GLENDALE, California — The 11th annual Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Championship Awards Ceremony took place here Sunday evening at the Hilton Hotel Glendale Ballroom with 400 persons in attendance. The site was the original setting for the annual track banquets after the first three seasons before ceremonies were moved to Irwindale. Master of ceremonies/track announcer Larry Naston opened ceremonies at 7:00 pm following a steak and chicken dinner at 6:00. The awards ceremony from 7:05 to 9:25 pm honored NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champions and rookies of the year series by series from Bandolero to Super Late Model classes. Additionally, three special awards were presented to surprised recipients.
CHAMPIONS: (11) – In the order they were recognized and with series sponsor in parenthesis:
Bandolero (Jan's Towing) - Ryan Cansdale, 10, Laguna Beach - (the series rookie of the year).
Southwest Tour Trucks – Dalton Kuhn, 18, San Marcos - the son of 2001 Grand American Modified track champion Dean Kuhn.
Classic Stocks – Ken Michaelian, 20, Lawndale -the son of series driver Harry Michaelian, a four-time champion at other tracks.
Mini Stocks – (Justice Brothers) – Daryl Scoggins, 37, Sunland - a series veteran in his Ford Pinto and a Los Angeles Police Department officer.
Legend Cars – Ryan Reed, 16, Bakersfield - the son of former NASCAR touring division star and champion Mark Reed.
Outlaw Figure 8 – (Pick Your Part) – Steve Stewart, 40+ - Long Beach - won his third consecutive TS@I championship in the series and fourth in the last five years.
Langers S2 – (Langers Juice) – Randel King, 18, Riverside – the 2008 rookie in super late models ran both ASA Speed Truck and the brand new Langers S2 spec stock car class, in which he won six of seven races.
Super Stocks – (Vista Paint) – Larry Cerquettini, 42, Redlands - won his first main event this year and by the end of 2009 won nine, including seven in a row with his new Chevy Impala SS bodied car.
Super Trucks – (King Taco) - Rod Johnson, Jr., 20, Canyon Country – the son of 1999 Super Late Model track champion, scored eight victories, a pair of seconds and a pair of thirds. He won the title over two-time series champion Pat Mintey, Jr. in the exciting final race of the season by two points.
Late Models – (Auto Club) – Nick Joanides, 39, Woodland Hills – won his first ACLM track championship in an exciting duel with three-time track champion Tim Huddleston. His J & M Construction, Mr. Crane ACLM Chevy, which was for sale before the season started, operated race to race with a $10,000 season budget and on weekly race purses. Rick Lalor, from the Auto Club, presented a vacation trip for two to Hawaii and stay at the Hawaiian Village to ACLM champion Joanides. Lalor has made the presentation annually to the ACLM series champion since ACLM champion Dave Hessing won the first trip in 2001.
Super Late Models – (AC Delco) – Nick Joanides, 39, Woodland Hills – won his second consecutive TS@I SLM series championship for Loyd McGhee. The duo also won the 2009 NASCAR California State Championship and finished third in NASCAR Whelen All-American Weekly Racing Series National Short Track Championship points. Nick did something no other driver in track history has done by winning two track championships in the same season, and he did so in the two premier divisions at TS@I.
Lucas Oil Slick Mist Super Six Series within the ACD SLM series – Nick Joanides won the series championship over runner-up Danny Gay, with Rip Michels third in points.
Eight first time TS@I track champions were Cansdale, Kuhn, Michaelian, Scoggins, Reed, King, Cerquettini and Johnson, Jr. All of the 11 champions except Stewart were present and spoke about their championship seasons and thanked sponsors, racing teams and family members for their support. Stewart's sister-in-law Cathy spoke for him. She thanked “series sponsor Pick Your Part, track management, everyone on the team, his wife Michelle, his brother Rusty (a fellow Figure 8 driver) and his sister-in-law—me.”
CHAMPIONS COMMENTS:
Bandolero champ Cansdale said, “This is my second year racing. Yeah, it's pretty cool and I'm doing pretty good.” Asked by the emcee to name three drivers he has to beat in 2010 for a repeat Bando championship, the pint-size lead-foot stated, “Ricky Schlick, Christian McGhee and Lil' Al Simpson.”
SWT Truck's Kuhn thanked his dad and announced his plan to race a late model in 2010.
Classic Stock champ Michaelian won 11 times and had two second place finishes in his No. 43 Petty-blue 1975 Dodge Dart. He said, “My dad has four track championships and he schooled me. We worked hard.”
Mini Stock champ/LAPD cop Scoggins stated, “My crew, including my brother, played a huge part in this championship. Pearl Harbor day is December 7 and please remember the fallen police officers memorial in Washington.”
