By TIM KENNEDY
IRWINDALE, Calif., Nov. 27-28 – M. K. Kanke, the 2009 SRL touring series champion, won the featured 110-lap Spears/SRL Southwest Tour stock car race on the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale half-mile Sunday afternoon in a 29-car field. It was his fifth feature victory at TS@I and his second consecutive at the track in SRL competition aboard his No. 33 Sim’s Trucking/RPM-PSI.COM Chevy. He received $5,000, the second largest winner’s paycheck in SRL history, plus a unique Fender Guitar specially painted by Troy Lee Designs. The Lucas Oil suggested event took two days to complete because of rain Saturday night. The inaugural Canidae California Classic Presented by MasterCraft offered a $50,000 purse for three top stock car classes. SRL drivers Ross Strmiska, Jonathon Gomez, Scott Sanchez and Brennan Newberry completed the top five. Troy Ermish, Joe Farre, Chris Holloway, Eddie Secord and Justin Westmoreland rounded out the top ten. Fourteen of 29 starters were racing at the conclusion with the first 12 finishers running all 110 laps. The race was the first Sunday racing at the TS@I oval track since the ASA Series touring stock cars from the Midwest raced a scheduled Sunday afternoon race in 2002.The race for SRL drivers in former NASCAR Elite Division Southwest Tour cars started at 2:45 pm. It had a planned full-field 15-minute pit stop in the infield at the lap 55 halfway mark. Crews could refuel and work on cars but could not change tires. There were four caution flags apart from the halftime break. The first yellow was on lap 37 after Mike Lay stalled. On lap 49 Derek Thorn (the only driver to race in all three divisions) spun the 18th place John Wood No. 41 that Indy 500 veteran Davey Hamilton had qualified 17th fastest of 29 qualifiers Saturday. Hamilton had to return to his home in Indianapolis Sunday. Jesus Hernandez hit the first turn wall in the Carlos Vieira 51 car on lap 87 while running ninth. Eric Holmes, the NASCAR 2010 K & N West champion, was running fifth when he contacted the fourth turn wall. He slowed and exited on lap 97, earning 16th place.
The final yellow flag waved on lap 101 when Keith Spangler and Jason Gilbert collided in turn one while dueling for fifth position. Under caution irate Gilbert spun Spangler’s No. 37 in the second turn. Spangler then cut through the infield at speed to retaliate under caution on the front straight. Gilbert saw him coming and stopped his No. 44 in mid-track as he exited turn four. SRL race control (Larry Collins) ordered both cars off the track. Spangler drove to the pits and parked, as did Gilbert. SRL placed Gilbert in last position in the official finishing order. The final top five position change occurred on lap 108 when back row starter Scott Sanchez took fourth place from Brennan Newberry with an inside pass in the fourth turn.
SLM 100: Duane Hunt, Jr., a 22-year old from Tucson, AZ, won the Pepsi Super Late Model 100-lap race Sunday after light rain Saturday on lap 15 halted that race at 8:28 pm. At 8:46 pm track VP/GM Bob DeFazio announced the postponement to 1:00 pm Sunday. Pole starter Scott Dodd had led the first six laps Saturday before quickest qualifier/third starter Johnson shot to the point with an inside pass entering the third turn. The top four at that point were all second generation drivers—Johnson, Dodd, Reed, and Ryan Partridge. All 18 cars were on the lead lap. Hunt, the 15th starter, in his black & green No. 31, posted his surprising first career victory at any track the next afternoon. He earned $4,000. Second through fifth paid $2,000, $1,250, $1,000 and $750, with gradual drop-offs to $300 for last place. A shocking ending preceded his trip to victory lane and caused track officials to revert to the last green flag lap (98) for the official finish. Leader Ryan Reed, 17, and challenger Rod Johnson, Jr., 21-year old 2010 TS@I Auto Club Late Model champion, were racing closely for their first SLM victory. Johnson challenged on the inside and Reed held the outside line. Their cars collided on lap 99 in the fourth turn, sending Reed’s car hard into the crash-wall nose first. Johnson’s car continued slowly around the track to the yellow and checkered flags with smoking tires and body damage.
Only three cars were on the track at the conclusion in the most bizarre finish in TS@I history. Several drivers in the top five ran out of fuel in the closing laps. Hunt inherited third place on lap 98 on the backstretch after Derek Thorn ran out of fuel and pulled to the infield. Johnson’s damaged car and Joe DeGuevara, who was down five laps, were the only other cars on the track with winner Hunt at the checkered flag. After alighting from his heavily damaged No. 04 car, stopped against the fourth turn wall, Reed walked to the start/finish area where the top three drivers had stopped for post-race interviews. Reed angrily confronted Johnson and had to be restrained by track safety crewmen. Later, Reed said he had not run out of gas as reported erroneously over the track PA system. He said Johnson had stepped up to the faster super late models and crashed him. Johnson accepted blame and said his car pushed up into Reed’s car unintentionally. The popular, talented driver from Canyon Country apologized for the crash. During time trials Saturday from 4:49 to 5:07 Johnson drove the No. 30 Position One Motorsports Chevy to a new one lap track record--17.571. It was his first race start in the SLM car following practice sessions on Friday.
The SLM main started Sunday at 1:08 pm and concluded at 2:24. It had five race leaders and six lead changes. Dodd paced the first 17 laps, leading the tight pack of four with Reed, Johnson and Partridge challenging. Johnson passed Reed on lap 15 and passed Dodd on the inside at turn four on lap 18 to become the leader. Partridge shot from third to first on a lap 58 green flag after one of nine cautions during the race. Johnson led laps 66-86. Reed took the lead on lap 87 after another yellow and was the leader by a length or less to the fateful lap 99 crash. Hunt passed Johnson’s damaged car before they passed the starters’ waving caution flag. Eighteen of the original 21-car field Saturday returned and raced Sunday. The official finish behind Hunt was revised after the original posting given to the media. Positions 2-3-4 changed. The final top ten had Hunt, Thorn, Reed, and Johnson in the top four positions and all completed 98 laps. Joe DeGuevara finished a TS@I career-best fifth with 95 laps. Kevin Thompson, Andrew Allen, Eric Schmidt, from Roseville, Dodd and Partridge rounded out the top ten. Thompson and Allen ran out of gas and pulled to the infield.
The Reed/Johnson melee was not the only SLM crash that produced heated emotions. Danny Bopp spun into the first turn exit attenuator on lap 61, causing a nine minute red flag. He was unhurt. On lap 70 the cars of Brandon Loverock, Dennis Furden and Hunt came together on the backstretch with the Loverock and Furden cars eliminated near the third turn. Irate Loverock hurled his helmet at Hunt’s car and scored a direct hit as it passed under caution. At the green flag ten cars remained and all were on the lead lap thanks to several "lucky dog" free passes for lapped drivers. Partridge and Thorn (Friday late model winner) exchanged second position twice from laps 79-81, when Partridge slid up in front of Thorn to reclaim second in the fourth turn. On the front straight Thorn’s No. 16 hit and spun Partridge’s Eshleman No.88, which spun across the starting line at speed to the first turn grass. He angrily climbed out and gave a partial hand salute to Thorn as he passed slowly under caution. With eight cars remaining, fuel woes began claiming cars because of the numerous yellow flag laps. P. 6 Dodd dropped out on lap 89. P. 3 Eric Schmidt brushed the turn four wall on lap 91 and pulled off the track. P. 6 A. Allen slowed and stalled leaving the fourth turn, causing the final caution at lap 95.Reed was maintaining a half-length advantage at the time over pressing Johnson in an exciting contest between two drivers with bright futures in racing. The green flag flew on lap 96 for six remaining cars. Third place K. Thompson promptly pulled to the infield with fuel starvation. Third place Thorn was the final fuel-starved runner and he pulled to the infield on lap 99 as Hunt passed him on the backstretch for what turned out to be the race-winning pass. Hunt said his girl friend was unable to be present for his victory in the biggest race of his career.
LATE MODEL 75: The only feature completed Saturday night was the Auto Club Late Model 75-lap race that ran from 7:30 to 8:06 pm. Derek Thorn, of Bakersfield, started second in the No. 4 Four Star Fruit Chevy from Bakersfield. He led all the way in a close duel with 2009 Irwindale track champion Nick Joanides, who trailed by half a length at lap 65 when drizzling started. After running under the yellow to lap 73, officials ended the race with dual yellow and checkered flags. The winner earned $2,500 and runner-up $1,000. Third through fifth paid $600, $500 and $400, with drop-offs to $150 for last place. Fastest qualifier Brandon Davis finished third in the HPR No. 55 Monte Carlo. Travis Irving and Brandon Loverock completed the top five.
Matt Scott, 18-year old 2010 NASCAR All-American Racing Series late model track champion at Roseville, finished an impressive sixth after starting eighth in his first visit to Irwindale. Mike Johnson, Toni Marie McCray (from 11th), Kyle McGrady and Sean Woodside completed the top ten. Sixteen of 21 starters finished the 36-minute event, with 14 drivers on the lead lap. The race had one yellow flag incident on lap 24 with five cars running in close proximity and battling for tenth position. Carlos Vieira contacted Chris Holloway’s No. 44 Four Star Fruit team car to Thorn, sending Holloway’s car into the front straight wall hard at its right side. He stopped with bent wheels at turn one. Vieira’s car spun in the same turn, but he returned and completed 71 laps.