A drive to succeed : Racing : Ventura County Star

Louie Pagano, a 14-year-old go-kart racer from Santa Rosa Valley, will compete for a spot on America's Team at the Rotax Grand Nationals in Norman, Okla., and a chance to race for a world championship in Egypt in December.

A drive to succeed : Racing : Ventura County Star

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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.

Another first for Ashley Force Hood

Ashley Force Hood became the first woman to win the U.S. Nationals in the National Hot Rod Assn. funny car division on Monday.
She beat John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight in the final of the funny car portion of the races in Indianapolis.
Force Hood joins Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey as the only women to win an NHRA U.S. Nationals championship. Muldowney won in top fuel and Sampey won in pro stock motorcycle.
It was the second win of the season for Force Hood, who is third in the funny car standings.
“I am really excited. This has been a great weekend for Team Force,” said Force Hood. “Winning the race couldn’t get any better for me. We have struggled in the summer and haven’t done as well as we’d hoped we would. Two weeks ago in Reading (Penn.) we really had a tough one. We came into this racing looking to get back into our groove. Let’s do what we know we can do. Let’s go rounds. Let’s get this car down the track.”
The Countdown to One, the six-event playoffs to determine the NHRA champions on top fuel, funny car, pro stock and pro stock motorcycle begin on Sept. 17 in North Carolina. Force Hood will be the third-seeded driver in the Countdown behind Tony Pedregon, the leader in the funny car standings, and Ron Capps.
“I can’t give (co-crew chiefs) Ron (Douglas) and Guido (Dean Antonelli) enough credit,” Force Hood said after winning in Indianapolis. “They have had a lot on their shoulders this weekend. They were trying to figure out the track and working really hard. My team is the best bunch of guys out here. I couldn’t ask for any more from them. I am just so proud to have won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Again I just can’t believe it happened.”
Even though Hight, the winner in Indianapolis a year ago, lost in the final to Force Hood, he was able to secure the 10th and final spot in the Countdown.
“It is unbelievable,” Hight said. “At the beginning of every season your biggest fear is to not make this Countdown. When you look at the class and the field of these funny cars and how good the cars are that are out there it is not that easy to make this top 10. Cruz Pedregon is a great racer, reigning world champ. He is an awesome driver. They have a great team over there. It just shows you how tough this is. We just pulled this out. What is best though is we are getting to go to the finals against our teammate Ashley Force Hood so a John Force Mustang will win this race. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Hight passed Cruz Pedregon and Matt Hagan to get into 10th place in the funny car standings at the U.S. Nationals this weekend.
In other divisions, Tony Schumacher defeated Larry Dixon in the top fuel final to win his eighth U.S. Nationals championship. He Schumacher tied “Big Daddy” Don Garlits for the most top fuel U.S. Nationals wins.
“I’m a little speechless right now,” said Schumacher. “It’s a little tough to comprehend just what we’ve accomplished here today.”
Karen Stoffer, a graduate of St. Genevieve High School in Sun Valley, was eliminated in the second round of the pro stock motorcycle division, but secured enough points for 10th place in the pro stock motorcycle standings. She earned the 10th and final seed in the pro stock motorcycle Countdown.

Photo: Ashley Force Hood became the first women to win the NHRA funny car U.S. Nationals. She is only the third women driver to win an NHRA U.S. Nationals championship. Shirley Muldowney won in top fuel and Angelle Sampey won in pro stock motorcycle.

Mayhew wins NASCAR West Series race at Iowa Speedway

David Mayhew, a driver from Atascadero, won the NASCAR Camping World Series West race at Iowa Speedway on Friday night.
It was Mayhew’s first win of the season and earned him a spot in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in January.
Mayhew’s team had to play some catch-up to prepare for the race. The team’s truck and equipment arrived at the track late.
“The day started off a little shaky, with our truck not making it here in time for the first practice,” Mayhew said. “We had all kinds of trouble getting to the track. As soon as we put the car on the track, the car was awesome. All the guys at the shop did a great job of prepping everything. We qualified third, in our 10th lap on the track all day and then got lucky with a move to the front row, with Greg moving to the back.”
Greg Pursley, a Canyon High graduate and driver for Gene Price Motorsports, set fast-time in qualifying and won the second pole of his West Series career, but had to start from the back of the 27-car field because his team had to switch engines after the first practice.
“The crew was flawless in changing the engine,” Pursley said. “All we really lost was some track time as the car was really good.”
Pursley was seventh in the race, his 10th top-10 finish of the season.
Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, was second. Bowles leads the West Series standings by 78 points over Eric Holmes of Escalon with one race remaining in the West Series schedule.
The race also featured Brian Ickler of San Diego, Patrick Long of Thousand Oaks and Brian Wong of Newport Beach. Ickler was eighth, Wong was 14th and Long was 15th.
The season-finale race is Sept. 26 at All American Speedway in Roseville.

Photo: Greg Pursley displays the Coors Light Pole Award he won at Iowa. (Photo Credit: David Purdy/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Hornaday finishes 4th at Iowa, extends NASCAR Truck Series lead

Ron Hornaday Jr. made his first visit to Iowa Speedway a top-five performance. Hornaday finished fourth in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night.
Mike Skinner won the race, his second of the season.
Hornaday increased his lead in the Truck Series standings to 225 points over Matt Crafton. Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., is in search of his fourth Truck Series championship.
“The guys on this Longhorn Silverado did a great job,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ. “We didn't have the truck to beat, Skinner did. We just fought loose-in, tight-off all night. Actually, we really struggled the last two days, but this is why this KHI team is championship caliber. It was a lot of fun here. We didn’t give up and with eight races to go, we still have our lead. Crafton was good and I am not sure how we gained five points on him, but we’ll take it.”

Photo: Colin Braun driver of the No. 6 Con-Way Freight Ford visits with Kevin Harvick Inc's Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet) during qualifying for Saturday night's Lucas Oil 200. Braun finished the race third while Hornaday ended his night in fourth. (Photo Credit: David Purdy / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Johnson Wins Again at Toyota Speedway

Mike Johnson of Covina captured his fourth straight feature win in the Auto Club Late Model series at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday. The win was Johnson’s fifth of the season. Johnson guaranteed he would win every remaining race after winning on July 25 and so far he has followed through. Johnson took the lead from pole-sitter Travis Motley on lap two of the race. Motley, from Tucson, Ariz., led his first lap ever in the division and held on for a career best second place. Rookie Beau Debard of Reno, Nev., finished third. Points leader Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills finished sixth after being involved in a lap one incident that also included Johnson, Travis Irving, Debard, and reigning series champion Tim Huddleston. Huddleston, a driver from Agoura Hills, sustained the most damage and finished 14th. The result allowed Johnson to move into second in the Late Model standings, just 26 behind Joanides with four races left.
Rod Johnson Jr. of Canyon Country won his sixth race of the season in the King Taco Super Trucks division. The win was also his second straight. Johnson took the lead from Grant Hebner of Fallbrook on lap seven and never looked back. A last lap incident involving Hebner and Jeff Peterson of Riverside severely altered both the finishing order and the standings. Coming to the checkered flag, Hebner slid up the track into Peterson in a battle for second. The two bounced off the wall, allowing Ryan Partridge to sneak bye for second. Peterson came home third, while series points leader and two-time champion Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill went from seventh to fourth. Hebner ended up fifth, while Mason Britton and Ron Peterson both lost spots, finishing sixth and seventh. Had the finishing order not changed, Johnson would have taken the lead in the Super Trucks standings, Jeff Peterson would have maintained second and Mintey would have fallen to third with Ron Peterson not far out in fourth. As a result of the crash, Mintey maintains a slim lead of six points, with Johnson in second and Jeff Peterson just eight points back of the leader in third. Ron Peterson sits fourth, 18 points from the top spot, with just two races left.
Dallas Montes, a rookie from Bakersfield, won his third consecutive race in the Legends Cars. Montes passed Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma with two laps remaining to take the win. Scheidemantle held on for second, while series point’s leader Ryan Reed of Bakersfield finished third. Reed holds a commanding 56-point lead over Brandon Toy of Bakersfield with three races remaining in the season.
Dalton Kuhn of San Marcos captured the South West Tour Truck race. Kuhn passed overall series points leader Christian Copley of Santa Ynez with two laps left after Copley had a right front tire go flat. Copley held on for second while bouncing off the wall twice on the final lap. Jeff Williams, the three-time defending series champion from Newbury Park, finished third. Kuhn holds a 14-point lead over Copley for the track championship with two races left on the schedule.

