Irwindale results 2004-05-15

The concluding event of the night was a seven-car Extreme Racing League match competition. Drivers raced simultaneously between barrels from the front straight, through the infield to the backstretch and around barrels, back over an infield low ramp, to a rapid parallel parking quick stop between barrels arranged at the finish line on the front straight. Keith Adams, in a Chevy El Camino, defeated Lori Van der Vee's Pontiac in the best two-out-of-three final match.

Pursley, a mechanic at the track's race training center, drove the No. 13 King Taco Chevrolet Monte Carlo, a Victory Circle chassis owned by Dave Hayes. Tony Bruncati, the May 8 feature winner, started his Sunrise Ford Taurus second and was runner-up all the way. He trailed Pursley by ten yards (0.684 seconds) at the finish. Tim Woods III, in his Chino Hills Ford-sponsored Taurus, started fourth and chased the leading duo home third, 2.687 seconds behind the winner. He climbed from fourth to third in current track points.

Nathan Wulff finished fourth in a Monte Carlo. Former USAC Midget driver Shawn Calderwood, from Bakersfield, came from 11th starting spot to fifth place in his first race of the year at IS. Twenty of the 22 starters finished and 13 drivers completed all 75-laps. Brandon Loverock was fourth on lap 31 when he slowed with a cut tire. He pitted under a lap 37 caution and returned without losing a lap. He finished 13th and retained second place in driver rankings by six points.

Herold, a full-time NASCAR Elite Division Southwest Series driver, won his first NAPA Super Truck main of the year at IS in his Chevy S-10. He came from fourth to pass race-long leader Jon Campbell on lap 40 with an inside pass in the fourth turn. Herold opened a 2.542-second winning edge on runner-up Campbell. Herold told the crowd, "These guys are fun to race with. I was glad we had no yellows." Campbell thanked his parents "on the other side of the country who listen to the Irwindale races live on the Internet (on www.590KTIE.com) each week."

Mark Holeman, 18, finished third and took the track point lead for the touring truck series. As usual the competitive 25-truck field ran three wide frequently and completed the all green-flag race in a rapid time of 16:54.483. All 25 starters were running at the finish and 16 drivers were on the lead lap.

Fastest qualifier Carson Woods, Jr, the IS point leader, started his Chevy S-10 sixth and was attempting to win his fourth consecutive Irwindale main event of 2004. He was in fourth place, about 30-yards behind the leader, when he spun solo to the backstretch infield on lap 39. Woods quickly continued in 15th position where he finished on the lead lap. Woods, despite three victories in four races, dropped to third place in IS points; he now trails Holeman by ten points after four of 16 scheduled events.

Wildest finish of the night occurred in the mini stock main. Point leader/pole starter Greg Tucker had his Ford Pinto in the lead for 34 laps. As he exited turn four with the checkered flag being waved, leader Tucker slowed suddenly with "a broken throttle cable". Tony Lawler's Pinto beat Tucker across the finish line on the outside by half a length. However, apparent winner Lawler declined to put his car through routine post-race technical inspection. Officials, by track rules, disqualified Lawler's car. Tucker inherited his third main event triumph in four races. He increased his point lead from two to 26. Jim McNear and Rich Garver were second and third officially.

Fastest qualifier Tom Landreth started eighth in the 34-car Legend main and became the third race leader on lap 30. He passed the lap nine-29 leader, his dad Bob, who trailed his son by one length at the finish. Steve Twilligear had his best finish--third. There were 27 finishers and 22 ran all 35 laps.

Hard charger award winners selected by racing director Lester Boyer were: (SLM) - Ed Hoffman for starting 19th and finishing tenth; (Super Trucks) Randy Colling for coming from 22nd to 17th; (Mini Stocks) - former CRA sprint car driver Steve Rogers for charging from 18th to fourth, and (Legends) - newcomer Matt Hicks for racing from 11th to fourth.

In the by-weekly Friday night Pure Stock Division race on the third-mile, IS point leader Jimmy Rouse led all 40-laps with nine cars present. He earned $200 and became the fourth different winner in four races for the new 2004 IS class. John Mattie and Dave Foster finished second and third and also received plaques. John Kelley, the last IS winner, was in second place with two laps remaining when he pitted with a frozen RF wheel bearing. The next scheduled Pure Stock race has been moved forward to Saturday, May 22. The announced May 28 race is off the 16-race Pure Stock schedule.

Editor's Note: If you thought that you saw racing driver Rowdy Burns in the crowd at Irwindale Speedway on Saturday night -- You were right!

Award-winning actor Michael Rooker was on hand as a guest of the Speedway and had a great time watching the races and signing autographs. Still well-remembered for his role in the 1990 racing epic, Burns has made over 30 feature and telefilms since that "turn" in the Nomex.

Fourteen years later and after starring parts in films like "Replacement Killers", "JKF", "Bastard Out of Carolina", Mississippi Burning," "Sea of Love", and "Skeleton Man" and TV guest appearances On "CSI: Miami", "Stargate SG-1", and "The Equalizer" Rooker still looked like he could get in a racecar, mash the throttle and "do some rubbin' " without ever missing a beat! -DS

-report by Tim Kennedy

Results:

Friday May 14:

PURE STOCKS:
Heat 1 - Jimmy Rouse, Andrew Tripp, Mike Colato, Dave Foster.

Heat 2 - John Kelley, Harry Michaelian, John Mattie, Blake Usilton, Michelle Rouse.

Main - J. Rouse, Mattie, Foster, Usilton, Michaelian, Kelley, Colato, Tripp. DNS-M. Rouse.

Saturday May 15:

EXTREME RACING LEAGUE:
Final Match Race - Keith Adams beat Lori Van der Veer.

KING TACO LEGEND CARS:
Fast Time - Tom Landreth, 17.189.

Main - Tom Landreth, Bob Landreth, Steve Twilligear, Matt Hicks, Larry Meredith, Cory Miles, Micah Nourse, Kenton Gray, Ryan Partridge, Mark Lungerich, John London, John Barnett, Bill Everett, Chad Schug, Larry Alsop, Brian Wong, Kevin Wong, Scott Fortier, Gary Fulton, J. D. Hendley, Kevin Michaels, Bill Watson, Danny O'Connor, Ed Rashid, Austin Grabowski, Evin Powell, Lynn Sours, Ryan Schug, Pete Sands, Jim Painteer, Mitch Bressie, Paul Parkko, Dave Kalawaia, Brian Vandehey.

MINI STOCKS:
Fast Time - Greg Tucker, 17.457.

Main - Tucker, Jim McNear, Rich Garver, Steve Rogers, Eric Reed, Bob Reed, Robert Lovas, Fred Adams, Dustin Morgan, Dennis Croasmun, Robert Miller, Amee Blue, Kevin Bernhardt, Carl Farless, Tom Dye, Rodney Schmitt, Ed Lavender, Robert Carney, Virgil Young, Kris Melley, Mario Ruiz, Mike Morales. DisQ.-Tony Lawler.

NAPA AUTO PARTS SUPER TRUCKS:
Fast Time - Carson Woods, Jr, 19.586.

Main - Joe Herold, Jon Campbell, Mark Holeman, Ron Peterson, Billy Helgeson, Pat Mintey, Jr, Rich Geisler, Greg Adler, Derek DiSarro, Eric Hardin, Jim Kondziela, Kyle Evans, Jim Madrid, Louis Mammolito, Woods, John Sereika, Randy Colling, Brian Harris, Larry Hinderman, Darren Sigwing, Dave Scarcella, Michael Mantel, Darrin Walts, Ken Bryan, Jeb Bailey.

LUCAS OIL SUPER LATE MODELS:
Fast Time - Greg Pursley, 18.048.

Main - Pursley, Tony Bruncati, Tim Woods III, Nathan Wulff, Shawn Calderwood, Mike Price, Jim McGill, Roger Brown, James Bruncati, Ed Hoffman, Kevin O'Neil, Jeff Shafer, Brandon Loverock, Kevin O'Connell, Andy Coyle, Tony Jackson, Russell White, Chris Oddo, Tim Buckley, Gary Jenkins, Dennis Arena, Scott Conaway.

CHECK OUT THE UPDATED POINTS FOR EACH OF THESE DIVISIONS ON www.irwindalespeedway.com

-is-