IRWINDALE - It was a productive
Saturday night for Nick Joanides at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
The veteran driver won one 40-lap NASCAR ACDelco Super
Late Model race and was second in another as he added to his points
lead with solid efforts.
Joanides, who started second, used a high pass coming
into turn 1 on lap 21 and went to lead the final 19 circuits before
beating second-place David Ross by nearly five seconds at the stripe.
"This was a good night for the points,"
Joanides said. "I have to apologize to (Ross). We got in too deep
there in turn one and we touched, but we were racing hard. 
"We saved the tires in the first race and it paid
off in the second."
The first Super Late race was a two-car battle, with
Rip Michels leading from start to finish.
He got the jump from his pole position and held off
several inside passing attempts from Joanides before stretching out
his advantage late to win the 40-lap race by 1.197 seconds.
"I think Nick and I were playing a chess game out
there," Michels said. "We both wouldn't back down. But we
were also trying to save the car for the second race.
"I think he was trying to figure things out for
the second race and I was trying to check some things for the second
race. But we put on a great show."
Joanides made several attempts to take the lead, but
Michels was there to shut him down on each try. He pulled within a car
length during the middle of the race. He nearly caught Michels on 13th
and 25th laps, but could not pass Michels.
"It was a good race," Joanides said. "But we had to think about the second race, so we'll take second (place)."
Joanides has now won 10 of the seasons 15 races in the
Super Late Model division. His worst finish of the season was a third
place run in the last event.
