IRWINDALE, Calif. (Aug. 2, 2014) - Jason Patison drove to his second straight victory in the Pick Your Part Super Late Models and Ryan Partridge and rookie Christian McGhee took narrow wins in Lucas Oil Late Model Twins before a crowd of 2,850 Saturday at Irwindale Speedway.
It was Patison’s third victory in five starts in Super Late Models at Irwindale this season. He took the lead on the fourth lap and ran away to finish four seconds ahead of runner-up Toni McCray in the 40-lap race on the half-mile track.
“We’ve had good cars all year and it was frustrating breaking twice,” Patison said. “It’s nice to have these back-to-back races where we were able to run to the finish.”
Patison fell out with an ignition problem while leading on May 3 and finished 12th and finished third with a broken shifter on June 21.
Patison of Corona, Calif., passed Jack Madrid of San Clemente, Calif., for second on the third lap and Linny White of Highland, Calif., for the lead on the fourth lap with dynamic overtaking moves low in Turn Four.
“I let it clear out a bit and once I felt the need to move up off the bottom, I went for it and our car runs unbelievably through the center and I was able to get under and make the pass really clean and fairly quick,” Patison said. “I’ve got to hand it to (car builder and crew chief) Steve Teets.”
McCray leads the championship over Patison and White, 230-224, with two Super Late Model races remaining.
“She’s a good racer, a smart racer and she’s doing what she needs to do to win a championship,” Patison said. “We’re going to keep doing our thing and hopefully, it works out for us.”
Partridge’s victory was his sixth of the season in Late Model Twins. He snapped McCray’s four-race winning streak in the initial 30-lap feature, beating Trevor Huddleston of Agoura Hills, Calif., by .353 of a second.
Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., led all 30 laps under constant pressure from Huddleston.
“He (Huddleston) made us run for it a little faster than I’d like to,” Partridge said. “Our strategy is to take it a little easy in the first race so we can save some stuff for the second race. Ideally, you can drive 80 percent the first race and save your tires for the second race. It’s why I run so hard for the pole. We stayed out front and didn’t have to move forward.”
Huddleston’s second place was his fifth straight top-three and second runner-up.
“We’re happy with all the podiums, but frustration that we’re not in first,” Huddleston said.
McGhee was third and Ryan Cansdale of Laguna Beach, Calif., fourth in the first Late Model Twins. McCray, who wasn’t feeling well, was fifth.
McGhee’s triumph in the rain-shortened, 17-lap second Lucas Oil Late Model feature was the first of his career and added an eventful week in which he celebrated his 16th birthday on Wednesday. He held off serious challenges from Cansdale, who finished second by .127 of a second.
“It topped the weekend off with this win,” the Claremont resident said. “It feels good. It feels better than anything so far. I held off a couple of my really close friends (Cansdale, Huddleston). It was really fun to race with them. They made me work for it definitely and it’s the greatest feeling.”
Cansdale edged ahead of McGhee on laps nine and 15. Andrew Porter of La Verne, Calif., ran third for much of the race, with Huddleston fourth. They were in a tight pack, never separated by more than a couple of car lengths.
On the 14th lap, Huddleston passed Porter for third and on the uncompleted 18th lap, he’d moved up to second. But a light rain had started to fall and Huddleston spun out on the wet surface outside in Turn Four. The race was red flagged and later checkered.
Huddleston was dropped to 13th in results for causing the caution and McCray moved up to third. Partridge finished fourth.
Partridge had to start 14th, last in the field, in the second feature because he failed to take a second qualifying lap.
“I drive a lot of different cars,” Partridge explained. “We made our first lap and went to the top of the board by over a tenth (of a second) and usually that’s good enough for me. I just shut it off and roll in. I completely had brain fade that we had to run the second lap to qualify for the second race.
“We started at the back and our goal was just to get behind the 90 car (McCray). We found ourselves moving through the field and the car stayed pretty consistent.”
Partridge leads McCray, 666-648, with six races—three events—remaining in the Late Model Twins.
“We gained some traction to propel ourselves toward the championship tonight,” Partridge said. “It feels like momentum.”
Results, Irwindale Speedway, Aug. 2
Lucas Oil Late Model Twins
Race 1 (30 laps): 1. Ryan Partridge (Rancho Cucamonga), 2. Trevor Huddleston (Agoura Hills), 3. Christian McGhee (Claremont), 4. Ryan Cansdale (Laguna Beach), 5. Toni McCray (Highland), 6. Sean Woodside (Valencia) 7. Andrew Porter (La Verne) 8. Billy Helgeson (Riverside), 9. Val Cummings (Victorville), 10. Curtis Burns (San Bernardino), 11. Jeff Williams (Newbury Park), 12. Rodney Peacher (North Hills), 13. Mike Johnson (Covina), 14. Ricky Schlick (Claremont).
Margin of victory: .353 sec. Lap leader: Partridge 1-30.
Race 2 (17 laps): 1. McGhee, 2. Cansdale, 3. McCray, 4. Partridge, 5. Woodside, 6. Johnson, 7. Hegleson, 8. Schlick, 9. Cummings, 10. Burns, 11. Williams, 12. Peacher, 13. Huddleston 14. Porter.
Margin of victory: .127 sec. Lap leaders: McGhee 1-8, Cansdale 9, McGhee 10-14, Cansdale 15, McGhee 16-17.
Pick Your Part Super Late Models (40 laps): 1. Jason Patison (Corona), 2. Toni McCray (Highland), 3. Charles Price (Fontana), 4. Linny White (Highland), 5. Jack Madrid (San Clemente), 6. Juan Garcia (Colombia), 7. Jeffrey Eshleman (Fontana), 8. Jeff Williams (Newbury Park), 9. Val Cummings (Victorville), 10. Rodney Peacher (North Hills).
Margin of victory: 4.018 sec. Lap leaders: White 1-3, Patison 4-40.
Seidner’s Collison Center Mini Stocks (25 laps): 1. Robbie Hornsby (Rancho Cucamonga), 2. Jim Mardis (Moreno Valley), 3. Dusty Morgan (Covina).
Spears S2 Tour Series (35 laps): 1. Blaine Perkins (Bakersfield), 2. Todd Conrad (Sierra Madre), 3. Johnny Butler (Arcadia).
Seidner’s Collison Centers Skid Plate Cars: (20 laps): 1. Gary Scheuerell (Murrieta), 2. Sean Brennan (Yorba Linda), 3. Michael Digregorio (Temple City).
Note: All drivers from California except Juan Garcia of Colombia.
