IRWINDALE, Calif. (Sept. 13, 2014) - Jason Patison drove to his third straight victory in the Pick Your Part Super Late Models and Ryan Partridge and Ryan Cansdale won in Lucas Oil Late Model Twins Saturday night at the Irwindale Event Center.
It was the fourth win of the season for Patison of Corona, Calif., and lifted him into a tie for the championship lead with Toni McCray of Highland, Calif., with one race remaining. They have 274 points and third-place Linny White, who finished second in Saturday’s 40-lap race on the half-mile track, has 272.
Patison has had a resurgent season following an engine-related problem that forced him to drop out in the opener on May 3. He’s won four and finished third--despite a broken shifter on a restart while in the lead--in the five races since the opener. Pattison led the entire distance Saturday and finished .984 of a second in front of White. McCray was fourth.
“We had a big hole to climb out of after the motor broke and the shifter broke after the beginning of the year,” Patison said. “It didn’t look too promising. But my crew never gave up and we ran our race every time and it’s worked out for us. Steve Teets (car builder and crew chief) has put together a great race car for us and we got (sponsor) Ole Smokey Moonshine, which really helped out and we were able to put together a great program this year. All the pieces came together.
White of Highland, Calif., was never able to challenge Patison for the lead, but he kept the pressure on the leader with a fast pace.
“We were running as fast as we could every lap,” Patison said. “Normally, if I get a lead, I can ride for a little bit, but Linny’s new car is real fast and he was pushing hard. I had to drive as hard as I’ve run all year just to stay ahead of him.”
The Super Late Models close out their season at Irwindale on Oct. 18.
“It’s anybody’s championship,” Patison said. “It’s great to be in a position to have a chance.”
Partridge won his seventh race of the season in the first 30-lap Late Model race, passing McCray for the lead on the third lap and leading the rest of the way. McCray’s car suffered a broken shifter on a fourth lap restart and fell to the back of the field. She dropped out following the 13th lap with a blown engine and finished 12th.
McCray’s engine failure forced her to not start the second Late Model race. Partridge of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., finished third and his lead in the championship jumped considerably. He led McCray by 18 points going into the Lucas Oil Twins and left Saturday with an 86-point advantage, 762-676, with three races remaining.
“It was a phenomenal night for us,” Partridge said.
Cansdale of Laguna Beach, Calif., became the youngest at 15 years, 165 days to win a Late Model race at Irwindale. He had been a season-best second to Partridge in the first race.
“It feels amazing,” Cansdale said. “We’ve had some pretty bad luck lately and we finally caught a break. We got the roll just right and started on the outside of the front row. We followed through with it and it came out amazing.”
Cansdale started on the outside of the front row and led all 30 laps. He finished a car length, .154 of a second, in front of runner-up Trevor Huddleston of Agoura Hills, Calif.
“It was pretty stressful at the end,” Cansdale said. “I was kind of cruising, trying to keep my cool, and with five laps to go, I hear (on the radio) ‘clear by three, clear by two (car lengths)’ and I realized that Trevor was coming. That’s when I really started to pick it up.”
Huddleston, on the inside, was able to move halfway alongside Cansdale on the final lap in turns three and four.
“I saw him next to me and thought, ‘Man, I’d better not mess this up.’ I tried to keep my cool and it came out good.”
Results, Irwindale Speedway, Sept. 13, 2014
Lucas Oil Late Model Twins
Race 1 (30 laps): 1. Ryan Partridge (Rancho Cucamonga), 2. Ryan Cansdale (Laguna Beach), 3. Andrew Porter (La Verne), 4. Christian McGhee (Claremont), 5. Zane Smith (Huntington Beach), 6. Ricky Schlick (Claremont), 7. Jeff Williams (Newbury Park), 8. Val Cummings (Victorville), 9. Rodney Peacher (North Hills), 10. David Sear (La Jolla), 11. Curtis Burns (San Bernardino), 12. Toni McCray (Highland), 13. Trevor Huddleston (Agoura Hills), 14. Mike Johnson (Covina), 15. Blaine Perkins (Bakersfield), 16. Billy Helgeson (Riverside), 17. Dustin Vandermooren (Cerritos).
Margin of victory: .850-sec. Lap leaders: McCray 1-2, Partridge 3-30. Fast lap: Partridge 94.607 mph.
Race 2 (30 laps): 1. Cansdale, 2. Huddleston, 3. Partridge, 4. Porter, 5. Smith, 6. McGhee, 7. Perkins, 8. Schlick, 9. Williams 10. Peacher,11. Burns, 12. Sear, 13. Cummings.
Pick Your Part Super Late Models (40 laps): 1. Jason Patison (Corona), 2. Linny White (Highland), 3. Juan Garcia (Colombia), 4. Toni McCray (Highland), 5. Jeffrey Eshleman (Fontana), 6. Jack Madrid (San Clemente), 7. Anthony Mainella (Palmdale), 8. Greg Hanneman (Toluca Lake), 9. Jeff Williams (Newbury Park), 10. Val Cummings (Victorville), 11. Rodney Peacher (North Hills).
Margin of victory: .984-sec. Lap leader: Patison 1-40. Fast lap: Patison 99.157 mph.
Legend cars (35 laps): 1. Brent Scheidemantle (Alta Loma), 2. Brandon Weaver (Trabuco Canyon) 3. Ricky Schlick (Claremont).
Southwest Tour Trucks (35 laps): 1. Zack Green (Long Beach), 2. Ronnie Davis (Whittier), 3. Ed Cutler (Ventura).
Super Stocks (30 laps): 1. Henry Miles (Palmdale), 2. Zack Green (Long Beach), 3. Greg Crutcher (Covina).
Seidner’s Collision Centers Skid Plate Cars (20 laps): 1. Sean Brennan (Yorba Linda), 2. Austin Lee (Rancho Cucamonga), 3. Michael DeGregorio (Temple City).
Note: All drivers from California except where noted.
