IRWINDALE, Calif. – The second appearance this year at Irwindale Speedway by the SPEARS Southwest Tour super late model series and touring SPEARS Modified Series presented by Lucas Oil took place Saturday.
Derek Thorn, 33, won a $25,425 SWT non-stop 100-lap feature.
It was the second time R.J. Allen Inc. presented by Pinnacle Peak Steakhouses sponsored a SPEARS race at the Irwindale Speedway banked half-mile. About 5,000 spectators watched the touring drivers display amazing racing skills on a mid-70s evening. No drivers were lapped until late in the race and 23 of 26 starters finished on the lead lap.
Thorn, the four-time SPEARS SRL and two-time NASCAR K&N West champion from Bakersfield, is the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour series all-time most prolific main event winner with 39. It was his fourth SPEARS Southwest Tour triumph at Irwindale and his third victory in five Spears SRL point races at five speedways this season. He won the $5,000 winner’s bonus from Performance Friction Brakes.
Dylan Cappello, a past Lucas Oil Modified champion and Irwindale feature winner, won the 80-lap modified main. It was divided into two 40-lap segments. The overall winner was the driver with the best combined finishes in both segments. Cappello, from Peoria, Ariz., became a back to back SPEARS Modified 2019 feature winner. He also is the fourth different winner in six series point races this season.
Cappello, driving the No. 11c STR chassis as usual, finished second in a 15-car opening 40-lap race won by fastest qualifier Christian McGhee. Cappello won the second 40 in an exciting, lead-swapping duel with newlywed Ryan Partridge, an Irwindale multi-series champion and winner of 60 IS main events.
The third class on the all-touring series program was the Southwest Tour Trucks. Nine drivers raced a 30-lap main event slotted between the two modified 40-lap races. The Southwest Tour 100-lap feature concluded racing at 10:38 p.m. Unusual events, including a medical emergency in the grandstand and several red flags to clear the track after wrecks, delayed racing during the evening.
Ironically, the SPEARS doubleheader winners on March 23 were not present. Preston Peltier, from Colorado, won the Southwest Tour race and Trevor Cristiani, rom Boise, Idaho, won the modified feature. Cristiani is now racing at speedways closer to his Idaho home. The No. 18 raced by Peltier in March was not present.
SWT 100:Â The eight fastest qualifiers in a 26-car field drew for starting positions in the first four rows. Linny White and Dylan Lupton occupied the pole and outside row one. Following in order were Kyle Neveau, Craig Raudman, Trevor Huddleston, point leader Cole Moore, Bobby Hodges and Thorn.
Lupton led the first seven laps. White, Huddleston and Thorn traded second place from laps two through five. Thorn used an inside pass in turn four on lap 8 and officially led through lap 100. He won by 6.496 seconds over White, who drove Earl Robbins’ No. 99.
Point leader C. Moore, the 2018 Southwest Tour rookie of the year, finished .001 seconds behind White and collected $1,250. He expanded his series point lead (eight points) after second and third ranked drivers finished outside the top-10. P. 4 Neveau was 7.432 seconds off the lead and earned $1,000. John Moore, father of the point leader, placed fifth, 14-seconds in back of the winner. The top five finishing cars went to post-race tech inspection and passed.
Blaine Rocha, three-time NASCAR Whelen Series track and California champion Huddleston, SPEARS 14-year old rookie and open-wheel rising star Jesse Love, 2015 NASCAR K&N West champion Chris Eggleston and Keith Spangler completed the top-10.
The 56-minute race averaged only 53.287 mph because of five yellow flags and a 10-minute red flag on lap 79 to clear wreckage from a two-car crash near turn one.
MODIFIEDS 1ST 40:Â Fastest qualifier Christian McGhee made his first start in Cristiani’s March 23 Irwindale winning No. 24 modified. The eight fastest qualifiers drew for starting positions in the first four rows. McGhee started third. Cappello started second and led the first 27 laps.
Ninth starter Travis Thirkettle, a past IS champion, led lap 28 after battling for the lead with Cappello from lap 20. Cappello led lap 29 with Ryan Partridge and Thirkettle trading second place a length behind the leader. On lap 31 Thirkettle’s car got into Partridge, who spun and drove to the infield work area. Under caution, Thirkettle also went to the work area with a flat right front tire.
McGhee passed Cappello for the lead on the lap 31 restart and led the final ten laps. He edged Cappello by 1.354. Jeremy Kay, Ryan Schartau and rookie Kyle Keller, 14, from Las Vegas, completed the top five in a 20-mintue event. Partridge returned from the work area four laps down and placed 13th. Cody Kay dropped out on lap 31 with damage.
MODIFIEDS 2ND 40:Â The first seven finishers in the first 40 were inverted by finishing positions for the second 40. Doug Carpenter and William Guevara were on the front row. Two cars were unable to start, so 13 cars took the green flag at 8:34 p.m. Guevara led the initial three laps. Sixth starter Cappello led laps 4-16. Tenth starter Partridge led laps 17-35 after charging past Cappello on the inside approaching the third turn. He drove his own No. 9 Racecar Factory-built car sponsored by Sunrise Ford.
The entertaining Partridge-Cappello duel continued with Partridge on the outside and Cappello inside. That was a reversal of their track positions when Cappello was leading. On lap 36 Cappello shot past Partridge on the inside at turn four and took the lead for good. Cappello opened a ten-yard advantage during the closing laps and beat Partridge by .762.
The second modified 40 had four yellow flags for spins or debris and one red flag on lap three for a multi-car crash. Keller spun high in turn three and involved Jerry Toporek, whose car hit the third turn wall and had to be towed to the pits. The crash also sidelined first 40 winner McGhee, ending his chance for the overall victory.
The final caution flag on lap 34 involved the brothers Kay, from Reno. Cody was third and younger brother Jeremy was fourth when he hit Cody Kay’s ex-No. 51A series championship car of Austin Barnes. Cody spun into the fourth turn infield grass. Jeremy was penalized to the back by Spears officials for causing the incident. Both Kays returned, charged forward from the back during the final seven laps, and finished in the top five.
Third through ninth place drivers completed 40 laps. Guevara, C. Kay, J. Kay, Carpenter, rookie Travis McCullough, Jeff Longman and Keller all finished within 6.029 seconds of winner Cappello, who ran the fastest lap of 19.290 (93.313 mph).