ROD JOHNSON & TODD SOUTHWELL VICTORIOUS AT IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY

IRWINDALE, California - - The points chase in Irwindale Speedway's premier stock car division got a whole lot tighter on Saturday night when two points-paying 50-lappers were run on a warm night in front of an appreciative crowd.

San Marcos' Todd Southwell ran good and really good in the night's twin Lucas Oil Super Late Model races getting a sixth place in the first go-round and then winning the show-closer for a grand total of 90 big ones. His night's work vaulted him 56 points into the lead over his rookie rival Andrew Phipps (Simi Valley) who lost a wheel lug in the first race of the night but who came back strong to grab second place in the curtain-closer for 2 + 48 = 50 points on the night.

Rod Johnson won race one handily and was looking like he might well have something for the rest of the field in race two when the dreaded $2 dollar part (in this case something in the accelerator linkage) snapped off and left the canny Canyon Country privateer stranded without a connection between his right foot and the carburetor.

With only four races to go in the 2005 series championship for the Super Late Models is tight all the way back to fifth place. The heat of the late July days has nothing on the on-track heat that is generated every time this Lucas-backed series fires up! Of note on Saturday night was the performance of Rancho Cucamongan Scott Conaway matching his best race finish of the year with a very nice third place in race two.

A jubilant Paul Brennan, from nearby Yorba Linda, won his first Dodge Super Truck race on Saturday night with a bit of help from a smoking hot rivalry between Ron Peterson (Riverside) and Cory Fancy (Canyon Country). On lap 43 the above mentioned race leading duo got together in turn 2 and, in the ensuing shuffle, Brennan and Richard Giesler (Chandler, Arizona) slipped by and into the lead. That's the way they finished and the chase is on with Fancy in the lead by 48 points and with three races left to go on the year.

Vista Paint was the race evening's sponsor and their name-in-title division provided plenty of action on the night. Jimmy Sloan, from Palm Desert, won the Vista Paint Super Stock race with a run in the front for the full distance, looking blissfully unaware of the wild gong show that was going on behind.

Fastest qualifier Matt Hicks from Santee, lead the King Taco Legends Cars wire-to-wire in their main event, with Bill Watson (Simi), Don Teller, Jr. (Norwalk), Carl Wuersch (Moreno Valley), and Larry Alsop (Fountain Valley) transferring out of the B-Main race which was needed because of the large number of Legends entered.

In the Mini-Stocks Tom Dye put up a rare (first time?) victory for an import, coming in first in his Toyota. The Stanton driver held off repeated passing attempts from Riverside's Steve Rogers in an exciting eighteen-car event on Irwindale's inner third mile oval.

UP NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT: The Stock Building Supply 150 for the Auto Zone Southwest Tour plus Grand American Modifieds and the Auto Club Late Models. The Chase for the championship and those 10 precious invites to the $500,000.00 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale in November.

PLEASE SEE THE SPEEDWAY WEBSITE (www.irwindalespeedway.com) FOR COMPLETE RACE RESULTS AND COMPLETE POINTS THANKS!

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