THIRKETTLE REACHES TOP 5 AFTER FIRST WIN.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

Things have gotten a lot more interesting in the NASCAR Grand American Modified division at Irwindale Speedway.

Travis Thirkettle of Newhall won his first race of the season and climbed into the top five in points.

Class leader Rod Johnson of Canyon Country, who won the first two races of the season and jumped out to a huge lead in the Grand Am standings, finished fifth in last Saturday night's race.

Now two points separate the top three drivers in the Grand Am division. Roger Carufel Jr. of Saugus is tied with Andrew Phipps of Simi Valley in the standings, two points behind Johnson.

``It's going to be a real good season,'' said Carufel, who finished second in Saturday night's race. ``Any one of us can win. There's about four or five of us. It's going to be fun.''

Carufel and Johnson had their share of mechanical problems. Carufel had his shocks mounted backward in practice and had to switch them before qualifying. Even though he made the switch, he said his car ran tight throughout the race.

Johnson lost his front brakes and had handling problems. He couldn't drive hard into the corners and never had a real chance to challenge the leaders.

Both fought through their problems and escaped with some good results. In the meantime, Thirkettle worked his way to a hard-fought first win of the season.

``We ended up finishing second,'' Carufel said. ``I had something for Travis. My engine runs well for a 357. I don't know if I would have been able to pass him, but I could stay up with him.''

Johnson made a strong start, but his front brakes gave out early. After that, it was a race for survival, Johnson said, and he did his best to keep his car off the walls.

``I could've crashed the car and taken a lot of people with me,'' Johnson said. ``But that's not what we want. But it works out good for the guys. Now the points are interesting.''

Even though Johnson said he would like to dominate every race, he's enjoying having some of the younger drivers on the series move up in the standings.

``Our objective, we weren't really thinking about the championship,'' Johnson said. ``Our objective was to win races. At this point, it's like starting the season.''

Defending Grand Am champion John Watkinson of Canyon Country was seventh in the race. Mike Trottochau of Acton was 12th and Dennis Eckert of Canyon Country was 14th.

In other action at Irwindale Speedway, Dave Hessing of Canyon Country posted a couple of top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Late Model Twins 40s. He finished eighth in the first and ninth in the second. Guy Tripp of Saugus was 11th in the first and 26th in the second. Todd Burns of Riverside won both Late Model Twin 40s.

Racing continues tonight at Irwindale Speedway with the NASCAR Super Late Models, Late Models, Super Stocks, Ultra Wheel Spec Trucks and West Coast Pro Trucks. Racing starts at 6 p.m.

--NASCAR Busch Series: Ron Hornaday Jr. won his first race of the season on the NASCAR Busch Series at Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania on Sunday. It was his first series win in nearly three years and the third of his Busch Series career.

``It was big for everybody including the team, (Richard Childress Racing), AC Delco and myself,'' said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champion from Palmdale. ``We turned the corner a couple weeks ago and really started to run like we expected. But then we got wrecked at Richmond running up front and the transmission broke at St. Louis while running fifth and we fell in the points. We were frustrated after both of those races because we knew we had been strong from the time we unloaded.''

In addition to winning his first race of the season, Hornaday has been tabbed as the substitute driver for Robby Gordon in Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

Gordon, who drives the No. 31 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing at the Cup level, will also be racing in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. He is starting on the front row in an Andretti Green Racing entry. If for any reason he can't make the start of the Coca-Cola 600, Hornaday will be in the No. 31 Chevy.

``The biggest issue in driving Robby's car is the seat,'' Hornaday said. ``He runs a carbon fiber seat and it is molded to his body. He must be a lot skinnier than I am, because I couldn't fit in the seat at all. So they made me a mold to go in the seat. When you run 600 miles, being comfortable in the car is one of the biggest keys to staying mentally strong.''

Hornaday will also be racing in today's Busch Series Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Ron Hornaday Jr., who is from Palmdale, celebrates his first victory of the season on the NASCAR Busch Series on Sunday.

Bill Adams/Associated Press

Box:

(1) BUSCH SERIES

(2) IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY STANDINGS