IRWINDALE, California — Reigning track champions showed they still have an edge this year as Toyota Speedway at Irwindale began its 11th Whelen All-American Racing Series season Saturday with a four-division racing card. More than 5,000 spectators attended on an overcast, wind-chilled night. Nick Joanides started second and followed pole starter David Ross for one lap on the banked, half-mile in the 100-lap series 2009 kickoff race. He beat an impressive 33-car field of NASCAR AC Delco Super Late Models in a 39-minute event with four caution flags. The 38-year old veteran from Woodland Hills drove the same Loyd McGhee-owned, Mr. Crane 2008 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in which he won ten of the 21 Irwindale SLM main events last year en-route to his initial SLM championship.
Second generation driver Pat Mintey, Jr., the 2007-08 King Taco Super Truck track champion, repeated his opening night feature victory of last season. The 21-truck, 40-lap KTST main on the half-mile began the four features shortly after 7:00 pm. He won three of the 14 KTST features in 2008 in the same 2008 Chevy S-10 truck. Tyler Rogers, the 2006-07 mini stock track champion, won four of 12 mains last year in his family-owned Ford Pinto. He started third in the same car and led all 35-laps on the third-mile. The 23-year old Riverside resident defeated his father Steve, the fastest qualifier in another Ford Pinto, by 2.078 seconds. Rod Proctor, the 2004 Pick Your Part Figure 8 track champion, led all the way from the pole in a 25-lap F-8 feature that had three collisions at the X intersection. He drove to the new victory lane podium, which was moved to the fans side of the pit entrance gate so spectators may watch trophy presentations up close and personal.
SLM: Joanides said tire problems caused his slower than normal qualifying result. He won the feature of the evening by 0.224 over fast-closing Luis Martinez, Jr., 19, of Long Beach in a Molecule-sponsored Position One Motorsports Chevy Monte Carlo owned by his father. The 2008 SLM rookie enjoyed his career-best finish in the longest SLM main at the track in six years. He qualified second quickest, started eighth and took second position on the final lap. He went to the inside entering the first turn as he and Matthew Hicks lapped cars. Martinez closed to within five yards of Joanides as the winner lapped the 20th place car at the checkered flag. Martinez picked up the nickname “Hot Sauce” for his sensational drive. He beat Hicks, a one time SLM feature winner last year, by 0.183. Hicks, 21, started fourth and ran second from lap five through lap 99. His Tel-data Dodge Charger was 1.375 seconds ahead of fourth position. Martinez, whose grandfather founded the King Taco Restaurant chain that sponsors the TS@I truck series, also raced a rented car last year at Irwindale. It was his first NASCAR Grand National West 200 and his longest race before Saturday.
USAC CHAMP: Cole Whitt, the USAC 2008 National Midget Series driving champion and a recent USAC sprint car feature winner on dirt, drove a Dan Moore Motorsports No. 93 rented SLM competitively all night. Red Bull-sponsored Whitt set the seventh fastest qualifying time with 33 of the 34 cars present recording times. The 17-year old redhead from Alpine, CA (east of San Diego) started third and raced to an impressive fourth place. Whitt drove the same car in the 52-car TS@I Toyota All-Star Showdown support race two months ago. His initial stock car effort ended on the first lap in the 20-car crash on the backstretch. Whitt dropped to fifth at the start and then passed his stock car mentor Rip Michels on the outside at the starting line during lap 4. He next passed his veteran car owner Moore on lap 7 on the outside leaving turn two. He passed Ross for third on lap 28. After the third of four cautions, Whitt got a slow start at the green, allowing Michels and Martinez to drop him to fifth on the restart.
