IRWINDALE, California — NASCAR Super Late Model championship rivals Rip Michels and Nick Joanides split a pair of Toyota Speedway at Irwindale 40-lap AC Delco Super Late Model co-features Saturday on Stock Building Supply Home Improvement Show Night. About 4,000 spectators watched the duo duplicate their twin-40 triumphs of three weeks ago. It was Michels' second SLM victory this season and the tenth for Joanides with 15 of the 21 scheduled events in the books. The victories were the 59th for Michels and the 29th for Joanides at the track, making Michels the all-time track victory leader by 16 over three-time Auto Club Late Model champion Tim Huddleston. Joanides' triumph solidified his hold on ninth place for most victories at the track. Two drivers have 30 and two drivers have 31 victories, so Joanides is only three victories shy of fifth place on the TS@I list of all-time winners. All of his triumphs have come since 2006. Joanides races Chevy Monte Carlos for Loyd McGhee in both SLM and late model series, so his victory opportunities are enhanced during the next three months. He also is shooting for his first NASCAR Whelen All-American Weekly Racing Series national championship based on the best 18 feature finishes in his track's top series.
There were two other main events on the progressively-banked half-mile. ASA Speed Truck/NASCAR SLM veteran Randel King,18, won his second consecutive Langers Juice S-2 point-paying main in the third event for the new class. Rich DeLong III became the third race leader and won a ten-car Vista Paint Super Stock 30-lap race in the eighth feature this year. It was his first ever main event victory at the track. He broke the seven race victory streak of Larry Cerquettini, who had never won a main event before this season; he then reeled off a track-record tying seven wins in a row in the series. Cerquettini did keep his fastest qualifier streak alive and has now set the fastest qualifying time for all eight VPSS events this year.
Winners in the three classes that raced on the four-degree banked third-mile track included Christian McGhee in the Jan's Towing Bandolero 20-lap race. In a separate Bandolero event Friday night during the evening all-division open practice session, Ryan Cansdale won the 20-lap main event. Ryan Reed, 15, won his first Legend Cars feature this season in a thrilling battle with fellow teenagers Brent Scheidemantle and Donny St. Ours. The race was an INEX Legends national championship race qualifier that earned him a guaranteed starting position in the Legends national race later this year. In the sixth feature of the warm night, Tyler Rogers led all the way in his family-owned 1970 Ford Pinto. He edged Justice Brothers Mini Stock point leader Daryl Scoggins by a length in a 35-lap JBMS feature. It was his 21st TS@I main event triumph and all victories came aboard his No. 1 Pinto.
SLM 1st 40: Fastest qualifier Michels No. 12 Chevy grabbed the lead from pole position in the first 40, which was the first of the seven features. Joanides started third in the 22-car field and battled outside-running Michels closely all the way. He did back off a bit during the final ten laps to save his car and tires for the second 40. Joanides trailed Michels at the checkers by 25-yards (1.197 seconds). Outside front row starter Bear Rzesnowiecky,17, ran third all 40 laps and trailed the winner by 3.392 seconds. David Beat, Danny Gay, Mark Perry, rookie Mackena Bell, Luis Martinez, Jr., Dennis Furden and rookie Duane Hunt, Jr., from Tucson, completed the top ten. Fifteen of 22 starters finished, with 11 drivers on the lead lap. The 16-minute race had one caution flag on lap 4 when Scott Dodd's Chevy oiled the first turn and retired for the evening.
SLM 2nd 40: The final feature of the busy night was the second SLM main. Only 20 cars were able to complete. The inversion was four this time based on the second of two qualifying laps during late afternoon time trials. Michels set the fastest time on both laps, so he started from the outside row two position in this race. Joanides started second as the third quickest qualifier on his second timed lap. David Ross, 20, was on the pole. He dropped out of the first 40 before the lap 1 green flag after he lost all gears. His No. 57 Lucas Oil Chevy had fresher tires than other drivers for race two and he shot into the lead immediately. Ross led the first 21 laps in pursuit of his initial TS@I main event victory. Michels ran third until lap 9 when he got loose and slipped to fifth position. With Ross in the high groove and Joanides on the inside lap after lap, the leading duo entered the first turn on lap 22 and Joanides made a determined inside move for the lead. His Chevy wiggled and his right side got into the left side of the Ross car. He completed the pass and gradually opened his 65 yard winning margin, 4.365 seconds officially, over Ross. Joanides apologized to an upset Ross via the pit microphone for making contact.
