Logano Captures Second NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown Victory

IRWINDALE, Calif. (Jan. 30, 2010) – Joey Logano got his second NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown trophy and Sergio Pena nearly made a historic debut on the national stage.

Logano, 19, held off the 16-year-old Pena and two-time race winner Matt Kobyluck for the victory in the 225-lap race Saturday before a sold-out crowd at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

It was Pena's first career race in NASCAR's top developmental series and it came in the non-points, postseason event, which has earned the moniker the "Daytona 500 of short-track racing."

Logano made his mark by winning as a 17-year-old rookie in the 2007 edition; Pena, who only has one year of Late Model racing on his resume, nearly out-did that.

Logano and Pena waged a race-long battle for the lead from drop of the green. For most of the race it was the Pena in heated pursuit of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year. Pena was able to grab the lead on several occasions. Logano, however, got the best of two late-race restarts to pull away for the victory.

Kobyluck got by Pena briefly on Lap 218, and by the time Pena got back to second four laps later he didn't have enough time to track Logano back down.

It's been a whirlwind weekend for the Winchester, Va., native.

Pena, driving for Revolution Racing and Drive For Diversity, beat out three teammates Thursday in a race-off for a chance to qualify for the Showdown. He easily did that, earning the pole in Friday's qualifying.

The win was a vindication – of sorts – for Logano, who crossed the line first in last year’s NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, but was penalized to last place for aggressive driving on the last lap.

Logano led three times for a race-high 171 laps while Pena led three times for 54 laps.

Following Logano, Pena and Kobyluck across the line was Matt DiBenedetto and Andrew Myers. Eric Holmes, David Mayhew, Eddie MacDonald, Paulie Harraka and Steve Park rounded out the top 10.

Reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Champion Jason Bowles finished 11th while K&N Pro Series East 2009 titlist Ryan Truex was relegated to 26th after a late-race accident.



NASCAR TOYOTA ALL-STAR SHOWDOWN-NASCAR TOYOTA ALL-STAR SHOWDOWN

Unofficial Results

Saturday

At Toyota Speedway at Irwindale

Irwindale, CA

Lap length: 0.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (2) Joey Logano, Middletown, Conn., Toyota, 225 laps, 54.253 mph, $31,000.

2. (1) Sergio Pena, Winchester, Va., Chevrolet, 225, $23,000.

3. (14) Matt Kobyluck, Uncasville, Conn., Chevrolet, 225, $22,550.

4. (11) Matt DiBenedetto, Grass Valley, Calif., Toyota, 225, $20,000.

5. (13) Andrew Myers, Newport Beach, Calif., Toyota, 225, $13,000.

6. (4) Eric Holmes, Escalon, Calif., Toyota, 225, $11,550.

7. (24) David Mayhew, Atascadero, Calif., Chevrolet, 225, $10,000.

8. (17) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., Chevrolet, 225, $14,500.

9. (16) Paulie Harraka, Wayne, N.J., Toyota, 225, $9,850.

10. (23) Steve Park, East Northport, N.Y., Chevrolet, 225, $13,750.

11. (10) Jason Bowles, Ontario, Calif., Ford, 225, $8,500.

12. (22) Jim Inglebright, Fairfield, Calif., Chevrolet, 225, $8,250.

13. (6) Jeff Barkshire, Auburn, Wash., Dodge, 225, $6,500.

14. (36) Nick Joanides, Woodland Hills, Calif., Ford, 225, $10,250.

15. (26) Andrew Ranger, Roxton Pond, Quebec, Chevrolet, 225, $12,000.

16. (3) Greg Pursley, Newhall, Calif., Ford, 225, $6,800.

17. (30) Jason Patison, Corona, Calif., Chevrolet, 225, $11,700.

18. (39) Troy Ermish, Fremont, Calif., Chevrolet, 225, $6,600.

19. (38) Kyle Kelley, Huntington Beach, Calif., Chevrolet, 225, $7,550.

20. (40) Justin Philpott, Tracy, Calif., Toyota, 225, $6,500.

21. (20) Brennan Newberry, Bakersfield, Calif., Chevrolet, 225, $5,400.

22. (29) Jack Sellers, Sacramento, Calif., Chevrolet, 225, $6,300.

23. (35) Michael Self, Park City, Utah, Chevrolet, 214, accident, $6,250.

24. (37) Candace Muzny, Oklahoma City, Okla., Chevrolet, 208, suspension, $6,200.

