RACE REPORT - SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2002

WEATHER: WEIRD



IRWINDALE RACE REPORT
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2002
By Tim Kennedy 

Tim Huddleston won a rain-shortened Auto Club of Southern California NASCAR Late Model feature Saturday at Irwindale Speedway. His title-rival, Todd Burns, secured his first track championship in the 18-race series. Light rain started on lap 33 of the scheduled 50-lap main. Officials displayed the red flag after two laps under the caution flag as a brief downpour made the track unsafe. They directed cars to the infield for five minutes and then called the race complete at 8:20. 

A scheduled Jani-King NASCAR Super Late Model 75-lap main event was 
postponed one week to next Saturday. It will be round ten of the ten-race 
Miller Lite Big Ten Challenge Series. The SLM division earlier had run 
qualifying laps for 25 cars and completed a six-car, six-lap trophy dash, won 
by Brandon Miller. The SLM cars have been added to a five-class show already 
on the October 5 schedule. 

The King Taco Legend Cars completed the first of five scheduled features 
Saturday on the third-mile. Ricky Wildman, a 17-year old high school student, 
passed fellow front row starter Art Nevill on lap 22 and won his sixth main 
event of the season. Wildman made up an eight-point deficit and tied 
defending track champion Tom Landreth, a three-time feature winner, for the 
point lead at 490 points. Landreth was running second on lap 14 when he spun 
on the backstretch and dropped to 13th position. He then raced back to fifth 
place at the checkered flag. The 12th and final point race will be run 
October 5. 

When rain stopped after the storm cell passed, track officials decided to 
dry the half-mile using track service vehicles-tow trucks, track sweeper, 
ambulance, pace car and a "vintage" SHO Taurus driven by noted program publisher Harold "Leadfoot" Osmer. Eight black and white patrol cars 
from the California Highway Patrol precision driving team performed their 
routines as they helped dry the track. On law enforcement appreciation day, a 19-member LAPD motorcycle precision drill team entertained spectators with exacting riding drills and maneuvers in the track infield before the late model main. 

About half of the 4,980 crowd waited through the long one-hour, 51-minute 
rain-delay for the two truck main events. Ten truck racers had come from 
other states-Arizona, Idaho and Nevada-to compete. Mechanix Wear Speed Trucks 
TV race took the green flag at 10:11 for a 50-lap main with 23 trucks. Pole-starter 
Dan DiGiacomo led all the way in his Ford Ranger for a repeat triumph this 
year at IS. Fastest qualifier/fourth starter Randy Brown drove his Chevy S10 
to second, half a straight behind the winner. Brown claimed the series track 
championship. The touring mid-size pickup truck series has three races 
remaining in 2002 at El Cajon, Blythe and Las Vegas. 

The West Coast Pro Truck Series (formerly known as American Race Trucks) 
started 27 trucks at 10:42 for a scheduled 30-lap main. Fastest qualifier 
Dean Kuhn, Irwindale's 2001 Grand American Modified champion, started second 
and took command on lap nine. He won in only his third truck race in the No. 
00 Chevy Silverado formerly raced by fellow Oceanside resident Mark Schilling. 

The WCPT main completed only 18 of the 30 laps. A red flag on lap 19 
stopped the race after third-running Tony Forfa blew his engine entering the 
first turn and set off a five truck crash. Trucks in positions four, five and 
six spun in oil deposited by Forfa's truck. Officials called the race at that 
point because the 11 p.m maximum curfew had arrived, extensive oil cleanup 
was necessary and a light drizzle had returned. 

Dan Pehrson, from Idaho, was running seventh and he drove between two of 
the crashing trucks to finish third. He had a 750-mile, 13-hour tow home to 
Idaho Sunday and was happy the race was run at all. The five-division event 
attracted 134 racing vehicles and 109 of the cars/trucks were able to race in 
four of the five features. 

Pole starter Michael May led the first eight laps, but he voluntarily 
relinquished the lead to Kuhn when officials informed him by radio via his 
spotter that he would be penalized after the race if he didn't do so. May, in 
the Yaeger Motorsports 2000 Ford, had moved into Kuhn's path at the green 
flag for the first lap. The 19-year old student at Orange Coast College, 
finished 0.313 seconds in back of Kuhn. May clinched his first track championship 
by 62-points over Val Cummings after 13 of 13 races at Irwindale. 

The race postponement was the second time at IS that part of the schedule 
was affected by rain. The first rain postponed race occurred on 6/2/01. In 
four years of racing at IS four races have been rained out without a lap of 
competition. Rick Lalor, of the Auto Club, told Late Model champion Burns he 
would receive the trip to Hawaii for two at the track championship awards 
banquet in a practice started by the series sponsor last year. Burns, 29, 
said he and girlfriend Renee Valk appreciate the award from the Auto Club. 

