Source: Tim Kennedy
Date: 03/24/2008

IRWINDALE, California - New track name, first-time feature winners, huge crowd and exciting competition were the main ingredients here Saturday night on a summer-like spring evening. The former Irwindale Speedway commenced its tenth NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season with the new Toyota Speedway at Irwindale name affixed to track buildings. A standing room only crowd of 7,500 convened to watch 121 competitors in five divisions compete in 170-laps of main event action from 7:00 to 10:05 p.m on the banked half and third mile tracks and the Figure 8 infield course. Winners were Pat Mintey, Jr. (King Taco Super Trucks), Andrew Myers (Auto Club Late Models) and Charles Price (AC Delco Super Late Models) on the half-mile, Jimmy Hansen (Legends) on the third-mile, and track champion Steve Stewart (Pick Your Part Outlaw Figure 8s). Victories by Mintey and Stewart were not surprises because both drivers have won numerous features at Irwindale in their respective divisions.

However, the other three winners Saturday are noteworthy. Price, a 21-year old from Redlands, set fastest qualifying time in the featured SLM division in a 27-car field. The SLM main event thrilled fans with two and three-wide racing throughout the 50-lap main event. With a five-car inversion, the winner started fifth and took second on lap 20. He shot past race-long leader Kevin Thompson, the pole starter, on lap 34 in the inside groove at turn four. Price led the final 16 laps in the 2007 Irwindale track championship Ford Fusion that Rip Michels drove for Bob Bruncati's Sunrise Ford of Fontana. Owner/driver Dave Eshleman, the former mayor of Fontana, bought the car following the 2007 season and gave Price the best ride of his career. Price rewarded Eshleman with a dominating performance in their debut. It was the first Irwindale feature trophy for both men. They also collected $1,250. Price won by 10-yards (0.536) over second fastest qualifier, fourth starter Scott Conaway, from Rancho Cucamonga. Dan Moore came from tenth starting spot to place third, 1.492-seconds behind Price. Early leader Thompson dropped from second to fourth following a lap 44 restart after a caution flag when fifth place Derek Becker spun. Scott Dodd, Stephen Peace, Jason Patison, Travis Thirkettle, David Ross and David Beat completed the top ten as 22 of 27 starters finished, with 17 drivers on the lead lap.

LATE MODELS: A 31-car ACLM feature preceded the SLM race. Myers, a former ACLM driver at Irwindale, returned to the track after two years on the NASCAR Grand National West touring circuit. He also had several starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Myers made his return to Irwindale to add to his one prior feature victory at the track. He drove the No. 15 Chevy Monte Carlo for owner/driver Eugene Dewberry. The car has been parked for several seasons. The new team won $1,000 and went to victory circle with the ACLM point lead in their first joint venture. Myers, of Newport Beach, won his prior Irwindale feature in his family-owned Escondido Toyota-backed Chevy. When his NCTS ride evaporated this year Myers wanted to race and hooked-up with Dewberry. He set quick time, started second in the 31-car field and led all the way in the 40-lap run. He held a 20-yard (0.922) advantage at the conclusion. "That was fun. We get to go to church for Easter, brunch and the yacht club tomorrow," Myers said over the portable infield PA microphone when interviewed.

Rookie stock car driver Colin Fleming made an auspicious debut by qualifying second fastest in the 30-car ACLM field and the racing all 40-laps in second place. He drove one of six Justice Brothers, High Point Distributing Chevy Monte Carlos entered by two-time and 2007 ACLM champion Tim Huddleston. He installed four rookies as drivers on his expanded ACLM team. Open-wheel driver Fleming, from San Diego, raced IKF karts starting at age 9 from 1993-2001 and earned ten IKF region 7 championships. In 2004 he won rookie of the year honors while finishing third in Formula Renault points. As a member of Red Bull's Junior team, he raced in the World Series of Renault for Jenzer Motorsports in 2005. He moved to Carlin Motorsports in 2006 and finished an impressive fourth in the Renault Series Monaco Grand Prix. He sat out last year and returned as a developmental driver for High Point Racing. "A racing car is a racing car," is the way Fleming put it. He backed up that statement on the track after three practice sessions over the past two weeks. He started from the pole in front of his boss Huddleston and kept him in his exhaust all 40 laps. Huddleston finished third, 0.555 behind his latest star pupil. Fleming drove the No. 55 in which Jace Meier won a 2007 Irwindale main, finished second in points to Huddleston and won the IS rookie of the year trophy.