Karen Stoffer clinging to final Countdown spot in NHRA pro stock motorcycles

Karen Stoffer expects a battle for the last spot in the pro stock motorcycle Countdown to One playoffs. She is in 10th place and has a two-point lead over 11th-place Steve Johnson. Only the top 10 drivers in the pro stock motorcycle standings will qualify for the Countdown.
Stoffer was in a similar position last year, needing to win her first-round race at the U.S. Nationals to earn a berth in the Countdown. This year is a little different. She just has to stay ahead of Johnson all weekend to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
“To tell you the truth, I really do not like being here again, but now that we are, we are focused on solidifying our spot,” said Stoffer, a graduate of St. Genevieve High School in Sun Valley. “I’m not giving up. Don’t give up on us.”
There are less than 100 points separating the eighth place driver from the 12th place driver in the pro stock motorcycle standings. It’s possible three drivers in the top 10 won’t qualify for the Countdown.
“We just need to get our head in the game,” Stoffer said. “We have had a tough year and now is our last chance to turn it around. We were in the same spot last year, and made it to the chase, so we know how to do it.”

NHRA driver Jack Beckman sees room for improvement

Jack Beckman has a pair of goals in mind at the NHRA U.S Nationals in Indianapolis this weekend. First, he wants to improve in his runner-up finish from a year ago. Second, he wants to improve his position in the funny car standings before the Countdown to One playoffs begin.
Beckman advanced to the finals of last year’s U.S. Nationals, losing to Robert Hight.
“A lot of times you’d be pretty pleased to make it into the final round, but to get to the final round in Indy and not win is definitely unfinished business,” said Beckman, a driver for Don Schumacher Racing and a driver from North Hills.
Beckman has two funny car wins and is fifth in the funny car standings.
“We have a great shot at locking in fourth place,” Beckman said. “Right now we’re in fifth, but if we can do well in Indy we can seal fourth place, which is good. Even though NHRA tightens the points up for the playoffs, every 10 points means a lot at the end of the year.”

Photo: Jack Beckman has two wins and is in fifth place in the NHRA funny car standings entering the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

Ashley Force Hood say NHRA funny car championship up for grabs

Ashley Force Hood is looking to position herself for an NHRA funny car championship run this weekend at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. She is third in the NHRA funny car standings, 164 points behind leader Tony Pedregon. The U.S. Nationals are the last race of the regular season before the NHRA’s Countdown to One playoffs begin Sept. 17 in North Carolina.
For Force Hood, her team is still recovering from a spectacular explosion in the last race at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania.
Force Hood is one of several drivers who have led the funny car standings at some point this season. Ron Capps, Pedregon and Force Hood have all spent time in first place in the funny car standings this year. Del Worsham, Jack Beckman and Tim Wilkerson have posted at least one win in the funny car division this year.
“If you look at all the drivers in our category, there’s not one dominant person,” Force Hood said. “It could be anybody’s championship. That’s exciting for us because we are a newer team. You wouldn’t think that, going up against teams that have been racing longer than I’ve been alive, we would be thinking about a championship, but in our sport, anything can happen. I think we have a great shot at it.”

Photo: Ashley Force Hood is one of three NHRA drivers to lead the funny car standings this year.

Dixon bypasses tests, ready for NHRA U.S. Nationals

National Hot Rod Assn. driver Larry Dixon is so confident in his car and team right now that he didn’t test last weekend in Indianapolis in preparation for the U.S. Nationals.
A number of NHRA teams spent last week at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis testing for this weekend’s U.S. Nationals.
But Dixon’s Al-Anabi Racing team, owned by Alan Johnson, decided against testing after two straight final appearances and a win in the races at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. It was his fifth win of the season and his sixth finals appearance.
“We tested before Brainerd, and we have two finals and a win,” said Dixon, a Van Nuys High graduate. “The car is definitely responding the way he and Alan would like it to respond, and for that reason, we didn’t test this past week at Indianapolis.”
Dixon is second in the NHRA top fuel standings and has already secured a berth in the Countdown to One, the playoffs that determine the NHRA champions. Dixon has advanced to the semifinals in nine of the 17 races so far this season. He is also a three-time champion in the U.S. Nationals, winning in 1995, 2001 and 2005.
“It’s always exciting to race at Indy,” Dixon said “It’s obviously the biggest and most prestigious race on our tour and you want to be piquing right now. We have a really good car going into this race. I’m honored that I’ve won the U.S. Nationals. As a kid growing up in the sport, going to that race with my dad for so many years with my family top fuel car, we never did the full tour, but we always went to Indy. That’s where everyone congregated on Labor Day weekend.”

Photo: Larry Dixon has five NHRA top fuel wins and is second in the top fuel standings entering the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

Joanides wraps up NASCAR Whelen All-American California State Championship

Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills won the NASCAR Whelen All-American California State Championship on Saturday night at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Now his sights are set on a national championship.
Joanides won a pair of NASCAR Super Late Model races at Irwindale, his 13th and 14th of the season, and wrapped up the state short track stock car racing title. He has a shot, albeit a slim one, to win the NASCAR Whelen All-American National Championship.
Two drivers from Irwindale have won the NASCAR national short track racing championship. Rip Michels of San Fernando, a four-time track champion at Irwindale, was the first to do it in 2003. Greg Pursley, who is now racing in the NASCAR Camping World Series West, followed Michels by winning the national championship in 2004.
Joanides is leading the Super Late Model and Late Model standings at Irwindale. No driver has ever won both the Super Late Model and Late Model championship at the track in the same season.
In other racing action, Randel King of Riverside won the S2 stock car race, his third in four S2 races at the track this season. Andrew Anderson of Lancaster was second, followed by Kyle Longmore of Camarillo in third.
Rich DeLong III of Santa Clarita won the NASCAR Super Stocks race. It was his second win in the past three Super Stocks races at the track. He was followed by Larry Cerquettini of Redlands, the leader in the Super Stocks standings, in second and Eric Sunness of Chatsworth in third.
Daryl Scoggins of Sunland won the NASCAR Mini Stocks race. It was his fifth win of the season and his first since June 20. Jacob Rogers of Riverside was second, followed by Kevin Bernhardt of Fontana in third. Scoggins leads the Mini Stocks standings by 34 points over Tyler Rogers of Riverside.

