SHINGLE SPRINGS, Calif — 23 year-old racing phenom Benny Moon of Shingle Springs, Calif. put together third and sixth place finishes at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Saturday night for High Point Racing.

Moon, who had top-five points seasons in 2006 at Tracy’s Altamont Raceway Park and 2007 at All American Speedway in Roseville, has been running a limited late Summer and Fall program for High Point Racing.

Moon’s three previous starts this summer all yielded top-five finishes, and he opened up Saturday’s action taking the fast-time in qualifying.

“So far it’s been exciting,” Moon said. “I knew with this team we’d be fast right away but to come out with top-fives right away is cool.”

In the first race, Moon discovered that the low line on the track was lacking grip, and quickly fell back to third.

Moon maintained pace, however, to hold on to finish third.

“The outside groove was better,” Moon said. “I got hung out on the inside. There wasn’t much grip in either race.”

The second race of the night saw Moon finish only sixth. During post-race teardowns, the team discovered that the right front shock had failed during the race.

“It only malfunctioned while the shock was hot so I can’t blame the team,” Moon said, “I’m glad we found it so we can get ready for Vegas.”

Moon will now set his sights on the Fall Classic at the Las Vegas Bulling, October 24 and 25.

He will stay fresh in the interim by continuing his weekly work at Skip Barber Racing at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca.

Moon has showed off his incredible talent at adapting to race tracks in his quick run to success at Irwindale. All American Speedway, Toyota Speedway, and Altamont Raceway Park are all venues on the NASCAR Camping World Series West, where Moon would like to ultimately end up.

“The expectations in this sport set it apart from the others,” Moon said. “In other sports you train everyday to compete. In racing, even if you haven’t run in a long time, they expect you to be competitive right away.”

“I think I adapt well to different race tracks, which gives me a lot to offer a Grand National team.”