IRWINDALE, Calif. (July 19, 2014)—Jason Patison of Corona, Calif., led all 75 laps en route to his second Pick Your Part Super Late Model victory of the season and Toni McCray of Highland, Calif., drove to her third and fourth straight wins in the Lucas Oil Late Model Twins on Saturday night before a crowd of 5,982 at Irwindale Speedway.
Patison was able to rocket away from runner-up Jack Madrid of San Clemente, Calif., following a restart with 17 laps remaining on the half-mile track to finish 2.1 seconds in front. Todd Gilliland, 14-year-old son of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Gilliland, finished third in a remarkable debut in a Super Late Model.
The race will also be remembered for having three generations of Gillilands in it. Butch Gilliland, Todd’s grandfather and a former champion of NASCAR’s Winston West, came out of a 10-year retirement from driving to finish fifth. David Gilliland, who grew up in southern California and is a resident of Sherrills Ford, N.C., was running second when contact sent him into retirement after completing 30 laps.
The Super Late Model race was the fourth of the season and the second that Patison’s car ran without mechanical trouble. He started from pole and was never seriously threatened.
“It feels great,” Patison said. “I think we could have had a car that could have won every time out. We’ve had some bad luck, had some mechanical failures and this time the car stayed together and we got a win. It was a real good field. It was an honor to run with Butch and David.
“It was cool a guy like that would fly all the way out here on his off week. We know he doesn’t get that much time off, so for him to fly all the way out here and race was really cool. He ran really good. His car was running fast. It was unfortunate his night ended the way it did.”
Madrid won the Super Late Model season opener and was third in the second race at Irwindale. But his transmission failed on the opening lap of the third race and he finished 12th. Second place revived his championship hopes. Madrid is fourth, but only 10 points behind leader McCray.
“We started fifth and fell back to eighth or ninth and I was a little worried, but the car came to us and we drove up,” Madrid said. “I tried to run Jason down, but he had a great car and did an excellent job. I’m really happy with second place.”
David Gilliland lined up seventh for the start and climbed into third behind Patison and Ryan Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., on a lap 26 restart. Following a restart five laps later, Gilliland passed Partridge for second on the inside of Turn Four. The Sprint Cup driver was sent spinning on the front stretch from contact by Partridge and hit the outside wall in Turn One.
“We had him cleared and I don’t know, somehow I got turned there at the start-finish line,” David Gilliland said. “Bummer, kind of an unfortunate way to end our night, but the car was real fast and we had a good time coming back here. It’s still my favorite racetrack to race on in the country. It was an honor to be a part of it and watch my son finish third and my dad go out and finish fifth. It’s just a lot of fun and good to be back home.
“We had a good enough car to win, for sure. We worked really hard on it.”
Partridge dropped out with a damaged car after completing 35 laps.
“I got into David,” Partridge said. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s racing.”
Todd Gilliland has raced Late Models in North Carolina and Irwindale was a step up in horsepower and the competition level of the drivers.
“It was really cool,” he said. “I didn’t have high expectations because I was against a bunch of really experienced drivers. I’m super happy.”
Added David Gilliland: “My son does a great job. We’re really proud of him.”
Butch Gilliland, 57, was a top driver in his NASCAR Winston West years starting in the 1980s. He enjoyed getting back into a race car for the first time in a decade.
“It was really nice,” the former Anaheim resident said. “We tested a couple of days. I didn’t put a whole bunch of laps on it, we have enough laps. The car was decent. It was good we three got to race against each other. It really was fun to race against my grandson. I really wish I’d had a whole better car, but it was still a lot of fun.”
McCray’s two victories raised her season total to five and moved her within 12 points of leader Partridge, who also has five wins. Partridge leads, 572-560, with eight races—four weekends in the Twins format—remaining.
McCray started on pole in the initial Lucas Oil Twins 30-lap feature and led the entire distance. She finished .812 of a second in front of Trevor Huddleston of Agoura Hills, Calif. Partridge was third.
