JOANIDES WINS, LEADS STANDINGS IN TWO SERIES

(04-25-09) IRWINDALE, California — It was Southern California Auto Club and Indian Guides Night at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Saturday and members in attendance watched a pair of NASCAR Auto Club Late Model 40-lap main events on the banked half-mile. In a strong field of 28 cars, Travis Irving started third and won the first 40 over a pressing Nick Joanides in a relatively clean, 36-minute race with four cautions. Joanides, driving with a chipped bone in his right hand from an on-track incident last week, led all 40 laps from second starting slot in the second 40. That race had cars crashing, angry drivers, rough driving penalty and three yellow flags in a 39-minute contest for 24 starters who survived the first 40 with cars still intact.

 All 28 starters took the first 40 lap race green flag at 7:36 pm with an eight-car inversion. Tim Huddleston, the FQ and co-point leader with Andrew Myers, started eighth. Relatively new ACLM drivers Davin Cravens, in a new Victory Circle-built car, and Tim Smith, a 23-year old rookie from Bakersfield, started from the first row. Cravens led the first 13 laps impressively despite intense pressure from more experienced drivers. It was the first time he had led a TS@I feature. Both drivers ran well all 40 laps and finished eighth and ninth (Smith). Irving's CHP Toyota ran second for six laps until Joanides passed him on the outside during lap 7 in the third and fourth turns. The top four drivers raced two by two wide in close formation until lap 14 when Irving made a daring and successful pass from third to first place. He went between Cravens and Joanides as they raced three-wide on the backstretch towards the third turn. Joanides also passed Cravens on lap 14 and chased Irving to the checkers, falling one length short of victory. “I wanted to race him clean,” Joanides said. It was Irving's second career ACLM feature victory at Irwindale.

 With the starting field reduced to 24 by accidents, the second race started at 9:08 pm in straight-up order based on the finishing positions in the first 40. A five-car crash in the second turn involved cars 7, 55, 65, 59 and 52. A complete restart followed a five-minute clean-up. Joanides shot from the outside front row position past pole starter Irving's CHP pole car. M. Johnson took second from Irving on lap 13 as cars from second through sixth ran in close proximity. At lap 18 Irving got high in turn two, brushed the wall and slowed. Fourth place Myers tried to pass Huddleston for third spot at the end of the backstretch, but their cars made contact, sending Huddleston's No. 50 Justice Brothers HPR Chevy broadside into the wall. With serious right side damage, the three-time ACLM champion pulled to the grass in the fourth turn. Angrily he climbed out and walked onto the track twice as cars circled the track under caution. He gestured to Myers angrily. Racing director Lester Boyer sent Myers to the pits for rough driving and causing the crash. He drove Eugene Dewberry's Chevy to the pits and parked. On the restart sixth and seventh place cars made contact on the front straight. Logan Henson exited to the pits with his hood bent skyward. He returned with the hood removed before the green flag and finished 15th after dropping out on lap 33. Only 14 drivers finished and 12 cars completed all 40 laps.

Joanides, in his Jackson Race Cars-built Mr. Crane Loyd McGhee-owned Chevy Monte Carlo, opened a 25-yard lead by lap 25 and extended it to 30-yards (1.372 seconds) over Johnson's RCF-built Chevy by the lap 40 finish. He did so despite a lap 33 yellow flag for a solo spin at the starting line. Johnson, trying to catch leader Joanides on the restart, brushed the backstretch wall and left a long black line on it. He then settled for second. Tenth starter Darren Cheek, Irwindale's 2002 and 2007 super stock champion in his Camaro, enjoyed his best ACLM finish in his new Jackson Race Cars No. 62. It was only his fifth late model race. His best prior ACLM result was sixth. Sean Bennett, Jeff Peterson, ACLM rookie Dallas Colodny, Robbie Brand, 16-year old rookie Kyle McGrady, Cravens and 17-year old ACLM rookie Cassie Gannis, from Phoenix, rounded out the top ten. Huddleston's five-car High Performance Racing “blue crew” had significant damage inflicted to four of his five team cars.

 Following the second 40, 2008 AC Delco SLM track champion Joanides had climbed from fourth place to first after four of 18 scheduled ACLM races. His 182 points now leads Huddleston's 156 and Myers' 152. It was his second victory in four ACLM mains this season and his 22nd triumph at TS@I. He also has won three of four AC Delco SLM main events this year for an outstanding five for eight in feature victories--a .625 “batting” average. He is now the 2009 point leader in both the ACLM and ACD SLM series. He also led both of those two TS@I divisions simultaneously late in 2008 and almost won both championships. No driver in Irwindale track history has won championships in two divisions in the same season, much less in the top two prestigious series. The fastest lap in the first 40 was 19.146 by Johnson. The quickest lap in the second 40 was 19.420 by Joanides. Drivers used new tires in the first 40 and had to use them again in the second race, so lap times were slower. Following the race track officials pulled six cars to the technical inspection area in the pits and checked valve springs. All cars passed the tech inspection.

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