STOCK CARS @ IRWINDALE JULY 4

Los Angeles, California -- The Tuesday, July 3 3:30 to 9:00 p.m open practice session at Irwindale Speedway for NASCAR Auto Club Late Models had 28 late models in the pits at $300 per car to practice. The ACLM local series shared the doubleheader bill Wednesday, July 4 on the IS banked, half-mile with the touring NASCAR Grand National West Series. Both series had identical fields of 34 cars in the pits July 4 plus a capacity 6,500-spectators in the grandstand to watch both series run exciting races. Late models that practiced July 3 in numerical order were: cars 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 17, 22, 23, 28, 29, 31, 42, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 65, 72, 77, 81, 85, 89, 91 02, 07 and 09. The high temperature on July 3 in the east San Gabriel Valley was 102 at midday. It was still 92 degrees at 7:00 p.m and 85 degrees at 9:00 p.m when practice concluded. Similar temperatures were forecast for race day July 4.

Late model practice night July 3 provided a couple of surprises. Two drivers made their late model debuts in newly purchased late models. Connor Cantrell, a two-year Legend Car veteran/feature winner and King Taco Super Truck Series driver currently, practiced for the first time in his family-owned No. 42 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. It was the gray backup car of Craig Yeaton's Impact Sports (Cars 24 and 42). Following several practice sessions in his new ride, 16-year old Connor told me "the late model felt great." He said his team would not race it July 4, but they might race it later this year. Connor, who has raced on the IS third-mile since he was 14, will turn 17 on September 9. Connor and his dad Jim plan to race the full 2008 ACLM Series and try to earn the ACLM rookie of the year title for Connor. He was the IS 2005 rookie of the year in Legend Cars.

Aric Rogokos, a black driver from Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley, made his late model debut in the white, black and red painted No. 1. It was the ex-No. 18 car he purchased from Gabi DiCarlo, the female driver from Phoenix, AZ. She is now competing in the ARCA Stock Car Series, where she finished 19th on the lead lap, at Michigan International Speedway last month in her No. 90 Chevy. Aric recently completed the course in late models at the driving school located on Irwindale Speedway premises. He decided "to go racing" with his crewman and his girl friend present to provide support. Car number 18 was taken in Irwindale's ACLM Series by Chevy driver Jimmy Sloan. Aric picked unused No. 1 and lopped off the 8 from DiCarlo's car. On July 4 Aric progressed from 20.759 in the first practice session at 12:45 (30th best of 30 drivers) to 20.114 (30th best of 34 drivers) in the second practice session at 2:00. In official time trials at 3:30 Aric ran 19.908 (90.415 mph) and was 33rd fastest of 34 qualifiers. In the scheduled 100-lap main event Aric started 33rd and dropped out on lap one to the infield. He finished last (34th).

Ryan Partridge had his No. 02 yellow & black Monte Carlo out for the first time this year. Recently, Ryan was one of ten contestant drivers (along with IS veteran T. K. Karvasek) on the Speed Channel show "Setup" with each contestant/driver in identical Pontiac Solstice cars. Tommy Kendall, the former SCCA Trans-Am-champion, hosted the series of one-hour shows and eliminated one driver per show. Ryan's dad John was his crew chief on show. They were the first team eliminated when they declined a sponsorship offer from Rhys Millan, which left Kendall incredulous. Ryan has his own name painted above the driver side door of his No. 02 Chevy. "Spencer Clark-Shotgun" is painted above the passenger side door in tribute to his late friend from Las Vegas. The 19-year old NASCAR GNW driver lost his life early last year along with a crewman in a New Mexico highway crash while returning home from North Carolina.

