IRWINDALE - Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills used a pair of podium finishes to take over the lead in the NASCAR Super Late Models standings at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.

Joanides won one of two Super Late Model races at the track and was third in the other before an estimated crowd of 4,000. He started from the pole in the race he won and was able to build a big lead before a caution period late in the race made it interesting.

"I was on cruise control for the first 31 laps," Joanides said. "I was in a little bit of a defensive mode at the end."

Jimmy Rickart of Castaic spun out in turn one on lap 31 and brought out a caution flag that bunched up the field. Jason Patison, a driver in the NASCAR Camping World Series West from Corona, challenged Joanides for the lead over the final nine laps of the race, but Joanides was able to hold him off.

Travis Thirkettle of Newhall didn't start off on the right foot, or in this case, the right tire, on a doubleheader night of racing in the NASCAR Super Late Model division at Irwindale. His crew put the rear tires on the front of his car for qualifying and he had the seventh fastest time. But because of a randomly determined inverted order, Thirkettle started the first of two Super Late Model races Saturday night on the pole.

After faltering in qualifying, he used a little luck, survived two caution periods and led all 40 laps to win his second straight race at the track.

"Things are working out a little bit," Thirkettle said.

Joanides got off to a slow start to the season in the NASCAR Super Late Model division at Irwindale. But lately he's had the fastest car at the track.

Joanides set fast time in qualifying when track conditions were not optimal. He said the track was slick and it was difficult finding more than one line to race. He started on the pole for the second 40-lap race at Irwindale and started seventh in the first.

Without anybody in front of him to start the second race, Joanides won easily and took over the lead in the Super Late Models standings at the track. It was his sixth win in the divisions ten races at the track and his first since May 17.

Joanides won five races in a row after starting the season with a pair of poor finishes. He was 24th in the opening night race after a clutch failure and 14th in the second race of the season. "We gave them a 64 point head start".

But after that he won five straight and was second in the most recent Super Late Model race on May 31 won by Thirkettle.

IRWINDALE - The crew for Travis Thirkettle put his tires on wrong, but it still paid off Saturday night at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

Sprint Cup car teams typically mark which tires are supposed to go where so the wrong ones do not end up on the wrong wheel.

They're not as graphically marked up at Toyota Speedway, where a team might put "RF" for right front or "LR" for left rear on the sidewalls.

Thirkettle's team accidentally did not swap front and rear tires on one side of his Super Late Model car during qualifying.

But luck fell on the Newhall resident's side. Top qualifier Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills spun a seven on the invert wheel to give Thirkettle the pole for the first ACDelco series Twin 40-lap race. He led all 40 laps for an easy victory in front of approximately 4,300. In the 40-lap nightcap, Joanides led all the way for the win, his fifth of six when the track holds Twin 40-lappers. He became the fourth series points leader this season.

"We fumbled a little bit in qualifying, so we got lucky," Thirkettle said. "I was like, `What's wrong?' We were all goofy for qualifying.

"But we got it right in time."

Thirkettle and Joanides traded third-place finishes in the two races, and Joanides took a 12-point lead in the series.

"It's a long season," Joanides said. "Anything can happen. It looks like it's going to come down between Travis and I."

In the Super Late Models, Dan Moore of Burbank finished second in the first Twin 40 and Jason Patison of Corona was runner-up in the second race.

There were no changes among the top three in the final 23 laps in the first race. In the second race, a caution flag with nine laps to go gave Patison a chance at Joanides. He tried edging underneath, but to no avail.

"He did a good job at the end," Joanides said.