Legends champion Reed said, “We worked hard all year to make sure nothing breaks.” He thanked his dad and mom, crew chief Cody, his crew and all his sponsors.
Langers S2 champ King thanked his No. 77 car sponsor King Taco and all sponsors. “It's an awesome series and helps us move up,” he added.
Super Stock champion Cerquettini stated, “It felt great. I couldn't do it without my entire team. I'm going to be racing a late model next year plus my super stock. Thanks to my spotter Andrew, my mom and dad and wife Evie.”
Super Truck champ R. Johnson, Jr. had eight firsts, two seconds and three thirds. He said, “It was a really fantastic season. Thanks to my dad and crew. It came down to the last night.”
Late Models: The top three drivers spoke. P. 3 Travis Irving - “Thanks to the CHP sponsorship and it brought new friends I never knew I had. Thanks to Mike Johnson, Jeff Schrader, Joe Nava and Mark Gero.” P. 2 Tim Huddleston - “We developed the new S2 series and brought out new drivers. It's been a great year. All our guys make me look good. Thanks to Jeff Schrader and my lovely wife Lisa. We had new people testing the S2 car at Irwindale yesterday and they did 867 laps.” Up to six S2 new cars are expected for 2010. ACLM champion Joanides said, “It's incredible to do something no one has ever done (win two TS@I championship in the same year) and to beat three-time champion Tim Huddleston. Thanks to my entire crew. I had no complaints all year. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. It's incredible.” He thanked his car owner Loyd McGhee and all the sponsors on his No. 71 SLM and No. 77 late model. Rick Lalor, from the ACLM series sponsor, said, “Thanks to all late model drivers for making this a great series. It gets better and better each year. To all drivers who want to move up, we welcome you.”
Super Late Models: P. 3 Danny Gay thanked his crew for their hard work and his wife. P. 2 Rip Michels was not present. Champion Joanides stated, “It's amazing—43 races (in the top two TS@I divisions) and 37 top two finishes. Thanks to Jackson Race Cars for giving me great cars each week. All I had to do was keep from screwing it up. Thanks to team and track sponsors and all the competitors. Without them I wouldn't have had a shot at the Whelen All-American Series national title. Thanks to the Jacksons, my brother and dad who are here tonight, and to Loyd for their support. Thanks to Lester Boyer, Mike Atkinson, the Low Budget TV guys, Bob DeFazio and Jim Williams for building the best short track in the country. Happy holidays to everyone and we'll see you all next year.” Champion car owner McGhee stated: “When I was selecting a driver my only questions was, can he win? Nick can definitely win. I guess Rip (Michels) is home tonight on his Play Station trying to figure out how to beat us.”
ROOKIES OF THE YEAR: Eight 2009 rookies of the year were selected. They were:
Bandolero – Ryan Cansdale, 10 (the series champion and winner of 10 of 20 main events).
Classic Stocks – Steve Vukovich, 29, the P. 8 driver in final points.
Mini Stocks – Ryan Bragdon, who finished third in points.
Legend Cars – Dallas Montes, 16, one of the series “Bakersfield brigade” who won four main events in a row during August and September and placed seventh in points.
Super Stocks – Cody Fisher, 19, the seventh place driver in final points.
Super Trucks – Ryan Partridge, 21, the winner of one feature on August 8, a two-time main event runner-up and fifth place in points.
Late Models – Dallas Colodny, 20, who came from his home in Reno to finish second twice and log seven other top five finishes in one of Tim Huddleston's HPD “blue crew” Chevy Monte Carlos. He finished fifth in points. An unusually strong ACLM rookie class had other “rooks” finish in P. 6 (Beau De Bard), P. 8 (Kyle Mc Grady) and P. 10 (Tim Smith).
Super Late Models – Bear Rzesnowiecky, 17, came from Las Vegas to score one second place and eight other top five feature finishes and finished fourth in points. With seven of the eight rookie honorees present, only “Bear” was unable to attend the award ceremonies.
SPECIAL AWARDS:
Tony Jackson, of Jackson Race Cars, received the Craftsman Tool Mechanic of the Year/Crew Chief of the Year Award. The winner prepared cars for Joanides in both ACD SLM and ACLM divisions. He was a unanimous choice in a poll of his peers in the pits. He also was honored at the NASCAR Whelen Weekly Racing Series Banquet on November 13 in Concord, N. C, where he was the national runner-up for the same award in national voting.
