IRWINDALE, California — Five classes ran six main events Saturday on Toyota Speedway @ Irwindale “Fire Fighters Appreciation Night” in front of about 4,000 spectators. About 25 vintage and more modern fire engines plus emergency vehicles were on display and paraded around the track before racing commenced. The track's Whelen All-American Racing Series premier racing series, AC Delco Super Late Models, ran twin-40 lap features. It was the fifth of six rounds in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist Super Six series within a series. Luis Martinez, Jr., a 19-year old, second year SLM driver, won his first SLM main event in the first 40. He edged point leader Nick Joanides in a close, two-car duel. Joanides, 39, became the third and final leader of the second 40 on lap 34. His 11th SLM victory of 2009 also gave him 30 total triumphs at Irwindale, including two Auto Club Late Model victories this year. Joanides is chasing the NASCAR Whelen national short track championship that counts only a driver's 18 best finishes. He said, “second place is good, but I need wins.”
Other winners on the progressively banked half-mile were Kenny Brown in a 35-lap Vista Paint Super Stock main and second generation driver Rod Johnson, Jr. in the Langers Juice S2 race. It was Brown's first VPSS feature triumph in five years. Johnson won his first S2 feature in the fourth ever race for the new division that debuted July 4. He drove the brand new No. 5 Racecar Factory car to fastest qualifying time, started second and led all 25 laps in a seven-car field. He became the third different winner in the fourth race of eight scheduled races for the new series. The S2 cars resemble NASCAR Sprint Cup cars.
Action on the third-mile included a 20-lap Jan's Towing Bandolero race, won by 13-year old Aaron Anderson from the pole in a 12-car field. It was his fourth Irwindale victory this season in the Briggs & Stratton-powered cars. A 35-lap Justice Brothers Mini Stock main produced on-track and post-race fireworks. Series veteran Rod Schmitt led the final nine laps and enjoyed his first career victory as a result. The final race of the night was the second 2009 trailer race and fourth ever such race at the track. It ran in a clockwise direction as did the first race this year. One of the two 2008 trailer races ran counter-clockwise to keep drivers from building cars with weight bias to one side. Robert Rice started his Pick Your Part Chevy El Camino, towing a boat, from the front row; he lead all 14 laps on the debris-littered track. The 13 competitors tied the track record set last year for trailer race participants.
SLM 1st 40: Martinez, driving the King Taco/Molecule Chevy Monte Carlo, started outside his Position One Motorsports teammate Mackena Bell, and led the 20-car field all 40 circuits. It was his first SLM position one plaque. He also won the 12-lap S2 exhibition race on July 4. With a four-car inversion, third starter Joanides took second from Bell on lap 4 and chased Martinez all the way to the checkers. With Martinez running the outside and Joanides the inside, the leader held a 15-yard lead until lap 27 when he got loose exiting the fourth turn. That allowed Joanides to get right on his back bumper immediately. Joanides' Chevy got within half a length of taking the lead on lap 33 and 34 and again on lap 39, but he trailed by a length (0.143) at the conclusion. Sixth starter Danny Gay took third from Bell on lap 14 and remained third, 2.615 seconds in back of the winner. David Beat came from ninth to finish fourth with Las Vegas resident Bear Rzesnowiecky, 17, fifth. Bell held sixth from lap 25 to the end, tying her TS@I career-best finish. Fastest qualifier Rip Michels, Rickey McCray, David Ross and Dennis Furden rounded out the top ten. Twelve drivers finished the 12:37.221 race and all completed 40 laps.
SLM 2nd 40: With a five-car inversion for the second 40 based on lap 2 of late afternoon time trials, Beat and Gay occupied the front row. Beat led the first 28 laps before Gay passed him and led laps 29-33. Fourth starter Joanides took charge on lap 34 and paced the final seven laps. Fastest qualifier Michels started fifth and was fourth from lap 5-30. He took third on lap 34, second on lap 36 and closed to within ten yards (0.599) of winner Joanides at the finish. Michels had new sponsor, IdevAffiliates, on his car for the first time. Series rookie Mackena Bell, 19, enjoyed her Irwindale career-best race by starting sixth and finishing an impressive third to beat her prior best finish of sixth in her last two main events. The Carson City, NV resident, a 2008 late model driver at All-American Speedway in Roseville and a 2007 Legends driver, still occupied sixth position to lap 28. She ran the inside groove and was engaged in a tight, three-way battle for fourth with Gay and Rzesnowiecky. Bell passed Rzesnowiecky on lap 29 and got by Gay on lap 34. Gay repassed Bell on lap 35, but she passed him for good a lap later. Bell closed in quickly on third place Beat and passed him on the final lap for her first podium finish at Irwindale.