Josh Brander makes S2 debut at Irwindale

Josh Brander, a 23-year-old driver from Rancho Cucamonga, made his debut in the new S2 stock car division at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He was driving the same car R.J. Johnson of Canyon Country raced last weekend. Johnson won the race, his first in the S2 stock car division.
Brander, a karting veteran, said he worked out a one-race deal with Race Car Factory, which owns the car. Brander and his dad, Marty, said they are working on a deal to race the car full-time next season.

Rich DeLong III wins Super Stocks race at Irwindale

Rich DeLong III, a driver from Santa Clarita, won his second NASCAR Super Stocks race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. It was his second win in the past three Super Stock races at the track.
Before the race, DeLong talked about the changes he made to his car.

Hometown Station AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio - Bryan Herta Autosport Wins First Indy Lights Race

Hometown Station AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio - Bryan Herta Autosport Wins First Indy Lights Race

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Force Hood back on track

Five days after her car exploded at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Ashley Force Hood was back on the track, testing and preparing for the National Hot Rod Assn. U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend.
The U.S. Nationals are the last race before the NHRA playoffs begin. The Countdown to One kicks off at zMax Dragway in North Carolina on Sept. 17.
Force Hood is one of three drivers from John Force Racing already qualified for the Countdown.
However, in the races at Reading, her car blew up in the qualifying rounds and led to an early exit in the elimination rounds. She was the No. 1 qualifier at Reading, but her team spent most the final round preparing her back-up car after her primary car exploded.
The entire John Force Racing team was testing Thursday at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis in preparation for the U.S. Nationals, which begin Sept. 2.
“Our entire team feels great that we were able to get some laps on this new Mustang,” said Force Hood, who is in third place in the NHRA funny car standings. “I wasn’t too fond of the car after changing to it for one round in Reading, but I feel 100 percent more comfortable after testing. It’s great to go into an event, especially the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, after such a positive test day. I think the most important thing is the quality of runs we had with the new car, I know myself and my team feel a little more prepared and confident going into the weekend.”

Photo: Ashely Force Hood is in third place in the NHRA funny car standings heading into the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

Teammates John Force, Force Hood’s father, and Mike Neff are in the top 10 in the funny car standings. The top-10 drivers will qualify for the Countdown.
Robert Hight is the only John Force Racing driver outside the top 10. He is in 12th place, 38 points behind Cruz Pedregon, the 10th place driver in the funny car standings.
Hight was the second-fastest driver in testing in Indianapolis, but smoked his tires during one of his runs. For the second race in a row, Hight will have Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly tuning his car. The team made a change in crew after the races at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.
“We won’t press so hard next week, and had we not done that (smoked the tires) we might have pressed it that hard during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and smoked the tire there instead,” Hight said. “So we’re way ahead. Already in the six runs we made, Austin feels that it’s shown more promise and that it responds to what he does better than it has all year.”
Hight will have to leap frog Matt Hagan from Don Schumacher Racing and hope Pedregon has an off day at Indianapolis to qualify for the Countdown.
The races for the last Countdown spots are even tighter in the top fuel, pro stock and pro stock motorcycle divisions.
Joe Hartley is three points behind Clay Millican for 10th place in the top fuel standings.
Antron Brown secured the top spot in the top fuel standings after the races in Reading. Larry Dixon, a Van Nuys High graduate and winner of five top fuel events this year, is second in the top fuel standings.
In the pro stock standings, Johnny Gray is nine points behind Warren Johnson for 10th place. Jeg Coughlin is the leader in the pro stock standings.
In the pro stock motorcycle standings, Karen Stoffer, a graduate of St. Genevieve High School in Sun Valley, has a two-point edge over Steve Johnson for 10th place. Ed Krawiec leads the pro stock motorcycle standings.

Photo: Larry Dixon is second in the NHRA top fuel standings and has won five events this year.

Mike Johnson wins third straight NASCAR Late Model race at Irwindale

Mike Johnson of Covina won his third straight NASCAR Late Model race and Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills lost his lead in the Late Model standings at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
The top-three drivers in the Late Model standings are separated by 38 points. Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills took over the lead in the Late Model standings. He has an 18-point lead over Huddleston, the reigning Late Model champion at the track. Johnson is 20 points behind Huddleston and 38 points out of first.
Huddleston took a huge hit in the standings. He was collected in a crash with teammate Beau Debard on lap 20 of the 50-lap race. Huddleston dropped to last place and ended up in 18th place in the 21-car field.
Travis Irving of Corona was second, followed by Joanides in third. Joanides fell from second to third on the last lap. He almost crashed with Huddleston, who was a lap down to the race leaders. While Joanides was trying to maneuver his car around Huddlestons car, Irving passed Joanides and took over second place. Joanides avoided Huddleston and his third-place finish was good enough to take over the lead in the Late Model standings.
Irving said it was a dangerous move my Huddleston on the last lap. Joanides said he expected more class and respect from Huddleston, who was nursing a damaged car around the race track.
Joanides is the leader in the NASCAR Super Late Model and Late Model standings at the track. No driver has ever won the Super Late Model and Late Model championships at Irwindale in the same season.
R.J. Johnson of Canyon Country won the NASCAR Super Stocks race under caution. It was his fifth win of the season in the Super Trucks division and his first since June 27. Johnson also won the S2 stock car race last Saturday night at the track.
Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill, the leader in the Super Trucks standings, was spun out on the last lap of the race. He fell to the back of the field, but ended up with a fifth-place finish. Instead of having the race end with a green-white-checker flag finish, track officials decided to end the race under caution. Mintey retained the fifth-place position he had on the last lap before he was spun out.
Rookie Grant Hebner of Fallbrook was second, followed by Jeff Peterson of Riverside in third.
Rookie Dallas Montes of Bakersfield won the Legend Cars race. It was his second win in a row. Ryan Reed of Bakersfield, the leader in the Legend Cars standings at the track, was second. Donny St. Ours of Upland was third.
Brandon Toy of Bakersfield was 12 points behind Reed for the lead in the Legend Cars standings at the track. Toy finished 18th in the 50-lap race and is 44 points out of first with only one race remaining.
Ken Michaelian of Lawndale won the Classic Stocks race. It was his eighth win of the season and his fifth in a row. He has a 50-point lead in the Classic Stocks standings with two races to go.
Tommy Agosta of Chino was second, followed by David Foster of Riverside in third.
Rod Proctor of Riverside won the Outlaw Figure 8s race. Steve Stewart of Long Beach was second, followed by Billy Ziemann of Bloomington in third.

Nick Joanides takes over lead in NASCAR Late Model standings at Irwindale

Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills took over the lead in the NASCAR Late Model standings at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. He finished in third place in the Late Model race at the track and has an 18-point lead in the Late Model standings. Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills came in to the race as the leader in the Late Model standings. He was collected in a crash with teammate Beau Debard on lap 20. Huddleston ended up in 18th place in the 21-car field.
Huddleston and Joanides narrowly avoided a collision with each other on the last lap of the race. Joandies almost crashed into the back of Huddleston's car and it cost him a place in the race. Joanides went from second to third place on the last lap.
Joanides is also the leader in the NASCAR Super Late Model standings at the track.

Connor Cantrell

Valencia's Connor Cantrell was making his season debut at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. He entered a NASCAR Late Model car and said he will be able to run the final five races of the season. Cantrell won six NASCAR Super Trucks races and was runner up in the Super Trucks standings at Irwindale in 2008. He finished fourth in the Super Trucks standings at the track in his rookie season in 2007.

