Nick Joanides Online

IRWINDALE - Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Speedway officials proclaimed Nick Joanides the ACDelco Super Late Model series title winner after his victory last week.

And then it all came falling apart.

Track officials turned around and essentially said, "Not so fast, Nick," midway through the week and changed Saturday's single race into a pair of Twin 25s, the shortest Super Late Model races in track history.

Joanides, from Woodland Hills, then blew the engine in his car in Friday's practice session, but got a new one, 30 pounds heavier, in time to clinch the title for the second time this season by finishing seventh in the first race. But it never got better. He took eighth in the second race to put his bid for a Nascar Whelen weekly racing series state championship seriously in doubt.

"It was aggravating to win it that way," Joanides said. "We lost the motor and it was downhill from there on out. It does not feel right.

"It was frustrating for the team because we were great all season long. We were just unable to show it tonight."

Rip Michels of San Fernando, in his first races in the division at Irwindale this season, scored the sweep and increased his track record for victories to 57. It was his series-record fourth Twins sweep.

"We thought we won it last week," Joanides' car owner Loyd McGhee of La Verne said.

"I thought it would add to the excitement to go Twin 25 races," track general manager Bob DeFazio said of the schedule change. "Twenty-five laps is plenty long, I think."

And then there was the matter of Joanides' quest to become the first driver to win track titles in the same year. He entered the Automobile Club of Southern California Late Model series race just two points behind Agoura Hills' Tim Huddleston.

But on Saturday, in front of approximately 3,500, it was just as messy as the Super Late Models. Huddleston got the 40-lap victory and increased his lead to 16 points when Joanides was involved in a re-start accident with a Huddleston teammate. He finished eighth after rallying from the rear of the field. He hit Beau Debard of Reno, Nev., when Debard checked up on the re-start and possibly missed a shift.

Huddleston, the 2007 series champion, led all 40 laps, but Joanides is not about to concede the title to to him. "There are two races remaining, No way baby," he said. "It's not over yet"

IRWINDALE, California — Rip Michels, the king of "the Dale" (Toyota Speedway at Irwindale), stepped away from his 2008 crew chief duties at Dan Moore Racing and donned his racing togs Saturday. He proved that he is able to turn on his renowned racing talent at will. The 41-year old, three-time NASCAR AC Delco Super Late Model track champion made his presence known by setting fastest qualifying time and winning the twin-25 lap main events from the pole position in both races. Michels' twin wins on the half-mile increased his track victory total to 57, which is 17 more than the second best record. The 25-lap distance was the shortest ever for the SLM division during ten years of racing at the track. Distances of 75, 50 or 40 laps have been the TS@I standard for the SLM division.

The San Fernando resident drove a brand new Victory Circle Elite car. He said, "New cars don't always work out on their debut race and the last few cars I've built took a few races before they were capable of winning." This one is a keeper. With an inversion of one, the winner started from pole position and led every lap. The finish of the first 25 set the starting lineup for the second 25, so Michels earned the pole again. This time "the Ripper" led the first lap and yielded the point to second starter Andy Allen from lap 2 through 14. Then Michels tested the passing power of his new mount and shot past Allen for the lead during lap 15 from the fourth turn to the starting line. He quickly opened a 20-yard advantage and won by 30-yards (1.481) over Allen.

Michels complimented SLM champion Nick Joanides, 38, and said, "He's been on fire all year. It's your night as the champ, you earned it. Enjoy." A playful e-mail exchange on a local racing website during mid-week took place between 2007 SLM champion Michels and Joanides, his SLM championship successor in 2008. The three-car DMR team open challenge said "We're coming for you Saturday, we're bringing three cars and we aren't racing for 2nd!." Joanides replied, "I'm not in the same car that finished second to you four times last year. The championship is clinched. I got nothing to lose, 2007 was last year. You vacated the premises, this is my house now. LOL. All in good fun, looking forward to the challenge."