In her post-race interview on the front straight, Bell thanked her team and NASCAR's Drive for Diversity Program. She dedicated her first TS@I podium finish to her late grandfather, Leon Mayfield. “He lost his battle to cancer on April 15. Today is his birthday and he would've been 80,” she told the crowd. Her excellent results moved the leading TS@I SLM rookie from ninth to eighth in point standings with 50 drivers listed after 17 of 21 scheduled races. Beat, Rzesnowiecky, Gay, Las Vegas resident Justin Johnson, (in one of two Vision Airlines cars), McCray, Martinez, and Ross completed the top ten. Thirteen of 20 starters finished the 12:45.207 event and all ran 40 laps. Both SLM 40-lap features were all-green flag runs despite close, fender-to-fender competition.
S2: Rod Johnson, Jr., 19-year old son of Irwindale's 1999 SLM track champion, set quick time in a brand new S2 car from Jeff Schrader's Racecar Factory. The 2008 King Taco Super Truck rookie of the year finished fourth in points and won the final two truck features of the season. Johnson also set the S2 quickest time during the July 4 series debut when he drove the No. 56 HPR car. With the new No. 5, Johnson set the fastest qualifying time and led all 25 laps in a seven-car field. He won by 15-yards (0.809) over Legends point leader Ryan Reed, from Bakersfield. The runner-up, son of NASCAR veteran Mark Reed, turned 16 on August 12 and became eligible to race on the half-mile for the first time. As second fastest qualifier, Reed started second and held his position all 25 laps despite pressure from ASA Speed Truck veteran Randel King, who trailed Reed by 0.205. King, 17, had won S2 events two and three in the No. 77 King Taco car, which also won the July 4 race with Luis Martinez, Jr. driving it in his only S2 start to date and his first feature victory on the TS@I half-mile. Kyle Longmore, Andrew Anderson, Kendall Lopez, from Missouri, and Robert Tallini finished in that order. All drivers ran 25 laps and the all-green flag race took 8:40.941.
SUPER STOCK: The VPSS 35-lap main had two leaders before a Camaro won for the first time in a 2009 TS@I feature. Pole-sitter Eric Sunness led the first lap. Third starter Kenny Brown took charge on lap 2 and led the final 34 laps in his 1973 Camaro. Fastest qualifier Larry Cerquettini started fifth and put his Impala SS-body car into second on lap 4. He chased outside-running Brown and ran within half a length of the lead from laps 25 to 34. With the white flag about to wave, point leader Cerquettini ran inside of Brown on lap 34 at turn two, got loose and spun out to the third-mile backstretch without causing a yellow flag. He returned in fifth position. Brown won his first VPSS feature in five seasons by 40 yards (1.911 seconds). He thanked his crew, family and the large appreciative audience.