Sportsman of the Year: This track award went to a surprised Mark Anderson, whose sons Andrew, 16, and Aaron, 14, have starred in the Bandolero series for years. Mark has assisted other Bandolero teams unselfishly with parts and hands-on assistance. He also enabled some underfunded teams to compete. With son Andrew a Legends, truck and S2 driver, Aaron will graduate to Legends competition in 2010. Mark told the audience, “Bandoleros are fun racing. Every team should have a Bandolero in their garage.”
Unsung Hero Award: Surprised Mike Johnson (ACLM No. 17 Chevy owner/driver) was called to the stage to receive this award for assisting fellow competitors. After taking ribbing from the emcee for his Fabio-like long-hair, Johnson said, “I've finished second and third in final points in the past and was fourth this year. I got a good car and it makes me look good.” He thanked crew chief Tony Stone and Dean Kuhn for their help all year. Johnson won four main events in a row from July 25 through September 5 and had a series-high six victories during 2009.
Gordon Stewart gave the invocation. Videotaped welcome messages from Phil Kurz, of sponsor Whelen Engineering, and Mike Helton, NASCAR President, were shown on two large screens at the front of the room. A taped audio/visual from Low Budget TV (Tommy Mason and Jeffrey Best) then followed and showed sights and sounds from the TS@I 2009 season. Bob DeFazio, TS@I Vice President and General Manager, welcomed attendees, congratulated champions and thanked track sponsors, tow and ambulance vehicle suppliers, and banquet committee members. He paused to remember deceased TS@I “family members” who succumbed to illnesses during the year. They were: Legends owner/driver Bob Landreth, NASCAR Saturday night and NHRA Thursday night track official Chico Powell, and Frank's Radio employee Chuck Matthews. DeFazio also spoke about the NASCAR short track operators November meeting in North Carolina that he attended with track owner Jim Williams. He said other track operators marveled at the number of competitors and divisions that TS@I has each season. He thanked racing teams for their continued participation and also thanked Williams and his wife Toni for building TS@I and their continuing operation of the track.
Co-emcees Gordon “Lugg Nutz” Stewart, the track infield announcer, and Jason Galvin assisted in interviews of top ten drivers and award recipients on the stage. Lester Boyer, the track competition director, assisted in presenting the special awards. Veronica Gradehus served as “trophy girl” and presented awards to each recipient. Drivers who finished tenth through fourth received gift certificates from many of the track sponsors. They included: Advanced Driving Dynamics, Auto Club of Southern California, Circle Racing Wheels, ECHO/Golden Distributing, Eibach Springs, Frank's Radio, Justice Brothers/High Point Distributing, K&N Filters, Langers Juice, Lucas Oil, Matt Denny's Restaurant, Molecule Systems Position One, QAI Shocks, Race Car Factory, and Thompson Building Materials.
Conclusion: Track builder/owner Jim Williams spoke to the audience and stated: “We had another great, safe season. We set out 11 years ago to build the best short track in the country and did that. Thanks to all of you competitors for making it great by racing at Irwindale. Have a great holiday season, drive safely, and we'll see you all next year.” The opening event for TS@I year 12 will be the annual Toyota All-Star Showdown on January 29-30. The event, which is known as “the Daytona 500 of short track stock car racing”, will be televised by the SPEED Network. The event will feature the touring Camping World West and Camping World East Divisions racing in a 225-lap feature for the lion's share of the mid-six-figure purse. Drivers in the Super Late Model and Late Model Divisions again will compete in their most lucrative races of the year in TASS preliminary weekend events. SLM drivers will run a 100-lap main and late model drivers have a scheduled 75-lap feature.
SEASON SUMMARY:
Division Race Dates Point Races No. of Winners Pt. Earners
Bandolero 20 20 6 champ Cansdale won 10 of 20 (50%) 26
SW Tour Trucks 8 8 2 champ Kuhn won 7 of 8 (87.5%) 22
Classic Stocks 12 13 3 champ Michaelian won 11 of 13 (85%) 18
Mini Stocks 12 12 3 champ Scoggins won 7 of 12 (58%) 27
Legend Cars 17 17 6 champ Reed won 2; RofY Montes 4 54
Outlaw Figure 8 9 9 3 champ Stewart won 3; P. 2 Ziemann 4 23
Langers S2 8 7 3 champ King won 6 of 7 (86%) 11
Super Stock 12 12 3 champ Cerquettini won 9 of 12 (75%) 22
Super Trucks 15 15 5 champ Johnson won 8 of 15 (53%) 37
Late Models 15 18 5 champ Joanides won 3; M. Johnson 6 59
Super Late Models 13 21 6 champ Joanides won 13 of 21 (62%) 58
He also won the 100-lap Sept. 26 non-pt race.
