IRWINDALE, Califorina — As the checkered flag dropped on the K&N Pro Series and Joey Logano began doing burnouts on the front stretch of Toyota Speedway, Tim Huddleston looked as his three young development drivers and said “Let’s show them how HPR gets it done.”
After qualifying on the front row, Tim Huddleston and rookie High Point Racing driver, Rod Johnson Jr. would lead the field to the green flag in a pair of Gilley’s at Treasure Island / Racecar Factory Late Models. The pair drove into turn one with the field powering behind them and proved it was going to be an exciting race to watch. Side by side they raced through turn one with Huddleston leading out of turn two. By turn four it was back to Johnson. Back and forth the two battle until the first caution came out on lap 7.
Double file restarts made for exciting racing as well as additional cautions. The pair continued to put on an excellent battle out front holding off the #17 of Mike Johnson who desperately wanted in the mix.
During the final caution of the night Rod Johnson Jr. radioed to his team that he was having some troubles with his shifter on the previous restart. When the green flag dropped, Johnson was slow to pick up speed and as the initial cars behind him were able to move to the inside lane, Rod fell back several positions.
Excited to be back to green flag racing, Huddleston was confident that he would be able to bring home the victory.
“We had a really good car all weekend, and last year the race was shortened because of all the weather. I just really wanted to run green flag laps so we could go the distance and really race,” Huddleston said.
Because of local curfew regulations the scheduled 75 laps was cut to 55 laps. With the #15 of Rod Johnson falling back in the field on the restart, Huddleston had only to focus on running his own line to bring the #50 to victory lane. With a ten car lead over second place, the checkered flag dropped on Huddleston on lap 55.
A little further back, teammate Dallas Colodny was busy moving his Gilley’s at Treasure Island / Extreme Wrench Chevrolet from tenth to seventh . On the final restart he made a quick decision to drop to the bottom and avoid the car of Johnson. The move advanced his position from seventh to fifth. Colodny made a late race charge but was unable to over take the fourth position.
“The car was really strong tonight, I just had some trouble getting around the guys in front of me,” Colodny said after the race. “We are definitely going to win a few races this year.”
Travis Motley started the #59 Gilley’s at Treasure Island / Justice Brothers car in the nineteenth position. “It was an impound race and we knew we had to give some up on qualifying. The field was so tight, we ended up a little further then we had wanted,” Motley explained. “The car was good on the long run all weekend. We just couldn’t get enough green flag laps to get up and race with the faster cars.” Motley ended the night in the twelfth position.
“I can’t thank everyone on the blue crew enough, my wife Lisa, my three kids. I wanted to show everyone what great racing we have at Toyota Speedway and I think we did just that. Thanks to Gilley’s at Treasure Island for coming on board for this race. I can't wait to come up and celebrate and ride the mechanical bull! This event was so much better since the weather cooperated this year and I can’t wait to see how many cars come out next year.”
Gilley’s is a new dance hall and saloon inside the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The country themed dance hall and saloon will include a full barbecue style menu, dancing and a mechanical bull. Gilley’s is scheduled to open during the 2010 World Cup for Professional Bull Riders, Inc weekend on April 16th, 2010. For more information or to make a reservation, call 800-288-7206 or visit www.treasureisland.com.
High Point Racing is a Driver Development Program who fields four Auto Club Late Model at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. High Point Racing would like to thank all of their sponsors for their support: Gilley’s at Treasure Island, Justice Brothers, Extreme Wrench, Pop the Habit, Sunrise Ford, Racecar Factory, Liz-Zard Racing Engines, Ron’s Rear Ends, Central Valley Auto Body and Swift Springs. For more information visit www.HighPointRacing.com.