Nick Joanides, Mike Johnson, second year ACLM driver Lindsey King, 19, Sean Bennett, rookie Ryan Kaplan, 21-year old USAC Ford Focus midget, full midget and 2007 USAC Western Sprint Car rookie of the year and champion, Kevin Callahan and Robert Rice followed. Twenty-four of 31 starters finished and 21 drivers completed all 40-laps. Huddleston's "blue crew" team finished second, third, sixth, eighth, 16th (Alison Quick) and 27th (Jennifer Greenberg). The red flag flew on lap 11 for a multi-car crash at the starting line after the cars of Greenberg and Gerald Lair made contact and several other cars received damage. Four cars were sidelined. The front end of Greenburg's High Point No. 56 Chevy was partially torn off and resting on the ground when her car stopped spinning on the front straight between start/finish and turn one. No drivers were injured.

LEGENDS: Perhaps the biggest surprise came in the Legends scheduled 30-lap feature. Nomadic Jimmy Hansen, an 18 year old Cedar Lake, Indiana resident whose home track is Grundy County Speedway, a banked third-mile paved track near Morris, Illinois, made his first visit to Irwindale. He set third fastest qualifying time in a 30-car field. He also recorded the fastest timed laps in both of the early-afternoon Legend practice sessions. In the feature Hansen started second with pole starter, five-time Irwindale Legend Champion Tom Landreth alongside. Hansen passed Landreth on the inside entering turn three and led the first lap. However, a back row car hit the third turn tires protecting the end of the wall head-on for a caution. On the complete restart Landreth led the first eight laps before Hansen grabbed the lead and held it to the early conclusion after 25 laps. Landreth trailed by 0.323 with fastest qualifier and 2007 Irwindale Legends champion Darren Amidon third, 1.356 behind the winner. Hansen came to Irwindale at Amidon's suggestion when they competed at the same track earlier this year. Brent Scheidemantle, the youngest driver at 13 and a Bandolero Series graduate, enjoyed his career best fourth place. Mark Borchetta was fifth as 21 of 29 starters finished. No drivers were lapped.

Hansen's $250 victory over two track champions on his first visit to the track could rank as one of the biggest upsets in Irwindale track history along with Joey Logano's Grand National stock car victory last October in the Toyota All-Star Showdown on the half-mile. Hansen and his dad Woody tour the country each season to race their Legend cars. They have three No. 69 Legend coupes in their large trailer towed by a Hallmark mobile home common for traveling race teams. Last season they logged more than 50,000 miles, raced in 20 states and won 18 Legend features in six states. This year they plan to race in 56 Legend races in more than 20 states from Florida to California. They hope to win both the Legends national and touring championships. Since November the father/son duo have raced at Orlando, FL, Blythe, CA. and Lake Havasu, AZ. They have return visits to Blythe and Havasu, plus race dates at Las Vegas, NV and Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, CA before the end of April. Recent high school graduate Hansen does his own mechanical work and set-ups based upon his training in North Carolina. He assisted Amidon on set-ups at TS@I and pitted next to his new friend after they competed against each other at Blythe and Havasu. At one of those races Hansen received an offer to race a late model in Idaho later this year. When asked what his racing goal is Hansen quickly replied, "NASCAR." The mechanically-minded, quick study would appear to be a driver to watch and a promising developmental driver for a major NASCAR team.

FIERY CRASHES: Following the checkered flag in the Legends main 20th finisher "Papa" Jim Pantier flipped his sedan next to the second turn outside wall and an engine fire erupted. Fire crews extinguished the blaze quickly and the driver emerged unscathed. Later, on lap 5 of the SLM main tenth place Chris Johnson (in the No. 50 TCR Chevy formerly raced by Johnny White) was hit from behind and veered up to the first turn wall and hit hard. The RF wheel was pushed back to the engine block and a fire erupted as the car ground to a halt along the wall. Johnson climbed out uninjured as the fire soon went out as the mobile fire crew arrived. Officials sent Beat to the back of the field for causing Johnson's crash. He complied and then charged back to tenth place. In the truck race, 16-year old Connor Cantrell, the truck rookie of the year last season, came from fourth starting slot to take second on lap 21. He closed gradually on leader Mintey from lap 22 and trailed by five yards (0.305) at the lap 35 checkers. John Sereika, fastest qualifier Joe Herold, and truck rookie Grant Hebner followed with all 23 trucks racing at the finish (RAF) and 17 drivers on the lead lap.

FIGURE 8s: An eight-car Outlaw Figure 8 race with one brief red flag, elicited loud ooohs and aaahs from the packed grandstand that included many first time spectators at the track. The 7:41.323-timed race concluded the evening. "Barefoot" Billy Ziemann started third and led the first seven laps before he tangled with Don Rogers exiting turn two and dropped to fourth place. Stewart came from sixth on the grid to lead the final 13 laps of the 20-lap race that had five laps lopped off the scheduled distance because of the 10 p.m hour. Ziemann finished second, a straight-away behind Stewart. Jerry Toporek was third, down a lap. Hard Charger award winners were Joe Anderson in the super trucks, Don Rogers (27th to 19th in the late models) and diversity driver Lloyd Mack (20th to 13th in SLM).

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