Michael Wright won his sixth Main Event of the season to all but lock in his second straight MSRA Championship. With a 143 point lead over second-place Eddie Secord, it is still not a certainty and will have to be decided for sure later this month at Mesa-Marin.
A middle of the race wreck between the then leaders James Warden and Eddie Secord put Wright in first to stay. Displaying the American Flag on the hood of the #23 car, Wright was able to overcome a pre-race accident that saw the right side of his car get crunched causing some handling problems.
The night saw some drivers in different cars. Rookie points leader Steve Schrober was back in the fray with a ride in the #79 car normally driven by Marty Elzig. His engine blown in practice, Secord picked up a ride in the #24 car of Rod Hedrick, keeping him in the points hunt. Gary Ebeling was driving for the Jordan team in the #7 car.
Returning to MSRA for the first time this season was James Warden, 1999's MSRA Champion. Steve Almquist, a long ago MSRA member brought his team to Irwindale.
Qualifying
Michael Wright was the top qualifier for the night with his 18:825 time. James Warden was second with 19:105 followed by Eddie Secord at 19:169, Kenny Smith at 19:278, Kevin Bernhardt at 19:307, and John Serika at 19:670.
Trophy Dash
The top six qualifiers started the Trophy dash with the field inverted. John Serika took the early lead from the pole position, challenged by Kevin Bernhardt on the high line. With the field bunching up, Eddie Secord made a spectacular move. Driving hard into turn three, Secord passed the entire field to take the lead, much to the delight of the Irwindale fans who were on their feet. Bernhardt got by Serika for second place. Racing three wide with Bernhardt and Serika, Kenny Smith moved by both into second place. Working his way through the pack, Michael Wright passed Bernhardt for third on lap 4 and got by Smith on lap five to finish second.
Main Event
Approaching the green flag, several cars in the back of the pack including the #53 of Tim Clyde, #79 of Steve Schober, #52 of Howard Stone and the #23 of Michael Wright mixed it up and banged around in turn four. With no cars seriously damaged, the cars lined up again.
>From his pole position, Gary Ebeling took the lead. On lap three Kenny Smith and Kevin Bernhardt spun together in turn two bringing out the caution.
Ebeling continued to lead after the restart. After a couple of laps John Serika and Ebeling began exchanging the lead. Serika taking the low line and going around Ebeling and Ebeling returning the favor on the next corner. Coming out of turn four Ebeling spun out down into the infield grass and Serika took the lead. Secord then got by Serika for the lead. James Warden now challenged Serika for second eventually getting by. Behind them Michael Wright and Tim Clyde battled for fourth. Wright won the battle and moved into fourth.
In lap 13 Warden began to make his move on Secord. Warden kept on Secord's bumper looking for a place to pass. Behind them, Wright and Serika battled for third with Wright finally getting by on lap 14. Warden got underneath on the backstretch, beginning a side by side race for first. Hard racing saw Warden on the low line and Secord on the high line, neck and neck. Secord managed to hold the lead. Going into turn three they touched and both got loose, sending Secord into the wall and Warden to the infield side. Secord's crash brought out the caution. Secord was finished for the night and in a controversial call by the track, Warden was black-flagged for his part in the crash.
The restart placed Wright in the lead with Serika, Clyde and Scott Porter behind him. The positions would not change for the rest of the way giving Wright the win.
Irwindale, 10/6/01 Qualifying Main Event Finish Car Name Time Points Finish Car Name Points 1st 23 Michael Wright 18:825 30 1st 23 Michael Wright 150 2nd 2 Jim Warden Jr. 19:103 29 2nd 20 John Serika 140 3rd 84 Eddie Secord 19:169 28 3rd 53a Tim Clyde 135 4th 43 Kenny Smith 19:278 27 4th 66 Scott Porter 130 5th 60 Kevin Bernhardt 19:307 26 5th 7 Steve Schober 125 6th 20 John Serika 19:670 25 6th 52 Howard Stone 120 7th 1 Gary Ebeling 19:768 24 7th 10 Tim Gardner 115 8th 53a Tim Clyde 19:771 23 8th 2 Jim Warden Jr. 110 9th 50 Steve Almquist 20:291 22 9th 43 Kenny Smith 105 10th 7 Steve Schober 20:314 21 10th 1 Gary Ebeling 100 11th 66 Scott Porter 20:370 20 11th 84 Eddie Secord 95 12th 52 Howard Stone 20:880 19 12th 50 Steve Almquist 90 DNQ 10 Tim Gardner 0 13th 60 Kevin Bernhardt 85 DNQ 22 Ed Reed 0 UTR 22 Ed Reed 25 UTR 24a Rod Hedrick 25 Trophy Dash Finish Car Name Points 1st 84 Eddie Secord 9 2nd 23 Michael Wright 8 3rd 43 Kenny Smith 7 4th 60 Kevin Bernhardt 6 5th 2 Jim Warden Jr. 5 6th 20 John Serika 4
2001 Point Standings
Car Last First Points
23 Wright Michael 1601
84 Secord Eddie 1458
43 Smith Kenny 1420
66 Porter Scott 1340
7 Schober Steve 1039
10 Gardner Tim 1016
22 Reed Ed 913
153 Newcomer Sam 680
24a Hedrick Rod 521
79 Elzig Marty 514
85 Bernardi Steve 430
29 Harrell Matthew 421
60 Bernhardt Kevin 410
11 Douthit Mike 344
86 Soares John 335
20 Sereika John 306
12 Minut Don 287
52 Stone Howard 278
1 Ebeling Gary 262
53a Clyde Tim 158
2 Symonds Gregg 147
55 Harris Sam 146
15a Ladwig Peter 144
02 Warden Jim 144
88 Smith Melvin 141
24 O'Brien Pat 139
6 Adams Mike 132
15 Ladwig Michael 128
36 Soares Tim 112
50 Almquist Steve 112
3 Howitzer Howard 25
