CAMARILLO, Calif. – Irwindale Speedway racer Charles Utts should coach quarterbacks in the National Football League because nobody understands passing better. Utts, driver of the Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet, passed 17 racers on his way to an 11th-place finish in the Food-4-Less Super Late Model 75-lapper at Irwindale. He’ll be at it again when the series resumes action May 26.
“I thought we had a chance to win the race,” Utts said. “But things happen and no real harm was done. We’ll be ready to go again when the time comes.”
Good as it was, Utts’ finish dropped him to second place in the championship points standings.
Utts started 13th in the field and quickly made his way to fourth place. But a spin to the infield dropped him to 21st place in the running. He spent the second half of the race charging back to his final position.
Utts won the 1991 Western States Modified Stock Champion and is a two-time champion of the Modified Stock Division at Mesa Marin Raceway.
Utts works at the family-owned Custom Printing in Oxnard, where he directs the sales department. He is married to Kristen Utts, a former True Value Mechanic of the Year Award winner, and they have a daughter, Ashley.
