Nick Joanides Online

(06-28-08) Eighth to first in six laps! It might have looked easy, but according to driver Nick Joanides, it was anything but. On a warm day where forward bite was difficult to obtain for most teams,

Joanides posted the fastest qualifying time for the ninth time in eleven races this season in the J&M Racing AC Delco Super Late Model with Jackson Race Cars. Nascar officials were thinking big when it came to the invert. The invert wheel included only 6, 8, 10 & 12, meaning the best Joanides could hope for was the 6th starting position. He spun an eight.

Early in the season, on a much cooler track, Joanides had come from as deep as the sixth position to win. However, over the past several races, due to less than optimal track conditions, the most any car has passed, has been four cars on average. No driver had come from further back than sixth to win all season. With an all rookie front row, Joanides was hoping to survive the first lap and score at least a top five finish. FULL STORY

(06-21-08) Through the first four races of the Auto Club Late Model season, Nick Joanides and point leader Andrew Myers went toe to toe with just 12 points separating them. An electrical problem sidelined Joanides in the fifth event, dropping him 52 points behind the leader. On the strength of three consecutive Podium finishes since, including a win and a third place finish Saturday night, Joanides has closed to within 14 points with nine races remaining. The J&M Racing Team, with Jackson Race Cars is now in solid contention for triple titles. They lead the premier division Super Late Model standings by 12 points and are second the California regional standings, trailing by just 20 points but with the highest average points per race and number of wins.

(06-14-08) After two races this season, driver Nick Joanides in the J&M Racing AC Delco Super Late Model with Jackson Race Cars was buried back in 22^nd in the point standings. They suffered a clutch failure in the first race and an on track penalty in the second race. The team has been on fire ever since. They’ve w

on six of the last eight races, with their worst being a 3^rd place finish. The streak has vaulted Joanides and first year Super Late Model team owner Loyd McGhee to the top of the standings.

Saturday was the third Twin Main event of the season. Joanides posted the fastest qualifying time for the sixth consecutive event. The top seven qualifiers were inverted for the start of the first main event. With temperatures into the 90’s, track conditions were less than optimal. The slick surface made passing difficult, but Joanides was able to move up to the third position with three and sometimes four wide passes. He challenged the top two over the remaining laps, but was unable to get the traction needed to complete the pass and finished third, just 0.74 seconds behind the leader. With Scott Conaway’s seventh place finish, Joanides was officially the point leader by two points heading into the second main event. FULL STORY

(06-07-08) After four second place finishes in the first six races this season, driver Nick Joanides, in the J&M Racing Auto Club Late Model, with Jackson Race Cars finally broke through for the win in an exciting three wide battle. The team has consistently been one of the fastest cars on the track all season, however with the competition being so tight in this division, passing upfront has been very limited. The winner had come from the front row in five of the first six races with each of those being led wire to wire. Saturday night was lining up to be more of the same.

	Joanides qualified in the third position on old tires (due to the tracks 2 tire per race rule). Last weeks winner, Tim Huddleston again started on the front row and jumped out to the early lead. Joanides went three wide on the first lap to take over the second position. Through the next 30 laps, Joanides tried and tried to get by Huddleston as the two cars pulled away from five race winner, Andrew Myers. It appeared that once again, track position would prove vital. A caution flew with 10 laps remaining. After inconsistent restart speeds by the leader all night, Joanides finally figured him out and got a great restart. He dove to the inside of Huddleston and nearly cleared him off of turn two,
Three wide for the lead with 9 to go! All three are sideways & they NEVER TOUCHED!	momentum however, allowed Huddleston to pull back up. Joanides dove hard into turn three and was able to just clear Huddleston, who then dove low in an attempt to retake the

lead. Myers also made a move to the inside of Huddleston to make it three wide. Joanides was able to hold off the challenge and pulled away to the finish.

