Nick Joanides wins 9th NASCAR Super Late Model race at Irwindale

On a night of twin 40-lap NASCAR Super Late Model races at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Nick Joanides won one, was the runner-up in the other, and extended his lead in the Super Late Model standings at the track.
Rip Michels, a driver from San Fernando, won the first Super Late Model race at the track on Saturday night. It was his second win of the season and the 59th of his career at Irwindale. Michels has more wins than any other driver at Irwindale.
Joanides, a driver from Woodland Hills and the reigning Super Late Model champions at the track, won his ninth race of the season. It was also his sixth win in the past eight Super Late Model races. He took the lead in the race from David Ross of lap 21. Ross led the first 20 laps of the race and the two drivers touched doors before Joanides completed the pass for the lead. Once Joanides had the lead, he pulled away from the rest of the drivers.
Ross finished in second in the second race, followed by Danny Gay of Lakeside.
Travis Thirkettle, a driver from Fillmore, was testing a prototype motor from General Motors. He finished the second race in second place, but was disqualified for using an unapproved motor by track officials. The motor, however, is a spec engine that the track is considering implementing for the Super Late Model drivers and teams for the 2010 season.