Burns, a Riverside resident and co-holder with SLM driver Rip Michels of 
the most IS feature victories record (26), said his plans for 2003 are 
uncertain. He would like to race for someone in a NASCAR touring division 
such as Winston West or the Southwest Series. He thanked Villa Roma Sausage 
for sponsoring him all four years at IS and Brian Kelley for use of his Monte 
Carlo chassis during the final two races of the 18-race season. Burns and his 
Chevrolet chassis owner, Jeff Schrader, ended their employment and racing 
partnership suddenly several weeks ago. Burns, the engine-owner, joined 
forces with owner/driver Kelley and repainted Kelley's No. 22 as the Villa 
Roma No. 4 to attain Burns' first track title. 

Burns said, "I planned to race as hard as I could and finish the race. I 
had to keep my nose clean and not get into any sticky situation." He entered 
the season finale 34 points ahead of Huddleston, with 50 points awarded to 
the race winner. Burns finished sixth and won by 24 points. Huddleston, the 
winner of seven of the 18 mains and fastest qualifier at 16 races-- including 
the final 12 in a row, said it was an honor to finish second to Burns.  Huddleston, 32, said he will return to IS next year and try to win the L/M 
title in his Ladco Leasing Pontiac Grand Prix. 

Huddleston started ninth and fell to tenth at lap five as "I listened to 
my crew and let traffic thin out a bit". He picked off cars quickly from 
laps nine to 14 and was in second place by lap 17. Huddleston went to the 
inside in the second turn on lap 21 and passed race-long leader Tom Eurton, 
who finished a career best fourth at IS. Doug McComb came from seventh 
starting spot to finish second. Rookie Scott Youngren secured rookie of the 
year honors with third position, which enabled him to rank fifth in final 
points. Craig Rayburn took his Chevy from 12th starting position to finish 
fifth with 24 of the 26 cars still on the track at the soggy finish. 

KING TACO LEGEND CARS: 
Fast Time: Tom Landreth, 16.855. 
Main: Ricky Wildman, Ted Landreth, J. D. Hendley, Bill Everett, Tom 
Landreth, Brent Jones, Ralph Alexander, James Kalawaia, Bob Landreth, Steve 
Twilligear, Dave Green, Cory Miles, Mark Gaiser, Brian Vandehey, Tom Skahill, 
Larry Meredith, Bill Watson, Bill Bonney, Wendi Westbrook, Dennis O'Connor, 
Jeff Collins, John Barnett, Jason Alsop, Dennis Rock, Art Nevill. 

JANI-KING SUPER LATE MODELS: 
Fast Time: Tim Woods III, 18.080. 
Dash: Brandon Miller, Woods, Rip Michels, Tony Bruncati, Brent Reynolds, 
Kazuto Yanagawa. 
Main: (postponed by rain to October 5). 

AUTOMOBILE CLUB of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LATE MODELS: 
Fast Time: Tim Huddleston, 19.063. 
Main: Huddleston, Doug McComb, Scott Youngren, Tom Eurton, Craig Rayburn, 
Todd Burns, Mike Johnson, Mike Price, Kevin Wood, Jeff Saelid, Dave Hessing, 
Johnny Lathrop, Dave Lowenstein, Pat Ackley, George Ruark, Todd Conrad, 
Eugene Dewberry, Jess Flores, John Ahrendt, Ron Schartau, Dan DiGammarino, 
John Cran, Tony Widmer, Tim Harris, Del Dalrymple, Dan Rodgers (Scott 
Alquist). 

MECHANIX WEAR SPEED TRUCKS: 
Fast Time: Randy Brown, 19.566. 
Main: Dan DiGiacomo, Brown, Nathan Mirth, Robert Sanders, Lee Hatch, 
Darren Young, T. J. Clark, Kenny Smith, Danny Williams, Richard Franz, Don 
Foreman, Jeff Rocheleau, Scott Porter, Robert Krocker, Dave Hartsock, John 
Burrith, Doug Ingraham, Colby McMillen, Brandon Arciero, Scott Saunders, Gary 
Bryant, Bobby Sayers, Casey Kingsland. 

WEST COAST PRO TRUCKS: 
Fast Time: Dean Kuhn, 20.371. 
Main: Kuhn, Michael May, Dan Pehrson, Mike Pennington, Jeff Williams, 
Kirk Knostman, Dave Lyon, Kenny Vanderham, Michael Thomas, Josh Hulsebosch, 
Neil Conrad, Dale Cromwell, Val Cummings, Stewart Sprung, Dennis Bennett, Jim 
Satterfield, Mike Mocaby, Ray Komar, Don Helgeson, Tony Forfa III, Terry 
Young, Chris Johnson, Rick Harbaugh, Tom Taylor, Robert Leininger, Steve 
Dyer, James Ross. 


THANKS TIM … SEE YOU NEXT WEEK FOR THE EXCITING (RAIN-DELAYED) FINAL POINTS RACE FOR THE JANI-KING SUPER LATE MODELS AND THE LEGEND CARS TIE-BREAKER! -Ed.

AUTOCLUB 1: HUDDLESTON
AUTOCLUB 2: BURNS