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(05-31-08) After five consecutive wins in the J&M Racing AC Delco Super Late Model, with Jackson Race Cars, driver Nick Joanides put up a strong challenge to make it six in a row. In qualifying, the team again posted the fastest qualifying time for the fifth consecutive event. With the invert, Joanides started the main event in the sixth position. He quickly climbed to the third position by lap two. Over the next thirty laps, Joanides, Derek Becker and Dan Moore waged a heated battle for the second position. Following a restart, Becker got loose, forcing Joanides to check up, allowing Moore to get by. Moore then dove to the inside of Becker and twice slid up into him. Joanides aware of the contact, backed off in fear that they would wreck. Just one corner later, Moore again got into the side of Becker, this time however, it put both cars into the wall and out of the race. "Backing off is the smartest thing I've done all year" said Joanides.

Race long leader, Travis Thirkettle had built a sizable advantage with just nine laps remaining. Joanides moved to the high side of the track and erased his eight car length lead. Unfortunately it was too little to late. Joanides made a move to the inside for the lead on the final lap, but Thirkettle closed the door and edged him to the line by just 0.163 seconds. While disappointed they couldn't continue the winning streak, the night was huge as far as the points were concerned. Joanides entered the night third in the standings, 22 points behind Moore. With the DNF by Moore, Joanides moved up one spot to second and now trails new leader, Scott Conaway by just six points. "I had a shot on the last lap, but with Moore out, I couldn't risk it, it was just too good of an opportunity to make sure we gained a lot of ground, and we did"

(05-24-08) Driver Nick Joanides, in the J&M Racing Auto Club Late Model, with Jackson Race Cars posted their fourth second place finish in the first six races of 2008. Two weeks ago, the team felt they had their best chance to chase down point leader Andrew Myers and end his five race winning streak, but an electrical problem sidelined them midway through that race. This week, on an unusually cool day, Joanides reported that the car was handling great. In qualifying, he missed the pole position by just 2/100ths of a second. With no invert for this race, Joanides started outside of the front row. 2007 Auto Club Late Model Champion, Tim Huddleston, who has struggled this season, finally managed to get his car dialed in.

A caution before the completion of the first lap led to a single file restart with Huddleston n front. After a first lap caution, the race went green the rest of the way. The two cars quickly showed they were the class of the field. They ran nearly nose to tail for most of the race and pulled away from the third place car by nearly seven seconds. Joanides tried to save his tires through the middle portion of the race but was surprised at the lack of caution flags since each race this season has had multiple caution flags. Realizing there would be none, Joanides began to close in on the leader over the final ten laps. He managed to pull along side in turn three, Huddleston however pinched him down low and was able bring it to the line just 0.304 seconds ahead. Joanides did post the fastest lap of the race, but track position proved to be the key once again.

While disappointed to finish second, the team was happy that they gained ground in the point standings. Myers started and finished in the eighth position, allowing Joanides to gain 12 points and close the gap to 40 out of the lead with eleven races remaining.

(05-17-08) Driver Nick Joanides, in the J&M Racing AC Delco Super Late Model, with Jackson Race Cars pulled off his fifth consecutive win. This time however, he had to work hard for it. With temperatures in excess of 100 d

egrees, track conditions in afternoon practice were not good. The fastest cars were nearly a half a second off normal practice times. Knowing that they would not learn anything in these conditions, the team chose not to run any practice laps. They bolted on a set of sticker tires for qualifying and set the fastest qualifying time for the fourth consecutive event.

With only a two invert, Joanides started the main event from the outside pole position. Current point leader Dan Moore was on the pole and decided to play games prior to the green flag, getting into the side of Joanides and running him up to the marbles coming to the green. Joanides was still able to get a decent start, however Moore, while still not being clear, came up the track heading into turn one. Joanides backed off to avoid turning him head first into the wall and settled into the second position. An accident back in the pack brought out the caution at lap one. FULL STORY

(05-03-08) Driver Nick Joanides, in the J&M Racing AC Delco Super Late Model, put on another dominant display, winning both ends of the twin main events for the second consecutive time. Joanides again, set the fastest time in qualifying with an 18.218 second lap. In the first race, six cars were inverted for the start, putting

Joanides sixth on the grid. He took over the fifth position on lap one. On lap three, fourth place running David Ross, got into the rear of Travis Thirkettle. Joanides squeezed between the spinning car and the wall to avoid contact and took over the third position. On the restart, he passed Scott Conaway for the second position and set his sights on leader Andrew Allen. The two waged a side by side battle over the next 14 laps with Joanides taking the lead on lap 27. He easily led to the finish for his third consecutive main event win.

In the second main event of the evening, five cars were inverted for the start, putting Joanides fifth on the grid. Knowing that they would be stuck on the bottom of the track, Jackson Race Cars made an adjustment to free up the car and it proved to be the winning move. Joanides wasted no time getting to the front as he blistered through the top four cars and took the lead in just seven laps. "Dave and Tony (Jackson Race Cars) made a great call on that adjustment. This thing was just a rocket on the bottom!" said Joanides. Several cautions slowed the remainder of the race, however Joanides was able to pull away after each restart and lead to the finish for their fourth consecutive win in the division. The streak is the third longest in series history. It was also only the second time in track history that a driver has swept consecutive twin events. Former national champion, Greg Pursley is the only other driver to accomplish the feat.

The team entered the night sixth in the standings, 64 points out of the lead. With their wins, they cut that lead in half, moving up to fourth, just 30 points out of the lead. (SEE VIDEO ON THE "VIDEOS" PAGE)

(04-26-08) Nick Joanides, in the J&M Racing Auto Club Late Model, was the second car out in qualifying and was on top through the first two thirds of the field. As the track cooled, a few cars topped his time. He ended
	up fourth, just 4/100ths off the pole. Multi-Race winner, Andrew Myers was once again inverted to the outside pole position for the race. It's the same place he has started in three of the four races this season, all wins, with Joanides second each time. The two cars have been evenly matched all season with just 6/10ths of a second separating them. This is the total separation for all three races combined (0.049, 0.26 & 0.34). Myers has had the benefit of starting in front of Joanides in each race this season. The two quickly took first and second on lap one. From there on out,
#77 & #15 Battle for the lead with 9 to go!	the drivers had no opportunity to race. Seven caution flags plagued the 50 lap event. In all, just 16 laps

were completed under the green. The two managed a couple of quick side by side battles before cautions flew, but Joanides ended up having to settle for another second place finish.

(04-19-08) Nick Joanides has tried his hand at poker, but no double up was bigger than the one he had Saturday night. The J&M Racing Team with Jackson Race Cars put on an awesome display of dominance. They were the fastest car in practice. Set the fastest qualifying time. And with two main events on tap for the evening in the AC Delco Super Late Model Series, they doubled their pleasure by winning both events. FULL STORY (SEE VIDEO ON THE "VIDEOS" PAGE)

(04-12-08) This time it took a little more work. The team decided to try something a little different for qualifying this week since it had worked so well on the Super Late Model. Unfortunately, it didn’t work on the Late

Model. The car was too loose in qualifying and driver Nick Joanides posted the ninth fastest lap of twenty eight cars entered in the Auto Club Late Model event. It was the team’s lowest starting position of the year.

Joanides however made quick work of the field and moved up to the third position by lap 17. Over the next several laps, the top three cars were locked in a side by side battle for the lead. Joanides had just pulled along side the second place car of Andrew Myers when the caution flag flew at lap 26. FULL STORY (SEE VIDEO ON THE "VIDEOS" PAGE)

(04-05-08) The J&M Racing Team was poised for a great run in just their second AcDelco Super Late Model Event. Things looked good in testing as they were 2/10th's faster than every other car in practice. Driver Nick Joanides was set to qualify 21st out of the 23 cars. Fast time was an 18.28 when Joanides went out. The car bottomed out on the first lap and he was just eighth quickest. For the second lap, he backed off a little early and shocked onlookers with an incredible 18.06 lap, the fastest of the year so far.

