IRWINDALE, CA – An estimated 2,000 race fans watched an exciting conclusion to the Spears Manufacturing 100 and the continued dominance of Larry Cerquettini who continues to be perfect at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
JUSTICE BROTHER’S MINI STOCKS – 35 LAPS
Tyler Rogers took advantage of starting on the front row and went wire to wire on his way to his third victory of the season in the Justice Brother’s Mini Stocks. It was his first victory since April 11.
The victory by Tyler also snapped Darryl Scoggins four-race winning streak.
The race was a battle of Rogers when Tyler and his brother Jacob battled for the front spot for 27 laps once Jacob past Kevin Bernhardt in third.
Scoggins rallied from eighth to finish in third and continues to lead the Justice Brothers Mini-Stocks series.
The Rogers family capped their evening when their father Steve won the tracks Hard-Charger award.
SUPER STOCKS – 30 LAPS
It took Larry Cerquettini 25 laps to do what he does every time he steps out on the track and won the Super Stock race for the seventh time in seven races.
Unlike last week which saw Cerquettini weave his way from last to first on the last lap, he was able to keep himself out of trouble with Brian DeLong during the race.
DeLong was the race leader for 24 of the first 25 laps and was able to hold off a fast closing Cerquettini for the better part of 11 laps until he was finally passed on the high grove.
For DeLong it was retribution for spinning Cerquettini last week and being sent to the back of the pack after being passed.
Missing in the battle in the front was the fact that Eric Sunness and Garret Cromsigt were battling for third place that ended up with Sunness winning the battle.
CLASSIC STOCKS – 30 LAPS
In one of the most exciting races of the series, Ken Michaelian was able to fight his way to the front on lap 16 to win the 30-lap race.
The win was Michaelian’s seventh in eight races.
Tommy Agosta battled for the lead through out the race but couldn’t get past Michaelian at any point.
Michaelian was able to survive a 27-lap re-start when Mike Colato Jr blew a right-back tire in turn three while running in third.
Tommy Mason was able to take advantage of Colato’s misfortune to get his first podium finish of his short career when he finished third.
SPEARS MANUFACTURING 100 (SRL TOUR) – 100 LAPS
With a re-start with four laps to go, M.K. Kanke was in prime position to win his fourth race in five starts in the SRL Tour. Then the unthinkable happened.
As Kanke was given the green-flag to start lap 97, the engine went and Kanke’s vision of his second straight victory in the series were shattered.
The beneficiary was 42-year-old Troy Ermish who battled his way from 12th position to take the Spears Manufacturing 100 after taking the lead on lap 98.
“Something must have happened to M.K. Kanke.” said Ermish, “I was already thinking of the fact he was slow on his restarts, so we already were thinking of not spinning the tires and getting a good jump.”
Ermish was fast off the trailer as he set a series record in qualifying with a 18.095 seconds, which was 0.100 seconds faster than anyone else.
Early on it was Derek Thorn who was setting the pace early and was quickest for the first 27 laps until his motor expired getting out of turn four that brought out the second caution of the night.
Kanke who was running second, inherited the lead with Thorn’s engine problem and set the stage for the next 43 laps with veteran driver Jim Petit who was running in third.
Lying in wait for Kanke and Petit to battle for the lead was former Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Super Late Model Champion Greg Voigt who was conserving tires the most of the evening until his pass on Petit on lap 70, which saw him do a slide job out of turn two and get the second spot.
The wild finish was set-up when Petit, while running in third appeared to blow a rear end plug that threw oil on the track and sent him into the turn three wall on lap 96.
During the caution, Voigt was sent to the back of the lead lap when he ended up having to change a tire that went flat during the caution laps and saw Ermish inherit second after being scored in fifth when the yellow flag came out.
“I have no idea how I got my flat,” said Voigt. “I figure it was from the debris that occurred during the Petit accident.”
The reason for Ermish’s luck was due to Voigt’s tire, Petit’s engine, and Jason Gilbert spinning in Petit’s oil.
That is when Toyota Speedway at Irwindale became the wild west, when Kanke missed a shift that injured his engine. When that occurred Ermish went on to hold off rookie Kevin Callahan for the victory.
“I like this track!” said Ermish. “It isn’t very scary to drive here. It actually is very forgiving as the grooves are so large.”
TOYOTA SPEEDWAY AT IRWINDALE REPORT – Is on every Tuesday from 9 p.m to 10 p.m. at www.midvalleysports.com.
RESULTS –
JUSTICE BROTHERS MINI-STOCKS – 35 LAPS
1. Tyler Rogers
2. Jacob Rogers
3. Daryl Scoggins
SUPER STOCKS – 30 LAPS
1. Larry Cerquettini
2. Rich DeLong III
3. Eric Sunness
CLASSIC STOCKS – 30 LAPS
1. Ken Michaelian
2. Tommy Agosta
3. Tommy Mason
SPEARS MANUFACTURING 100 (SRL TOUR) – 100 LAPS
1. Troy Ermish
2. Kevin Callahan – R
3. Greg Voigt
4. Jason Gilbert
5. Mike Mendenhall
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