:15 am. After three laps of green three cars spun at turn two, with the RF of Hornaday's 75 car atop the left side of Chazz Anderson's car at the grass infield. It proved time-consuming to untangle those two cars and also get Brian Wong's 89 car off the outer wall, so the yellow and checkered flags flew at 12:15 am after 15 laps.
SLM winner Travis Thirkettle collected the $10,000 winner's check with his brand new 2009 RCF chassis. He told the media he was unhappy with the car during practice earlier, but his team made some changes that worked. One race = one win for the largest payday of his racing career had him smiling. TS@I 2008 SLM champion Nick Joanides started first and led the initial aborted lap. He received $5,000 as runner-up in his 2008 championship ride. Dan Moore collected $3,500 for third. He said his now 10-year old daughter Lexi, a two-year Bandolero driver on the TS@I third-mile and runner-up in 2008 series point standings, wants to race a Speed Truck on the half-mile when she turns 14. Moore said his current five-car SLM fleet is available for rent in a driver development program similar to Tim Huddleston's LM organization and Bill McAnally's CWS operation. USAC 2008 National Midget champion Cole Whitt drove Moore's 93 car and fellow teen Bear Rzesnowiecky drove Moore's 95 car in the TASS support event.
FEATURE RACES STATS: Cars running at the finish by series were: CWS—25 of 40, with 13 of the 25 on the lead lap; LM—36 of 47, with 30 of the 36 on the lead lap; SLM—34 of 51, with all 34 survivors on the lead lap. LEAD CHANGES & LEADERS: CWS—per NASCAR there were 18 lead changes and 8 leaders as follows: Jason Bowles (L 1-6, 162-166, 201-212, 242), Chris Johnson, the fastest qualifier at 98.366 mph, (L 7-17), Eric Holmes (L 18-33, 64-72), Ickler (L 34-63, 73-142), Logano (L 143, 145-161, 167-200, 213-241, 243, 250), Trevor Bayne (L 144), Kobyluck (L 244) and Peyton Sellers (L 245-249). Not all of those lead changes held up at the start/finish line. Total laps led were: Ickler 100, Logano 83, Holmes 25, Bowles 24, Johnson 11, Sellers 5, Bayne 1 and Kobyluck 1. The running time was 2:20.18 (53.457 mph). There were 13 cautions for 86 laps (34% of the race). LM—two lead changes and two leaders. NASCAR showed five cautions for 28 laps and five lead changes among four drivers. Laps lead (per NASCAR) Hodges L 1, 6-11, Kaplan L 2-5, 12-50, Myers 51-54, and M. Johnson 55. USAC veteran midget/sprint car driver Kaplan led 43 laps. SLM—One lead change and two leaders. NASCAR showed Thirkettle led eight laps and Joanides led the other laps.
MISCELLANEOUS: This year there were no CWS East vs West team points and financial awards for the winning and runner-up teams. At the L 100 full-field pit stop, Ickler led Baynes by 0.118. At the L 200 break, Logano led Bowles by 1.055. The L 250 winning margin for Kobylock over Bayne was 0.482. Bowles ran the fastest lap of the race at 18.692 during the final 50 laps. Jarit Johnson, brother of three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, raced his way into the CWS 250 by starting 14th and finishing second in the 50-lap "open". He finished 24th with 197 laps in the 250. His No. 58 Chevy had Super Cuts and Jimmie Johnson Foundation sponsorship. TV TIME: Local drivers who received airtime as interviewees on SPEED Channel were: CWS—FQ Chris Johnson, Ickler (DNF), and Bowles (P 3); LM—Richie Altman (DNF), Mike Johnson (P 1); SLM—David Gilliland, Auggie Vidovich, Thirkettle (P 1) and Joanides (P 2). Drivers in the last CWS 250 on October 20, 2007 who did not enter the 6th TASS were: Mike Duncan, Mike Olsen, Rogelio Lopez, Ben Walker, Eric Hardin, Woody Pitkat, Justin Lofton, Mike Johnson from Massachusetts, Chris Bristol, Tim Woods III, Ryan Philpott, Sean Caisse, Stephen Berry, Canadian champion Andrew Ranger and Michelle Theriault, from Bristol, CT.
In the future, when I think of TASS VI of January 2009 I will remember the chaos caused by rain and several "big ones" or multi-car crashes. Mother nature canceled Friday racing, but everyone worked to complete the event Saturday with so many competitors from out-of-state. Crashes and time constraints caused shortening the two support races unfortunately. When I think of young drivers who made major positive impressions I'll think first about three drivers.
