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Irwindale, CA. June 19 - It was the Vision Airlines Racing Team Justin and Dustin show again Saturday at the half-mile Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in the featured Pepsi One NASCAR Super Late Model Series. Ford Fusion teammates Justin Johnson, 24, and Dustin “Dusty” Davis, 17, won both ends of the 15-car, twin-40-lap main events in front of about 3,000 spectators. All fathers were admitted free in a Father's Day weekend celebration. Both Las Vegas residents led all the way—Johnson from third starting spot and Davis from pole position. Point leader Johnson increased his series point lead to 24 (518-494) over teammate Davis. The two drivers and their entire team are transported from Las Vegas to TS@I aboard a 66-passenger Vision Airline bus on Fridays for the weekly open practice session. They stay at the race headquarters hotel in Monrovia and return home as a team on Sunday mornings aboard the same bus, which is parked in the Vision AL pits Friday and Saturday nighs.
Three other main event winners also used the half-mile. Mike Zimmerman, a 31-year old, second year Southwest Tour Truck Series driver in his self-owned truck, led laps 31-35 of his feature. Taylor Cuzick, a 19-year old Peoria, AZ. driver, led all 50 laps of the touring ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series main after starting first. He held off May 22 TS@I ASA winner Joey Licata for the final 45 laps. Rookie Roman Lagudi, 15, became a first-time winner in season two of the Langer's Juice S2 Series. He led the final 13 laps of his 25-lap feature. Other winners during the seven main event evening were Darren Amidon, who set fast time, started and finished first in a 17-car Echo Equipment Legends race on the third-mile. Fastest qualifier Billy Ziemann started and finished first in the 11-car, 20-lap Pick Your Part Outlaw Figure 8 race.
Remarkably, four of the main events ran all-green flag races, including both SLM mains. Johnson won the first race of the night in a rapid 12:25.460. Davis won the second SLM 40, the fifth of seven races, in 12:27.992. Other all-green light races were the S2 event, the third feature of the night, and the ASA Trucks 50-lap event that concluded racing at 10:02 pm. Officials trimmed 25 laps from the scheduled ASA 75-lap distance before the start because of the busy night and management's desire to conclude racing by 10 pm.
PEPSI SLM-1 ST 40: The 15-car field included Brian Deegan, a 35-year old freestyle motocross racer and ten-time X-Games medalist. The Temecula resident made his NASCAR debut in the NTS Motor-sports No. 58 and set tenth fastest qualifying time at 18.606 (96.743 mph) or 0.672 seconds slower than Davis' fast qualifying speed of 100.368 mph. With many members of Deegan's popular Metal Mulisha fan base present, he was still tenth on lap 3 when he spun out leaving turn four to the third-mile fourth turn. He returned in last position, was lapped on lap 11 and lost another lap two laps before the checkered flag. Deegan finished tenth of ten finishers. Nine drivers completed all 40 laps. FQ Davis started sixth in a six-car inversion and passed his way to second place by lap 5. He chased his fellow Rip Michels pupil/Vision AL teammate Johnson for the remaining 35 laps. “I burned up my right rear tire trying to catch him,” Davis stated. His No. 94 trailed Johnson's No. 98 by 25-yards (1.269 seconds) at the finish. It was his fourth consecutive TS@I victory. Jason Patison, the second quickest qualifier and fifth starter, came home third, 1.885 back, in his second Pepsi One TS@I race this season. Randel King was fourth, 8.128 seconds behind the winner. Travis Thirkettle, from ninth, was fifth, 9.991 back. Ryan Partridge, pole starter David Beat, returning SLM driver Andrew Phipps, Scott Dodd and Deegan were the other finishers.
PEPSI SLM-2 ND 40: The inversion for the second SLM feature was four so Patison, the fastest second lap qualifier, started fourth. Davis, the fourth quickest, shot from the pole and led all 40 laps and did not have to abuse his tires. King started and finished second, 1.668 back. Johnson started and finished third, 1.991 seconds from the lead. Their second place duel was the key race of the second 40. Davis won Pepsi SLM race 11 of the season and gave his Las Vegas-based Vision team eight of the 11 victories—five by Johnson and three by Davis. Patison, Thirkettle, Beat, Partridge, Dodd, Phipps and Brandon Loverock completed the top ten and all ran 40 laps. Deegan started tenth, went down a lap on lap 30, and finished his second race 11th. Twelve of 15 starters finished.
