IRWINDALE, California — Ten laps—what a difference they made. The featured Auto Club Late Model race had been scheduled for 40-laps by Toyota Speedway at Irwindale management for week two of Whelen All-American Series action at the track. Things changed shortly after 8:00 pm as ACLM drivers sat in their cars at staging beyond the backstretch. Knowing that racers want to race, Lester Boyer, TS@I competition director, radioed to all competitors and asked if they had enough fuel to go 50 laps instead of 40. With the answer affirmative, he told them we're going 50 laps. The crowd of almost 5,000 welcomed the additional laps for the popular series. It had its scheduled race distance in a nationally televised race reduced two months ago because of time constraints during the Toyota All-Star Showdown.
"The 40-lapper would've been more conducive to my paycheck."— Andrew Myers
LATE MODELS: A strong 32-car field took the green flag after one false start because of a first turn single-car spin as cars got together. Pole starter Beau DeBard missed a shift at the starting line and cars came together in the first turn. A full restart followed. Fastest qualifier/outside front row starter Mike Johnson led the opening lap in his Chevy over sixth starter Andrew Myers in Eugene Dewberry's Chevy. Myers, from Carlsbad, took the lead on lap 2 with an inside move through the third and fourth corners. He ran the fastest lap of the race on lap 4 at 19.200 (93.750 mph). Myers. led by ten yards after 40 laps over Nick Joanides, with Tim Huddleston 35-yards behind Joanides. That's when the extra ten laps came into play. Myers' car was loose from lap 42 to the finish and Joanides, the winner of the AC Delco Super Late Model 100-lap season opener last Saturday, closed on him quickly. After racing at Myers back bumper for a lap, Joanides passed Myers for the point on lap 45 with an inside move from turn four to the starting line. Huddleston saw Myers mishandling car and thought he could pass Myers for second position. It took four laps but Huddleston went to the inside in the third and fourth turns on lap 49 and finished second, 0.575 behind Joanides' No. 77 Loyd McGhee Monte Carlo. Myers settled for third, 1,801 in back of the winner.
Winner Joanides told the crowd, “That's not too bad. Another great crowd here. Two different cars and two different divisions and we come out on top, not too bad. We weren't even going to race in this division without a sponsor. Now, with $1,000 'to win, we'll be back for the next race.” Later, the top three finishers spoke to the media topside. Myers jokingly told Boyer, “The 40-lapper would've been more conducive to my paycheck.” ACLM rookie/ASA Speed Truck two-year veteran Dallas Colodny, who drove Huddleston's HPR No. 51 Monte Carlo, and Brandon Loverock, who started seventh in Gerald Lair's No. 25 Monte Carlo, completed the top five finishers. Completing the top ten were: Miles Copenhaver, former truck racer Logan Henson, 2005 Irwindale super stock champion Jimmy Sloan, Richie Altman and rookie Kenny Smith, of Bakersfield. Twenty-three of the 32 starters finished with 17 drivers on the lead lap. Joanides ran the second fastest lap of the race on lap 26 with a 19.287 (93.287 mph). Huddleston turned his best lap of 19.314 on lap 4.
CLASSIC STOCKS: Other winners in the four class, five event evening included Ken Michaelian. The 20-year old son of series driver Harry Michaelian won the Classic Stocks (formerly Pure Stocks) 30-lap, 11-car race on the third-mile. The race had a fully inverted starting lineup. As the fastest qualifier, the winner started last. He became the third and final leader on lap 23 of 30. Michael Colato, Jr. (from 10th) and Justin Good (from 7th) followed the winner at the finish. The winner used his same Petty-blue 1975 Dodge Dart later to win the eight-car, 12-lap Classic Stocks Figure-8 race by 3.524 seconds. Unlike last week, when Outlaw Figure-8 drivers had three collisions at the X intersection, Classic Stocks ran a clean, non-contact race in 4:42.190. Six of the seven finishers completed all 12 laps. Newcomer Steve Vukovich, 29, completed 10 laps in his third racing effort. He said his father is a third cousin of retired Indy Car driver Bill Vukovich, Jr., of Fresno. Good and Harry Michaelian (father of the winner) finished second and third. Harry took over driving of his Petty-blue 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner after his brother Bill drove it earlier in the oval track 30-lap race.