> Brian Ickler, 23, qualified third fastest and led 100 of the first 143 laps before he was crashed out of first place by an over-aggressive veteran driver. Brian won three GN West features in 2007 in Bill McAnally's No. 16 NAPA Chevy and three GN East features during 2008 in his family-backed No. 15 Chevy. Last year he led 452 of 1,749 Camping World East laps (26%). In two years of CWS racing Brian has five fast qualifying times, two track records and six feature victories, Brian is one of the two drivers (Chuck Bown is the other) who have won multiple features in both the NASCAR West and East Series. He clearly deserves a shot at a ride in one of NASCAR's three national circuits.
> Trevor Bayne, 17, a DEI driver from Knoxville, TN, made his first visit to Irwindale, qualified sixth fastest of 56 drivers present and raced in the top five most of the race before finishing second. A quick learner like Joey "Sliced Bread" Logano at the fifth TASS, Bayne might just be the next Logano for some wise team owner.
> Alex Kennedy, 16, from Aztec, N.M, raced at Irwindale for the first time. The former Legends and ASA Late Model driver qualified 15th fastest and ran competitively all the way in the all-star field. Amazingly, it was just his second race in the series. He was 12th after 100 laps, 18th after 200 laps and finished 11th on the lead lap in the updated official finish. He was the "lucky dog or beneficiary" on lap 209. Officials credited him with 248 laps and 16th place in the unofficial finish, but his pit stall was at the start/finish line, accounting for the discrepancy. Car owner Jeff Spraker, from North Carolina, pointed out the scoring error to NASCAR officials after the race. They said they would recheck scoring and did so. It was the only position change and Alex's move from 16th to 11th increased his paycheck by $1,700 from $5,800 to $7,500. Alex made his only other CWS start in June, 2008 at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA, where he started 34th and also finished 11th in the No. 23 Spencer Clark Ford owned by Tom Clark. Spraker said the black No. 37 Media Master Chevy Alex drove at Irwindale was not the same No. 37 Glock-sponsored car driven at TS@I in the 2007 TASS by Michelle Theriault, who moved to the ARCA Re/Max Series last year. Spraker praised Alex's performance in qualifying and in the 250-lap race and said they would race together in the 2009 Camping World East Series.
WEBSITE COMMENTS: Racing website comments following the TASS this year made some interesting points. Some questioned why NASCAR officials from Florida had to be in charge of the event, especially the SLM and Late Model support races. Local officials could have officiated at least the SLM and LM series that race at TS@I all year. They would have been happy to run the SLM race to at least 51% of the scheduled distance Saturday night or on Sunday if necessary. Track ownership agreed to race beyond the 11:00 pm curfew after red flags delayed the event and did so. Once racing went beyond 12 am the SLM teams thought they would race to at least past the halfway distance. Other comments questioned the waste of time following CWS time trials from 3:45 to 4:37 pm. There was dead time from 4:40 to 5:30 pm. CWS drivers raced their 50-lap "open" from 5:39 to 6:01. Driver introductions for all three features followed on the portable stage at the starting line. The 6,000+ fans in the main grandstand and thousands more in the pits, plus competitors would prefer to have racing on the track. The LM 75 lap feature could have been completed as well as the CWS 50-lap "open" qualifying race during the 90+ minutes after CWS qualifying. With all 47 LM and all 51 SLM cars starting in the two races, many yellow or red flags for multi-car crashes could have been predicted because of the record high car counts. Large purses and rain-reduced practice time for newcomers to TS@I also portended accidents.
SUGGESTIONS: Keep the TASS at Irwindale. TS@I is the outstanding, most competitive race track for the event with three and four-wide racing commonplace. Retain the SLM and LM support races in future TASS events and include them on the telecast, either live or on tape. NASCAR officials from Florida should officiate only the CWS 250 event. Allow local officials to run the SLM and LM support events as they do all year, because they are more familiar with those local drivers. NASCAR officials could make their flights back to Florida Sunday morning in case of rain; the support series could finish on Sunday if necessary. Keep the TASS date in January because it is a time when there is no other major racing. Two days of rain this year on the TASS weekend were an aberration based on recent history in So Cal. If rain should interfere or cancel racing on Friday officials should make better use of Saturday time or move support races to Sunday if absolutely necessary for them to run the full scheduled distance. The support series teams deserve to race more laps for their own hard work, to satisfy their fans and car sponsors. Additionally, drivers and racing teams should be included in the decision-making process if reducing race distances becomes necessary for support series races to be shown on live TV. Finally, 250 laps and two ten-minute mandatory full-field pit stops are too much in a three series format. A CWS 200 lap race with one break at the 100 lap midway point is better. If 250 laps is untouchable, have only one mandatory break at the lap 125 halfway mark. That should wrap-up the 2009 TASS. It was the most memorable race to date in the series and we can't wait for the 2010 TASS.
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