Patrick Ackley also made his first appearance of 2007 in his No. 9 Dodge Intrepid. Michael Wright, a two-time MSRA Pro-4 Modified champion in his No. 23 shortly after 2000, said he wanted No. 43 on his MSRA car, but Kenny Smith had that number on his car. Wright's mom suggested that he should select No. 23, his age at the time, and he did so. He kept No. 23 on his car when he started late model racing several years ago. On July 4 Wright enjoyed his first ACLM feature victory in his Monte Carlo built by Racecar Factory in Irwindale. Sean Bennett sold one of his two No. 4 Dodges (the white & red one) to Del Dalrymple. Del told me he now owns about six stock cars, including a pre-owned NASCAR Grand National West car. Del's fiancee Candace Muzny is his driver. On July 4 Bennett had the right front of his black & white No. 4 smashed on lap 70 of the scheduled 100-lap feature. Officials cut the race to 85 laps because of time constraints with the GNW 200 live telecast slated to start promptly at 8:00. Dennis Schlarbaum's No. 53 is a new Racecar Factory-built car. Dennis sold his old 53 to Robert Rice and it is now Rice's orange No. 52. Rice sold his older orange No. 52 to Johnny Deluca, who put his No. 7 on his now white car.

At the Tuesday, July 3 open practice session the Super Late Model No. 20 owned by Speed Wong Racing, was unloaded from the top deck of the 18-wheel rig that brought the team's No. 89 late model to the practice for Kevin Wong. The SLM 20 car had hit the first turn wall at both ends of the car during the June 30 feature. Driver Dustin Ash, from Las Vegas, "was just sore" according to the crew chief. The 20 car, without engine, had severe damage and needed new front and back clips. It was loaded on an open trailer for transport back to builder Jackson Race Cars in Palmdale. A note from Speed Wong's crew chief to Jackson Race Cars was taped to the windshield and detailed the requested work in addition to new front and back clips. The note read, "Please re-valve both front shocks, new radiator and one new RF shock." The crew chief estimated it could cost about $10,000 to repair No. 20. Jackson said it would be ready to race before the next SLM event, twin main events at Irwindale on July 14. The 20 car was not present on that date. Speed Wong's two other SLM Chevys (No. 21 and 89) crashed during the first 50 on July 14 and were sidelined. So real estate mogul Darryl Wong, owner of nine racing cars in three divisions, had two more repair bills, making it an expensive two weeks.

Jason Patison, a 26-year old from Corona, bought a Robert Yates Ford Fusion Nextel Cup short-track car in North Carolina. It was the No. 38 M & Ms Ford driven by David Gilliland at Martinsville, VA last fall. Jason and his co-owner returned it to California to race in the GNW race at Irwindale July 4. Jason put his Lucas Oil sponsor name on the rear quarter panel of his now No. 17 GNW ride and also got Jim Beam (Robby Gordon's sponsor) as a sponsor on his hood. He did not get much practice on July 4. Jason missed all of the 12:00 first practice session because he had to replace an expired fuel cell; he got less than half of the 38 practice laps for the top 11 drivers in the second session at 2:00. Fortunately Jason had practiced at Irwindale a week earlier and his team went back to their set-up from that practice. Jason had the 18th fastest practice time (on his 7th lap) of 31 drivers with practice times. His best lap was 19.146 (94.014 mph) compared to Ryan Foster's fastest lap of 18.755 (95.974 mph). During official time trials at 4:00 p.m Patison was the first driver of 34 on the track to qualify. He turned laps of 18.902 and 18.887, which held up for the 14th fastest qualifying time of 34. It was only 0.262 behind quickest qualifier Eric Holmes' 18.625 (96.644 mph). In the 200-lap GNW feature Patison started 14th and finished a closing fourth, only 1.939 behind winner Brian Ickler.