With an invert of four, Joanides started in the fourth position. He moved up to second by the fourth lap. The top two cars pulled away from the field and Joanides continued to close the gap on leader Andrew Allen. At lap 22, he made a move to the inside for the lead. Coming off of turn two, the leader slipped just a little. As he corrected, the two cars made slight contact. The contact caused the leader to spin and Joanides was penalized to the rear of the field. Back in the 20th position, he patiently worked his way back through the field and crossed the line in the seventh position at the checkered flag. "I tried to get out of it, but just couldn't get out of it quick enough when he got loose" said Joanides, regarding the contact with the leader. "I feel bad for Andrew too, because he was having a great run, it was just very close racing and I didn't leave enough room for any margin of error. The Jackson's did such a great job and it's a huge disappointment since we had such a great car, but we've got twin 50's in a couple of weeks, so we'll get em then". Joanides concluded.

(03-22-08) The J&M Racing Team suffered from the typical new car blues in their opening night debut in the Super Late Model Division. The evening started off well with a solid 4th place run in the Auto Club Late Model event.

The team qualified 6th for the AC Delco Super Late Model event. While it was a solid starting spot, the team was disappointed with it. A clutch failure in practice prevented the team from scuffing in their qualifying tires. And in qualifying, the fuel pump began to fail, with the car surging during the run. After changing the clutch and fuel pump, the team hoped for a great run and it appeared they were on their way. Driver Nick Joanides quickly charged to the front, taking over the fifth position on the outside in lap one. He took fourth a lap later and third in the next lap. He took the second position on lap three and on lap four dove to the inside of the leader just before the caution flag flew.

With the field reverted back to the previous lap, Nick restarted in the third position. He quickly realized the clutch was slipping on the restart and tried to "feather" the throttle to keep from over-revving the engine. With the clutch slipping, he still managed to retake the second position with an outside pass. He was on the bumper of the leader when the clutch finally gave out completely, forcing the team to the pits, just nine laps into the race. "The Jackson's did such an awesome job on this car, I'm amazed at how well it ran" said Joanides. "We'll switch to another clutch design and go after them in a couple of weeks". SEE VIDEO ON THE "VIDEOS" PAGE

(03-18-08) After a successful 2007 season in the Auto Club Late Models, J&M Racing team owner Loyd McGhee has decided to step up to the premier AC Delco Super Late Model Division at Irwindale Speedway.

During the 2007 season, McGhee made the decision to move up to the premier division in 2008. Following the success of 2007, McGhee kept

Joanides and the Jackson’s for the upcoming season. Jackson Race Cars just completed a brand new car, which will be housed at their shop for the year. Co-Crew Chiefs, Dave and Tony Jackson will run the competition side of the team. The team did make it out for the open test session this past Saturday, however were only able to get out on the track once due to rain shortening on track activity. They were pleased with what they saw after just six laps of shaking the car down..

McGhee had originally planned to sell the Late Model car. However, after the 20 race Super Late Model schedule was released, he was disappointed that it covered only 14 weekends. The Super Late Model division will host six “Twin-50” events, where dual races will be run to make up the 20 race schedule. The decision was then made to keep the Late Model car and campaign in both divisions with Joanides as the driver. The team is now scheduled to compete in no less than 38 races over the next 29 weeks. “Our sponsors made a big commitment to this team and fourteen race dates just weren’t enough, so we made the decision to do both” said McGhee. FULL STORY

(11-10-07) After posting the fastest time in practice by nearly two full tenths of a second, driver Nick Joanides was poised for a big weekend in Vegas. The Vegas trip was his first in three years. The day turned sour when Joanides hit oil on the track and slid into the wall, severely damaging the car. The J&M Racing team with

Jackson Race Cars worked feverishly to replace all of the right front suspension and straighten the rear end. They completed as much as they could and made it out just in time to qualify. Without any set-up being put into the car after the repairs, Joanides still managed to post the 9th quickest lap among the 43 competitors.

The top 10 cars battled hard all race long with positions changing every lap. Joanides moved up to fifth by lap seventy five. The top six cars were all battling in close formation. With nine laps remaining, first and second were battling side by side, as were third and fourth. Joanides dove low to take the third position. At the same time, the two leaders made contact, setting off a six car melee. Joanides was able to stay low and avoid the two leaders and come out in front. He got a great restart and led to the finish. The win was his fourth in six races for the Loyd McGhee owned team.

(11-03-07) Five races ago, Nick Joanides was hired as a "substitute" driver for the Loyd McGhee owned team. He certainly made the most of the opportunity, winning three of the five races, including this weekends season finale. His worst finish in those races was a fourth place finish and he fell just a whisker short of a

fourth win. He ended up second in his third race for the team. With the win, Joanides became the winningest driver in the ACLM series in 2007, despite competing in only 5 of the 16 scheduled races. Including the last three races of 2006 in this series, Joanides has posted an amazing 1.9 average finish in his last 8 races. "I've got to thank this team for the great opportunity. Jackson Race Cars did an awesome job with the chassis set up and I'm happy we could get Bill Lowe his first win in the series as an engine builder" commented Joanides.

Nick would like to thank all of the team sponsors for their support. J&M Construction, Mr. Crane, Western Concrete Pumping, White Cap Construction Supply, NMC Group, Ahern Equipment Rentals & Santa Rosa Developers.

(09-01-07) Nick Joanides continued his hot streak with his second consecutive win and fourteenth top five finish in his past fifteen races. In the second race filling in for the #77, Loyd McGhee owned team's suspended driver, he and the Jackson Race Cars built car are now two for two. Joanides again was the fastest car in practice. In qualifying however, the car was a little too tight, resulting in a fourth place run. Nick took third on lap 4. He chased down the second place car from about eight car-lengths back and made the pass on lap 24. Following a restart with just ten laps to go, he pressured the leader for two laps before making the winning move to the outside of turn three with just eight laps remaining. Once in the lead, Joanides easily pulled away for the win.

(08-18-07) One week ago, Nick Joanides' incredible streak of 20 consecutive top 10 and 11 consecutive top 5 finishes came to an end when his ignition box failed just fourteen laps from the finish while battling for the third position. Making his streak all the more impressive is the fact that this streak came while driving for several different car owners in eight different cars. This week, Nick added another car owner and ninth car to the list in a big way.

Receiving a call on Wednesday, Nick was asked to compete in a car owned by Loyd McGhee. His prior driver had been suspended by Nascar and a fill in driver was needed. With the help of Jackson Race Cars, the team had just two days to prepare the car. Although the car had run well early in the season, the team struggled over the past four races. When they first hit the track, Nick quickly brought the car in after only two
laps due to an extremely ill handling car. Crew chief's Tony and Dave Jackson made several major changes throughout the night and after being more than 7/10's off the quickest times, the team gained back six of those tenths. The team returned on race day and made several more changes. From there on out, the day actually got fairly boring. They posted the fastest lap in the first practice session. After qualifying, Nick found himself on the pole for the race. At the start of the race, Nick quickly jumped to the lead. While tire pressures were low to start the race, Nick had to fend off a few challenges through the first eight laps. Once the
pressures built up though, Nick steadily increased his lead and cruised to the finish, winning in his first race for the	#77 Nick Joanides slices through lapped traffic on his way to Victory Lane!
Loyd McGhee owned team.

"I have to thank Loyd (car owner) for the opportunity to drive his car. I was a little worried on Friday with as far off as we were, but Tony and Dave (Jackson Race Cars) did a great job getting the car dialed in so quickly and today ended up being a pretty easy day. It's tough to win races in any situation and for us to do it in our first try together is just amazing" SEE VIDEO OF THE RACE ON THE "VIDEOS" PAGE


Recent Stats!

*LAST 25 RACES (With J&M Racing)*
RACES	WINS	TOP 3'S	TOP 5'S	TOP 10'S	AVG. FINISH	DNF'S
25	12	20	22	23	1.9	2

*LAST 43 RACES*
RACES	WINS	TOP 3'S	TOP 5'S	TOP 10'S	AVG. FINISH	DNF'S
43	14	33	38	40	2.4	3

*LAST 52 RACES*
RACES	WINS	TOP 3'S	TOP 5'S	TOP 10'S	AVG. FINISH	DNF'S
52	14	33	42	49	3.0	3