Partridge Takes Second Consecutive Lucas Oil Late Model Title at Irwindale

Ryan Partridge awaiting Irwindale Event Center 2014 Season Opener - Ryan Partridge Racing Facebook photo

Ryan Partridge awaiting Irwindale Event Center 2014 Season Opener – Ryan Partridge Racing Facebook photo

Ryan Partridge is our next guests on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, October 13, 2014 at 9 pm ET and 9:30 pm ET. Call 347-996-5176 during the LIVE broadcast with any questions or comments. 
On Saturday night October 4th at Irwindale Event Center, Ryan Partridge did not even need to line up for the Lucas Oil Late Model race to win his second consecutive series title. Partridge has won 12 of 27 races in the series the past two seasons and has also won nine of the track’s combination Late-Model and Trucks series races in the same time frame. This season, he has a total of 14 victories, putting him to second in total Irwindale victories with 48, only trailing Rip Michels.

“I do not want to feel like a bully in either series,” he said. “There is a point where Rip Michels needed to step out of the car because he was dominating a series. It’s time for other people to get an opportunity.”

Partridge went into Saturday’s race with an 82-point lead over Toni McCray, with the track giving double points for the race. But McCray, chose to race at Kern County Raceway on Saturday instead. Partridge had a 112-point lead over third-place Christian McGhee of Claremont.

“We’re stoked,” he said of taking the title. “We’ve been working at it all season long. There was a point in the midseason where it really started to get stressful.”

Partridge won the NASCAR Whelen All-American state title and placed 27th in national series points.

As for what’s next for Partridge, he indicated his first choice for next season would be to race in NASCAR’s K&N West race.

“I really think we’ll keep climbing that ladder,” he said. “We want to do K&N and the sky’s the limit after that.

“But I’m just a broke kid. That’s the biggest hurdle we have right now. I feel we’ve been ready to move up a for a couple of years now.”

Toni McCray Making her Mark Among Men in the Lucas Oil Late-Model Series

Lucas Oil Late Model driver, Toni McCray Photo - Sal Sigala Jr.

Lucas Oil Late Model driver, Toni McCray Photo – Sal Sigala Jr.

Toni McCray is our next guest on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, October 6, 2014 at 9:30 pm ET.  Call 347-996-5176 during the LIVE broadcast with any questions/comments.

Although more women are racing, there are still fewer women than men in the sport today.  Toni McCray is one of the few making her mark among the men in the Lucas Oil Late Model series. But what makes her stand out is her results, especially at the mid-point of the season when she had five wins in seven races in the series.  Continue reading