IRWINDALE, California — - As Ascot’s JC Agajanian Junior might intone:
"THE WEATHER’S SET ON NICE AND THE SHOW’S GREAT!"
“TWO GREAT ANNUAL EVENTS WILL CO-LLIDE AT TOYOTA SPEEDWAY … THIS … SATURDAY … NIGHT … JUNE 18!”
Father’s Day race night AND the track’s traditional Trucker’s Night.
And the best news is that all Father’s are in FREE and all kids under 12 are NO CHARGE too.
This the event that everyone always gets out to early-on and ready to see some of the coolest kings of the highway this side of the ice road runners.
The over-the-road iron all be parked on the asphalt infield of the Speedway, all spiffed-up, polished-out, and ready to really rumble when the big truck parade is called up. Fans are urged to get to the Speedway by 5:45PM to personally take part in all the truckin’ fun!
Long range weather reports have Saturday down as a nice warm one and there’s really nothing like a balmy evening cheering on local NASCAR racers on live and in person (and FREE if you’re a father!)
After the early on-track truck-fest we’ve got a full card of NASCAR racing an Auto Soccer event (Yes, real cars chasing a 4-foot tall, 90-pound hollow steel ball all over the infield) and a Spark-Tacular Skid Plate Race that will see about 30 of these steel-skidded sub-compacts scraping their way around the track’s third-mile and getting everyone in the stands up on their feet and yelling: “Did you SEE THAT?”.
But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, the Skidders and the Soccer-slammers will run last (because track clean-up is sometimes a little time-consuming after one of these motor-melees go down).
First we’ve got to talk some serious NASCAR Championship stuff, like the Auto Club Late Models, where Huntington Beach’s Brandon Davis is in a rut, a good rut, but a rut none the less. After winning the first 5 races in a line, Davis has finished second three times in the first 8 of this season’s 18 championship events. His 394 points (and the fact that no one else has put together a string anything like Davis’s consistency) see him a staggering 72 points ahead of Toni McCray from San Bernardino. She has a little less of a lead (6 points) over Bakersfield’s Chris Holloway and Alpine’s Taylor Miinch.
Even more serious is the fact that there are two (count ‘em TWO) Late Model races on Saturday night … with only one short week in between to prepare. As has often been pointed out, “Twin” race nights always seem to add up to the sum being greater (or less) than the individual two races. There’s a king’s ransom on the table, ONE HUNDRED points at stake, fully 50 at a time. Be bold and get as many as you can in race one, but save something for race two. A pure balancing act that has its lessons to teach. This is where professional abilities and attitudes are formed, this is where teamwork, planning, and execution mean the difference between champ and chump. Bang the car up beyond rapid repair in race one and you’ve turned in your transponder and your car is in the trailer headed out onto Live Oak Avenue before the green flag flies on the second race. And what of luck? Yeah, sure, but even luck has a habit of favoring expert preparation for some reason.
Twin Auto Club Late Model races this Saturday … Oh Man!
In the Vista Paint Super Stocks, after the first for races of the season, we’ve got us a real close one going with Rich DeLong III from Santa Clarita showing 178 points, Norwalk’s Curtis White holding 174 and Zack Green from the Queen Mary’s home port, Long Beach only 10 out of first at 168. Surprisingly, none of the above has won even a single event so far this season. All three though, have put up consistent finishing records that have them leading their division.
Jeff Williams come into Saturday night’s Southwest Tour Truck Series with perfect record: three wins in the first three events. Even at that, the Newbury Park driver can’t relax because Arcadia’s Neil Conrad has his own streak going: he’s finished second every time that Williams won! In almost perfect form, and keeping it close Huntington Beach’s Brady Helm picked up third place in two of the races and finished fourth in the other. Needless to day, the SWTT’s will be going at it even more than normal, since it’s Trucker’ Night at the old Speedway.
And, just for a bunch of fun we’ve got an Open Comp race on the third-mile … this is a good old, run-what-you-brung, stock car wing-ding for which any stocker that’s ever run at the Speedway is eligible. The technical term “Mixed Bag” was coined for this show, but UN-“like a box of chocolates”, you’re going to get a great racing show no matter who shows.
And… the afore-mentioned Auto Soccer show and a slew of Skid Plate Cars (which are oh so conveniently sponsored by Siedner’s Collision Centers) will close out the Dad’s Day/Trucker’s night show with (LITERALLY) a bang. More racing for your money? Oh yeah!
All of the above adds up to another “More (NASCAR) Racing For Your Money” Saturday night at Toyota Speedway in nearby Irwindale, California where ticket and parking prices have not changed since opening day 1999, and where racing is just the beginning of all the fun!
The track’s gates open to the pubic at 4PM and at 5:45 everyone is invited right down on the track to take part in the Speedway’s special time to meet the drivers, see the cars up close, get a snapshot or two, the autograph of a favorite driver and just generally mix and mingle in the pre-race party that we call the King Taco On-Track Autograph Session. Fans are reminded to bring the kids and not to miss this no-extra-charge unique part of the special fan experience at the Speedway!
Toyota Speedway and Event Center opened on March 27, 1999 and has become one of the premier NASCAR Home Tracks in the country. Featuring virtually every aspect of stadium-style motorsports competition, the facility is clean, family-friendly and features a unique money-back guarantee that refunds any fan’s ticket price if they are not 100% happy with the show. Located on the 605 freeway in Irwindale, California, the track is easy to get to from just about anywhere in southern California.
For more information, tickets, or directions: www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com
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