RIP MICHELS WINS TENTH SLM FEATURE OF SEASON & 54TH OF CAREER AT IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY

Source: Tim Kennedy
Date: 08/28/2007

SLM: Thirkettle, the 2006 Auto Club Late Model track champion and a 2007 SLM rookie, started second and led the first 26 laps. Inside-running Michels closed in steadily and used an inside pass from turn four to the starting line to lead lap 27 by inches. Thirkettle retook the lead on the outside at the starting line and paced laps 28-29. Michels made his winning pass on lap 30 on the inside in the fourth turn. He gradually extended his advantage to 15-yards and won by 1.826 over Thirkettle's 2007 Chevy Monte Carlo. When asked during victory ceremonies why he is so successful this year, Michels, 45, said, "It's my team, they work so hard all week. And car owner Bob Bruncati gives us the best of everything for this 2007 Sunrise Ford Fusion."

Michels extended his Irwindale point lead from 44 to 46 points over Thirkettle after 15 of 18 scheduled races. Drivers earn 50 points for a victory, with a drop-off of two points per position. Three-time Irwindale track champion Michels is not counting the 2007 SLM title as his fourth IS championship and third in the SLM series. The 2006 NASCAR Elite Division Southwest Series champion in the final year of that division did not have a ride for 2007 until Bruncati stepped up and offered him his SLM ride. Michels, who is known for his mechanical knowledge and set-up ability, also served as crew chief this year for David Gilliland on June 23. Gilliland, in the Bruncati's No. 82 Sunrise Ford, started first, led 49 laps and won that NASCAR Grand National West 64-lap race at the 1.99-mile Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. Gilliland returned to Nextel Cup racing for Robert Yates' No. 38 M &M Ford team.

Michels' Irwindale main event success this year includes victories in the last three races and ten of the last 12 features. His tenth triumph Saturday tied his personal best of ten SLM victories during 2003 when he won the IS SLM championship and NASCAR's Sunbelt Region championship. Michels also is competing currently for the Whelen All-American Series California State Championship. Drivers at all NASCAR tracks count their best 18 point finishes before September 30. Michels ranked second in California points, 46 points behind Ross Strmiska, the Madera Speedway leader before the August 25 race. The California point leader had 16 starts to 14 starts for Michels. Both drivers should have 18 starts by the September 30 cutoff date for accumulation of points.

Andrew Phipps started from pole position and finished third at IS Saturday. He re-passed Derek Becker on lap 40. Second-ranked IS rookie Becker earned fourth place and edged four points ahead of fellow SLM rookie Scott Dodd. Becker, from the San Bernardino/Highland area racing clan of many decades, now trails SLM rookie of the year award point leader Thirkettle by 88 points. Dan Moore started sixth and finished fifth. Gary Jenkins, Scott Conaway, Dodd, Stephen Peace and Mike Price completed the top ten. All but one of the 19 starters finished and 13 drivers completed all 50-laps in the 16:00.480-timed, all green flag race.

SUPER TRUCKS: Joe Herold, from Poway in San Diego County, started seventh and won his second King Taco Super Truck 40-lap main event this year. He also won the season opener. He moved into eighth place among 40 drivers with series points, despite skipping four of the 11 races conducted so far in the 14-race season. Herold moved into second position on lap 11 and battled race-long leader Pat Mintey, Jr., the series point leader. There was only one brief caution flag on lap 23. When racing resumed, Herold shot to the inside entering the first turn. He executed his winning pass before the two leaders entered the backstretch and remained in front for the final 17 laps.

Connor Cantrell, a 16-year old super truck and half-mile track rookie, started sixth and waged a stirring side-by-side duel with Mintey from lap 23-26, with Mintey high and Cantrell low. On lap 26 Cantrell, a Legend Cars graduate, made an inside pass for second position at the starting line. Mintey recaptured second at the starting line on lap 28 on the outside. On lap 30 Cantrell made an inside pass in turn four and kept second to the lap 40 checkers. He trailed Herold by 35-yards (-1.283) and had 15-yards on third place Mintey. Cantrell scored his third runner-up finish and second in a row; he now ranks fourth in points, only 18 points from third. Fastest qualifier Matthew Hicks, trying for his fifth consecutive feature victory, started eighth and finished fourth. Logan Henson, winner of the six-lap trophy dash for the six quickest qualifiers, started and finished fifth. Sixteen of the 20 starters finished and 13 completed every lap. The race started shortly after USAC open-wheel veterans Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne finished 1-2 in the Nextel Cup Bristol 500.

SUPER STOCKS: Bryan Harrell, in his 1977 Camaro, won his sixth Vista Paint Super Stock feature in 11 races. The 30-lap main also took place on the half-mile track. He became the third race leader on lap 20 via an inside pass at the starting line and paced the final 11 laps. Pole-man Rich DeLong III led the first two laps. Third starter Dan Fitzgerald led lap 3-19. Sixth starter Greg Crutcher, a one-time winner, and seventh starter/point leader Darren Cheek, a four-time winner, finished second (-0.194) and third (-0.753) respectively. Fitzgerald faded to fourth, 3.152 seconds behind Harrell. DeLong took fifth in his best outing this season. All finishers drove Camaros. Seventeen of 19 drivers finished and 15 ran all 30-laps of the 18-minute race that had two caution flags.

MINI STOCKS: Two of the five series in action Saturday raced on the third-mile track and both events were caution-free runs. Tyler Rogers, 22-year old second generation driver and point leader of the Justice Brothers Mini Stock Series, won his fifth main event in ten starts. He started second in his Ford Pinto and chased pole starter Eric Reed's Pinto for 18 laps. Rogers made an inside turn three pass on lap 20 and finished the 30-lap 8:47.622-timed all green-flag race 1.521 in front of fellow Riverside resident Reed. Steve Rogers, Tyler's father and a 1980s CRA sprint car driver (No. 86 Jones Chevy), came from 12th in the 16-car field to claim third place. Daryl Scoggins and Kevin Bernhardt followed. All 16 starters finished and only three drivers lost a lap to the leaders.

PURE STOCKS: A 14-car BG Pure Stocks, fully-inverted field, opened main event competition on the third-mile. Second fastest qualifier Mark Whitson came from 12th grid position and led laps 11-30 in his 1973 Chevy Malibu. He has run only two of the eight series races this year at IS and he won both. His younger brother Tom Whitson, the fastest qualifier, came from 13th to finish second, a car length back. Point leader/14th starter Jeff Elder was 5.344 seconds back in third place aboard his 1975 Chevy Nova. He increased his point lead to 74 after eight of ten scheduled races. Leading rookie Tommy Agosta was fourth in a 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo. Ken Michaelian's 1974 Dodge Dart earned fifth with 12 cars running at the finish (RAF) and eight drivers on the lead lap.

HARD CHARGERS/FAST TIMERS: Sponsored $100 hard charger cash or gift certificates went to (SLM)-Price (15th to 10th); (ST)-John Israel (11th to 6th); (SS)-Julianne Seeley (10th to 8th); (MS)-Scoggins (8th to 4th); (PS)-K. Michaelian (10th to 5th). The fastest qualifiers in the five series were (SLM)-Michels (18.110); (ST)-Hicks (19.895); (SS)-Harrell (21.230); (MS)-Rich Garver in a Toyota Celica (17.137), (PS)-T. Whitson (17.448).

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend