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Irwindale, CA., July 18 –Just when you thought the Spears Manufacturing SRL South West Tour 100-lap feature at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Saturday had settled into the final finish order with four laps to go, everything changed drastically. The top four drivers experienced four different problems. Fifth place Troy Ermish, the fastest qualifier and 12th starter in a 20-car field, inherited the lead and kept his No. 3 Bob & Melinda Strandwold Allied Auto, ANPlumbing Chevy Monte Carlo out front from lap 97-100. The first time winner on the Irwindale banked half-mile earned $4,000. The 42-year old Fremont resident and Datsun 510 vintage car businessman extended his lead to 30-yards during the final four laps and won by 1.424 seconds. Ermish finished sixth at Irwindale on April 26, 2008 in the TS@I debut of SRL stocks (former NASCAR Elite Division Southwest Tour cars).
SRL's leading rookie Kevin Callahan, a 21-year old from Bakersfield and veteran late model driver, finished second in Bob Corsero's Ford. SRL point leader M. K. Kanke, the third of four race leaders, led laps 27-96. He held a steady 35-yard advantage when the caution flag flew on lap 96 and laps stopped counting. Third place Jim Pettit II spun into the third turn wall in his own oil and caused the final caution. Fourth place Jason Gilbert's Chevy got turned around in Pettit's oil too and he had to restart at the back of the lead lap cars in eighth place. On the lap 96 caution second place Greg Voigt had a flat RR tire. He pitted for a new tire under caution and returned without losing a lap. On the green flag for lap 97 leader Kanke did not take off because his Dan Nickolai No. 33 Chevy broke fourth gear.
Ermish was in third place behind Kanke and Voigt when the lap 96 caution flag flew. He shot into first position before the field reached turn one after the lap 97 green flag. As cars scrambled for position, fifth place Josh Combs, the 18-year old 2008 SRL rookie of the year, slowed with two flat right side tires from debris plus a sour engine. That allowed second starter Keith Spangler, leader of the first six laps, to charge from sixth to second on the lap 97 green. Callahan moved from fourth to third and Gilbert from eighth to fourth. They both passed Spangler on lap 98 and Voigt dropped him to fifth a lap later. Voigt passed Gilbert for third during the final hectic lap. Ermish crossed the finish line first with Callahan, Voigt and Gilbert on his tail hoping for one more unexpected happening. Fifth place Spangler provided the final fireworks by getting loose exiting the fourth turn and spinning backwards across the finish line, losing a position in the process to pole starter Mike Mendenhall.
David Mantooth and Kanke, who continued running at a reduced pace at the inside of the track, finished seventh and eighth respectively and were the only other drivers who completed all 100 laps. Rookie Jerry Allec, Jr. and former top five runner Combs, on two deflating tires and a sour engine, completed the top ten. Twelve of the 20 starters finished. Unheralded Derek Thorn, from Bakersfield, started ninth and reached second on lap 6 by passing fourth starter Kanke. On lap 7 Thorn made an inside pass leaving turn four and led laps 7-26 over Kanke by several lengths. Thorn's Chevy engine emitted smoke in the fourth turn on lap 27. He slowed to third by the starting line and dropped out, ending his impressive first start at TS@I. The 54-minute race had six yellow flags that consumed 19 laps.
SRL TOP TRIO: The top three SRL finishers came to the press box afterwards. Winner Ermish spoke about the lap 97 green flag. “He (Kanke) spun his wheels and I backed off twice. Then I had to go by him after I almost ran into his car. He pulled over and I thought I just got another spot I didn't have to work for. Last year I was here in my own equipment (No. 38 Pontiac) and finished sixth in this race. I made a telephone call today to a friend who helps me a lot and told him what my car was doing in practice. He said what to do to help it and we did it. I like this track. It's not scary. It's forgiving because the groove is so big.” The happy winner has 18 years of racing experience with ten years of oval track experience. He won the 2008 SRL season opener at Roseville. He is a two-time import drag racing champion and three-time vintage road racing champion. His Datsun 510 preparation firm in Fremont is busy these days preparing vintage 1970s Datsun 510s for oval and vintage road racing clients. Asked whether he thought he could pass leader Kanke when the lap 97 green flag appeared, Ermish stated, “ I thought I'd make one dive bomb passing attempt right after the green and if it didn't work I'd settle for second. My car stayed consistent. I wanted longer runs.”
Ermish's route to the front showed patience. With the 12 car inverted start, fastest qualifier Ermish started 12th and did not break into the top ten until lap 5. He was eighth on lap 20, seventh on lap 30, sixth at lap 50 and engaged in a 25-lap battle with Callahan. He took fifth from Callahan on lap 67 as Kanke, Pettit and Voigt ran in tight 1-2-3 order with Gilbert a close fourth. Voigt took third from Gilbert on lap 50 and continued to use the inside groove as he pressed the top groove running two leaders. Kanke, a three-time NASCAR SW Tour winner at Irwindale, continued to hold off Pettit and Voigt to lap 90 when Voigt made an impressive inside pass in the second turn to drop Pettit, the 2008 SRL Irwindale 100-lap feature winner, to third position. Kanke extended his lead over Voigt from 20 to 35 yards through lap 95 until his lead and fourth gear evaporated after Pettit's oiling and wall-smacking incident produced the final caution flag. Runner-up Callahan said, “He (Pettit) blew the rear end or rear end plug came off and oiled the track and my windshield.” Third place Voigt, from Santa Barbara, said, “I was working him (Kanke) hard and had a chance to win. I have a lot of laps here.” He was the 2000 NASCAR Super Late Model track champion at Irwindale and then competed for years with the NASCAR SW Tour, including stops at Irwindale. Voigt said he didn't know how his tire became flat, but he guessed debris from Pettit's crash caused it to deflate.
Kanke had won three of the four 2009 SRL races this season and entering round five at Irwindale he held a 208 to 166 point lead over Voigt after races at Roseville, the Las Vegas Bullring and two at Madera. Ermish ranked 12th and Callahan seventh. Auggie Vidovich won the only SRL race that eluded Kanke and was set to drive the No. 1 Strandwold Chevy at Irwindale. However, that car failed to meet template measurements during pre-race inspection and was precluded from racing. Craig Raudman, the No. 2 Strandwold Chevy SRL driver and a crew chief in NASCAR's Camping World West Series, was absent and at the CW West road race in Portland, OR. The touring SRL-SW Tour Series, run in recent years by Steve Fensler and now under the guidance of former Mesa Marin Raceway owner Marion Collins and his son Larry, will return to TS@I on October 10 for round nine of ten this year.
SUPER STOCKS: Round seven of the 12 race Vista Paint Super Stock season was a carbon copy of the preceding six races. Point leader Larry Cerquettini set his seventh consecutive fastest qualifying time. He then started sixth in a ten-car field and won his seventh feature in a row in his No. 42 Chevy Impala SS. He became the third leader of the 30-lap main on the half-mile by passing lap 2-24 leader/fifth starter Rich DeLong III in another Five Star Bodies of Wisconsin Impala SS. The two had waged a stirring, anger-producing duel last week in which DeLong bumped and spun Cerquettini to the infield. However, this week they played nice and dueled cleanly from lap 8-25 when Cerquettini made an inside move in turn two and took command. He pulled away steadily and won by 20-yards (1.283 seconds) over DeLong, who is still seeking his first Irwindale feature victory. Second starter Eric Sunness, in a 1975 Camaro, pressured DeLong during the final four laps and trailed him by one length (0.146). Pole starter Gerrit Cromsigt's Camaro led the first lap and finished fourth, with Kenny Brown's 1973 Camaro fifth. Nine of ten starters ran all 30 laps in a 12-minute contest with one caution for a solo spin. Cerquettini's seventh consecutive triumph set a series record and broke his three-way tie at six straight victories with now retired T. K. Karvasek and Lee Ladd.