With the inverted lineup procedure, McCray started fifth in the second Twins 30-lap feature. Partridge was on the outside of the front row next to pole sitter Christian McGhee of La Verne, Calif.
Partridge took the lead on the opening lap, but McCray charged to the front two laps later. Partridge was never more than two car lengths behind, but was unable to get alongside the 37-year-old to make a passing attempt.
“It was an amazing start,” McCray said. “It was absolutely amazing to come out here and win two more races. I told you guys (media) that my focus was to win races and win the championship and that’s still our goal. We’re going to keep working hard and making our race cars the best they can be and I’m going to be on my game and do everything I can to win as many as I can because that championship means a lot to me.
“Ryan is going to be tough week in and week out. I know that. He’s one of the best that has ever run here.”
McCray finished .260 of a second in front of Partridge in the second Twins feature.
“The wins mean a ton to me,” she said. “Not one goes by any less than the other. I was a little bit speechless tonight after the second one. That’s a hard thing to do, what we just accomplished.”
Results, Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway, July 19
Lucas Oil Late Model Twins
Race 1 (30 laps): 1. Toni McCray (Highland), 2. Trevor Huddleston (Agoura Hills), 3. Ryan Partridge (Rancho Cucamonga), 4. Christian McGhee, 5. Andrew Porter (La Verne), 6. Luis Martinez Jr. (Long Beach), 7. Mike Johnson (Covina), 8. Blaine Perkins (Bakersfield), 9. Billy Helgeson (Riverside), 10. Ricky Schlick (Claremont), 11. Kyle McGrady (Hesperia), 12. Ryan Cansdale (Laguna Beach), 13. Jeff Williams (Newbury Park), 14. Val Cummings (Victorville), 15. Rodney Peacher, 16. Kevin Furden (Stevenson Ranch) 17. Curtis Burns (San Bernardino), 18. David Sear (La Jolla).
Margin of victory: .821 sec. Lap leader: McCray 1-30.
Race 2 (30 laps): 1. McCray, 2. Partridge, 3. Huddleston, 4. Martinez Jr., 5. McGhee, 6. Porter, 7. Johnson, 8. Perkins, 9. Schlick, 10. McGrady, 11. Cansdale, 12. Helgeson, 13. Williams, 14. Furden, 15. Cummings, 16. Burns, 17. Sear, 18. Peacher.
Margin of victory: .260 sec. Lap leaders: Partridge1-2, McCray 3-30.
Pick Your Part Super Late Models (75 laps): 1. Jason Patison (Corona), 2. Jack Madrid (San Clemente), 3. Todd Gilliland (Sherrills Ford, N.C.), 4. Barry Karr (Redlands), 5. Butch Gilliland (Thailand), 6. Linny White (Highland), 7. Toni McCray (Highland), 8. Jeff Eschleman (Corona), 9. Kenny Smith (Bakersfield), 10. Josh Soto (Oceanside), 11. Jeff Williams (Newbury Park), 12. Greg Hanneman (Toluca Lake), 13. Ryan Partridge (Rancho Cucamonga), 14. David Gilliland (Sherrills Ford, N.C.), 15. Juan Garcia (Colombia), 16. Rodney Peacher (North Hills).
Margin of victory: 2,151 sec. Lap leader: Patison 1-75.
Universal Studios Bandoleros (20 laps): 1. Ryan Vargas (La Mirada), 2. Allison Gay (Lakeside), 3. Mckenzie Eshleman (Twin Peaks).
Legend Cars (35 laps): 1. Brandon Weaver (Trabuco Canyon), 2. Brent Scheidemantle (Alta Loma), 3. Darren Amidon (Lakeside).
Seidner’s Collision Centers Mini Stocks (25 laps): 1. Robbie Hornsby (Rancho Cucamonga), 2. Tommy Genda (Fontana), 3. Garrett Green (Long Beach).
Note: All drivers from California unless otherwise noted.