Joanides practiced during the open session for all teams Friday night and blew his good SLM engine. His team installed a less desirable engine that was "30 pounds heavier and down on power." Joanides could muster only the seventh fastest qualifying time of 27 drivers with times. He finished seventh and eighth in the two features and won his first-ever racing championship by 76 points. Runner-up Travis Thirkettle, a five-time winner this year, also struggled and finished ninth in both races. Joanides, a 15-year racing veteran, finished ninth in NASCAR'S Elite Division Midwest Series despite missing one race and made the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale that year. He also finished fourth in points in 2001 in NASCAR's Elite Division Southwest Series in the only other time he's completed a full season. Joanides entered the race Saturday ranked second in 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American California State Series points with 804 points. Altamont Motorsports Park driver Jason Gilbert led with 844 points. Both drivers had ten victories and 17 top fives, but Gilbert had 20 top tens in 21 races to 17 top tens for Joanides in his 19 starts.

The track statement last Saturday that Joanides was the 2008 SLM track champion was premature despite his 70-point lead with one race and 50-points available for the

winner of the final race on September 13. During mid-week, track GM/COO Bob DeFazio switched the SLM race Saturday from one 50-lap race to twin-25s to make the evening more exciting. Each race awarded 50 points to the winner, so with 100 points available, Joanides had to compete to successfully ward off Thirkettle's bid for his first SLM championship. He did so in a new yellow and black driving uniform that matched the colors of his No. 71 Chevy. Joanides' new uniform was a gift from his appreciative car owner Loyd McGhee, a first-time car owner champion at the track. Joanides thanked Jackson race cars, for whom he had raced 15 years, car owner McGhee and his sponsors, including Mr. Crane and McGhee's own Fullmer Concrete Company.

Ironically, the two SLM features had the exact same top three finishers. Allen was second in both 25s. David Ross, a 19-year old SLM veteran, matched his career-best third place in both events. Stephen Peace and Matt Hicks were fourth and fifth in the first 25. Dan Moore and Mark Perry took fourth and fifth in the second 25. Michels ran the fastest lap in race one and Allen had the fastest lap in the second event. Nineteen of 27 starters finished each race, with 17 drivers on the lead lap in both features. The time of the first race was 7:52.851 in an all-green flag race. Race two also was caution-free and took 7:55.492.

LATE MODELS: The 40-lap Auto Club Late Models main went to two-time series champion and 2008 point leader Tim Huddleston in his "blue crew" No. 50 High-Point Distributing, Justice Brothers-sponsored Chevy Monte Carlo. It is the 55th car built by Racecar Factory in Irwindale. He started from pole position and led all the way. It was his fifth victory in 16 races this year. Huddleston now has 38 feature triumphs at Irwindale—all in ACLM—and ranks second in all-time main event victories at the track. He won by 0.487 over his Reno, NV-based rookie HPD Racing protege--Beau DeBard, the fastest qualifier in a 22 car field. The 21-year old was driving the No. 51 Ford Fusion in only his second ACLM race. DeBard was on the cover of "Reno Now" magazine and the subject of a 16 inch story about his racing career and NASCAR goals. DeBard is a graduate of shifter karts, Skip Barber's open-wheel racing series, and the USAC Ford Focus Midgets as a Ron Sutton Winners Circle driver development program. DeBard has been a Bill McAnally late model stock car driver development program rookie driver this season at All-American Raceway in Roseville, CA.

DeBard trailed boss Huddleston by five to ten yards most of the race. A lap 14 crash on the backstretch involved cars in fourth through seventh positions and caused a yellow flag. Lindsey King, Andrew Myers, Colin Fleming and Mike Johnson all had to restart at the back. On the lap 14 restart DeBard's car accelerated slower than leader Huddleston. Third place Joanides (in his ACLM ride for McGhee's J & M Construction team) got into the back of DeBard's car when DeBard checked up on the straightway and bent his hood upward significantly. He pitted and his crew quickly removed the hood. Joanides, who entered the race only two points behind Huddleston, returned to the back of the field under caution and raced up to eighth place. He now trails Huddleston by 16-points with two ACLM races remaining (September 27 and October 4). A lap 23 multi-car crash in turn two eliminated the No. 2 and No. 98 cars after nose-to-nose impact at the crash-wall. L. King and Travis Irving had to go the the back after their incident at the same time. Another crash on lap 37 caused the third caution of the 33-minute event. Myers climbed back to fifth place, the highest finish for any of the drivers with problems earlier.

Joanides clinches title again