As the title claims, High Point Racing had the best overall team night in its career on June 18th 2011. Six team cars were on track, with a mix of open wheel, Langer’s Juice S2, and Auto Club Late Model regulars. Once the night had ended, HPR had clinched the entire podium in both twin races.
Michael Lewis piloted the #59 during Saturday’s action. After posting the fastest lap during the second session of practice during the hot summer day, Lewis put up an impressive fourth fastest lap against the field of 26 competitors. Michael was one to watch in the first race, using his open wheel experience and aggression to battle throughout the race. The short 30 lap event saw minimal cautions, and left the #59 in the 11th finishing position. The second race was much shorter for Lewis, as the first lap found him caught up in a wreck. Able to continue one, Michael unfortunately had more contact on the restart which ended his run.
The #58 HPR car saw a solid night with Austin Dyne behind the wheel. Dyne is a regular in the S2 division at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, and used his young experience to produce a consistent night. After participating in only the first practice session, Austin clocked off the 16th fastest time. For the first race, Dyne focused on keeping the car in one piece and avoiding any potential trouble to ensure he would make race number two. For the first race, he finished in the 13th position. After successfully finishing, the gloves came off and much of the second race was spent avoiding carnage. Once he weaved through the wreckage, Dyne managed to bring the car home for his first top ten finish of his late model career.
Devon Ostheimer was “Mr. Never-Give-Up” on Saturday night after struggling early on. Devon in the number 57 participated in both practice sessions to get the car in his comfort zone and qualified 19th. In the first race, Devon was keeping the car clean when a backup of cars ahead caused a need for an evasive maneuver. As a result, the 57 collided with another competitor and both cars went flying into the infield and Ostheimer finished 20th. It was in race number two where Devon excelled, keeping the car in one piece and moving through the field. After avoiding the big wreck on lap one, Ostheimer weaved through competitors and wound up finishing sixth.
Not only was the night one to remember for High Point Racing, but also for Dylan Lupton who finished in victory lane for both races. The sweep came after Lupton qualified third fastest. With the inverts, Dylan started third and first consecutively, and lead a total of 54 of the 60 total laps. Lupton now has a total of three wins and sits fifth in points.
Brandon Davis continued his competitive ride in the number 55 HPR machine. After running the fastest lap of both practice sessions, Davis snagged the pole in qualifying yet again. With the inverts, Davis started fourth and second consecutively and continued his consistency up front for both races. Despite a few close calls in race number one, starting up front helped Brandon avoid any of the carnage in both races. The 55 finished third and second in the twins and extended his points lead to 36 points over second place.
Nik Romano found his way to victory lane the week before, and showed it was no fluke on Saturday. He qualified in second place, behind Davis by less than 2 hundredths of a second. After being the fastest rookie in time trials Romano kept his car up front in both races and swapped positions with Davis, finishing second and third. With the good finishes, Romano now sits fourth in series points.
The next race for the High Point Racing late models will be on June 25th. For more information on High Point Racing and the drivers, please visit www.highpointracing.com.