Hornaday's NASCAR Truck Series winning streak comes to an end

Ron Hornaday Jr.’s winning streak is over. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver was looking to win his sixth straight race last night at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. He came up a couple spots short of extending his record streak, coming in third.
“Bristol is one of the toughest ones here,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ. “I found something out with 10 to go and I don’t know. I just left a lot out there and I was pretty conservative and I got a top-five and that’s what I needed for these points and I have to thank Georgia Boots, Longhorn, VFW, Miller Welders, and everybody that has been really supportive of our team.”
Hornaday, the leader in the Truck Series standings, finished behind Kyle Busch, the race winner, and Matt Crafton.
Hornaday’s winning streak started on June 20 when he won the race at The Milwaukee Mile. It included wins at Memphis, Kentucky, O’Reilly Raceway Park and Nashville.
“It’s been pretty cool and I hope these fans enjoyed the race and we were coming through the pack there and I should have followed Kyle down there and got fuel but I didn’t, and that’s what hurt us right there,” said Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc.
Hornaday has a Truck Series record 45 wins in his career. He also has six wins this season, three shy of the single season Truck Series record set by Greg Biffle.

Photo: Ron Hornaday Jr., driver of the No. 33 Georgia Boot Chevrolet pits for fuel during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday in Bristol, Tenn. Hornaday finished third in his quest to extend his winning streak to six races but held on to a 211-point lead over Matt Crafton, who finished second in the No. 88 Menards/Idealdoor Chevrolet. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Ron Hornaday Jr. goes for sixth straight NASCAR Truck Series win

Ron Hornaday Jr. will look to extend his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record for consecutive wins tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.
Hornaday has won five straight Truck Series races, the most recent coming two weeks ago at Nashville Superspeedway.
“I have to keep pinching myself,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ. “In one sense I really cannot believe the run were having, but at the same time I know how hard this team works and how much effort they put in to each race. We are just fortunate that luck, the racing gods or whatever it is, stays on our side. I’m just really thankful for everything we’ve been blessed with so far this season. We will continue to work hard and try to be consistent and ride it out as long as it will go.”
He also has a Truck Series record 45 career wins and has won two Truck Series races at Bristol. He won back-to-back races in 1997 and 1998. The truck his team is bringing to Bristol is the same truck that won at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis in July. It was Hornaday’s fourth win in his five-race winning streak.
“Before they ground the track it was all about keeping your truck on the bottom of the race track,” said Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. “Now, it is about passing. If you can get your truck to work in the upper groove then you will probably leave the majority of the competition behind. I still like running the bottom, but you have to make your bumper pretty wide if you are going to do that. You just have to make sure the truck turns really well through each turn and the main thing at Bristol is to keep your eyes open at all times and be very aware of what is happening around you. Having a good spotter at Bristol makes all the difference. Rick Carelli (spotter) and I have worked together for many years and I’m confident he is watching every move that each truck is making, he keeps me pretty well informed.”

Photo: From left, SPEED Channel's Krista Voda, three-time NCWTS champion Ron Hornaday Jr., and Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Ricky Carmichael kick off a visit to the Iowa State Fair by visiting Buddy The Boar, the Fair's largest boar. Buddy weighed in at a whopping 1,117 pounds. The inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is at Iowa Speedway on Sept. 5. (Photo Credit: NASCAR PR)

NHRA funny car driver Tony Pedregon wins at Brainerd

Two days after replacing his crew chief, Tony Pedregon won the National Hot Rod Assn. funny car portion of the races at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota on Sunday.
Pedregon, the leader in the funny car standings, announced on Friday that he and Dickie Venables were parting ways. Venables was Pedregon’s crew chief and led his team to two wins this season. Tony Shortall was named interim crew chief. Rahn Tobler was assisting the team with some of the crew chief duties.
Pedregon beat Ron Capps in the final and moved into first place in the funny car standings. Pedregon has an 11-point lead over Capps.
“I’ve had a long and successful career,” said Pedregon. “I’ve been very fortunate to be able to drive for guys like Larry Minor and John Force. I’ve learned a lot from them, and I really felt that I’d been through everything, and I really didn’t anticipate this happening on such a short notice. Thursday I knew the reality and I didn’t really feel like I was in a panic. I’m very optimistic and I really believed that I had a good foundation to work with. I addressed my team when I showed up, and I told them that I really need them.”
Jack Beckman, a driver from North Hills, advanced to the semifinals and clinched a spot in the Countdown to One, the NHRA playoffs.
“We’re back in fourth place, which is awesome,” he said. “We’re thinking it’s going to be pretty tough to get up into third the way Tony Pedregon (No. 1), Ron Capps (No. 2), and Ashley Force Hood (No. 3) have been running.
“And we’re not safe in fourth by any stretch. Tim Wilkerson is still right on our heels and so are a slew of other good cars. But, we’re solid top five. We went a couple of rounds, we’re starting to get a handle on this tune-up and I think it’s gong to translate to another win pretty quick here.”
In the top fuel division, Larry Dixon, a Van Nuys High graduate, was a perfect 4-0 in final appearances entering the races at Brainerd. He lost for the first time in the finals on Sunday.
Morgan Lucas handed Dixon his first final defeat of the year. Lucas has won two top fuel events in a row and the 12th top fuel event of his career.

Photo: Tony Pedregon won the NHRA funny car portion of the races at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota on Sunday, two days after he and his crew chief parted ways.

Bowles takes a hit in NASCAR West Series standings

Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, took a bit of a hit in the NASCAR Camping World Series West standings after Saturday’s race at Colorado National Speedway.
Holmes had to make a pit stop to repair a flat tire. It cost him four laps and he finished in 13th place.
Luckily, Eric Holmes, the reigning West Series champion from Escalon, also had problems during the race. He finished in ninth place after having to replace a broken alternator and going two laps down in the race. Holmes is in second in the West Series standings and trails Bowles by 37 points after the Colorado race.
Rookie Paulie Harraka won the race, his first of the season. He also became the first NASCAR Drive for Diversity program driver to win a West Series race.
Harraka, a 19-year-old from Fairlawn, N.J., will be a sophomore at Duke University in the fall. With the win, Harraka moved into first place in the West Series rookie standings, one point ahead of Blake Koch.
“To move up through the ranks with Bill McAnally and the Drive for Diversity program and to bring NAPA a win in front of a hometown crowd is awesome,” Harraka said of his victory in Colorado in front of a large contingent of representatives from the Western Division Headquarters for NAPA, which sponsors his team and sponsored the race. “The car was good. We weren’t the best car at any one point, but we were the best car for the 150 laps.”
With the win, Harraka earned a spot in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in January.
Greg Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, was fourth in the race. He is third in the West Series standings with two races remaining in the West Series schedule.