The GNW No. 01 driven by Irwindale ACLM three-year veteran and GNW debutante Candace Muzny is owned by Del Dalrymple. Blond Candace wanted her ACLM number (07) on her GNW ride but it was not possible. Her GNW ride is the ex-No. 37 Robbie Brand Ford that Robbie raced at Irwindale in the 2006 GNW race. Candace secured sponsorship from Jesse James' West Coast Choppers on her GNW No. 01 ride. The IS Figure 8 driver, TV host and business mogul also sponsors her No. 07 late model. GNW teams go through technical inspection based upon their current point standings. Like Patison, Muzny was one of eight drivers to get no practice laps in the first of two July 4 GNW practice sessions. She was one of three drivers who did not even get to practice in session two at 1:15. Her first laps in her new ride were her two qualifying laps at 4:30. Candace went out to qualify 32nd of 34 drivers. She turned laps of 20.302 and 19.979 on her second ever lap in the car. It was 33rd best of 34 times.

Candace was one of four drivers who did not make the 30-car field. David Ross, an IS SLM veteran making his GNW debut, Altamont veteran Ryan Philpott, and Kyle Gomez were the other three drivers who did not make the field. Actually, Ross and Philpott turned in 29th and 30th fastest times of 34 drivers. They fell victim to the GNW provisional rule which allows two drivers and two car entrants (based on GNW point standings) to start at the back of the field along with the 26 fastest qualifiers. Gomez, from Moreno Valley, was the 30th driver to qualify and hit the first turn wall hard on his first timed lap after "the RF brake caliper failed". He limped his No. 39 Ford around the track slowly and logged a 45.117 (39.896 mph) and retired the car in the pits. All other qualifiers pulled into the infield and the cars remained there until the race. Interestingly, 12 of the 34 GNW drivers were former Irwindale Speedway regulars, most of them in the late model series. Another first-time GNW driver was IS SLM 2007 driver Linny White, of Fontana. His GNW debut in the No. 11 Dave Eshleman Spirit of Fontana Chevy followed practice laps in the then unnumbered white car in the Friday, June 29 IS open practice. Linny, 29, has raced many years locally at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino and Perris Auto Speedway. He spent 2004-05 racing at the Concord, N.C track and won two features in August and September 2005. He returned home to California last year to be crew chief for teenager David Ross' No. 57 SLM. Linny wanted to race this year for the first time at Irwindale and brought his SLM No. 55 Monte Carlo with him. In 12 SLM mains Linny has a third and two fourths and ranks tenth in current point standings out of 53 drivers with points. He is the fourth-ranked SLM 2007 rookie in a strong rookie class. In the July 4 first GNW practice he ran two laps and his 26.317 was 26th best of 26 drivers. In session two Linny ran a best lap of 19.146 in his seventh lap and was 21st best of 31 drivers with times. He was 18th in the qualifying line and ran two laps of 18.922 and 19.053 for 18th fastest qualifying time. Linny started 18th in the 200-lap race and finished 27th with 52 laps after fourth turn wall contact. In GNW qualifying, 22 drivers ran their fastest lap on their first lap and 12 ran their quickest lap on their second lap. The second Joe Nava entry (No. 70) was entered for a British sports car road racer to make his stock car debut. Greg Pursley, the 2004 Irwindale SLM track champion and NASCAR Weekly Racing Series National Champion, was to be crew chief. Collin Fleming did not arrive in time, so Pursley qualified the car without any practice laps in it. He was the 12th driver to qualify and ran 19.131 and 19.012 laps for the 22nd fastest qualifying time. He started 22nd and dropped out on lap 19 with an electrical problem. There were 21 of 30 starters racing at the finish, including Lloyd Mack, a versatile black driver at IS in his new GNW No. 83 Ford ride-a second Borneman team car. Fourteen drivers completed all 200 laps. Other reasons for cars DNFs: P. 5-Jeff Barkshire (suspension failure on lap 16 after second turn wall contact); Thomas Martin (overheating); Jack Sellers (brakes); Daryl Harr (rear end); Tim Woods III and Jose Luis Ramirez (accident) and Ryan Foster (fuel pump). There were 11official GNW Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders in the race. Bakersfield driver Eric Richardson started 10th and finished eighth to earn Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors.