IRWINDALE, California -- Jace "the Ace" Meier, an 18-year old Auto Club Late Model rookie from Las Vegas, fulfilled his season-long potential Saturday in a 50-lap ACLM main event at Irwindale Speedway. He started third as the second fastest qualifier in a 24-car field, took the lead on lap 19, and led the final 31 laps for his initial feature triumph on the IS half-mile. He won a feature in the same No. 55 High-Point Distributing Chevy Monte Carlo earlier this year at the three-eighths mile "Bullring" track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. About 4,800 spectators at IS witnessed the most exciting ACLM main event of the season on Firefighters Appreciation Night during NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
Meier is a freshman in a management honors program on full scholarship at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina. He has flown this month from Charlotte, N.C every other week to Las Vegas on Friday and driven from his hometown with his father and 15-year old sister so he could race at Irwindale. He has been the leading ACLM rookie and in the top three in overall series points most of the year. He and his family drive back to Las Vegas after Saturday races at IS and he flies to North Carolina Sunday for his Monday classes. This weekend the ambitious race driver/student had to fit in time for a college report. Meier said he has been making contacts with stock car owners at tracks near his college to obtain a ride for 2008 at Carolina tracks such as Concord or Hickory.
Meier a USAC California Ford Focus Midget Paved Track Series front runner and three-time main event winner finished sixth (2005) and fifth (2006) in USAC FF final point standings. He drove one of four Steallth midgets for the Ron Sutton driver development program His determined drive Saturday was his penultimate race at Irwindale in round 14 of the 15 race ACLM point season. He clinched 2007 series rookie of the year honors over his teammate Scott Jenkins, a 24-year old from Portland, OR who also flies in to Los Angeles to race at IS. Personable Meier entered the race third in points, two behind Michael Wright and 16-points behind series point leader Tim Huddleston, his High-Point team owner. At the checkered flag, Meier had reclaimed second spot in points; he now trails Huddleston by 10-points (530-520), with Wright third at 504. The three drivers will decide the series championship on September 29.
The 36-minute ACLM feature had three cautions and an intense, three-driver side-by-side, nose-to-tail duel involving Meier, 12th starter Nick Joanides-winner of the last two ACLM features-and 19-year old fifth-starter Kevin Callahan, from Bakersfield. Meier took third on the first lap by passing pole starter Lindsey King, 19, on the inside near turn three. He passed teammate Jenkins on lap 10 and tried to pass second-starter Wright from lap 15-18. Wright and Callahan ran high and Meier low in a tight three-car pack. On lap 18 Callahan tapped the back of Joanides' car entering the third turn and Meier used the incident to dart into the lead with Callahan second and Wright third.
Joanides, in the No. 77 Mr. Crane Chevy Monte Carlo, and Huddleston moved into the top five by lap 27 of the 50-lap race. Huddleston had run the fastest lap of 24 drivers during early afternoon practice laps. However, he slipped to 13th fastest qualifier at 4:00 time trials because of a bad right rear spring. He team changed the RR spring and he started the race not knowing how his car would handle. Sixth-place King, a Legends graduate and ACLM third-ranked rookie, got tapped by seventh place Dan DiGiacomo and spun out exiting turn two on lap 28. Both drivers had to restart at the back. During the caution, officials black-flagged fourth place Jenkins, who had started fourth as the quickest qualifier, because a side panel was flapping. He pitted and returned to the back at the green flag. He finished 14th with 18 cars running at the finish and all drivers on the lead lap.