25. (34) Daryl Harr, Edmonton AB, Chevrolet, 207, $6,150.

26. (9) Ryan Truex, Mayetta, N.J., Toyota, 205, accident, $11,100.

27. (19) Jamie Dick, Albuquerque, N.M., Chevrolet, 204, accident, $6,100.

28. (8) Josh Combs, Sacramento, Calif., Ford, 200, $5,100.

29. (27) John Salemi, Nashua, N.H., Chevrolet, 195, rear end, $11,100.

30. (28) Moses Smith, Tempe, Ariz., Toyota, 186, accident, $6,100.

31. (33) Jonathon Gomez, Twin Falls, Idaho, Chevrolet, 185, accident, $6,100.

32. (12) Auggie Vidovich, Lakeside, Calif., Chevrolet, 177, accident, $5,000.

33. (31) Derek Ramstrom, W Boylston, Mass., Chevrolet, 144, accident, $11,000.

34. (18) Brett Thompson, Jerome, Idaho, Chevrolet, 144, accident, $6,000.

35. (21) Blake Koch, West Palm Beach, Fla., Chevrolet, 144, accident, $6,000.

36. (15) Brian Johnson, Jr., Machensey Park, Ill., Chevrolet, 144, oil leak, $5,000.

37. (5) Sean Caisse, Pelham, N.H., Chevrolet, 128, drive shaft, $5,000.

38. (7) David Gilliland, Riverside, Calif., Toyota, 99, electrical, $5,000.

39. (25) George Brunnhoelzl, III, W Babylon, N.Y., Chevrolet, 93, accident, $11,000.

40. (32) Johnathan Hale, Rio Linda, Calif., Chevrolet, 39, rear end, $6,000.

Race Statistics

Time of Race: 2 hours 4 minutes 25 seconds

Margin of Victory: .584 seconds

Fastest Qualifier: S.Pena (97.879 mph, 18.39 seconds)

Caution Flags: 15 for 72 laps.

Lead Changes: 5 among 2 drivers.

Lap Leaders: S. Pena 1; J. Logano 2-105; S. Pena 106-133; J. Logano 134-177; S. Pena

From NASCAR PR

NASCAR lowers age in some divisions

NASCAR will lower the minimum age to compete in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series to 14, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View Several regional and national touring dirt series allow competitors to be this young and NASCAR apparently wants to keep up, but one has to wonder if this is too young.

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Trucks: Hornaday wins 5th consecutive

Ron Hornaday Jr. won his fifth consecutive race in the Camping World Truck Series with a dominating performance in the Toyota Tundra 200.

Our View This was the first time ever that this has been done in the Truck series and the first time its happened in any of NASCAR's top divisions during the Modern Era. The last time a driver won five in a row was Richard Petty in 1971. Bobby Allison also won five in a row that season.

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CW West: Long penalized, Bowles wins Infineon

Strike that. Patrick Long has been penalized by NASCAR for intentionally spinning Joey Logano, which has given the victory to Jason Bowles.

Our View: Long lost the lead of the Camping World East race in the next to last turn after contact by Ryan Truex—and he vowed "what goes around, comes around." Unfortunately, he seems to have lost sight of the fact that Logano wasn't Truex.

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Pardo dies in NASCAR Mexico crash

Carlos Pardo died due to injuries sustained in a NASCAR Mexico race on the Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, Mexico. He was leading the race at the time of his accident. Since the race was not finished because of a time limit and NASCAR Mexico rules revert to the last completed green flag lap, he ironically won his final race.

Pardo also competed in various Camping World East and Nationwide series races during his career.

Our View: Our condolences go out to his brother and fellow competitor Ruben Pardo and the rest of his family and friends.

Full Story

CW East: R Truex wins Watkins Glen

From a NASCAR Press Release

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 6, 2009) – NASCAR Camping World Series East rookie Ryan Truex passed race leader Patrick Long between Turns 10 and 11 on the last lap and took the checkered flag in the Tioga Downs Casino 125 Saturday at Watkins Glen International.

Truex (No. 00 NAPA Toyota), who was making just his fifth career start in the series for Michael Waltrip Racing, ran in the top three throughout the day and got position on Long (No. 03 AASCO Motorsports Chevrolet) coming out of Turn 10 on the last lap of a green-white-checker finish. Truex held his position as Long went off the course and Truex came out of Turn 11 with a clear vision of the finish line and earned the victory.

