IRWINDALE, Calif. — After a three-and-a-half-month delay, the All-Star Showdown 125 presented by Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse will take place Saturday at Irwindale Speedway.
The season opener for the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series will pay $15,000 to the winner with another $1,000 for fast time.
The event will be broadcast live by SPEED SPORT affiliate SPEARSRacing.tv.
The Spears Pro Late Model Series will join the action racing for $5,000 in the All-Star Showdown 75 with another $500 for fast time. The Spears Modified Series will race for $2,500 in the All-Star Showdown 60.
The Super Late Models will race for 125 laps with a break at or around lap 75. The event will be a four-tire race. There will be a Competition Caution thrown after 40 consecutive green flag laps of racing, but none in the last 25 laps. The Pro Late Models will race for 75 laps, with a Competition Caution thrown after 40 laps of consecutive green flag racing, but not within the final 25 laps. The Modifieds will race for 60 laps, with a Competition Caution thrown after 30 laps of consecutive green flag racing, but not within the final 25 laps.
Five former SRL winners are on the entry list for this weekend’s Super Late Model action. Reigning champion Jacob Gomes leads the list with 15 victories. Buddy Shepherd is next with three wins. Blaine Rocha and Dylan Zampa have two victories each, with Dan Holtz a winner at Tucson Speedway.
The last time Keith Spangler climbed into his Super Late Model was the Prelude to the Showdown 100 at Irwindale Speedway in November of 2022. Eighteen months later he will be back in the David Mulcahy owned 2018 Port City Racecars Super Late Model for the All-Star Showdown 125.
The five-time Saugus Speedway (CA) Super Late Model winner is itching to get back behind the wheel, after taking over a new business, and make series start number 110.
“I’m excited just to get to race, it’s been about 18 months”, Spangler related. “I got the chance to practice last week, and it was a lot of fun. I miss the racing, but a lot of the events got rained out this year, so I am sure everybody’s excited to get their first race in. And I am definitely one of them too.”
Jacob Gomes and Scott Sanchez will continue their battle for the top of the heap in terms of career starts in the SRL. The top-two drivers in series starts will both be on hand to add to their totals. Gomes will make series start number 136, looking for his 16th career victory That would tie him for second on the all-time list with Jim Pettit II. Sanchez will make series start number 135, at a track for which he holds the most positions improved record of 24, established in 2010.
This will be the 13th time the event has been held at Irwindale Speedway. The event returned in 2020 after spanning a nine-year hiatus, but will be known as the fifth annual event under the SRL banner.
The event was originally known as the Toyota All-Star Showdown and began in 2003, as an invitation only event, for the NASCAR Elite Divisions (Tour Series) and the now ARCA Menards Series (formerly NASCAR K&N Pro Series).
All SPEARS Southwest Tour Series, SPEARS Manufacturing Modified Series and SPEARS Pro Late Model Series races will be Livestreamed by SPEARSRacing.tv.