BALDWIN PARK, California — Position One Motorsports driver Luis Martinez Jr returned to compete at the EIBACH 100, the final race of the 2009 NASCAR Whelen All-American series at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. With a $5,000 grand prize award awaiting the winner of the race, Martinez and his Position One Motorsports crew were looking for some good luck to help them win the 100-lap Eibach Springs sponsored race. Martinez's S2 division teammate Randel King also returned this weekend looking to solidify his S2 division lead with another strong performance. By the end of the night only one of the two drivers would have achieved their goal.
S2 Race
With 5 wins already under his belt, Randel King was looking to bump that number up to six. His qualifying effort helped him get closer to that goal earlier in the day when he qualified the #77 KING TACO/Molecule car in the second spot. King took the start of the race and immediately took over the lead and was challenged briefly by the #44 of Andrew Anderson. King managed to escape Anderson's attack and continued his lead. By lap #10 King once again had to fend off another challenge for the lead. This time it was from the # 56 of Ryan Reed. King was determined to get his sixth win of the season and at every corner he kept Reed away. King's dominance culminated on lap # 25 when he would cross the finish line in first by a little under 1 second gap between him and Reed. King has now won 6 of the 7 races in the Langers Juice S2 division.
Super Late Model Race
After his incident at the last event, Luis Martinez Jr had high hopes of finishing the last race of the season among the top-3. Earlier in the day, under the blazing Sun, Martinez squeaked out a qualifying effort that put him 3rd on the timesheets out of the nineteen entries. Martinez took the green flag start of the race and he soon began to put the pressure on the second place car of Rip Michels. Michels and Martinez had spent the last couple of races racing alongside each other for position and this race was no different with both professionals cleanly racing each other. Martinez would eventually take the second spot from Michels and by lap #40 was solidly in second and separated from the leader Nick Joanides by 5-car lengths. Soon thereafter Martinez began experiencing brake problems. As the problems grew worse, the Long Beach native was unable to protect his position and soon began to lose positions. On lap #81, Martinez suffered a failure to his right rear shock mount which immediately put an end to his race. Officially, Martinez finishes the race in the thirteenth spot.
Randel King - Driver: “I can't say enough about Luis Martinez Sr and the Position One Motorsports team. What an extraordinary organization and they have continually provided me with a reliable and fast car every race weekend. Thank you to our sponsors King Taco and Molecule, the team, my crew, and my friends and family for their unending support. I'm looking forward to being back here for the final race of the season.”
Luis Martinez Jr - Driver: “We gave it a 100% and we just didn't have the breaks we needed. I know our result is not indicative of our efforts nor our abilities, we just simply had some bad luck. My crew did a fantastic job all year and I want to acknowledge them and our sponsors King Taco, Eibach Springs, and Oakley for their generosity and support. Finally, a note of thanks to the track personnel, including all of the emergency workers.”
About Position One Motorsports: After competing in the Formula TR series in 2007 and 2006 and finishing 3rd in the Championship both years, Position One Motorsports entered the 2008 racing season looking to continue its success as a participant in the Whelen All American NASCAR Weekly Racing series events at Southern California's Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. At the conclusion of the season the team finished 9th in the points. For 2009 Martinez and newcomer and NASCAR Drive for Diversity participant Mackena Bell, will race the NASCAR Whelen All-American series at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Housed in a state-of-the-art facility in Southern California, Position One Motorsports continues to support an array of go-kart ventures.
