Today we share an article by the renowned West Coast racing reporter Tim Kennedy
Thrilling finish to the NASCAR K & N WEST 150 at Irwindale
Speedway
By Tim Kennedy
The first visit to Irwindale Speedway by the touring NASCAR
K & N Pro Series-West in two years on Saturday March 30th was
followed by five LKQ Pick Your Part fan-popular events on “Salute to Saugus
Speedway Night”. NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Ron Hornaday, Jr. served as grand
marshal. He briefly paced the ENEOS/NAPA NASCAR K & N 150 by driving the
1964 Galpin Ford NASCAR No. 97 Ford race car that his father Ron raced in the
NASCAR Pacific Coast Division.
All the attractions Saturday resulted in the largest NASCAR
racing crowd in years at the San Gabriel Valley speedway that opened in 1999.
More than 7,000 spectators packed the grandstand, suites and pit grandstand to
watch 22 NASCAR K & N West late models open the evening with a 150-lap feature
on the progressively-banked half-mile. Veteran observers called the exciting
race the best K & N West point race in track history. Fans and cars were
still entering the track parking lot at 7:30 pm as the 150-lap race was nearing
the halfway mark.
The 150-lap race had a ten-minute break at the 75-lap mark.
Teams pitting in the fourth turn of the third-mile oval made adjustments and
changed up to two tires, now supplied by General Tire. The entire race was a
thrilling duel among three young drivers. All three of the front-runners led
the race at some point and the finish was a two-car photo finish that
captivated the attention of everyone. (NOTE: NBCTV Network recorded the race
for telecast Monday, April 8 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm.)
Trevor Huddleston, 22, won the 150-lap race by 0.030 in a
side-by-side, door banging duel on the final lap from turn four to the finish
line. He beat rookie Tanner Gray, 19, from New Mexico, who was making only his
second NASCAR K & N start and was racing at Irwindale for the first time.
Gray, a third-generation NHRA drag racer, originally from North Carolina, won
eight NHRA Pro Stock events and the 2018 NHRA Pro Stock championship.
Huddleston, a second year K & N West driver, experienced
some transmission problems enroute to his initial K & N feature triumph
aboard the No. 9 Sunrise Ford-sponsored Ford. He had a cut left rear tire send
his car spinning into the first turn following the checkered flag. His car hit
the crash wall on the drivers' side and Huddleston said he briefly had “the
wind knocked out of me”.
Huddleson, the 2015-17 Irwindale and California State NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series champion, keyed his radio and asked his long-time
spotter Will Kozak if he had won. Assured he was the winner, Huddleston had his
winning car towed by the track's official towing service--Jan's Towing--to the
finish line for victory ceremonies. His father Tim Huddleston, also a three-time
NASCAR Irwindale and California Whelen late model champion, handled PA mic
interviews as usual during victory ceremonies.
Irwindale Speedway co-promoters had reason to rejoice in
addition to warm weather in the 70s, 7,000+ standing room only attendance, an
exciting race for all 150 laps, and thrilling photo finish. Car dealer Bob
Bruncati's race car won the 150 and his driver Trevor Huddleston is the son of
co-promoter Tim Huddleston. It was Trevor's initial K & N West victory
after placing second in 2018 series rookie points driving a third Bruncati
Sunrise Ford.
Bruncati's second car (No. 6 Sunrise Ford) was driven by
Jagger Jones, 16, a Huddleston HPR organization NASCAR late model driver for
two years. Jones, from Scottsdale, AZ finished fourth in only his second K
& N West race. The son of racer P. J. Jones and grandson of 1963 ‘Indianapolis
500’ winner Parnelli Jones, ran up front all night.
The temperature was in the low 80s at 4:00 pm and still in
the low 70s when the 3.5 hours entertaining evening concluded at 10:26 pm with
a ten-minute aerial fireworks show. N of D fans normally come out 5,000 to
6,000 strong at IS for mayhem events. This week they also witnessed a classic
NASCAR K & N West late model race as well. The pairing of NASCAR K & N
West race and fan-popular Night of Destruction events was an experiment by
co-promoters Huddleston and Bruncati that will likely be repeated in 2020.