Photo: Paulie Harraka (12) battles Jason Bowles (6) for the lead in the NASCAR Camping World Series West race at Colorado National Speedway on Saturday. (Photo Credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Joanides takes one of two Super Late Model races at Irwindale

Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills won one of the two NASCAR Super Late Model races at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. It was his 11th win of the season the Super Late Model division.
Joanides maintained his lead in the Super Late Model standings at the track.
Luis Martinez Jr. of Long Beach won the other Super Late Model race of the night. It was Martinez’s first Super Late Model win of the season and his best finish since coming in second place on opening night in March.
It was a night of twin 40-lap races for the Super Late Models. Martinez won the first race of the night. He was followed by Joanides in second and Danny Gay of Lakeside in third.
Joanides won the second race of the night. He was followed by Rip Michels of San Fernando in second and Mackena Bell of Carson City, Nev., a driver in NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, in third. It was Bell’s best finish at the track this season.
R.J. Johnson, a driver from Canyon Country, added an S2 stock car win to his four NASCAR Super Trucks wins at the track. Johnson won his first S2 race and ended Randel King’s little two-race winning streak. Ryan Reed, the leader in the Legend Cars standings at the track, was making his debut in the S2 division. He finished second, followed by King.
Ken Brown of Cherry Valley won the NASCAR Super Stocks race, his first of the season. Eric Sunness of Chatsworth was second, followed by Rich DeLong III of Santa Clarita in third. Larry Cerquettini of Redlands, the leader in the Super Stocks standings and winner of the first seven races of the season at the track, was fifth.
Rod Schmitt of Alta Loma won the NASCAR Mini Stocks race, his first win of the season. Daryl Scoggins of Sunland, the leader in the Mini Stocks standings, was second in the race, followed by Jacob Rogers of Riverside in third.

Rich DeLong III seeking second win in a row

Rich DeLong III, a driver from Santa Clarita, won his first NASCAR Super Stocks race of the season last week at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He snapped the seven-race winning streak of Larry Cerquettini, the leader in the Super Stocks standings at the track. DeLong is third in the Super Stocks standings at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He has four runner-up finishes in addition to his win entering the races on Saturday night. Cerquettini was one win shy of setting a Super Stocks record for most consecutive wins at the track.

Ryan Reed makes S2 debut

Ryan Reed, a driver from Bakersfield, made his debut in the new S2 stock car division at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Reed is the leader in the Legend Cars standings at the track. The S2 division was introduced to the track during the Fourth of July in an exhibition race. There have been two S2 races since the Fourth of July race. Reed could not compete in the S2 division because of age restrictions. Drivers have to be 16 years old to compete in the S2 division. Reed turned 16 on Wednesday.

On track to succeed : Racing : Ventura County Star

Kyle Longmore, a driver from Camarillo, has been in the first three S2 stock car races at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. To date, the new division has attracted as many as seven cars for a race. Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills, who owns the High Point Racing team and the car driven by Longmore, said he expects eight cars for Saturday night's S2 race. He also anticipates that there will be 14 cars entered in the S2 season finale at Irwindale.

On track to succeed : Racing : Ventura County Star

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Photo: Kyle Longmore, a 19-year-old driver from Camarillo, finished second in the Fourth of July race for the new S2 stock car at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. It was his best finish in three races in the new stock car.

NASCAR West Series heads to Colorado National Speedway

NASCAR Camping World Series West driver Greg Pursley has posted three top-five finishes in a row and is in third place in the West Series standings. He will need another strong run on Saturday at Colorado National Speedway if he wants any chance of catching Jason Bowles, the leader in the West Series standings.
Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, has one thing in his favor heading to Colorado. The track is the same size, a 3/8-mile oval, as Thunderhill Raceway in Texas, the site of his first win in the West Series.
“I have always liked racing at Colorado National,” Pursley said, who is making his first West Series start at Colorado National Speedway, but raced there regularly when he was in the defunct NASCAR Southwest Tour. “The track is really fun to drive is like no other track we race. It is a definite two-groove track which means you can pass in any corner. I have heard the track has gotten a little rough over the last several years and that will certainly make it interesting.”
Pursley trails Bowles by 187 points with only three races remaining in the West Series schedule.
“Realistically, Jason and Eric (Holmes) will have to have some real rotten luck for us to have a chance,” Pursley said. “Those guys have run really well all year and I don’t expect that to change but have been points over the last few races.”
As for Bowles, a driver from Ontario, he is coming off a third-place finish at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah and extended his lead over Holmes to 56 points. Bowles has recorded 10 top-10 finishes in all 10 West Series races.
Holmes, the reigning West Series champion, finished eighth at Miller Motorsports Park. Holmes won the race at Colorado National Speedway last year. Bowles was third.
Jeff Jefferson, a driver from Naches, Wash., and a veteran West Series driver, will be making his season debut at Colorado National Speedway. He will be driving a car owned by Tom Hill, who also owns ESI Construction, and will have West Series champion Craig Raudman as his crew chief.
“I am really excited to get back to the West and looking to have a lot of fun this weekend,” Jefferson said. “When Tom said that he wanted to do a West race I just couldn’t believe it. I have had more fun racing for Tom this season in the RMCS then I can remember. I know we have a good car and I know we can run competitively at Colorado thanks to Tom and ESI Construction.”
Jefferson has been racing in the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series and is second in the series standings.

Photo: Jeff Jefferson will be making his NASCAR Camping World Series West season debut at Colorado National Speedway on Saturday.

Mike Johnson wins NASCAR Late Model race at Irwindale

Mike Johnson of Covina won his second NASCAR Late Model race in a row and his third of the season at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Johnson said after his win two weeks ago that he would not lose another race at Irwindale for the remainder of the season. His bold prediction held up for one race.
Starting third, he took the lead on the first lap of the race when pole sitter Travis Irving pushed Tim Huddleston up the race track. The move left Johnson a wide open hole on the bottom of the track. Johnson moved into the lead on the second turn and quickly built up a three-car length lead.
Rookie Dallas Colodny from Reno, Nev., finished second, followed by Irving of Corona in third.
Huddleston, a driver from Agoura Hills and the leader in the Late Model standings at the track, was fifth.
Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills, winner of two Late Model races at Irwindale this season, finished 11th. He did not qualify well, posting the 10th fastest time, and had to make adjustments to his car during a caution period during the race. He returned in 17th place before the caution period ended and worked his way to 11th place before the end of the race.
Rookie Ryan Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga won the NASCAR Super Trucks race, his first of the season. He was followed by Ron Peterson of Riverside in second and R.J. Johnson of Canyon Country in third.
Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill, the leader in the Super Trucks standings and the reigning Super Trucks champion, was fifth.
Dallas Montes, a rookie from Bakersfield, won the Legend Cars race, his first of the season.
Ryan Reed of Bakersfield, the leader in the Legend Cars standings, was second. He extended his lead to 12 points over Brandon Toy, another driver from Bakersfield.
Chad Schug from Oak Hills was third.
Jeff Williams from Newbury Park won the South West Tour Trucks race. He was followed by Christian Copley of Santa Ynez in second and Ronnie Davis Jr. of Whittier in third.
Shayla Zins of Acton won the demolition derby. Zins, the girlfriend of Tommy Mason, one of the drivers in the Classic Stocks division at the track, was making her first demolition derby start. She won $1,000 in a car, a 2010 Ford station wagon that cost her $100. She also became the first woman driver to win a demolition derby at the track.
Steve Cook was second and Justin Stress was third in the demolition derby.

Shayla Zins wins demolition derby

Shayla Zins, driving a 2010 Ford station wagon, won the demolition derby at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. She is the first woman driver to win a demolition derby at Irwindale in the 11-year history of the track. The driver from Acton survived an eight-car field and won $1,000.

Ryan Reed, leader in Legends Cars standings at Irwindale

Ryan Reed won his first Legends Cars race of the season last weekend at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
He also qualfied for the INEX Legends nationals in October. Depending on where he is in the Legends Cars standings at Irwindale, Reed, a 15-year-old from Bakersfield and student at Libery High School, said he might not got to the national races.
The season finale for the Legends Cars at Irwindale is the same day as the INEX Legends nationals.

