FAST LAP IS JUST A START FOR WINNER THIRKETTLE CLAIMS RECORD, VICTORY.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK MOTOR SPORTS

Newhall's Travis Thirkettle said he has never been a strong qualifier, but he broke the track record in qualifying last Saturday night in the NASCAR Late Model division at Irwindale Speedway.

He clocked a lap on the half-mile oval in 18.578 seconds and 96.889 mph.

``I think it's going to stand for a while,'' Thirkettle said. ``It was a near-perfect lap. It's such a scary moment in the car driving that fast.''

Thirkettle parlayed his qualifying time into a victory in the race later that night. The win put him second in the point standings after two races in the Late Model division, one point behind division leader Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills, who won the opening-night race two weeks ago.

``Absolutely huge for Travis,'' Huddleston said. ``Travis had to earn that one. He started seventh and had a real good car.''

Although he was the top qualifier, Thirkettle started seventh in the heat race and sixth in the main event. The starting order was determined by drivers spinning a wheel to determine positions. Thirkettle spun a seven.

He finished sixth in the heat race and started the main event in sixth, outside third row.

Thirkettle said he was discouraged with his starting spot, but the outside row turned out to be the faster pack of cars. He was able to race around the inside pack and grab the lead.

``The race before, nothing went right for us,'' Thirkettle said. ``This week, everything kind of went right. It went OK. Everything went our way.''

The Late Models return to Irwindale Speedway tonight with the Legend Cars, figure eights, Pure Stocks and Bandoleros. Gates open at 4 p.m. Racing starts at 7.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Stacy Johnson will be Ron Hornaday Jr.'s interim crew chief for tonight's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.

Johnson also is the director of competition at Kevin Harvick Inc., which operates Hornaday's No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado team in the Truck Series.

The team hasn't announced a replacement for Chris Rice, who was relieved as crew chief after the race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Rice was crew chief the first four races of the season. Hornaday did not record a top-10 finish in the races and sits 19th in the standings.

In his last race, Hornaday started 14th and finished 14th at Martinsville.

Hornaday is taking a truck to Gateway that finished outside the top 10 just once in six races last year. Its best finish was second at Phoenix International Raceway.

In three career races at Gateway, Hornaday has finished in the top five once. He was second in his first career Truck Series race at Gateway in 1998.

``The corners are different here, and I had it all figured out back in the day before NASCAR enforced the gear rule,'' said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale. ``Turns 3 and 4 are like Phoenix; they are long and sweeping. But coming into Turns 1 and 2, you use to shift getting into Turn 1, coming off of Turn 2 and down the back stretch.

``The key to Gateway is handling.''

Last year, driving for Kevin Harvick, Inc., he started third and finished 30th. Hornaday underwent an appendectomy the week prior to the race and was healing from the surgery.

In his only other start at Gateway, Hornaday started eighth and finished 21st in 1999.

With a sweep last weekend in the Busch and Nextel Cup Series races at Phoenix, Harvick became the third NASCAR driver to win a race in the three national touring divisions.

Harvick also won back-to-back Truck Series races at Phoenix in 2002-03.

Mark Martin completed the trifecta by winning the Truck Series race at Calfornia Speedway in February. Bobby Labonte is the other driver, who won his races at Martinsville in 2005.

Martin enters the Gateway race, the fifth event of the season, as the Truck Series leader in points, money won and laps led.

The driver of the No. 6 Roush Racing Ford also leads the series with two wins and hasn't finished outside the top five.

Ted Musgrave, driver of the No. 9 Toyota Tundra for Germain Racing, has also posted top-five finishes in the first four races of the year.

U.S. Rally Championship: The 23rd running of the Subaru Rim of the World Rally was scheduled to start Friday night and end today at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.

The rally, the third race of the U.S. Rally Championship, will cover 272 miles around the fairgrounds and on the fire roads of the Angeles National Forest.

Alex Gelsomino of Santa Clarita, Bill Malik of Santa Clarita, Rem and Pamela Wyatt of Palmdale and Clay Cullen of Castaic are entered in the rally.

The event will be broadcast on HDNet, the Dish Network, and many cable systems. The event also will be covered on Antelope Valley Adelphia cable Channel 3. Radio coverage can be found online at www.rimoftheworldrally.com.

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- Associated Press