IRWINDALE, California — This Saturday (August 15) is Firefighters Appreciation Night presented by Whelen Engineering at TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale. All firefighters and fire civilian employees will be admitted for free when showing proper identification at the Speedway ticket office. Kids 12 years of age and under will also be admitted for free and students 13-18 get in for $7.50. A special fire and emergency equipment display will be on hand for spectators to view before the evening’s racing activities get underway.
Saturday evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American racing action is headlined by the NASCAR ACDelco Super Late Model twin 40-lap races, Vista Paint Super Stocks 35-lap race, Justice Brothers Mini Stocks 35-lap race, Langers Juice S2 25-lap race and the Jan’s Towing Bandoleros 20-lap race. The evening will be capped off by a highly entertaining trailer race.
Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills leads the NASCAR Whelen All-American California State Championship standings and ranks 9th in the national championship standings. Entering Saturday’s twin race action, the reigning division champion leads the ACDelco Super Late Model division standings with 738 points including a 66 point lead over former champion Rip Michels (672 points) of San Fernando. So far this season Joanides has won ten races including six in his last eight outings. Joanides and Michels each notched wins in the last Super Late Model twin bill on August 1.
Larry Cerquettini Redlands is having a remarkable season in Vista Paint Super Stocks racing action dominating the competition with seven wins in eight races. His seven-race win streak came to an end in the last race on August 1 when Rick DeLong III of Santa Clarita notched his first ever Super Stocks victory. Cerquettini leads the championship standings with 396 points including a 34 point lead over Ken Brown of Cherry Valley.
Tyler Rogers of Riverside’s two-race win streak has placed him within reach of Daryl Scoggins of Sunland who leads the Justice Brothers Mini Stocks division championship point standings. Scoggins leads the standings with 388 points including a 24 point lead over Rogers who has 364 points. Rogers won the last race on August 1 edging Scoggins at the finish line by 0.229 of a second.
The new Langers Juice S2 division returns to action on Saturday for its third race of a seven race schedule. Randel King of Riverside has won the two previous races. The series features a turn-key spec economy stock car with a fully-fabricated chassis. The car includes a spec plastic body featuring a NASCAR Sprint Cup style rear wing and a Chevy 350hp sealed crate engine power plant. The complete turn-key cost of the car is estimated at $25,000.
Rookie Ryan Cansdale of Laguna Beach leads the Jan’s Towing Bandoleros division standings with 572 points including six wins on the season. The Bandoleros will race in a Friday / Saturday night twin bill.
The evening’s racing finale will be a Trailer race which is scheduled to take place on the one-third mile oval and is open to any vehicle make and model but must be configured to the Speedway’s Demolition Derby competition rules. Each vehicle is required to pull a single axle trailer weighing a minimum of 500 pounds and may carry cargo including a boat, camper or tent trailer.
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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NHRA Summit Series Street Legal drag racing action returns to TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale’s one-eighth mile drag strip this Sunday (August 16). Gates open at 7 a.m. Racing begins at 10 a.m. following by elimination rounds. Test and Tune drag racing takes place each Thursday evening with gates opening at 4 p.m. and competition at 5 p.m. It costs $20.00 to race and $10.00 to watch and kids five and under get in free.
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Tickets for all TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale events 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.