NASCAR Elite Division veteran Joanides took second place from Callahan on lap 38, but a one car incident caused the third and final yellow flag, nullifying the Joanides pass and reverting the lineup to the prior lap order. The top five were nose-to-tail, with Meier, Callahan, Joanides, Huddleston and Wright running in that order. The top three drivers pulled away and staged a three-car dice during the final 13 laps. With Meier and Joanides on the outside and Callahan now attacking on the inside, Joanides shot past Callahan for second spot high in turn four on lap 43. The final outcome remained in doubt to the checkers. Huddleston and his other High-Point Distributing driver, Chris Carmody, made it a five-way contest in the closing laps. On lap 48 Joanides shot to the inside of Meier entering the first turn and pulled even with the leader in turn two. It appeared a pass was imminent. However, Meier was determined to win his first late model feature at IS and fought back as their cars "made minor side-to-side contact". Meier kept his foot on the go-pedal and pulled away as Joanides "backed off to avoid a crash". Meier won by 0.155 over Joanides. Callahan was 0.364 behind Meier. Huddleston was 0.779 behind his rookie protégé, with Carmody fifth, 1.126-seconds back.
Jubilant Meier told the crowd, "I have to thank Nick Joanides so much because he ran me clean. Thanks to High-Point for preparing my car. I just fly in from North Carolina on Friday for the races and they have the car ready. I was a little bit nervous having Nick Joanides behind me the last three laps. My family and friends are here tonight from Las Vegas." Meier said his mother was home in Las Vegas working to help pay for his racing. He telephoned her from the front straight to tell her he won. He earned $1,000 for his victory, which he gets to keep in his contract with High-Point Distributing. Meier related that he spun while qualifying at the last race and had to race on the flat-spotted tires, leading to his 13th place finish. His impressive rookie stock car season has now included a victory and three seconds among his seven top five finishes in 14 features of the tough ACLM series.
Meier and Joanides came to the press box for media interviews. Joanides has two feature victories and a second place in his three outings in the No. 77 Chevy since replacing suspended Aaron Staudinger. Meier said, "Knowing Nick was behind me had my heart really going. I knew I was going to win eventually. I thought it would be earlier this year. I led one 50 lap race at 40 laps (11 of the 14 races this year have been 40 laps) and I had a mechanical problem that caused my car to fall back. It feels so good to win. I feel lighter now (first IS victory got the weight of my shoulders)." The hoarse-voice Meier said, "I have a college report to do Sunday before I fly from Las Vegas to Charlotte." Joanides stated, "It was a heck of a race-three wide for the lead. You've got to love it." Meier thanked Joanides again for not spinning him out. "I knew he wanted the first one real bad. I was not going to take him out that way. But if he made a mistake, I'd take him," Joanides added.
LEGEND CARS: Donny St. Ours, a 14-year old graduate of Bandolero racing in 2006 and a 2007 Legend Car newcomer, became another first-time main event winner. As sixth fastest qualifier the youngster from Upland started from pole position. He took the lead on lap 4 and won the 30-lap feature on the third-mile in just his third Legends race. He told fans, "I had to hold him (second finisher) off on the white flag lap. I was nervous." All the newcomer had to do was hold off Tom Landreth, the five-time Legends champion in six seasons of Legends racing at Irwindale. Landreth, 39, was trying to win his fifth consecutive Legends main this season and 36th of his career at IS. Fastest qualifier Landreth started sixth in a 24-car field and reached third place on lap 8. He waged a position-swapping battle for second with series point-leader Darren Amidon, 22, from Santee, from lap 9 to lap 27. Landreth secured the position at that point.
Landreth had taken second from Amidon on lap 13 on the outside at the starting line. Amidon reclaimed second on the inside a lap later. On lap 21 Landreth was second, but Amidon held second from lap 22-26. Landreth got under Amidon at the starting line on lap 27 and steadily closed in on the leader from ten yards back during the final three laps. He trailed impressive St. Ours by one length at the finish (0.154 officially). Amidon, a one-time 2007 feature winner trying to win his first track championship, entered the race 22-points ahead of Landreth. He finished third, 1.236-seconds behind the winner, and now leads Landreth by 20-points after 12 of 14-scheduled races. Chad Schug, a three-time feature winner in 2007, finished fourth, with 10th starter Ryan Partridge fifth in one of two Speed Wong Racing cars. The 21-minute race had three caution flags. Amazingly, 23 of 24 starters finished and all 23 drivers completed 30 laps.
