May 23rd Toyota Speedway Summary

Tim Huddleston, of Agoura Hills, passed teammate Beau Debard, a rookie from Reno, on a late restart to win his second straight Auto Club Late Model feature at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale last night. Debard led a majority of the 50 lap race in his High Point Racing entry, before a flurry of late cautions allowed his team owner to make a move. Nick Joanides, of Woodland Hills, finished third, and continues to lead the points. There where five cautions in the event, with High Point’s Travis Motley and Cassie Gannis each finding the wall. Those two accidents where sandwiched by two incident’s involving pole winner Mike Johnson. After his crew changed a flat tire that nearly sent Johnson into the wall, the Covina resident maneuvered through the field before making contact with Brandon Loverock. Both were able to come through the field again, with Johnson taking eighth and Loverock coming home ninth. The fifth car from High Point Racing, Dallas Colodny, ended up seventh after fighting handling problems early. Following Joanides in the points are Huddleston in second, with Travis Irving, Johnson, and Colodny rounding out the top five.

Larry Cerquettini, from Redlands, stayed perfect in the Super Stock division, winning the fourth race of the season. Cerquettini did face his toughest competition of the year though, as Rich Delong III of Santa Clarita led a strong portion of the race before coming home second. Garret Cromsigt made his first appearance of the season, edging Eric Sunness and Ken Brown for third. Only two cautions were thrown during the race, both for incidents involving Brad Keegan. Brown holds a slight advantage over Delong for second in points, with Sunness and Scott Corriagan rounding out the top five in the standing.

The Classic stock division got back to familiarity last night. After defending series champion Tommy Agosta ended Ken Michaelian’s quest to go unbeaten two weeks ago, the 43 Richard Petty lookalike qualified on the pole and led the entire race. Michaelian, from Lawndale, also broke the track record in qualifying. Agosta, racing out of Chino, finished second after starting last. Toyota Speedway requires the previous race winner to start last. Mike Colato, Jr. came home third. Colato, of Chatsworth, also started at the back after missing the drivers meeting. The only two cautions came for mechanical issues. First, the 17 car, driven by Mark Garrett, blew a motor. On the restart, the 96 car of Tommy Mason had his exhaust fall off. Jimmy Rouse, Jr. was disqualified after the race after failing tech inspection. Michaelian leads the points, with Colato and Agosta separated by just two points for second and third. Patrick Miller and Ken’s dad Harry Michaelian round out the top five.

Next week is Teacher and Student Appreciation Night. All students and teachers will get in free with a school identification card. On tap are the Auto Club Late Models, Justice Brothers Mini Stocks, Legends, and two traveling truck series; The West Coast Pro Trucks and the ASA Speed Truck Challenge.