SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12 RACING LINE-UP FOR IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY

AUTO CLUB LATE MODEL 100, VISTA PAINT SUPER STOCKS
PLUS:  PICK-YOUR-PART FIGURE 8 & DEMOLITION DERBY FINALES
ALL SATURDAY NIGHT, OCTOBER 12 ... AT IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY


Irwindale, Calif. - - There's still one season's championship to be fought over at Irwindale Speedway, and this one's the "fightingest" division of them all, the Pick-Your-Part Figure 8's!  Wildomar's James Altman has played the points game perfectly all season long with a record of good finishes in every race that now sees Altman in the position of points leader without his recording an overall win on the 2002 Figure 8 season so far.  

Altman will carry that slim 18-point lead into the final on Saturday night.  And that lead is not just over one driver, it's over two foes.  Steve Stewart and Tom Smith (both of Long Beach strangely enough) are locked in second at 286 points each.  Of the top three only Smith has won races this year( two) but he also has a big old goose egg in the points column for the first race of the year.

Chris Williamson, from San Bernardino, has the most wins, with victories in four of the seven races run thus far, but only 280 points and fourth place in the chase because of some not-so-hot finishes along the way.

Mathematically speaking, Rusty Stewart from Long Beach (at 274) and Glendora's Ron Chaney (272) have a chance at the 2002 title, but that would take a lot of good luck (theirs) and bad luck (for those ahead of them) for the  championship to go to either twisty driver.

But don't think that any of these drivers is  going to wimp out and drive around looking for a good safe place to hide ... These drivers are the original "go for it" guys, they flat do not know how NOT to go flat out every lap. 

While we're talking about it, the Demolition Derby, also sponsored by our good friends at Pick-Your-Part is also sure to be an authentic barn-burner on Saturday night.  Although there are no season points on the line, there is a $1,500 purse on tap for this "last man standing" motorized mayhem competition.  Wacky, wild, and recently featured on the Tonight Show starring Jay Leno, the "DD" is always the last race on the card and always sends the fans and the other racers home chortling.  

And then there's the Vista Paint Super Stocks, the points championship is won, but a 50% bigger purse is as good a reason as any to want to win a race at Irwindale Speedway.  Always a great show, watch for some "sleeper" in the pack, there's at least half a dozen drivers who have shown well all year but who have yet to win a main event ... This is their last chance for the 2002 season, any bets on the victor?

And then we have the new "California State Late Model Championship" award to the LM driver who puts up the best overall placing at this event and at Mesa Marin's October Classic race on the twentieth.  Irwindale's version is a 100-lapper, a race that will require speed and sense.   This is the longest that one of these cars can travel without a pit stop, and these 50 miles will be the toughest of season for everyone involved.

The top-placing NASCAR Late Model driver who competes in both track's season-ending events will be presented with a special trophy and a $1,000 cash bonus.  Late Model Drivers from up and down the state of California have indicated that they'll be visiting the two well known half-mile tracks for a shot at the money and the state title as well.

"We're very pleased to be working with Irwindale to give these drivers this extra recognition for their hard work this season," said Mesa Marin Senior Vice President Larry Collins.  "These drivers and their crews are the backbone of the Dodge Weekly Racing Series in NASCAR … They always put on a great show week after week … This is our way of saying THANKS to them."

"The October Classic has been a marquee event for us for twenty-five year now and this championship, combining the two biggest NASCAR Late Model races in the state to crown one champion will make the event even more awesome," Collins concluded.

"This kind of state-wide recognition for local drivers is really terrific,"  said Bob DeFazio, Irwindale's Vice President/Chief Operating Officer.  "Our Auto Club Late Model Division never fails to put on some of the most-competitive and entertaining races we see at the Speedway … We couldn't be more pleased to be working with the Bakersfield management to shine the spotlight on some great competitors and their hard-working crews." 

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