K&N FILTERS 150 NASCAR FEATHERLITE SOUTHWEST SERIES - JUNE 8
“K&N FILTERS 150” … NASCAR FEATHERLITE SOUTHWEST SERIES RETURNS TO IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY – SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2002 Jani-King Super Late Models and American Race Trucks Also on Saturday Night Card Irwindale, CA, - - All the color and action of the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series presented by Dodge will return to Irwindale Speedway on Saturday night, June 8, in the first of two 2002 stops for the always action-packed NASCAR pro series. Presented by K&N Filters, the race will be for 150 laps and promises a super show of speed and driving skill. Race number six of a fourteen-event season, the “Tour” sees these teams traveling the length and breadth of the Pacific Coast with stops in California, Arizona, and Colorado. Eddy McKean, from Jerome, Idaho will lead the touring racers onto the fast Irwindale half-mile carrying a paper-thin two-point lead over Irwindale's 2001 Super Late Model Champ Sean Woodside, 762 to 760. One of the local favorites, Woodside started the season driving for Walker Racing but when that team unexpectedly shut down he had to scramble and put together a substitute ride which seems to have suited the quick kid from Saugus. Adding validity to the conjecture that this is a close series, Burney Lamar from West Sacramento is only two points behind Woodside in third at 758. McKean and Woodside have both won races on the tour, Sean at Mesa Marin and Eddy at Pikes Peak two weeks ago. Lamar has not yet notched an overall win and is about due, “We like Irwindale, our team is strong, and we've done everything but hold the number one trophy so far this year, we think this is the place to break out,” said the young Chevy chauffeur. Other winners this season include M.K. (Mike) Kanke from Frazier Park, Ron Strmiska, Jr. of Manteca, and some guy we never heard of named “Ken Schrader” from Fenton, Missouri. (Just joking SuperK ... Wish you could make the Irwindale round!) Obviously, with five races in the books and five different winners' names listed next to them, the season is still a wide open one. If one of the above names “doubles” at Irwindale it will be taken by all as sign of strength and some heavy momentum to carry into the second half of the season … If it's another first-time winner for this year, look out for a wide-open second semester in the southwest! The Featherlite Southwest Series became a part of the NASCAR Touring Division in 1986. 1999 proved to be not only a memorable season for the series, but a record-breaking one as well. With the attraction of last year's thrilling championship race, the seasons to come promise to offer large purses, more fans and guaranteed grass roots racing excitement. The series is one of four NASCAR regional touring series, along with the Slim Jim All Pro Series, Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series and RE/MAX Challenge Series; that features Late Model cars under one blanket of rules that allows them to compete on a regional basis as well as at national events that highlight each of the four series. A number of local drivers are scheduled to be on track in the Southwest shoot-out on Saturday night including Covina's Jimmy White, Craig Raudman from Bakersfield, Auggie Vidovich, Jr. from Lakeside, Brandon Whitt - El Cajon, Bob Lyon from Agua Dulce, Dan Holtz - Pacific Palisades, Butch Gilliland from Chino Hills, and Keith Spangler from Chatsworth who will be doing double duty driving in both the K&N 150 and the Jani-King Super Late Model events. Irwindale's own Jani-King Super Late Models and American Race Trucks will also be featured in the Saturday night, June 8, speedway extravaganza, and both races will be taped for airing on “Racing From Irwindale” the regular Thursday night (6pm PDT … but, please, check your local listings) Fox Sports West2 show. Just to add a little more spice to the already flavorful dish, the Jani-King race will also be counted as one of the Miller Lite Big 10 races with $5000 extra bucks for the winner of that points-series-within-a-points-series event at year's end. Tony Green of Oak Hills leads the J-K Super Late Models points chase, West Covina's Val Cummings heads up the American Race Trucks points coming into this week's races, and North Hills' Ben Walker sits atop the Miller Lite points pile. Irwindale's wildly-popular PRE-RACE ON-TRACK-AUTOGRAPH SESSION will (of course) be part of the event's activities for the Featherlite night. Fans are cordially invited right down on the track's front straight to meet all of the night's contestants and get a touch-close look at their machines. This stupendous session is open to all, young and old and adds immeasurably to the “close-up and personal” experience that fans get only at Irwindale Speedway. It happens between 6 and 6:30pm and is a must for everyone new fans and old hands alike. Its something really special that watching a car race on TV can never equal and its part of every race at Irwindale Speedway. Gates open at 4PM and racing starts at 7PM, but the “party” in between (live band, face-painting for the “kids”, the on-track autograph session) is something that really adds to the value of a fan's hard-earned ticket money. Another added “early-bird special” this season is the opportunity for one lucky (and brave) fan to get a thrill ride around the half-mile banked oval in the Performance Race Training Center's 2-seat NASCAR-style 500-horsepower stock car. Fans arriving prior to 7PM will be invited to put their names into a drawing for the ride that runs right after the trophy dash. The question for the fortunate fan is: “Really now, how long CAN you hold your breath? CONTACT: Irwindale Speedway: Doug Stokes (626) 358-1100 x 206 Featherlite Southwest Series: Derrick Shannon (208) 890-7087 THANKS!