SWT TRUCKS: The 12 truck SWT truck race had a six-truck inversion and three race leaders. Arizonan Tom Mikla paced the first six laps before FQ/sixth starter Jeff Williams took command. The race had a red flag on lap 8 after Mikla and two-time 2010 feature winner Neil Conrad tangled, sending Conrad's truck head-on into the outer wall near the third turn. Despite initial concern for Conrad, he drove his smashed front truck to the infield and was uninjured. Officials sent Mikla to the back of the field for his involvement. Williams, trying to win for the fourth time in six races, extended his lead to 30-yards over Zimmerman by lap 30. Then his truck began smoking and fire was visible under his engine. He drove around the track with safety/fire crew in pursuit. They met in the infield and the flames, caused by leaking transmission fluid, were extinguished quickly. He did not return, but he later raced the truck two laps in the PYP Outlaw Figure 8 race. Happy second year Zimmerman, an EMT/fireman for Riverside County, told the crowd, “This is my first win. It's awesome.” He dedicated his initial victory to his father, who flew south from Redding, CA along with Mike's mom, to see him race as usual and for a Father's Day gathering. Pole starter Gus Nanos was second, 1.093 back, for “my best ever finish”. Mikla worked back to third place, 1.569 back and welcomed his podium finish after his lap 8 set-back. Figure 8 racer Tony Curtis and Brady Helm, down a lap, rounded out the top five, as eight of 12 drivers finished.
ASA TRUCKS: Cuzick drove his No. 51 Freightliner of Arizona/Mobil 1/Renegade Trailers Chevy Colorado to a flag-to-flag triumph—his first in his two years of ASA Truck racing. He finished second to Joey Licata last month in the ASA race at Irwindale. Licata, 18, of Lake Balboa, made Cuzick work for it and finished the 17-minute race only ten yards (0.519) in back of the big teenager who could easily pass for a college football offensive tackle. Mike Herda, 21, started and finished third, nine seconds from the lead. The top three drivers drove Chevrolet Colorados. Jimmy Putnam, Jason Black, Chris Birdsong and Taylor Miinch finished fourth through seventh and ran all 50 laps. Lapped Mike Kal and Eric Sloan followed in the nine-truck field.
LANGERS JUICE S2: Las Vegas teen R. Lagudi started third in a five-car inverted start for the seven car field. Andrew Porter, 16, started from pole position and paced the first 12 laps. Lagudi took second on the second lap as the seven cars ran within 30-yards to lap 10. Lagudi made an inside pass in the third and fourth turns on lap 13 and won by 40-yards (2.782 seconds) over runner-up Joe Anderson. Fastest qualifier, David Busby, the son of renowned Porsche racer Jim Busby, came home third (-4.599 seconds). The top three finishers drove blue High Point Racing cars 50, 59 and 51 that are fielded by three-time track late model champion Tim Huddleston Porter finished fourth, five seconds back. Dylan Lupton, the 16-year old point leader entering the race, finished fifth in the other blue HPR 56 car. Kendell Lopez, from Missouri, was sixth. Gary Waters was the only lapped driver and took seventh. He said his brother Bill has been absent because he broke several ribs in his S2 crash last month. The 8:42.291-timed race was the third race on the card. Lagudi passed prior point leader Lupton by two points, and now leads his teammate 306-304.
ECHO EQUIPMENT LEGENDS: Pole starter/FQ Amidon, the TS@I 2007 Legends track champion, held off third starter Brent Scheidemantle, the point leader, all 35 laps in a 17-car field. He edged him by 0.449, or three lengths. Six-time track champion Tom Landreth started fifth and took third on lap 2, but he could not catch the two front-runners. The 20-minute race had two cautions for spins and one for debris. Mark Borchetta, Chad Schug, Jordan Hyland, Hunter Colodny, Mark Iungerich, Rick Clark and first-time racer Bud Grossenbacher, in Brandon Toy's No. 75, completed the top ten. Eleven of 15 finishers completed all 35 circuits.
PYP OUTLAW FIGURE 8: “Barefoot” Billy Ziemann, who shuns shoes, set fast time, started and finished first. The 2000 track Figure 8 champion beat four-time track champion Steve Stewart by 1.897 seconds. Rod Proctor, from tenth, Tony Curtis and Andy Schoening, down a lap, rounded out the top five. The 11 car field was the largest 2010 F-8 field by two cars in four PYP F-8 races this season. Eight drivers were running at the finish. There was a brief red flag on lap 5 after the Proctor and Jerry Toporek cars collided at the infield intersection. Proctor continued, but uninjured Toporek's car had to be towed from the scene. Point leader Ziemann has now won three of the four TS@I PYP F-8 races this season. He holds a 14-point lead over fellow F-8 specialist Stewart.
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