TOP DUO: Winner Huddleston, a business major at Moorpark Junior
College, won his 45th Irwindale feature victory. He moved into a fourth-place
tie for most main event triumphs (including all divisions) in IS track history.
His father Tim and Robert Rice also have 45 feature victories. Huddleston said
he won as a birthday present for his girl friend Katie, who cheered him home.
He held his impressive first place trophy and said he will give it to car owner
Bruncati.
Runner-up Gray has raced micro sprints, outlaw karts, late
models, modifieds and local track stock cars. Following his 2018 NHRA Pro Stock
championship, Gray decided to switch from NHRA to NASCAR. This year he is
contracted to race the No. 15 DGR/Crosley Toyota co-owned by David Gilliland in
the NASCAR K & N East Series. He made his series debut during February and
placed 12th in the New Smyrna, (FL) 175 lap race. Gilliland, an 11-time
Irwindale feature winner in the early years of the track, moved to North
Carolina and raced in all three NASCAR National Series. He was present in the
pits at Saturday and advised his latest protege about chassis set-up and IS
track conditions.
ENEOS / NAPA 150: The feature had 21 starters and ten were K
& N series rookies. Six of the top ten finishers were rookies. The top five
finishers represented an impressive corps of upcoming NASCAR talented teenage
drivers in second through fifth positions. All are ages 16 to 19. Top finishers
behind Huddleston and Gary were: Wisconsin-based Derek Kraus, 17, who is a
third year NAPA Toyota driver for Bill McAnally, J. Jones, 16, and fastest
qualifier Hailie Deegan, 17-year old winner of the 2019 K & N West season
opener February 28 at the Las Vegas dirt half-mile.
Cole Cabrera, Matt Levin, rookie Brittney Zamora, 20, from
Kennewick, WA, Irwindale late model veteran/K & N rookie Dylan Garner, 20,
and Jack Wood completed the top ten. All logged the full 150-lap distance.
Eleventh place finisher Todd Souza, finished 17-seconds off the lead, and was the
final lead lap finisher. Twenty of 21 starters were racing at the finish.
Deegan, from Temecula, ran the fastest lap of 96.951 mph.
The entire K & N field used group qualifying from 5:05
to 5:20 pm with three groups of seven cars qualifying simultaneously on the
track. Cars were grouped together based upon practice speeds. Deegan's 18.183
(98.994 mph) was fastest in the McAnally No. 19 NAPA Toyota. She barely edged
her teammate Kraus' 18.200 in the No. 16 NAPA Toyota. Gray, Huddleston, and
Jones qualified third through fifth quickest. Garner, in his K & N debut,
was sixth fastest and occupied the outside row three starting position.
THE RACE: At the 7:04 pm start, Kraus shot into the lead and
led Deegan, Gray, Jones, Huddleston, Wood, Zamora and Garner at lap 10. The top
three were a tight pack as they began lapping on lap 10. At lap 25 Gray passed
Deegan for P. 2 on the inside leaving turn four. He used the same move on lap
26 to pass race-long leader Kraus. At lap 50, Gray extended his lead to 0.645.
Second-running Deegan had cut that to 0.545 when the half-time break red flag
sent all cars to the pits in the fourth turn of the third-mile.
A two-by-two restart at lap 78 had Kraus shoot back into the
lead over Gray, Deegan, Huddleston, Zamora and Jones. On lap 81 third place
Deegan spun out low in turn two. She restarted at the back and charged forward
to P. 9 by lap 86. Kraus continued leading and opened a 0.8 advantage over
Gray. On lap 91 Huddleston executed an inside pass in the fourth turn and took
second from Gray as Deegan charged to P. 6 with 11 cars on the lead lap.
