Nick Joanides wins NASCAR Super Late Model championship at Irwindale

Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills wrapped up the NASCAR Super Late Model championship at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. He won the Super Late Model championship last year and leads the NASCAR Late Model standings at the track.
He posted a pair of top-five finishes in the final points races of the season at Irwindale. He was fifth in the first race, second in the second race and needed only eight points to capture his second straight Super Late Model championship. He has 13 wins and 21 top-five finishes in 21 races.
Joanides finished in third place in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings. Bill Leighton Jr., who races at I-80 Speedway in Omaha, Neb., and Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., and Joanides entered the night tied for third place with 803 points each. Leighton has nine wins and 27 top five finishes in 33 starts, but his race at I-80 Speedway was rained out. The national standings are determined by the drivers’ best 18 races.
Phillip Morris of Ruckersville, Va., won his third NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship. He entered the night with a 19-point lead over Keith Rocco of Wallingford, Conn.
Joanides won the NASCAR Whelen All-American California State Championship and the Lucas Oil Slick Six championship at Irwindale.
Rip Michels of San Fernando won the first of two NASCAR Super Late Model races at Toyota Speedway. It was his third win of the season and his 60th career win at the track. Michels has won more races than any other driver at Irwindale.
Travis Thirkettle of Fillmore won the second Super Late Model race. It was his first win of the season and his first win since winning the abbreviated, rain-delayed All-Star Showdown at Irwindale in January. He was the runner-up in the first Super Late Models race.
Dallas Montes, a rookie driver from Bakersfield, won his fourth Legend Cars race in a row. Ryan Reed of Bakersfield, the leader in the Legend Cars standings, was second. Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma was third.
Randel King of Riverside won his second S2 stock car race in a row and his fourth of the season. He leads the S2 standings by 18 points over Andrew Anderson of Lancaster.
Reed, pulling double duty at the track in the Legend Cars and S2 stock cars, posted his second runner-up finish of the night. He was second in the S2 race. Kendell Lopez, a driver from Independence, Mo., was third.
Billy Ziemann of Bloomington won the figure 8s race. He was followed by Steve Stewart of Long Beach in second and Tony Curtis of Hawthorne in third.
Ken Mets won the demolition derby.