MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND RACING STARTS STAURDAY NIGHT AT IRWINDALE

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND KICKS OFF WITH
MORE GREAT RACING AT IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY
Saturday, May 25 Event Features Tight Super Late Model Points Battle 
and Wild Figure 8 Event


Irwindale, Calif. - - It's got to be the perfect way to get revved up for a great long Memorial Day weekend … A night at the NASCAR races at Irwindale Speedway, and Saturday's schedule of five divisions of racing action will be the reason for fans to get to the Speedway early for some live, up-close and personal racing fun!  

The battle for the points crown in the track's premier weekly division tightened up dramatically last weekend with points leader Tony Green finishing well out of the top ten in the Jani-King Super Late Models after being collected in an eight-car accident.  North Hills' Ben Walker got the 50 first place points and moved to within 22 points of the Oak Hills resident.  And Norwalk's Brandon Loverock, who has yet to win a race, but who has shown consistancy and has banked points in every race is only 14 points arrears of Walker.  With the season one third over, each race now becomes more and more critical to the quest for the 2002 championship.  Winning Saturday night's race will pay 50 more points, everyone wants them … Only one driver will get them. 

Darren Cheek from Phelan has been at the top of the Vista Paint Super Stock points list for the entire 2002 season, in fact, until the last race he'd won four out of four.  The Phelan resident still leads the points but his second place last time out (to Palmdale's Will Cottrell) has put him within 38 points of Simi Valley's Andrew Phipps who has four second place finishes coming in.  Both Cheek and Phipps carry famous local racing names into competition at Irwindale on Saturday night and Brian Harrell from Bloomington will unload his Super Stocker at the Speedway in third place at 194 points with an eye on an overall win this week.

In the ever-popular Legends Cars, young Ricky Wildman has dominated on the track (almost lapping the entire field last race) but only leads the points posse by eight ducats.  The Yorba Linda phenom has won two of the three races so far run at IS and picked up a fifth place in the other to lead Fontana's Bill Everett and Acton's Art Nevill in second and third places respectively.  These third-mile thrillers are guaranteed put on the same kind of scrambling show that they always do on Saturday night.

Temecula's Jim McGill leads the Ultra Wheel Super Trucks point series at Irwindale Speedway with 114 to Rich Geisler's (Chandler, AZ) 108.  Carson Woods (Yucca Valley) has the third slot with a close 104 points.  Surprisingly, none of the above has won a race yet.  For the record Michael Brusco, Greg Adler, and Ron Petersen (from Chino, Manhattan Beach, and San Bernardino respectively) are the race winners and they are in 17th, 13th, and 9th places in points.

Ok … Here's what everyone is waiting for.  The Fightin' Feudin', Fussin' Figure 8 Cars.   There are two ways to look at this type of racing:  1) These drivers are crazy.  And/Or  2) These drivers are nuts.  Either way, to race flat out around a pretzel-bent race course with an open intersection (sans lights, stop signs, yield markers, crosswalks or any other traffic control) just takes a different slant on the science of motorsports.  James Altman of (appropriately) Wildomar has the point lead with twin second places while San Berdoo's Chris Williamson and Jeff Marguet of Norco are locked in second place at 84 point each.

FANS ARE PARTICULARLY SUGGESTED TO JOIN IN THE NEW IRWINDALE TRADITION OF ON-TRACK AUTOGRAPH SESSIONS STARTING AT ABOUT 6PM … THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GO RIGHT DOWN ON THE RACING SURFACE TO MEET ALL OF THE NIGHT'S RACERS IS SOMETHING THAT INCREASES THE IRWINDALE EXPERIENCE AT LEAST FIVE-FOLD.

AS MANY AS 100 RACE CARS ON THE 6-DEGREE BANKED FRONT STRAIGHTAWAY, ALL OF THE DRIVERS, MANY OF THE CREW MEMBERS, PERSONAL AUTOGRAPHS IN PROGRAMS, PHOTOS, A SIT BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A REAL RACE CAR FOR A WIDE-EYED KID, AND MORE … 

THE ON-TRACK AUTOGRAPH SESSION IS A TREAT THAT MAKES COMING TO IRWINDALE FOR AN EVENING'S ENTERTAINMENT JUST THAT MUCH MORE OF A FAMILY VALUE … IT'S TRULY WORTH THE EFFORT TO GET OUT TO THE TRACK EARLY. 

Gates open at 4PM on race day, and "neat stuff" like a live band, practice and qualifying, Mimi the face-painting clown, and the above-recommended pre-race autograph session.  For more information or to purchase advance tickets (for any Speedway event) fans are invited to call (626) 358-1100 or type in www.irwindalespeedway.com on their browser.  

Season Club Seats are still available for individuals and companies who want guaranteed seating at every event.  (Each special seat has the individual's or company name on it and the section is situated right on "The Fifty-Yard Line" overlooking Start-Finish.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL:  Doug Stokes (626) 358-1100 x 206

PHOTO:  Ben Walker is seen visualizing himself and his crew right back here in Victory Square on Saturday night ...