At lap 100 Kraus led by 0.8 over Huddleston with Gray 1.7
back. On lap 112 rookie Joey Tanner spun in turn four, causing a brief yellow
flag. A side-by-side restart on lap 118 had Huddleston inside and Kraus
outside, with Jones and Gray in row two. On lap 119, Gray dropped Jones to
fourth place and a lap later Gray took second from Huddlestonn with the top
four cars racing in a tight pack. Deegan took fifth from Cabrera on lap 120 and
a lap later passed Jones for fourth on the outside.
With 20 laps to go the position order was Kraus, Gray,
Huddleston, Deegan, Jones, Cabrera, Levin, Zamora, Garner and Wood. Huddleston
took second from Gray in the third/fourth turns on lap 140. On lap 144, leader
Kraus lost his brakes and went high in the first two corners. Huddleston took
his first lead on lap 144.
Gray passed Kraus for second on lap 145 on the inside at the
third corner. He then cut into Huddleston's lead using the inside groove. Gray
trailed by one length as they started the final lap. He made a banzai charge on
the inside out of turn four and the two leaders bumped there and again at the
finish line. Huddleston's car had half a front fender advantage at the dramatic
photo finish captured from turn one by photographer Albert Wong.
Night of Destruction events
A 25-lap enduro car race on the third-mile at 8:35 pm used a
five-turn”roval” with a cone-marked jog onto the half-mile finish line. Joe
Labrasciano led lap. Dewitt Jones' 1992 Honda Accord paced laps 2-23. Back row
starter Rodney Argo reached P. 2 on lap 20 and shot past Jones on lap 24 to win
by 3.632 seconds over Jones. He collected $300 and Jones $200.
Enduro cars race for Irwindale NASCAR track points. This
year the enduros have two classes—a sports class with 2.3 liter engines and
slower stock class with 2.0 liter engines. Argo won the sport class and Jones
won the stock class trophies. Bobby Ozman, Labrasciano and Rick Conti completed
the top five with 11 finishers on the lead lap. The all-green flag race took
8:27.555. Former sprint car racer Argo ran the fastest lap of 18.324.
Figure 8: Next was an all-green light 25-lap F-8 race with
14 starters. It lasted 9+ minutes. Pole starter Robbie Salcido, from Perris,
led every lap in his Honda Accord. Argo started last in his same Honda Prelude
and charged to P. 2 on lap 13. At lap 20 he was pressing leader Salcido. Argo
tried an outside pass entering turn three on the final lap, but he got loose
and almost spun. He lost 30-yards and placed second. Labrosciano, D. Jones and
Joseph Bereiter followed. Only near collisions occurred at the X-intersection.
SKID PLATE 20: A field of 15 enduro cars raced the five-turn
“roval” with metal skid plates installed on the back axle instead of tires. It
became a Lee family battle for the victory with father Wayne leading the first
17 laps. Son Austin Lee passed him and led the final three laps. He won his
second SPC main in a row and fourth ever. Lee's daughter Ashlee Rice started on
pole and finished sixth, down a lap. R. Salcido and Mike McIntyre finsihed
fourth and fifth and ran all 20 laps in the all-green flag 11-minute event.
Next event was the PYP GMC pickup truck with an aircraft jet
engine mounted at the back. It torched an old sedan with jet thrusts in the
infield near the light pole. The final event before the ten-minute pyrotechnics
show was the always hectic and track-littering trailer race. Various cars and
trucks towed trailers with large and small boats, various cargo, and small
mobile homes.
The object was to destroy as much as possible and entertain
spectators to win their votes as the event winner. After 15+ laps the top
position went to rookie trailer racer Jason Jonasson over past winners Cheryl
Hyland, Robert Rice and R. Salcido respectively. Earlier, Hyland's decorated
boat won the fan vote for best appearing trailer.
The next Irwindale Speedway race will be Saturday, April 13
with a NASCAR night of races on the half and third-mile ovals.
