NASCAR K&N Pro Series Pro skips Irwindale

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will not be making a stop at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale or Southern California for that matter.
The closest the West Series will get to Los Angeles is Stockton.
NASCAR released the scheduled for the 2012 West Series on Friday. The series has expanded to 15 races and will visit Minnesota, but the traditional Fourth of July race at Irwindale is not part of the schedule.
The West Series will make three visits to tracks in California. Stokcton 99 Speedway, Infineon Raceway in Sonoma and All-American Speedway in Roseville are on the West Series schedule.
Go to ESPNLA.com for more on the decision to skip Irwindale.

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.

Five track championships decided at Irwindale

Connor Cantrell of Santa Clarita wrapped up the Super Trucks championship by finishing second in the season finale race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Ryan Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga won the final race of the season.
Cantrell came into the season finale with a four-race winning streak and a 40-point lead over Partridge, who won the Super Trucks championship at Irwindale last year.
Todd Cameron of Monrovia was third, followed by Matt Kimball and Ken Brown.
Andrew Anderson of Lancaster won the S2 stock car championship by winning the season finale at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Anderson had an 18-point lead over Andrew Porter of La Verne in the S2 stock car standings. Anderson won his fourth S2 stock car races this season. Porter won three races and finished second in the season finale.
Jessica Clark, a senior at Westlake High School, scored her first podium finish in the S2 stock cars. She finished third, her second top-five finish of the season.
Chad Schug of Oak Hills won the Legends Cars championship. He won eight races at Irwindale and came into the season finale with a 52-point lead over Brent Scheidmantle of Alta Loma.
Christian McGhee capped his championship season in the Bandoleros by winning the season finale. He finished ahead of Daniel Nikolai of Granada Hills, who was second, and Mikael Lovas of Menifee in third.
McGhee had a four-point lead over Nikolai in the Bandoleros standings at the start of the night.
Curtis White of Norwalk won the NASCAR Super Stocks race and track championship, leap-frogging Rich DeLong III of Santa Clarita on the last race of the season.
White won the championship by two points over De Long. It was his second win of the season.
De Long came into the season finale with a slim two-point lead over White in the Super Stocks standings. Zack Green of Long Beach was 18 points out of first.
De Long finished third in the season finale race. Green was fourth.

Tony Hunt wins USAC Western Sprint Car Series race at Irwindale

Tony Hunt from Lincoln won the USAC Western Sprint Car Series race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, taking the lead from Audra Sasselli from Visalia on lap 31 of the 40-lap race.
It was Hunt’s third win in the USAC Western Classic Racing Series. He won at Madera Speedway in April and again in June.
Hunt entered the race as the leader in the Western Sprint Car Series and the Western Classic Sprint Car Series standings.
Sasselli finished second after Cody Gerhardt was penalized for jumping the final restart of the race. Tim Skoglund from Fresno was third. Gerhardt was dropped to fourth.
Brodie Kostecki, a 13-year-old Australian who is living in Madera, won the USAC Midget Ford Focus Midget race. He was a double winner at Irwindale, taking the USAC Young Guns race as well.
Jessica Clark, a senior at Westlake High School, was second in the Ford Focus Midget race. She leads the USAC Ford Focus Midget Western Pavement standings.
Paul Graham was third in the Ford Focus Midget race after Shawn Buckley was disqualified.
Connor Cantrell of Valencia won the NASCAR Super Trucks race, his second in a row. He passed Ryan Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga on the last lap of the race and extended his lead in the Super Trucks standings at the track.
Partridge finished second, his third runner-up finish of the season. He trails Cantrell by 10 points in the Super Trucks standings after 11 races.
Todd Cameron of Monrovia was third.
Devon Ostheimer from Morgan Hill won the S2 stock car race, his second of the season. He has raced only the times in the S2 stock car class and has not finished worse than second.
Andrew Anderson of Lancaster, the leader in the S2 standings at the track, was second. It was his fourth runner-up finish in eight S2 races.
Andrew Porter of La Verne was third and is in second place in the S2 standings, 18 points behind Anderson.
Daryl Scoggins of Sunland won the NASCAR Mini Stocks race. It was his third win of the season. He leads the Mini Stocks standings at Irwindale after seven races.
Robby Hornsby of Yucaipa, making only his second start of the season in the Mini Stocks, was second. Kevin Bernhardt from Fontana was third.

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.

NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown canceled

The NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown attracted the best young and developmental drivers in the country. Joey Logano, David Gilliland, Brian Ickler and Travis Pastrana have raced in the Showdown to sell-out crowds on national TV.
But not even the allure of promising NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers, sell outs and television exposure could keep the All-Star Showdown alive.
The All-Star Showdown, which was scheduled to run in January 2012 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, was canceled on Wednesday, ending eight years of exciting races.
Go to ESPNLA.com for more on the cancellation of the All-Star Showdown and the history of the races at Irwindale.

Rookie Dylan Lupton wins NASCAR Late Model race at Irwindale

Rookie Dylan Lupton of Wilton won the NASCAR Late Models race, his fourth of the season, at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Brandon Davis of Huntington Beach, the leader in the Late Model standings at the track, was second.
The race was stopped when leader RJ Johnson of Canyon Country crashed into the turn 3 wall on lap 18. He blew a tire and the explosion ripped off the left front fender and driverside door panel. Johnson was not hurt in the crash, but he had to withdraw from the race.
Larry Cerquettini of Redlands was third and recorded his first podium finish in the Late Models.
Chad Schug of Oak Hills won the Legends Cars race and took over the lead in the Legends Cars standings at the track. It was his sixth win of the season.
Schug and Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma came into the race tied for the lead in the Legends Cars standings. Schug has a slight two-point lead after winning.
Scheidemantle was second in a crash-filled race. Cory Miles crashed into the turn 1 foam barrier in one of the more violent wrecks. He was able to walk away from the crash.
Darren Amidon of Alpine finished third.
Austin Grabowski won the open comp race. He was followed by Joe Anderson of Valencia in second and Jim Schoening of San Diego in third.
Richard Smith of Los Angeles won the Drive Tech Late Models race. Christopher Evans of San Bernardino was second and David Sear of La Jolla was third.
Eric Sunness of Chatsworth won the NASCAR Super Stocks race and Curtis White of Norwalk took over the lead in the Super Stocks standings at the track.
Sunness won his second race of the season, but he has missed two races. White was the runner-up and passed Rich DeLong III of Santa Clarita for the lead in the Super Stock standings. White has a four-point lead over DeLong after eight races.
Zack Green of Long Beach was third.
Brandon Weaver of Baker won the Bandoleros race, his third in a row. Weaver passed for the lead on the final lap a green-white-checkered flag finish.
Ricky Schlick of Claremont was second, followed by Austin Farr of Lomita in third.

Brandon Davis wins NASCAR Late Model race at Irwindale

Brandon Davis of Huntington Beach won the NASCAR Late Models race, his seventh of the season and his second in a row at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Davis extended his lead in the Late Model standings at the track. He is 56 points ahead of Nik Romano of Wilton after 12 races.
"It feels great to get back into victory lane for the second week in a row,” Davis said. “We have just a good a chance to win the next one as anybody else. Hopefully we can come back and win a third one in a row.”
Romano was second in the race, followed by Chris Holloway of Bakersfield in third. Holloway took over third place when Dylan Lupton spun out on the last lap of the race. Lupton was running in third when he spun and crossed the finish line in fifth place.
Luis Martinez Jr. of Long Beach, a regular on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, was eighth.
In other races, Ryan Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga was back to his winning ways in the NASCAR Super Trucks. He won his fifth race of the season. Two weeks ago, he had his worst finish of the season, 17th place, and lost his lead in the Super Trucks standings.
Todd Cameron of Monrovia was second, followed by Jeff Peterson of Riverside in third.
Connor Cantrell of Valencia, the leader in the Super Trucks standings, was fourth.
Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma won the Legends Cars race. It was his second win of the season.
Chad Schug of Oak Hills, the leader in the Legends Cars standings, was second, followed by Mark Borchetta of Valencia in third.
Robby Hornsby of Yucaipa won the Mini Stocks race in his season debut in the series. Daryl Scoggins of Sunland, the leader in the Mini Stocks standings, was second, followed by Ryan Bragdon of Beaumont in third.
Rod Proctor of Riverside won the figure 8s race. He was followed by Jay Henson in second and Steve Stewart in third.

RJ Johnson moves to top of Super Late Model standings at Irwindale

IRWINDALE – RJ Johnson of Canyon Country won the NASCAR Super Late Models race and took over the lead in the Super Late Model standings at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.

Kevin Thompson from Conroe, Texas, who entered the race as the leader in the Super Late Model standings, crashed into the backstretch wall on the first lap of the race. He did not return.

Jason Patison from Corona, who was third in the Super Late Model standings, was collected in a crash on the second lap of the race with Dennis Schlarbaum of La Habra. Neither driver returned to the race.

Ryan Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga held the lead for the first half of the race. Johnson was the fast qualifier but had to work his way to the front after an inverted start put him 13^th.