Special mention must go to Travis Thirkettle, who is not racing for points because of financial reasons. Thirkettle agreed to test a new GM “spec engine” at the request of TS@I competition director Lester Boyer for possible use at the track in 2010. Thirkettle was not eligible for points or purse Saturday because of his test engine. He set second quickest qualifying time, started at the back of the first 40 and finished fifth. He was shown in results as a DQ because of the engine used. In the second 40, Thirkettle started 15th and charged forward quickly with what Joanides said was “60 extra horsepower”. Thirkettle was sixth on lap 7, fourth at lap 9 and third on lap 20. He took second place from Ross with an inside pass entering the first turn on lap 38 and trailed Joanides by 50-yards at the 10:00 pm checkers. As in the first 40, Thirkettle was disqualified for use of the test engine. Gay, Michels, Martinez, Bell, Perry, Jeff Eshleman, Beat and ex-USAC midget driver Ray Neveau completed the top ten and all ran 40 laps. Bell's sixth place was her SLM career-best finish by one position. Eleven drivers were racing at the conclusion. The 17-minute race had two cautions (for a two-car spin on lap 3 and on for a slowing car on lap 7). Joanides now leads Michels by 66-points (738-672) after 15 of 21 scheduled races.
S-2: A six-car Langers Juice S-2 field lost one car before the green flag. Rookie Kendall Lopez,18, had a visible fire erupt from the RR of her HPR team car. She pulled to the edge of turn two and emergency crews extinguished the fire quickly. She returned from the pits nine laps down and completed 16 laps. With a four car inversion, pole starter Andrew Anderson, a 16-year old graduate of Bandoleros and Legends, led in three-wide racing for the first three laps. Fastest qualifier Randel King, took second on lap 7 from Kyle Longmore, who was celebrating his 19th birthday. With Anderson running the outside and King on the inside, the pair battled intensely during the final five laps. Leader Anderson was trying to win his first feature on a half-mile. He yielded the point to King on the final (25th) lap after King dived to the inside in the second turn and slid in front of Anderson without contact. King won by 0.299 over the disappointed Anderson. S-2 point leader King now has two wins in two outings in the new series. His Martinez-owned No. 77 King Taco car has won all three races conducted since a July 4th 12-lap exhibition race when Luis Martinez, Jr drove the car. The all-green flag race Saturday took 8:43.706 and the 85.926 mph race average speed was the fastest of three S-2 races so far. The speed beat the 85.444 mph average by Martinez for his 12-lap run on July 4. The July 11 S-2 initial point race was 20-laps, so the 25-lap event Saturday was the longest race yet for the spec engine class cars built by Irwindale's Racecar Factory to resemble current NASCAR Sprint Cup cars.
VPSS: The ten-car Vista Paint Super Stock field used a complete inversion for all cars that posted qualifying times, so FQ Larry Cerquettini started eighth in his Chevy Impala SS. Fourth starter Scott Corrigan led the opening lap in his 1976 Camaro. Then sixth starter Kenny Brown's 1976 Camaro paced the next two laps. A lap 2 four-car crash on the backstretch involved four cars, with two cars eliminated and towed to the pits. Officials sent Cerquettini to the back for being involved and he protested the penalty unsuccessfully. He restarted eighth and was fifth by lap 3. DeLong took the lead on lap 4 with an inside move leaving the second turn. Cerquettini took fourth as the same time and battled the third place Camaro of Eric Sunness to lap 22 when he finally passed Sunness on the inside in turn four. DeLong's new Chevy Impala SS maintained a steady ten yard lead over Brown's Camaro from lap 4 to the lap 30 checkers and won by 0.571 over Brown. Third place Cerquettin was 0.990 behind DeLong. Fourth through sixth place drivers—Sunness, 18-year old Cody Fisher and Corrigan—ran 30 laps. Eight drivers finished the 19-minute contest. DeLong finished second to Cerquettini four times this year in the first seven races. “We finally got one,” DeLong told the enthusiastic crowd during plaque presentations at the starting line to the top three finishers. Cerquettini now leads VPSS points with 396. DeLong and Brown are tied at 362 points for second place.
