June 16, 2001 (North Hollywood, Calif.) - - Sean Woodside, driver of the #45 Team Walker/Ron's Rear Ends/NAPA Chevrolet in the NASCAR Winston West Series, finished in second place in both of tonight's Twin 50 Super Late Model events at Irwindale Speedway.
Woodside competes in Irwindale's Super Late Model division regularly, in addition to his full-time commitment in the Winston West.
Woodside and Nick Defazio tied for the pole position with lap times of 18.256 seconds, however, Woodside's points position allowed him to prevail to win the pole.
The four-car inversion gave him an outside second row starting position for the first of the two fifty lap sprints. Woodside held second place throughout most of the race, defending his spot against the 99 car of Brandon Loverock and attempting to take the lead from winner Brent Reynolds.
In the second race, Woodside found himself running in second place again and trailing Tim Woods' 54 car throughout the entire event. He tried time after time to get around Woods. Loverock was again behind Woodside, and made numerous attempts to pass him. That threat disappeared when Loverock's car got loose coming out of turn four and spun into the infield in the closing laps of the race.
With two laps to go, Woodside made a final attempt to pass Woods. The two came side-by-side down the front straightaway for the checkered flag, and Woods finished just a nose ahead of Woodside with a .158 second margin of victory.
"That was good racing, and a lot of fun," Woodside commented. "My hat is off to both drivers that finished ahead of me tonight, and to the team for putting such a great car together."
As a result of tonight's races, Woodside has unofficially reclaimed the lead in the point standings in the Super Late Model division.
Team co-owner and teammate Mike Walker was fast in practice today, easily posting top ten times. He finished 17th in the first of the two events. In the second event, the car in front of Walker brake checked and the two cars made hard contact, resulting in heavy damage to the front of Walker's car. The team assessed the damage and flew to make repairs, however, the race ended just as they were ready to roll Walker back out onto the track.
More information is available at the team's Web site at http://www.teamwalkermotorsports.com.
Team Walker Motorsports is a multi-team racing operation owned by Donna
Walker and her son, Michael. The team fields the #45 Team Walker/Ron's Rear
Ends/NAPA Chevrolet in the NASCAR Winston West Series, featuring driver Sean
Woodside, and the #23 Team Walker/Ron's Rear Ends/Quixote/Sunset
Expendables/NAPA Chevrolet in Irwindale Speedway's Super Late Model program,
driven by Mike Walker. North Hollywood, Calif.-based Team Walker Motorsports
debuted in 1999 with a limited Late Model schedule.