It was Johnson’s fourth win in five Super Late Model starts. Partridge finished second, followed by Race Liberante of Quartz Hill in third.

In other races, Gerrit Cromsigt of Saugus won the NASCAR Super Stocks race, his second of the season and his first since opening night.

Rich De Long III of Santa Clarita, the leader in the Super Stocks standings, was second. It was his second runner-up finish of the season. He leads the Super Stocks standings by eight points even though he has not won a race this year.

Curtis White of Norwalk, who is second in the Super Stocks standings, was third.

Andrew Anderson of Lancaster won the S2 stock car race and took over the lead in the standings at the track. It was his second win of the season. He has three runner-up finishes to go with his two wins.

Joe Anderson from Valencia was second followed by Nik Romano of Atherton in third. Andrew Porter from La Verne, who entered the night tied for first place with Anderson in the S2 standings, was fourth.

Riki Rachtman of Hollywood, of “Headbangers Ball” and “Loveline” fame, crashed into Trevor Huddleston in the S2 race and finished 10^th.

Frankie Muniz, who starred in the TV show “Malcolm in the Middle,” was at the track to watch the races. He is planning on racing in the S2 stock cars in two weeks.

Eric Gunderson of San Diego won the Legends Cars race, his first of the season. Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma was second, followed by Donny St. Ours of Upland in third.

Chad Schug of Oak Hills, the leader in the Legends Cars standings, was seventh.

Daniel Nikolai of Granada Hills won the Bandoleros race, his fifth of the season. Christian McGhee of La Verne, the leader in the Bandoleros standings, was second, followed by Mikael Lovas of Menifee in third.

Austin Grabowski of Uplan won the Open Comp race. He was followed by Craig Rayburn of Simi Valley in second and Jerry Toporek of Venice in third.

Monrovia's Todd Cameron engineering break-out season

Todd Cameron, a driver from Monrovia, has won two NASCAR Super Trucks races at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
He started racing in the Super Trucks in 2006 and won his first race in April. He said it was amazing to finally win a race after so many years.
Cameron is also a mechanical engineer. Having an engineering background gives him a bit of an edge when it comes to preparing his truck for races.
Go to the Monrovia Patch site for more on Cameron and the Super Trucks.

Photo: Todd Cameron has won two races and is in fourth place in the NASCAR Super Trucks standings at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

Greg Pursley wins NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Irwindale

Greg Pursley has been tough to beat all year in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. He was especially tough to beat at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Pursley won the pole and the Southern California Toyota Dealers 200. He extended his lead in the West Series standings and won for the fifth time in seven races.
“When you’re on a roll like this, you gotta ride it as long as you can because everyone knows in racing it can end like that,” Pursley said.
In a way, Pursley, a driver for Gene Price Motorsports, finished what he started last year. He won the pole and led the first 41 laps of the West Series race at Irwindale in 2010. But he cut a tire and had to withdraw from the race.
Pursley made it through the race on Saturday night without incident to capture his eighth career West Series win.
“They give me an awesome car to drive and it makes it look easy,” Pursley said.
Pursley is one of the more successful drivers to come out of Irwindale. He won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship in 2004 racing Super Late Models at Toyota Speedway.
Derek Thorn of Lakeport was second followed by rookie Dylan Kwasniewski of Las Vegas in third.
Michael Self led at the halfway point of the race on lap 101. The cars pitted for mandatory stops.
Jeff Peterson of Riverside won the NASCAR Super Trucks race, his first of the season. He missed the first three races of the year, but has finished no worse than third in his past four races.
Todd Cameron of Monrovia was second followed by RJ Johnson of Canyon Country in third. Johnson has won three NASCAR Super Late Model races at the track and is second in the Super Late Model standings. He won the Super Trucks championship at the track in 2009.
Ryan Partridge of Ranch Cucamonga, the leader in the Super Trucks standings and winner of the previous two races, was 19th and completed 32 of the 40 laps.
Devon Ostheimer of Morgan Hill won the S2 stock car race in only second start in the series. The 17-year-old Ostheimer races regularly in the Late Models and has five top-five and one runner-up finish. It was his first win at the track.
Andrew Anderson of Lancastrer, the leader in the S2 standings, was second, followed by Andrew Porter of La Verne in third.
Riki Rachtman, who once co-hosted “Loveline” on KROQ and “Headbangers Ball” on MTV, finished 10th in the 11-car field.