PURE STOCKS: The BG Products Pure Stocks ran a 17-car, 30-lap main on the third-mile oval. Mark Whitson started last in his 1973 Chevy Malibu and became the third race leader on lap 20 and never trailed again. It was his second consecutive victory and third of the season. Ron Davis led the first 13 laps from the pole, but he got spun out entering the first turn while lapping a much slower car on the outside. Second place Jimmy Rouse, Sr. lapped the same slower car simultaneously on the inside. The lapped driver made contact with Davis who spun. Rouse led lap 14-18 but he got tapped entering turn one by second place Ginger Byrk. Both cars went to the pits. Fastest qualifier Mike Colato, Jr. started tenth and finished second, 20-yards back. He drove a 1976 Chevy Nova. He edged point leader Jeff Elder by five yards. Rookie Tommy Agosta and Harry Michaelian rounded out the top five with 14 cars racing at the end and 13 drivers on the lead lap.
FIGURE 8: Following the ACLM feature, pure stocks came back and ran in a 12-lap, 14-car Figure 8 race. Rookie Chad Kelly, from the pole in the ex-Rick Crow pink No. 38 1979 Olds Cutlass, led all the way and won by five seconds over Dave Foster and Gary Marler. Eleven cars finished the all-green flag 4:40.200-timed race. Eight drivers ran all 12 laps. Kelly won his first series race in the last PS Figure 8 race on August 11.
DEMO DERBY: The final event was a 13-car demolition derby with a $2,000 purse and $1,000 for the winner. Sgt. Stan McDonald, a 39-year old US Marine Corps gunnery sergeant and veteran of two tours in Iraq, won his second straight demo derby in his No. 707 American sedan. His last triumph at IS came August 4 in a co-winner status. McDonald has eight Figure 8 triumphs at IS, plus Figure 8 wins at other tracks. He is three months short of retirement from the USMC at Camp Pendleton following 20-years of service. McDonald had the last car moving after the No. 48 sedan of Bill Thiebert had a large engine fire erupt causing him to bail out from the glass-less window on the passenger side. He was not injured and IS fire crews extinguished the blaze quickly. He collected $500. Steve "Ricky Bobby" Ellis was third. Paul Maniaci took fourth and Chris Bundesen fifth as the only other money winners.
BANDOLEROS: The first race of the night was a seven-car, 15-lap Bandolero race on the third-mile. Andrew Anderson, 14, led all the way in his final series race before concentrating on Legends racing. It was his third consecutive victory and fifth of the season. Eric Sloan, 12, started third and ran second all the way, a straight-away behind the winner (7.221-seconds). He edged Las Vegas resident Ashlee Ambriz, 14, by 0.338 and thanked her at trophy ceremonies "for not taking me out." The all-green flag race took 4:42.163 and every driver finished. The winner's 11-year old brother, Aaron, finished fourth.
Three 4-lap trophy dashes for the four fastest qualifiers began racing at 7:15 following ceremonies honoring firefighters and a display of new and antique fire trucks at the front straight. A lone bagpiper played in memory of the safety personnel who lost their lives six years ago in the terrorist attacks of September 11. Three ACLM rookies trailed Michael Wright with FQ Jenkins, female racer L. King and Meier trailing in a 1:17.660 race. Schug led the Legends 4-lapper all the way. Whitson won the pure stock dash on the oval from pole position.
FAST TIMES/HARD CHARGERS: Quick times went to (LC)-Landreth, 16.736;
(PS)-Colato, 17.684; Bandoleros)-Andrew Anderson, 18.644, and (ACLM)-Jenkins, 18.993.
Hard Charger $100 awards from a variety of corporate sponsors went to
Bandolero driver Nicholas Lundstrom, Legend veteran Gary Scheurell (P 15-9), pure
stock distaff driver Michelle Rouse (P 12-8), and ACLM veteran Robert Rice (P
23-13).
