Tanner Swanson keeps Turkey Night Grand Prix championship in the family

The 71st running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale didn't start out very clean.
A five-car crash at the start of the USAC Sprint Car race took out the leader in the Western Sprint Car standings and a former Turkey Night Grand Prix champion.
Tanner Swanson spun out before the start of the 40-lap Sprint Car race. Audra Sasselli, who entered the race with a 20-point lead in the Western Sprint Car standings, had her car overturned in the crash.
Tracy Hines, who won the Sprint Car race at the Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2008, was also collected in the crash.
Cody Gearhardt was taken to a nearby hospital for observation. Jo Jo Helberg and Bobby East also crashed at the start of the race and did not return.
Tanner Swanson escaped the crash and went on to win the Sprint Car race. He was followed by his brother, Kody Swanson, in second. Kody Swanson won the Turkey Night Grand Prix Sprint Car race last year.
Caleb Armstrong from New Castle, Ind., won the 98-lap, crash-filled USAC Midget race.
Bryan Clauson, who won the previous two Midget races at the Turkey Night Grand Prix, was third.
Ross Rankine won the USAC Ford Focus Midgets race, the first of his career. Nick Drake was second, followed by Garrett Peterson in third.
Jessica Clark, a senior at Westlake High School, won the USAC Ford Focus Western Pavement and Southern California championship. She finished in 13th place in the 23-car Turkey Night Grand Prix field.

Jessica Clark pulls double duty at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale

Jessica Clark, a senior at Westlake High School, leads the USAC Ford Focus Midgets Western Pavement standings by 199 points.
She raced in the USAC Ford Focus Midget and S2 stock cars races at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.

17-year-old Jessica Clark takes two paths

Some 17-year-old girls are lucky to have one car at their disposal.
Jessica Clark has two race cars.
The junior at Westlake High School is racing in the S2 stock car division at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in addition to driving her Ford Focus Midget at race tracks from Madera to Las Vegas.
She finished ninth in her first S2 stock car race at Irwindale last month. A week later, she won a Ford Focus Midget race at the Bullring in Las Vegas.
Clark returns to Irwindale for the second race of the S2 stock car season on Saturday night.
Go to ESPNLA.com for more on Clark and her busy racing schedule.

Photo: Jessica Clark, a 17-year-old from Westlake Village, finished ninth in the S2 stock car season opener at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on April 9.