MINIS: With nine four-cylinder cars in action and a six-car inverted start, JBMS point leader Daryl Scoggins started second and paced the first 26 laps. Jacob Rogers started last (ninth) and took second from pole starter Rod Schmitt on lap 11. From lap 16-27, Pinto drivers Scoggins and Rogers ran nose-to-tail with Rogers bumping and pushing Scoggins. On lap 27 the controversial incident of the race occurred. Rogers bumped leader Scoggins entering the third turn and both drivers spun. Unhappy Scoggins pulled next to Rogers under caution, but the LAPD cop did not take any action with his car. They restarted at the back of the now six car field. Third place Schmitt inherited the lead and retained it to the finish line, despite intense pressure from second place Scoggins from lap 30 to the lap 35 checkers. Scoggins trailed by 0.119 and J. Rogers ran third from lap 33 to the end. The victory was the first ever at Irwindale for Schmitt and his Pinto. The top three finishers pulled to the front straight for post-race interviews. Scoggins and J. Rogers exchanged heated words and their pit crews rushed to the scene. Track emergency workers restrained drivers and crew members. Rookie Ryan Bragdon, Kory Russell and the winner's brother Ron, in a Datsun, followed. The 23-minute race had four caution flags. The first yellow flew on lap 7 in what could be called “a family feud”. Fourth place Jacob Rogers ran into and spun his third place brother Tyler in the second turn. As the brothers spun, their father Steve also received damage in the incident and parked in turn four, unable to continue. T. Rogers drove to the pits and returned three laps down. On lap 16 his Pinto engine erupted in smoke at turn four and oiled the track from turn four to the pits. Jacob apologized over the infield microphone for spinning his brother. Scoggins, who is seeking his first track championship, increased his point lead over two-time track champion T. Rogers from 24 to 34 points with three races remaining in 2009.
TRAILER RACE: Thirteen vehicles, including a limo, towed a required trailer and competed in the final event of the evening on the third-mile. Most trailers carried a boat. One car pulled a Prowler trailer with a toilet, bathtub and sink still inside the trailer. Other competitors towed low-camper shells and one enterprising driver towed a trailer-mounted doghouse. It was the fourth ever TS@I trailer race. The racing director had the cars race clockwise for the third time in the four events run so far. The second race last year ran counter-clockwise. Starting two-abreast, front row starter Robert Rice drove his Pick Your Part-sponsored Chevy El Camino and boat trailer into the lead immediately and ran all 14 laps in front. He won for the third time in four TS@I trailer races. The winning car must be towing a trailer with its contents. Some drivers lost boats from their trailers and the car with the Prowler trailer lost the trailer in the first turn. The No. 44 Ford Ranger pickup truck, driven by classic stock driver Patrick Miller, ran into the Prowler trailer twice and tore off the front of the Prowler. The Prowler trailer driver tried unsuccessfully to push the Prowler off the track for future use. Other drivers caused crowd laughter also by hitting loose boats and the sand-filled dummy that began the race atop the Prowler trailer. Sand from the smashed dummy made just one more obstacle on the front straight. When the nine-minute race received the checkered flag at 9:42 pm, Rice, “the king of zany events”, had won three of the four entertaining TS@I trailer races. Dan Pacnrila and versatile “Dirty Harry” Kuenniger were on the track and finished second and third. No other drivers still circulating had a trailer. Late model driver Rice has won numerous Figure 8, demo derbies and train races.
BANDOLEROS: (Sat,)--A 12-car field ran a 20-lap all green-flag 10:20.123 race and fastest qualifier Aaron Anderson led every lap. Fourth starter/point leader Ryan Cansdale, 10, took second on lap 3 and trailed by 0.176. Blake Dunkleberger, 13, started second and finished third. Christian McGhee was fourth and Ricky Schlick fifth. Ten drivers finished and nine ran all 20 laps. (Fri.)--The first Bandolero main of the weekend took place during the regular Friday nights 5:00 to 9:00 pm open practice session for all divisions. Fastest qualifier Cansdale, a Bandolero rookie, started and finished first in a 20-lap event with ten starters. It was his eighth win in 15 races this season. He defeated Anderson by 0.400. Dunkleberger was third, with Schlick fourth and Graydon Smith fifth. The 10:30.053 race had two brief cautions for solo spins. Eight of ten finishers ran all 20 laps.
Hard Chargers: (SLM) - (1st 40) – David Beat; (2nd 40) – Justin Johnson, and (VPSS) – Kevin Furden. They received $100. gift certificates. The fastest qualifiers by series were: Bandos (Fri.) - Ryan Cansdale – 18.677 (64.186 mph) and (Sat.) - Aaron Anderson – 18.768 (63.875 mph); Mini Stocks – Tyler Rogers – 17.212 (69.649 mph); (S2) – Rod Johnson, Jr. - 20.216 – (89.038 mph); (VPSS) – Larry Cerquettini – 20.991 (85.751 mph); SLM – Michels – L 1 – 18.181 and L 2 - 18.009 (99.950 mph).
