FRY COOKS FOR HIS NEW TEAM.

Byline: Tim Haddock Auto Racing

Tommy Fry looks at his recent run of back-to-back victories at Irwindale Speedway with a bit of euphoria.

``Every year, if you win one, it's great,'' said the 38-year-old Simi Valley NASCAR Super Late Model driver. ``Two makes your year.''

Taking two in a row - well that's something that hasn't happened at all this year in the Super Late Model class at the half-mile speedway.

And while Fry seems content with his two wins, he certainly isn't ready to rest on his laurels. He's looking to win every race from here on out.

He called his last win on Saturday night a ``huge challenge.'' An accident at the start of the race put the top qualifiers at the back, which gave Fry his shot at the checkered flag. He and Rod Johnson of Canyon Country engaged in an early battle for the lead. In the end, though, it was Barry Bradshaw and Brandon Miller giving Fry all he could handle. But Fry prevailed. And in postrace inspections, Bradshaw and Miller were disqualified for using illegal headers in their engines.

``Finishing ahead of two drivers with illegal motors makes it even more gratifying,'' said Fry, driver of the Chatsworth Machine Company Motorsports Chevrolet.

Johnson, the defending Super Late Model champion, won the title driving for CMC Motorsports last year. Fry took over for CMC Motorsports for the 2000 season. And it seems the team hasn't missed a beat, with Fry finishing in the top five almost every night out. Furthermore, Fry has already doubled Johnson's win total from last year.

But Fry and Johnson's relationship goes deeper than auto racing at Irwindale Speedway. The two shared the same track once before, at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield in 1996. In that season, Fry finished third in points and won six races en route to taking the rookie-of-the-year award in the NASCAR Late Model division.

Some 15 years prior to that, Johnson and Fry were teammates on Village Christian's football, baseball and basketball teams.

Fry readily admits that Johnson was the better basketball and baseball player but says his own forte was football. With his recent success, Fry can add auto racing to that list. But he's more than willing to let others do that for him.

``I never looked at it as a rivalry,'' Fry said. ``The first year we raced and this year, he has always driven me clean.''

The Super Late Models take a break this weekend at Irwindale Speedway to make way for the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series. But that doesn't mean Fry gets a break. He'll be in the pits working as crew chief for Quartz Hill's Frank Maronski Jr.

Maronski returns to Irwindale Speedway, where he won his first-ever Southwest Series race last season. Fry is hopeful that Irwindale can resurrect some of that good fortune from last year for Maronski, who has had a rough 2000 campaign. He has been victimized by broken parts and untimely crashes.

For example, at the race at Rocky Mountain Raceways in Utah in June, Maronski had a 20-car length lead before his rear end started falling apart. He had to pit and lost his lead. And earlier in May, at Pikes Peak International Raceway, Maronski was running in third when he was taken out in a collision late in the race.

``He's been running good this year,'' Fry said. ``Just freak things keep happening.''

--Southwest Series: The Southwest Series race at Irwindale Speedway, the Home Depot 150, will be attracting several area drivers, including Greg Pursley of Newhall. Pursley, who is fifth in points, won the previous Southwest Series race this year at Irwindale Speedway in April. He also is the only Southwest Series driver with multiple wins at Irwindale Speedway, having won one race there in 1999.

Other area drivers expected to compete are Sean Woodside of Saugus (third in points), MK Kanke of Frazier Park (sixth in points), and Bob Lyon of Agua Dulce. Additionally, Craig Raudman of Bakersfield, winner of the L.A. Street Race on July 16, is expected to race Saturday at Irwindale.

--Add Irwindale: In other action at Irwindale Speedway on Saturday night, Dean Kuhn of Oceanside snapped Rip Michels' win streak at six races by taking the NASCAR Grand American Modified feature.

Darren Young of Phoenix won the Mechanix Wear Speed Trucks feature and Mike Wright of Joshua Tree won the MSRA Pro-4 Modified feature.