Hornaday’s record NASCAR Camping World Truck Series run

Ron Hornaday Jr. has the NASCAR Camping World Series record for most consecutive wins, five, and most career wins, 45. His win last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway in Tennessee was his fifth in a row and the 45th of his career.
Here’s a look at some of the other records Hornaday has reached or are within his grasp during his current five-race winning streak:
Hornaday has a 216-point lead in the Truck Series standings, the largest margin after the first 14 races. The previous record lead was 165 points set by Jack Sprague over Greg Biffle in 1999. Sprague went on to win the Truck Series championship that year, but by only eight points over Biffle.
Hornaday’s lead over second-place Matt Crafton might seem insurmountable at this point, but in 1999, Biffle actually surpassed Sprague in the Truck Series standings. The two drivers swapped places atop the standings over the last three races of the season.
Hornaday’s has six wins this season. His career high for wins in a season is seven. The Truck Series record for wins in a season is nine, set by Biffle in 1999.
Hornaday, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison are the only NASCAR drivers to win five national events in a row. Of course Petty and Allison accomplished their feats at the pinnacle of stock car racing.
Petty holds the record for most consecutive NASCAR wins in a row with 10 during the 1967 season.
If Hornaday can win the next Truck Series race, Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, he will become the only Truck Series driver to win six races in a row.

Photo: Former NFL player Frank Wycheck waves the green flag to start the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday. Ron Hornaday Jr., in the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., went on to win his fifth straight Truck Series race. (Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images)

Bryan Herta Autosport expands Indy Lights team for Mid-Ohio

Bryan Herta Autosport is expanding for the next two races in the Firestone Indy Lights series.
Felipe Guimaraes is returning to the auto racing team owned by Valencia’s Bryan Herta for this weekend’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the following race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.
Guimaraes, a driver from Brazil, will join Daniel Herrington on Herta’s team. Guimaraes made his debut with the team at Watkins Glen in New York and finished on the podium, in third place.
The drivers from Bryan Herta Autosport are working with James Davison, a driver from Vision Racing, in a three-car effort.
Herta said he likes his chances at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma.
"Should gives us a good 1-2-3 punch for the next two races," Herta said via e-mail.
Herrington is coming off a sixth-place finish at Kentucky Speedway.

Photo: Felipe Guimaraes will drive for Bryan Herta Autosport in the next two Firestone Indy Lights races.

Herrington, Bryan Herta Autosport sixth in Indy Lights race at Kentucky

After a weekend of weepers and rain, Daniel Herrington, driving for Bryan Herta Autosport, posted a sixth-place finish in the Firestone Indy Lights race at Kentcuky Speedway on Saturday.
Qualifying for the race was cancelled because of weepers, water seeping through the creases of the track. The starting grid was set on drivers standings, putting Herrington seventh.
"It wasn't too bad a run but with qualifying cancelled we were a little disappointed because we feel like we could have qualified a little higher up and that could have helped us," said Herrington, driving for the team owned by Valencia's Bryan Herta. "We really needed all of that practice to get the car where we needed it and ended up with a pretty comfortable racecar. We stayed with the lead pack for the most part, but we lacked a little bit of pace to get by some people and move up to the front. We definitely hung with them the whole way."
Wade Cunningham, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, won the race. He was followed by Sebastian Saavedra in second and Ana Beatriz in third.
The race ended under caution, resulting from a James Hinchcliffe spinout. Hinchcliffe did not make contact with the wall or another car, but track officials could not get the track ready for a final restart.
"It's encouraging after a few back-to-back frustrating weekends," Herrington said. "To get back on an oval and run with the leaders feels pretty good and hopefully we can keep the momentum going."

Hornaday wins record fifth straight NASCAR Truck Series race

Ron Hornaday Jr. is breaking NASCAR Camping World Truck Series records at, well, a record pace these days.
He won his fifth Truck Series race in a row on Saturday and set a record for most consecutive wins. Hornaday won at Nashville Speedway and became the first Truck Series driver to win five straight races. It was also the 45th win of his Truck Series career, more than any other driver.
“Honestly, this is just unbelievable," said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ. "I know I have been saying that a lot lately, but it is. Five in a row. Wow! This is pretty cool. I’m so proud that I finally got a Sam Bass guitar. I’ve wanted one for so many years and to finally achieve that it’s pretty cool. I have to thank the fans for sticking around through the rain and all of these guys behind this truck. I could not have achieved any of this without them, they are a hard working bunch of guys and they have earned every one of these wins.”
Hornaday joins Ricahrd Petty and Bobby Allison as the only driver to win five NASCAR national events in a row.

Photo: Record breaking duo Ron Hornaday Jr. and Crew Chief Rick Ren celebrate in Victory Lane after grabbing their fifth consecutive win. Hornaday becomes the third driver in NASCAR's three national series to win five consecutive races joining Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. Ren, with 27 career victories, becomes the all-time winningest crew chief in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. (Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images)

Patrick Long, a driver from Thousands Oaks and a veteran American Le Mans Series driver, won the race at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah on Saturday. It was the first NASCAR win of his career.
“This is tremendous,” said Long, who netted $15,000 in prize money and posted awards. “It’s a long time coming. These guys have made me earn it. I came in here and found success right away as far as speed and dominance in races at Watkins Glen and then Sonoma, but today the car was very, very good.”
Long also won a spot in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in January. The winners of races from the NASCAR Camping World West and East series earn automatic bids to the all-star race.

Greg Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, was fourth in the West Series race at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. He also moved up to third place in the West Series standings. Jason, Bowles, a driver from Ontario, leads the West Series standings.
“All in all it was a great run for the Gene Price Motorsports team,” an exhausted Pursley said after the race. “I thought we had something left to catch Bowles but we got crossed up with a couple of lapped cars late and that slowed us down a bit. This race track is so much fun to drive; it really is a driver’s track.”

Photo: Greg Pursley was fourth in the NASCAR Camping World West Series race at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah on Saturday. (Photo credit: Derrick Shannon)

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.

DeLong snaps Cerquettini's winning streak in NASCAR Super Stocks at Irwindale

Rich De Long III of Santa Clarita snapped the seven-race winning streak of Larry Cerquettini of Redlands in the NASCAR Super Stocks division at Toyota Speedway on Saturday night. Cerquettini’s winning streak matched the longest in the history of the division at Irwindale. Cerquettini won the first seven races of the Super Stocks season.
De Long had four runner-up finishes in the first seven races of the Super Stocks season. He was followed by Ken Brown of Cherry Valley in second and Cerquettini, the leader in the Super Stocks standings, in third.
Tyler Rogers of Riverside won the NASCAR Mini Stocks race. It was his fourth of the season and his second in a row. Daryl Scoggins of Sunland, the leader in the Mini Stocks standings, was second. He was followed by Jacob Rogers of Riverside in third.
Ryan Reed of Bakersfield picked a good night to win his first Legends Cars race of the season. With the win, Reed also qualified for the INEX Legends national race.
Reed took over the lead in the Legends Cars standings at the track. He has an eight-point lead over Brandon Toy of Bakersfield. Toy finished sixth in the race.
Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma was second, followed by Donny St. Ours of Upland in third.
Randel King of Riverside made a last-lap pass on Andrew Anderson of Lancaster and won his second S2 stock car race in a row. King won the S2 race on July 11, the track debut for the new stock cars.
Anderson, who was also in the Bandeleros race, finished second. He was followed by Kyle Longmore of Camarillo. R.J. Johnson of Canyon Country, winner of four races in the NASCAR Super Trucks division at the track, was fourth.
There were six cars in the S2 race. It was the third time the S2 stock cars have raced at the track.
Christian McGhee of La Verne won the Bandoleros race, his second of the season. McGhee is the son of Lloyd McGhee, the owner of the NASCAR Super Late and Late Model cars driven by Nick Joanides. Joanides leads the Super Late Model standings at the track.
Ryan Carsdale of Menifee, the leader in the Bandoleros standings, was fourth in the race.
Blake Dunkleberger of Simi Valley was second, followed by Anderson in third.