Dylan Kwasniewski finding his stride early on NASCAR West Series

The only thing holding Dylan Kwasniewski back in his rookie season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West was his age.
When the season started, he was only 15 years old. The age limit to compete in NASCAR touring events was 16. But that changed to 15 after the West Series season opener at Phoenix International Raceway.
Kwasniewski, a driver from Las Vegas, had to wait until the second West Series race to make his debut. He started his West Series career with a bang, the good kind, and posted a fourth-place finish in his first race.
Kwansnieski said he isn't happy with top fives though. He wants to win every race. He's with the team, Gene Price Motorsports, that has won four of the first six West Series races with Greg Pursley as driver.
Kwasniewski will be at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale this weekend looking for his first West Series win.
Go to the K&N website for more on Kwasniewski and his being selected as one of the NASCAR Next 9.

Photo: Dylan Kwasniewski made his debut at 15 and is already making a statement in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. (Kate Gardiner Photography/NASCAR)

Retired Arcadia firefighter a top driver in Southwest Tour Trucks Series

Neil Conrad has been racing in the Southwest Tour Trucks Series since it started almost 20 years ago. The name of the series has changed a number of times since then, but Conrad has been one of the mainstays.
He has also become one of the most consistent and best drivers in the series.
He is second in the Southwest Tour Trucks Series standings after four races. He has finished as the runner-up to Jeff Williams in all four of those races.
The most recent Southwest Tour Trucks Series race produced the same result at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
Go to Patch.com for more on Conrad and his Southwest Tour Trucks Series career.

Rookie Lupton sweeps Twin 30 Late Model races at Irwindale

Rookie Dylan Lupton of Wilton swept the Late Model Twin 30s at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale and Brandon Davis from Huntington Beach padded his lead in the Late Model standings with a pair of podium finishes at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Lupton has won three of the past four Late Model races at Irwindale. Davis was third in the first race and second in the second race. He won the first five races of the season and was the runner-up in the next two. But he was disqualified after his car did not pass inspection after the most recent race.
Despite being disqualified, he entered Saturday night’s race with a 22-point lead over Toni McCray of San Bernardino.
McCray was eighth in the first race and fifth in the second race.
In other races, Zack Green from Long Beach won the Super Stocks race, the first of his career. Gerrit Cromsigt of Saugus was second, followed by Rich DeLong III of Santa Clarita in third.
DeLong maintained his lead in the Super Stocks standings despite not winning a race this season. He has one runner-up finish as is six points ahead of Curtis White of Norwalk and Green after five races.
Jeff Williams of Newbury Park won his fourth Southwest Tour Trucks race in a row. Neil Conrad of Arcadia finished second for the fourth race in a row. Kirk Knostman of Hesperia was third and finished on the podium for the first time in his career.
Jason Galvin of Valencia, one of the track announcers at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, won the Open Comp race. He was followed by Jerry Toporek of Venice in second and Jim Schoening of Chicago in third.

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.

RJ Johnson wins NASCAR Super Late Model season opener at Irwindale

IRWINDALE – RJ Johnson, in his debut for Position One Motorsports, won the NASCAR Super Late Model season opener at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Johnson, a two-time track champion at Irwindale, won in dominating fashion, taking the lead on lap 12 and pulling away for his first Super Late Model win at the track.
Jack Madrid and Jason Pattison collided on lap 73 of the 75-lapper. Pattison, who was running in third place at the time of the crash, hit the wall between Turn 1 and 2 and did not finish the race. Johnson won the race on a green-white-checkered flag finish.
Johnson, a driver from Canyon Country, won the NASCAR Late Model championship at Irwindale last year and the Super Trucks championship at the track in 2009.
Ryan Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga was second, followed by Kevin Thompson of Conroe, Texas, in third. Thirteen cars started the Super Late Model opener.
Andrew Porter of La Verne won the S2 stock car race, but was disqualified when his car did not pass post-race inspection.
It would have been the first win of his career at Irwindale. He was disqualified for having illegal shocks on his car.
Andrew Anderson of Lancaster was awarded the win. He was followed by Jace Meier of Las Vegas in second.
The race featured Sebastian Labrie, a Dutch actor and driver from Holland. His entry in the race was filmed for a Dutch reality TV show, “Try Before You Die.” He came in third in the 10-car race.
Christian McGhee of La Verne won the Bandoleros race. He was followed by Ricky Schlick of Claremont in second and Brandon Weaver of Baker in third.
Haley Deegan, the daughter of freestyle motocross rider and X Games champion Brian Deegan, was entered in the race. She finished 13th.
Chad Schug of Oak Hills won the Legends Cars race. He is the reigning Legends Cars champion at the track and won one race last year. He had five runner-up finishes in 16 races in 2010.
Eric Gunderson of San Diego was second, followed by Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma in third.