MINI STOCKS: The Justice Brothers Mini Stocks used the third-mile and opened the four main event evening on a hot day with temperatures in the 90s still at 6:00 pm and in the upper 70s when the SRL feature concluded at 9:57 pm. Tyler Rogers, the 23-year old, 2006-07 mini stock track champion, started second in a six-car inversion and led all 35 laps in his family-owned Ford Pinto. It was his 20th main event triumph at the track—all in mini stocks. The winner had to repulse passing attempts by his younger brother Jacob from lap 8 to the conclusion. His Pinto trailed by 0.226 and his older brother thanked him for racing him cleanly. Point leader Daryl Scoggins started ninth in the 13-car field after experiencing problems during afternoon practice and qualifying during the heat of the day. The LAPD cop charged forward to P. 3 by lap 15, but he could not challenge the Rogers brothers and trailed by 0.500. He saw his four race winning streak come to an end and lost four points from his series lead after seven of 12 scheduled races. Scoggins now has a 26-point lead (340-314) over Tyler Rogers, a three-time winner this season. Steve Rogers (father of the lead duo) and fastest qualifier Rod Schmitt finished fourth and fifth and made it a Pinto sweep of the top five positions. Nine of 11 finishers ran all 35 laps of the 13-minute race with two cautions.
CLASSIC STOCKS: The entertaining classic stocks (called pure stocks through 2008) had nine starters and five of them led the race at some point in the fully inverted start. Rookie Steve Vukovich, a distant cousin of the the Indy car clan from Fresno, led the first two laps from the pole. Fifth starter Tommy Mason (of Low Budget TV fame) led lap 3 in his 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo. Then seventh starter Mike Colato led laps 4-10 in a tight three-way duel before quickest qualifier Tommy Agosta made a fender to fender pass in turn four. He led from lap 11 through lap 25. Point leader Ken Michaelian, 20, asserted his series dominance in his No. 43 Petty-blue 1975 Dodge Dart and went to the front on lap 26 on the inside by using Curtis Drye's Chevelle as a pick to slow outside-running Agosta entering turn three. He opened a ten-yard winning margin (1.013 seconds) over Agosta. It was his eighth victory in nine mains this year and the second time he has won four in a row. Second year driver Mason inherited third place on lap 27 when Colato's 1976 Chevy Nova blew the RR tire and pitted. Harry Michaelian, father of the winner, and Patrick Miller rounded out the top five and were the only other finishers on the lead lap. Eight drivers finished the 11-minute race that had one caution flag to check for debris after Colato's tire blew.
Fastest qualifiers: The three in-house divisions qualified from 4:00 to 5:00 pm and the 20 touring SRL cars qualified following the National Anthem from 7:09 to 7:31 pm in cooler temperature. Ermish, the third SRL driver to qualify, ran 18.272 on his first of two timed laps and then ran the FQ time of 18.095 (99.475 mph). It was a new SRL track record that beat Rip Michels' 18.113 (99.376 mph) set on April 26, 2008 in a 24-car field at the only other SRL SW Tour TS@I race. Pettit's 18.193 came on his second lap as the final qualifier. The TS@I track record for the disbanded NASCAR SW Tour stocks is 17.363 (103.669 mph) set by Bryan Germone on May 7, 1999 during the track's inaugural season. The next SRL race will be Saturday, August 8 at Stockton 99 Speedway. Races at Madera (9/15), Stockton (10/3) and Irwindale (10/10) will precede the series finale at the LVMS Bullring (10/31). VPSS: Cerquettini's FQ time was 20.810 (86.497 mph). JBMS: Rod Schmitt's 17.232 (69.568 mph) and classic stocks Agosta's 17.518 (68.432 mph) were their series best laps on the third-mile.
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