Kendell Lopez

Kendell Lopez, an 18-year-old driver from Independence, Mo., was the fastest qualifier in the first S2 race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on July 11. She was the fifth fastest qualifier at the track on Saturday night. The new S2 cars were making their third appearance at Irwindale. The first was an exhibtion race on July 4. Randel King from Riverside won the first official S2 race at the track on July 11. Lopez, a driver for Tim Huddleston's High Point Racing team, was fifth in a six-car field on July 11.

RJ Johnson S2

R.J. Johnson, a driver from Canyon Country, was making his second start in the new S2 division at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Johnson has won four races in the NASAR Super Trucks division and is fourth in the Super Trucks standings at the track. He was in the July 4 exhibtion race for the S2 cars.

Sean Harvey

Sean Harvey, a 26-year-old from Canoga Park, was making his debut in the NASCAR Super Stocks divison. His dad won an auction to go through the driving school at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale and race a Super Stock car. The car is owned by Dennis Furden, a driver from Santa Clarita in the Super Late Model division at the track. Harvey was the eighth fastest qualifier in a nine-car field, but an inverted start put him on the pole.

Hornaday in search of fifth straight NASCAR Truck Series win

Ron Hornaday Jr. will look to win his fifth straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and extend the record he set last week.
The Truck Series is at Nashville Superspeedway for a race Saturday night. Hornaday won his fourth Truck Series race in a row last week at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
“I’m not sure how we did it,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ. “These last two wins have been unbelievable. I’m just so lucky to be able to drive for owners like Kevin and DeLana (Harvick). They have put all the right people in the right places. Rick Ren (crew chief) and the guys have done such a great job with these trucks. I am very fortunate to be in the position I am in right now. I am having more fun than I ever have.”
He has yet to win a Truck Series race at Nashville, but the truck his team is bringing to the track won at Kentucky Speedway earlier this year.
“I have been so close to winning at Nashville,” said Hornaday, who drives the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. “In 2007, we had the thing won but ended up missing it by just a little and finishing second. I went by Sam Bass’s studio a few weeks ago to sign some prints for Longhorn, and he showed me his guitar collection. It was very impressive and I told him that I really wanted to win one of his specially designed Gibson guitars. I really like this track but have yet to be able to get in the right position to head to victory lane.”

In the NASCAR Camping World West Series, Greg Pursley, coming off a runner-up finish in the race in Portland, Oregon, will tackle another road course on Saturday.
Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, will be at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, the second road course in a row for the NASCAR West Series drivers and teams.
“Even though we are a first-year team in the series, we have a lot of really experienced guys on the team that prepare excellent race cars,” said Pursley, who drives for Gene Price Motorsports. “We have had great cars at each race this year and we continue to get better. I love racing on road courses and I am really looking forward to the race at Miller this weekend.”
It will be Pursley’s first visit to Miller Motorsports Park. He is fourth in the West Series standings and trails leader Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, by 177 points.

Photo: NASCAR Camping World West Series driver Greg Pursley will make his first visit to Miller Motorsports Park in Utah for a race on Saturday.

X-GAMES: Deegan tries something new

X-GAMES: Deegan tries something new : North County Times - Californian 07-31-2009

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Brian Deegan, a 10-time X Games medalist in freestyle motocross, will compete in rally cars for the first time in his action sports career. Deegan has been racing off-road trucks in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. He will be teamed with 1999 Indianapolis 500 champion Kenny Brack and two-time X Games rally medalist Tanner Foust in Ford Fiestas for this weekend's X Games.
The Fiestas were the fastest in practice on Thursday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, giving Deegan confidence he can add to his X Games medal collection.

Photo: Brian Deegan is about to give a member of the media a ride in his Ford Fiesta on Thursday in Carson. ©2009, Paul Webb, USA LAT Photographic.

Brian Deegan testing his Ford Fiesta for X Games 15 in Los Angeles

Brian Deegan, a 10-time X Games medalist, has turned in his motocross bike for a rally car. This will be the first time Deegan will compete in the rally cars portion of the X Games. He has three gold and seven bronze medals in the X Games.
More on Deegan's debut in rally cars tomorrow.

Ad Age spotlights NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corps and Haddock in the Paddock

Advertising Age, an online source for marketing and media news, had a story about the new NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corps and a little insight into why it was created.
Two sites were mentioned by name. Mine and RacinToday.com, another great source for NASCAR and other auto racing news.
Check out the article here.
And check out RacinToday.com here.

Ford unveils Mustang for 2010 Nationwide Series

On the same day NASCAR announced that has prepared a rollout schedule for the new stock car for the Nationwide Series, Ford unveiled its car for the 2010 Nationwide Series.
Ford will produce Mustangs for its Nationwide teams. The Ford Fusion model will remain as the stock car for the Sprint Cup Series. The F-150 will be the model for the Truck Series.
As for the new stock cars for the Nationwide Series, Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, said he anticipates they will be run in select races in 2010 and run the entire schedule in 2011.
"We had a very productive meeting this morning (Tuesday, July 28) with the team owners from the NASCAR Nationwide Series about the rollout schedule for that series’ new race car," Pemberton said. "In the days ahead, we will digest what was discussed today and make a final decision on the rollout for next season with full anticipation of integrating the new car for the entire 2011 schedule."

Photo: A computer rendering of the Ford Mustang that will be introduced and run in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2010.

Bobby Labonte meets the NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corps

Bobby Labonte, on the NASCAR Citizen Journalist Town Hall meeting on Twitter, said he has talked to Kevin Harvick about driving a full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Labonte said he would like to run for a championship and race with Ron Hornaday Jr. on Harvick's Truck Series team.
Labonte, driver of the No. 96 Ford for Hall of Fame Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, was on a video conference that was simultaneously covered on Twitter. The newly created NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corps submitted questions to Labonte via Twitter and he answered them in a video conference broadcast on the Internet.
He was asked about driving in the Truck Series and if he had any desire to return. He said racing in the Truck Series does interest him. Harvick has a Truck and a Nationwide Series team. Hornaday leads the Truck Series standings and has won four races in a row.
One of the questions I asked him was if he ever envisioned a day when newspapers would be struggling so much and online media would gain increasing prominence. One of the reasons NASCAR created the Citizen Journalists Media Corps was to address the shrinking coverage from traditional media, including newspapers, at races. The Citizen Journalist Media Corps is a network of websites dedicated to covering NASCAR and motor sports.
Labonte said he and his family still subscribes to a newspaper, but he subscribes and reads magazines online. He also said we are living in a "now society." Fans want real time coverage and instant information. They don't want to wait to watch news on TV at night or read the morning newspaper to find out what happens in races.
"That's going to be something that hurts," Labonte said. "It's just a different way we're all viewing. It's not going to be gone tomorrow. Maybe they'll find their nitch in society they haven't found yet."
The questions ranged from what are Labonte's plans for the future at Hall of Fame Racing, to whether he thinks there should be a Cup race at O'Reilly Raceway Park instead of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to how many electronic gadgets he has.
The video conference attracted 45 viewers and lasted about 30 minutes.