SUPER STOCKS: Larry Cerquettini won his first ever Vista Paint Super Stock feature in a 35-lap run on the banked half-mile. The driver from Redlands recorded numerous second and third place finishes in his Chevy Camaro during recent years. This year he drove one of three new 5-Star (of Wisconsin) composite Chevy Impala SS bodies that he put on his Camaro chassis thanks to sponsors Nitro2Go and Bud's Tires & Wheel. The ten car race had a fully inverted lineup with the fastest cars at the back. Fastest qualifier Cerquettini started tenth and passed the Camaro of second starter/early leader Eric Sunness on lap 4 with an inside move in the third turn. Cerquettini then ran away to a 40-yard advantage over Sunness by lap 24 when one of two cautions flew. On lap 2 Cerquettini ran the fastest lap of the race at 20.707. The best lap by the next fastest driver was 21.080. Two other 5-Star composite Impala SS bodies competed with Rich DeLong and Gary Frankovich driving. They encountered problems as Frankovich spun twice and finishing seventh. DeLong was spun out of third place on lap 24 and he dropped out of fifth position on lap 34 of 35.
Kenny Brown trailed the winner by 2.525 seconds in his Camaro in a race that took 19-minutes. Sunness was second on the final lap as he exited turn four, but his car got loose momentarily. Brown's Camaro shot past Sunness on the outside and edged Sunness by a foot (0.020 officially). Gary Read and Scott Corrigan were fourth and fifth. Series rookie Cody Fisher, 18, came from a truck series and earned sixth in his first S/S race. Frankovich also ran 35 laps. Garry Howell was eighth and down a lap in his Chevy Nova. Ten cars was the lowest S/S car count in track history. Bryan Harrell, the track's 2006 and 2008 VPSS champion and a 27-time Irwindale S/S main event winner, did not compete. He still owns his No. 55 Camaro but decided to race Grand American Modifieds this year also. Harrell was racing that car Saturday reportedly at Lake Havasu, AZ.
DEMO DERBY: Bill Altfather, of Westminster, won a six-car demolition derby on the watered, downsized area in the third-mile infield. The one-time 2008 Irwindale demo derby winner's battered station wagon was the last car running, despite the fact it was on third-wheels and was missing part of the rear axle. The LR wheel was torn loose as was part of the rear axle. “I'll salvage parts of the car and will return,” he said as he collected $1,000 from the $2,000 demo derby purse. Chuck Gillock and Bryan Nerthcutt were second and third in the official judging. The smashing and bashing took place from 9:18 to 9:24, sending fans home earlier than usual for a five-event program.
L/M ROOKIES: The ACLM race had nine series rookies including second fastest qualify Beau DeBard, a 19-year old USAC Ford Focus Midget Series veteran from Reno, NV. With an inversion of two, his No. 55 Chevy was on the pole for his third ACLM start with Huddleston's Justice Brothers HPD team. Huddleston also had rookies Colodny, 20, in his No. 51 Chevy and rookie Cassie Gannis, 17, of Phoenix in his No. 56 Monte Carlo. Other ACLM rookies included 2007 super stock champion Darren Cheek in a new car, Chris Holloway, Kyle McGrady, the Smith brothers (Kenny and Tim) from Bakersfield, and USAC FF Midget graduate Brennan Newberry.
The 40-minute ACLM feature had three yellow flags after the restart. Travis Motley, 18, spun the HPD No. 59 after the original green, but he was returned to his fourth starting position by officials because the start was aborted. On lap 2 the cars of Gannis and George Ruark got together leaving the fourth turn and hit the outside wall. Tim Smith and Craig Yeaton also stopped. Ruark's car was eliminated with extensive front end damage; the other three drivers restarted. A solo spin by Holloway on lap 20 caused a brief caution. At lap 25, with cars from fourth through sixth racing three-wide, cars got together in turn three. DeBard and Johnson spun up to the wall. Kevin Vernon and Darin Cravens also became involved. Only Cravens was able to continue. Officials sent fourth place Travis Irving (in the CHP No. 85 Toyota Camry) to the back for causing the melee, which he denied. Irving raced back to 15th position, but in heavy traffic on the final lap in turn three he spun into the infield grass and finished 18th.
The first race of the night was a six-lap trophy dash for the six slowest qualifiers with an inverted lineup. Rookie Newberry (No 09) started fourth, passed early leader Craig Yeaton on lap 3 and won his first ACLM start by 15-yards over sixth starter Robert Rice. In the 50-lap feature, fast learner Newberry started 28th and finished 11th after battling for a top ten finish in the closing laps. J. Sloan won the ACLM hard charger award for racing from 25th to 8th. The fastest qualifier by class were: (ACLM)--Mike Johnson @ 18.953 (94.972 MPH); (Classic Stocks)--Ken Michaelian @ 17.479 (68.585 mph); (VPSS)--Larry Cerquettini @ 20.601 (87.374 mph). Cerquettini's time was a new track record. Last year Harrell set the old mark of 20.739 (86.793 mph) on the same weekend (3/29/08).