Long settled for a fourth-place finish. Matt Kobyluck (No. 40 Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino Chevrolet) finished as the runner-up and rookie Brett Moffitt (No. 44 Castle Packs Power Chevrolet) was third.

Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Matt DiBenedetto, Steve Park, Eddie MacDonald, Alex Kennedy, Brian Wong and Jonathon Smith.

Truex’s win marked the fifth different driver in as many races to win in 2009. Truex is the third member of his family to win in the series along with his father, Martin Sr., and his older brother, Martin Jr.

With his third-place effort, Moffitt overtook Jody Lavender for the series points lead. Lavender finished 14th on Saturday.

The sixth race of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series East season is slated for Friday, June 25 with the Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.

Tioga Downs Casino 125 at The Glen Unofficial Results
Saturday
At Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, NY
Lap length: 2.45 miles
(Start position in parentheses)

1. (6) Ryan Truex, Mayetta, N.J., Toyota, 54 laps, 62.056 mph, $12,425.
2. (3) Matt Kobyluck, Uncasville, Conn., Chevrolet, 54, $7,100.
3. (4) Brett Moffitt, Grimes, Iowa, Chevrolet, 54, $5,800.
4. (5) Patrick Long, Oak Park, Calif., Chevrolet, 54, $4,800.
5. (1) Matt DiBenedetto, Grass Valley, Calif., Toyota, 54, $5,000.
6. (7) Steve Park, East Northport, N.Y., Chevrolet, 54, $3,000.
7. (11) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., Chevrolet, 54, $2,800.
8. (8) Alex Kennedy, Aztec, N.M., Chevrolet, 54, $3,150.
9. (14) Brian Wong, Newport Beach, Calif., Toyota, 54, $1,900.
10. (12) Jonathan Smith, Beacon Falls, Conn., Chevrolet, 54, $2,360.
11. (13) Dustin Delaney, Mayfield, N.Y., Chevrolet, 54, $2,330.
12. (10) Jason Holehouse, Toronto, Ontario, Toyota, 54, $1,800.
13. (17) Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet, 54, $1,775.
14. (16) Jody Lavender, Hartsville, S.C., Ford, 53, $2,250.
15. (20) John Salemi, Nashua, N.H., Chevrolet, 49, $1,725.
16. (9) Eric Curran, Springfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 48, engine, $1,700.
17. (19) Matt Kurzejewski, Mansfield, Pa., Dodge, 39, accident, $2,185.
18. (18) Jason Patison, Corona, Calif., Chevrolet, 35, transmission, $2,170.
19. (15) Ryan Duff, Hazard, KY., Chevrolet, 20, engine, $2,160.
20. (2) Antonio Perez, Guadalajara, Mexico, Dodge, 13, engine, $2,150.
21. (21) Tiffany Daniels, Smithfield, Va., Dodge, 5, engine, $1,640.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 2 hours 7 minutes 55 seconds
Margin of Victory: .239 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: M. DiBenedetto (118.773 mph, 74.259 seconds)
Caution Flags: 8 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes: 3 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: M. DiBenedetto 1-15; E. Curran 16-21; P. Long 22-53; R. Truex 54.
Standings: 1. B. Moffitt, 764; 2. J. Lavender, 746; 3. M. Kobyluck, 727; 4. E. MacDonald, 723; 5. R. Truex, 697; 6. D. Delaney, 660; 7. S. Park, 650; 8. A. Kennedy, 628; 9. J. Patison, 602; 10. R. Duff, 596.

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Truck: Fitzpatrick joins Harvick

Canadian driver J R Fitzpatrick will join Kevin Harvick, Inc. for eight Camping World Truck Series races beginning at Dover, according to PaddockTalk.com. Ironically, the announcement came the same week as one sending American Cale Gale to Canada in a joint KHI effort.

Our View: Fitzpatrick started the season with a ride in The Racers Group truck until funding dried up. Harvick will be able to provide greater resources.

Busch wins Camping World race

Third times the charm for Busch

For the third consecutive year, a NASCAR regular has made the overnight trip from the All-Star race in Charlotte to compete in a combination Camping World East/West race at Iowa Speedway. Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne failed to beat the lower division regulars, but Kyle Busch finally proved their master in the 2009 edition of the Long John Silver 200.

Our View: If anyone was going to do it, fantasy owners won't be surprised that Busch was the first. The Nationwide Series will head to Iowa for an inaugural race this year and Busch now has some seat time on that track. Brian Ickler and David Mayhew finished second and third.