DIVISION HONOREES IN ATTENDANCE @ BANQUET:
Division Honorees Present
Bandolero Top 10 5
SW Tour Trucks Top 3 2
Classic Stocks Top 10 7
Mini Stocks Top 10 3
Legend Cars Top 10 4
Outlaw Figure 8 Top 10 5
Langers S2 Top 10 7 (incl. Kendell Lopez from Missouri.)
Super Stocks Top 10 6
Super Trucks Top 10 5
Late Models Top 10 7
Super Late Models Top 10 6 (incl. Duane Hunt, Jr. from Tucson, AZ. &
Mackena Bell from Carson City, NV.)
DRIVER 2010 PLANS:
Several drivers announced their plans to step up and race Auto Club Late Models in 2010. They included SW Tour Truck champion D. Kuhn, VPSS champion L. Cerquettini, and SW Tour Truck P. 2 driver Christian Copley, 18.
Legends champion R. Reed plans to race a SLM in addition to a second year in S2.
KTST R of the Y Ryan Partridge will race a SLM for Dave Eshleman's multi-car team + a second year in Steve Latina's No. 48 Super Truck.
Two series champion N. Joanides said he will race all three divisions in the January 29-30 Toyota All-Star Showdown. The J & M Construction ACLM car will be rented out in 2010 and Nick will concentrate on winning a third consecutive SLM championship for a rare racing“hat trick”.
Aaron Anderson will compete in Legend Cars.
TOP TEN DRIVERS BY DIVISION:
Bandoleros Classic Stocks Mini Stocks
1 Ryan Cansdale 1 Ken Michaelian 1 Daryl Scoggins
2 Aaron Anderson 2 Tommy Agosta 2 Tyler Rogers
3 Ricky Schlick 3 Mike Colato, Jr. 3 Ryan Bragdon (r)
4 Christian McGhee 4 Harry Michaelian 4 Steve Rogers
5 Blake Dunkleberger 5 Curtis Drye 5 Rod Schmitt
6 Lexi Moore 6 Tommy Mason 6 Kevin Bernhardt
7 Graydon Smith 7 Patrick Miller 7 Ron Schmitt
8 Mikael Lovas 8 Steve Vukovich (r) 8 Richie Altman
9 Brett Scoggins 9 Justin Good 9 Jacob Rogers
10 Ivan Gudmestad 10 Ryan Smith (r) 10 Tom Dye
Legend Cars Outlaw Figure 8s Langers Juice S2
1 Ryan Reed 1 Steve Stewart 1 Randel King
2 Brandon Toy 2 Billy Ziemann 2 Andrew Anderson
3 Chad Schug 3 Tony Curtis 3 Kyle Longmore
4 Brent Scheidemantle 4 Sean Hansen 4 Kendell Lopez
5 Donny St. Ours 5 Willy Voesten 5 Robert Tallini
6 Josh Geer 6 Jerry Toporek 6 Ryan Reed
7 Dallas Montes (r) 7 Rod Proctor 7 Jeff Phillips
8 Gary Scheuerell 8 Harry Kuenniger 8 Rod Johnson, Jr.
9 Michael Smith 9 Patrick Miller 9 Joshua Brander
10 Ken Maler, Jr. 10 Andy Schoening 10 Mark Reed
Super Stocks Super Trucks Late Models
1 Larry Cerquettini 1 Rod Johnson, Jr. 1 Nick Joanides
2 Rich DeLong III 2 Pat Mintey, Jr. 2 Tim Huddleston
3 Ken Brown 3 Ron Peterson 3 Travis Irving
4 Eric Sunness 4 Jeff Peterson 4 Mike Johnson
5 Gary Frankovich 5 Ryan Partridge (r) 5 Dallas Colodny (r)
6 Gary Read 6 Todd Cameron 6 Beau De Bard (r)
7 Cody Fisher (r) 7 Dennis Arena 7 Travis Motley
8 Scott Corrigan 8 Grant Hebner 8 Kyle Mc Grady (r)
9 Brad Keegan 9 Mason Britton 9 Miles Copenhaver
10 Mark Brinksma 10 Matt Kimball (r) 10 Tim Smith (r)
Super Late Models Lucas Oil Slick Mist Super 6 Southwest Tour Trucks
1 Nick Joanides 1 Nick Joanides 1 Dalton Kuhn
2 Rip Michels 2 Danny Gay 2 Christian Copley
3 Danny Gay 3 Rip Michels 3 Neil Conrad
4 Bear Rzesnowiecky
5 Luis Martinez, Jr.
8 Makena Bell (r)
10 Duane Hunt, Jr (r)