Kenny Brack preparing for X-Games 15

From Ford Racing and Fiesta movement, Kenny Brack, winner of the 1999 Indianapolis 500, will be competing in X-Games 15 in Los Angeles this weekend. The following is a portion of the release Ford sent out including Brack's test session at the El Toro Marine Base.

Sweden’s Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution (MSE) team has brought its line-up of Ford Fiesta rally cars to North America for two events, Pikes Peak and the X Games. Olsbergs MSE is entering the race with the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack, and the team will also field two Ford Fiestas for ROCKSTAR Energy Drink with drivers Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan. All three Fiestas have been prepared to comply with Rally America Open Class specifications.

The Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta is based on the production version of the Ford Feista, which is Ford of Europe’s top selling car in 2009. The Fiesta will be introduced to North America in summer of 2010.

Just as they did at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, each Olsbergs Motor Sport Evolution Fiesta will utilize BFGoodrich Tires at X Games 15.

“The ROCKSTAR Fiesta is an angry little beast,” said Foust, a two-time X Games medalist in the rally competition after testing his Fiesta. “That is a crazy, crazy little machine. The first time getting in to it I felt like all I could do was calm it down, because with the amount of boost it was creating and the amount of power it just wanted to run. This tight little test track was just too tight for legs that are that long. If there is any car out there that can take the X Games on pure technology and mechanics, it is the Fiesta.”

“I am really impressed,” said Brack, who drove for Ford factory team Rahal Letterman Racing in the now defunct CART open-wheel series, after taking his Fiesta around the simulated rally course at El Toro Marine Base. “The Fiesta is a great little car and a lot of fun to drive. It is very nimble to drive and it has a good torque curve and power. The challenge for us is to sort out the balance and combine it all together and create a nice little package that we can go racing with. The Fiesta has a lot of potential for sure.”


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Hornaday sets NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record with four wins in a row

Ron Hornaday Jr. set a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record by winning his fourth race in row. It is another in a long list of Truck Series records Hornaday holds.
He won the race at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis on Friday night. It was his third career Truck Series win at the track and the 44th career Truck Series win.
His 44 Truck Series win are the most of any driver in the series.
Hornaday led the most laps in the race at O’Reilly Raceway Park, but he didn’t take the lead from Mike Skinner until lap 62. Hornaday ended up leading 67 of the 200 laps. With the win, Hornaday, a three-time Truck Series champion, extended his lead in the Truck Series standings to 174 points over Skinner.
“We were just really tight on those long runs and I just kept playing with the rear brake,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ and driver for Kevin Harvick Inc. “Then Skinner put those tires on and I thought he had us; although, I had searched and found a groove that worked. If you miss it by a half inch, you are going to get loose up off. I concentrated every time and when Skinner got that good run off of there, he could have put me up against the fence, but he didn’t. We haven’t got a mark on this truck. I have to thank Mike for that. Colin Braun ran one heck of a race. Man this is what the Truck Series is all about, this is a lot of fun.”

Photo: Ron Hornaday Jr. won his forth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in a row on Saturday night at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. He set a record by winning four Truck Series races in a row. It was also the 44th Truck Series win of his career, another record. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kimball fifth, Herrington ninth at Edmonton Indy Lights race

Camarillo’s Charlie Kimball finished fifth in the Firestone Indy Lights race at the Grand Prix of Edmonton on Saturday at the Edmonton City Centre Circuit, a temporary street course.
Daniel Herrington, driver for Bryan Herta Autosport, finished ninth. He started ninth, but dropped back early in the race and had to battle back to finish in the top 10. It’s was a similar pattern to how the race in Toronto unfolded.
"That’s twice, at both Toronto and Edmonton, that we’ve started out slow but built up speed and by the end of the race we were one of the faster cars out there and catching a lot of guys,” Herrington said. “In this case, we lost so much ground in the first 25 laps that it was too much to make up. We’ll take a look at this race and try to figure out what I need to do to be more aggressive at the beginning of races to stay in the mix so that at the end we can keep being as strong as we really are and pick a few people off to get some better results.”
Valencia’s Bryan Herta is part owner of the Bryan Herta Autosport team. Herrington is in seventh place in the Indy Lights standings.
J.R. Hildebrand won the Edmonton race, his third of the season, and extended his lead in the Indy Lights standings.

Photo: Daniel Herrington, a driver for Bryan Herta Autosport, finished ninth in the Firestone Indy Lights race at the Grand Prix of Edmonton on Saturday. (Bryan Herta Autosport)

Mike Johnson wins NASCAR Late Model race at Irwindale

Mike Johnson of Covina won the NASCAR Late Model race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. It was his second win of the year.
Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills and Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills entered the night’s race tied for the lead in the Late Model standings at the track. Huddleston finished in fifth and Joanides was sixth. Huddleston, the reigning Late Model champion at Irwindale, has a two-point lead in the Late Model standings.
A pair of rookies from Reno, Nev., and both drivers for Huddleston’s High Point Racing team came in second and third. Dallas Colodny was second and Beau Debard was third.
Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill snapped the three-race winning streak of RJ Johnson in the NASCAR Super Trucks division. Mintey won his third race of the season and his first since April 18.
Jeff Peterson of Riverside was second, followed by Ron Peterson in third.
Johnson, a driver from Canyon Country and winner of four of the past five races, finished eighth.
The Super Trucks race featured a pair of Irwindale veterans and past track champions. Rod Johnson, the father of RJ Johnson and winner of the first NASCAR Super Late Model championship in 1999, completed only 14 laps and finished 20th. John Watkinson, a driver from Canyon Country and a two-time track champion in the Grand American Modifieds, finished 11th.
Brandon Toy of Bakersfield won the Legends Cars race and took over the lead in the Legend Cars standings. Toy has a two-point lead over Ryan Reed of Bakersfield, who finished fifth in the race.
Tom Landreth of Alta Loma was second, followed by Darren Amidon of Santee.
Steve Stewart of Long Beach won the figure 8s race. It was his third win of the season and his third win in the past four races. Stewart extended his lead in the figure 8 standings. Rod Proctor of Riverside was second, followed by Billy Ziemann of Bloomington in third.

Rod Johnson

A couple of Toyota Speedway veterans made their season debuts in the NASCAR Super Trucks on Saturday night at Irwindale. Rod Johnson, who won the first NASCAR Super Late Model championship at the track in 1999, entered the Super Trucks race. RJ Johnson, his son, has won three Super Trucks races in a row and is second in the Super Trucks standings at the track.

John Watkinson

John Watkinson, a two-time track champion at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, brought his NASCAR Super Truck to the track for the first time this season. Watkinson, a driver from Canyon Country, won Grand American Modified championships at Irwindale in 2002 and 2006.

Another Granatelli continuing the tradition of famous racing family : Racing : Ventura County Star

Joey Granatelli won $1,800 in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series event at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Complex last month. His dad estimates the team spent a couple hundred dollars on tires and gas, a few hundred more on hotels and food. The $1,800 went quickly, as is the case more often than not in motor sports.

Another Granatelli continuing the tradition of famous racing family : Racing : Ventura County Star

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