Martinez passed Michels for third on lap 91; Whitt also got by Michels for fourth on lap 92. Michels slowed noticeably with a problem and finished seventh, behind Kevin Thompson and Moore. Stephen Peace, Dan O'Donnell and Ross completed the top ten. Twenty-six of the 33 starters finished, with 19 drivers on the lead lap. Teenager Bear Rzesnowiecky, from Las Vegas, set fifth fastest qualifying time and was scheduled to start fifth in Moore's No.95 Ford rental car. However, a reported broken differential at the staging area beyond the backstretch prevented him from entering the track. Andy Allen, title-contender Travis Thirkettle, Greg Voigt, Toni Marie McCray, Duane Hunt, Jr., Danny Gay, rookie Mackena Bell, Mike Lee and Jeff Eshleman also finished on the lead lap in the competitive field. Bell, the Carson City, NV-based 18-year old ninth place driver in 2008 NASCAR Late Model points at All-American Speedway, Roseville, CA, is one of 12 NASCAR 2009 Drive for Diversity drivers nationwide. She drove a second Position One Motorsports car. Hunt, a 20-year old SLM rookie from Tucson, AZ, earned the hard charger award for racing from 25th position to 15th.
FIGURE 8: The PYP Figure 8 race concluded the evening at 9:42 pm. The 11-car race had three crashes at the X intersection. On lap 7 Jerry Toporek and Dennis Schlarbaum collided and both drove away with no yellow flag necessary. A lap later sixth place Jared Henson and third place Rusty Stewart collided side-to-side at speed. Both cars stopped near the half-mile front straight. A 20-minute red flag ensued. Henson was conscious and taking. Rescuers used the jaws of life tool to cut the roof off Henson's No. 5 car and remove the injured driver. Henson was taken by ambulance to Los Angeles County-USC Hospital for medical evaluation. Ironically, Henson's brother Jay had a similar Figure 8 collision in his No. 1 F-8 Special last August in a TS@I F-8 race and was hospitalized with a back injury. The lap 8 restart had seven cars. P. 3 Andy Schoening (in his new No. 3:16) and P. 5 Willy Voesten collided at the X on lap 22 without injury. Proctor won by a lap over Steve Stewart, a three-time TS@I F-8 champion (2005, 07, 08). Billy Ziemann finished third despite trailing sparks from a damaged suspension for the final ten laps. Stewart took second from Ziemann on lap 15. Only five cars finished.
MINI STOCKS: The 14-car mini stock race was an all-green flag 10:10.548-timed race. Pinto driver Daryl Scoggins started and finished third, behind the Rogers duo. Ryan Bragdon, in a new black & silver No. 86 Pinto, placed fourth, with pole starter Rod Schmitt fifth in his Pinto. Eleven of 14 starters reached the finish line with six drivers on the lead lap. Richard Altman, a veteran late model driver, finished sixth and received hard charger honors.
SUPER TRUCKS: The 21-truck KTST race had three race leaders. Mason Britton, from Sacramento, started his Chevy S-10 third and led the first 11 laps. Todd Cameron, from nearby Monrovia, started his Chevy S-10 fourth. He made an inside pass through turns one and two on lap 12 and paced the race through lap 28. Second-starter Mintey started ninth with a ten-car inversion based on qualifying times. He reached second place on lap 20. He reeled in Cameron and passed him on the inside through the third and fourth turns. Runner-up Cameron trailed by 0.809 at the end. Ron Peterson, 49, returned to action after not racing much recently. The 2004 and 2006 TS@I truck champion and 31-time main event winner at the track came from 11th starting spot to a third place. He passed his son Jeff Peterson at mid-race. Britton finished fourth with Peterson's son fifth. Dennis Arena, fastest qualifier Grant Hebner, Joe Herold, Ryan Fortier and Matt Kimball rounded out the top ten. Twenty of the 21 starters finished with 15 drivers completing all 40 laps of the 22-minute race that had two yellow flags. Fortier earned the hard charger award.
The fastest qualifying times were: SLM—Michels – 17.959 (100.228 mph); KTST—Hebner – 19,784 (90.983 mph); Minis—S. Rogers – 17.095 (70.126 mph), and F-8—Proctor – 19.137. Round two of the 34 week TS@I racing season will take place Saturday, March 28 and will feature the NASCAR Auto Club Late Models, Vista Paint Super Stocks,Limited (pure) Stocks and a Demolition Derby.
