IRWINDALE, California — In celebration of Father’s Day, all dads and their kids 15 years of age and under will be admitted for free during this Saturday’s (June 20) Thompson Building Materials Fathers Day Celebration Family Night at TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale. Dads in attendance will have the opportunity to enter a contest to win great prizes from Thompson’s including store gift certificates, pre-cast outdoor table sets and a beautiful stainless steel barbeque grill.
Five races headline the evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series schedule including a 35-lap Justice Brothers Mini Stocks race, 35-lap South West Tour Trucks race, 40-lap King Taco Super Trucks race and twin 40-lap ACDelco Super Late Model races featuring round three of Lucas Oil Slick Mist Super Six special competition.
Reigning champion Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills leads the ACDelco Super Late Model division standings with 444 points. Joanides padded his points lead over second place Rip Michels of San Fernando who has 384 points by winning both races of a twin-bill back on June 6th. In the first race, Joanides held off repeated challenges by Michels edging him at the finish line by 0.086 of a second to win the race. In the second race Joanides took the lead from Michels on lap 18 and cruised to the win with a 2.379 margin of victory over Alex Haase of Las Vegas, NV.
Pat Mintey Jr of Quartz Hill leads the King Taco Super Truck standings with 284 points but there are drivers immediately behind him in the standings who will pose a serious challenge to the reigning division champion during the remainder of the season. Jeff Peterson of Riverside is in second place and trails Mintey by 20 points with top-five finishes in his first six races including one victory. Mason Britton of Sacramento and Grant Hebner of Fallbrook are tied for third with 252 points. But the driver who has been on fire in recent weeks is Rod Johnson Jr. of Riverside who has scored wins in two of his last three races including the last contest on June 6 when he edged Mintey at the finish line for the win by 0.768 of a second. Johnson is currently sixth in the division with 248 points.
Daryl Scoggins has been setting the pace in Justice Brothers Mini Stocks competition with consecutive wins in the last three races including the most recent race on May 30. The Sunland resident leads the division standings with 244 points followed by Tyler Rogers of Riverside who occupies second place with 236 points.
The South West Tour Trucks return for its third visit of season at the Speedway on Saturday night. Christian Copley of Santa Ynez leads the standings with 604 points followed by Jeff Williams of Newbury Park with 576 points.
The International Studebaker Drivers Club are expected to have 30-40 vintage Studebakers on display at the event. Hot Rod Hobbies of Saugus will conduct a radio control race car demonstration in the expo area.
Spectator gates open at 4 p.m. The King Taco fan appreciation autograph session is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. with drivers, crews and race cars on the oval track. The first race begins at 7 p.m.
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Tickets for all TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale events including the July 4th King Taco 200 NASCAR Camping World Series race, Auto Club Late Model race and Fireworks extravaganza are available for purchase at the Speedway ticket office by calling (626) 358-1100 and online at www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com. Auto Club of Southern California members receive a 10% discount off of the purchase of up to four (4) adult general admission tickets for Saturday oval track races when they show their AAA membership card.
TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale is located at 500 Speedway Drive off of Live Oak Ave. and the I-605 freeway, between the I-10 and 210 Foothill freeways in Irwindale, California. Log on to www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com for additional information including schedule and promotion details.
