IRWINDALE, California — A long season for the Speedway's feature Auto Club Late Model division ends this Saturday night with the 2011 championship still very much in play after seventeen races and a see-saw points battle that, early season, looked as though Huntington Beach's Brandon Davis was simply going to walk away with the series after handily winning the first five races. But his season has had a couple of downs as well, including a zero in race eight (a post-race DQ for non-complying equipment), another 4-race win streak in races eleven through fourteen, and "bad night" (for him) last race when, after finishing second in the first of another set of twins, he got caught up in a multi-car wreck and went home with only 76 points (out of the 100 he wanted to bank).
"Multi-time Karting champion Taylor Miinch steps into the ring on Saturday with only one win."
Multi-time Karting champion Taylor Miinch steps into the ring on Saturday with only one win (the last race) but ranked second in points after a challenging season that's been one of hard-fought finishes every Saturday night for the young driver from Alpine. Right now he's only 42 points back (754 to 712).
Dylan Lupton (Wilton, 696 points), rookie Nik Roman (Atherton, 688 points), and Toni McCray (San Bernardino, 644 points) round out the top five in the division. These three have done far more than keep the two guys up front "honest". All three drivers were in contention for a podium finish every time they took the green.
Saturday sees the Late Models running two full-points-paying races on one night again. The drama does not have to be hyped, the stakes are high, there's another prestigious Toyota Speedway annual championship on the line, and, for short track fans, that's all the "message" that they need.
POINTS POINTERS: We'll forego the "two races in one night" (finish to win) lecture for a shout-out for the track's championship points system, which has been in effect since year one. It's simple and effective and pays 50 points for first, 48 for second, 46 for third, 44 for fourth, 42 for fifth and so on. The premium is still on winning, but, unless one wins every race (like Jeff Williams in the SWTTs below) the points awarded for top five finishes keep the competition very close all season long. The "Chase" for every championship at Toyota Speedway is not just a few weeks, but a season-long competition.
Chad Schug from Oak Hills leads the points in the always-competitive Echo Equipment Legend Cars. Schug has won fully half of the 14 races that this identical-machines "spec" class has run so far this season and leads Alta Loma's Brent Scheidmantle (with 2 wins) by a scant points, 644 to 640! Aaron Wells (Studio City) with a string of steady finishes, is listed third, with 518 coming into Saturday's race 15 at the Speedway.
Between Christian McGhee and Daniel Nikolai the two young Jan's Towing Bandoleros drivers have won 16 (eight each) of the twenty-one races run so far this season (these kids run a lot of Friday night races at the Speedway and get whole bunch of seat time!). LaVerne's McGhee leads Granada Hill's Nikolai by 16 whole points 1,068 to 1,052! Mikaell Lovas, from Menifee has watched the above two from third place almost all season long and has 988 points.
And, finally our late-season points rundown for Saturday night's event comes to the division's unofficial "no-hitter" Newbury Park's favorite racing driver Jeff Williams has won all seven of the South West Tour Trucks races so far and has a 350 to 312 points lead over second place Brady Helm of Huntington Beach. In a pointed example of the all the "consistency" catechism that we've been preaching: Arcadia's Neil Conrad has five seconds and one third in seven races. (But he also has a gnarly zero in the column were he should have had some points for race five.)
Being there and being good all the time is the theme for every division at every race.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION: AUTO CLUB The Auto Club has been a Speedway sponsor since the track opened in March of 1999. Thousands upon thousands of fans have "Show(n) the Card and Save(d) over Toyota Speedway's first thirteen years of operation. "Our association with the Auto Club, its people and the services that they provide, is a strong one, they're much more than simply a track and event sponsor," said track GM/VP Bob DeFazio. They're an important part of the reason that our guests feel good about coming to the Speedway. The Club's monitoring of our guest parking lots has helped literally thousands of folks along the way, jump-starting batteries, opening cars with the keys locked inside, and changing flat tires all at no cost to our guests and regardless of whether they are Auto Club members or not. When families attend Toyota Speedway, they're Auto Club members for the night and that's been one of the reasons that fans come back over and over again, they're treated like family here."
TIMING IS EVERYTHING: Gates open at 4PM and one of the best part of the night's (this side of some highly-spirited circle track driving) attractions is the 5:45PM Right-On-The-Racetrack King Taco Autograph Party. Meet the drivers, get a close-up-and-personal look at the race cars, and take notice of the banking of the track (something that is very hard to see from the grandstands because fans are sort of looking down the slope of the track). It's free with your admission and all the "kids" get a real kick out of shaking hands with a crowd favorite. Don't miss this! (Hey, you'll get a closer parking place too when you get to the Speedway early and the kettle corn is smokin' hot and fresh!).