LEGENDS: A 26-car Legends field had a straight-up start with the fastest qualifier on the pole. Six-time Legends track champion Tom Landreth started second and led the first lap. Pole starter Chad Schug led laps 2-26 as the first six cars ran nose-to-tail and exchanged positions frequently. Second place Darren Amidon dropped out on lap 18. Landreth and Brent Scheidemantle traded second from laps 22-26. Leader Schug slowed on lap 27 and dropped steadily back to seventh position at the end. Scheidemantle led laps 27-28 in a close six-car pack. Ryan Reed, after losing a few races late this year and finishing second four times, took command for good on lap 29. He won by 0.090 over Scheidemantle, 16, and by 0.782 over Donny St. Ours,15, for an all-mid teens podium. Reed won three TS@I Legends features last year as a rookie. Landreth finished fourth with Kenny Maler, Jr.,18, and pre-race point leader Brandon Toy,17, next across the finish line and all of them within 1.700 of the winner. Schug, rookie Dallas Montes,15, Josh Geer and Michael Smith completed the top ten as 23 of 26 starters (21 on the lead lap) finished the 20-minute race. There were three caution flags for spinning cars. Reed reclaimed first place in points by eight (460-452) over Toy after 11 of 14 scheduled races.
MINI STOCKS: The Justice Brothers Mini Stock 10:13.757 all-green flag race had nine starters and eight finished, with six drivers on the lead lap. Tyler Rogers shot from third to first on the initial lap and never relinquished the point despite intense pressure from series point leader Daryl Scoggins. FQ Jacob Rogers started second and finished third to give the Ford Pinto posse all three podium positions. Tom Dye's Toyota Celica was fourth and pole-man Rod Schmitt's Pinto was fifth. Leading JBMS rookie Ryan Bragdon dropped out on lap 18. Scoggins now leads series points by 24 (388-364) over fellow four-time winner Rogers after eight of 12 booked races.
BANDOLEROS: (Saturday)--The 14-car Jan's Towing Bandolero field ran the second race of the night and used a straight-up start based on time trials. FQ Blake Dunkleberger, 13, led the first nine laps. Third starter Christian McGhee,11, made an inside turn four pass on lap 10 and led the final 11 laps. His mentor, Nick Joanides, helped him from his car and congratulated the son of his SLM/LM car owner for the second victory of his rookie season. Dunkleberger enjoyed a career-best second place, 0.740 back. Aaron Anderson, point leader Ryan Cansdale,10, was fourth with Ricky Schlick fifth. The race had three new Bando drivers, including Las Vegas resident Chris Trickle, 8-year old nephew of NASCAR Southwest Tour driving star Chris Trickle, who was killed in 1998 in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting. Amanda Poertner and Nicholas Wiggins were the other newbies. The eight-minute race had one caution for a spin. (Friday)--In Bandolero action during the weekly four-hour Friday night open practice session for all divisions, 14 Bando drivers qualified and raced in a 20-lap main. Mikael Lovas, 11, set FQ time at 64.220 mph and started on the pole. Rookie Cansdale, 10, won the 20-lap race (his sixth feature win this year) in an 18-minute race. Aaron Anderson, 13, and McGhee, whose steering wheel came off and caused his early spin, followed. Ivan Gudmestad, 8, Lexi Moore, 10, rookie Trevor Huddleston, 12, Trickle, 8, Schlick, 12, and Brett Scoggins, 8, completed the top nine and all ran 20 laps.
Hard charger $100 Justice Brothers certificate winners were: SLM – Beat, Legends – Austin Reed, 15, and Mini Stocks - Dye. Fastest qualifiers were: (SLM) Michels - 18.150 (L 1) and 18.087 (99.519 mph) on L 2; (VPSS) – Cerquettini – 20.787 (86.593 mph); (S-2) – King – 20.178 (89.206 mph) which was a new track record that beat the 20.527 mark set July 4 by Rod Johnson, Jr.; (Legends) – C. Schug – 16.772 (71.476 mph); (Minis) – J. Rogers – 17.246 (69.512 mph); (Bandoleros) – Sat. - Dunkleberger – 19.041 (62.959 mph) and Fri. - Lovas - 18.667 – (64.220 mph).
