Bakersfield, CA – Fourteen-year-old Ryan Cansdale of Laguna
Beach, became the youngest driver ever to win on the Irwindale half-mile, with
his victory Saturday night in the ‘SRL S2 Tour Series’ main event. It was Irwindale Speedway’s second event
since it’s reopening on April 6th.
Cansdale held off the late race charge of Trevor Huddleston to win by .8
seconds. Anthony Giannone of Colorado
Springs, CO finished third, Uli Perez was fourth and Cory Elliott of
Bakersfield rounded out the top five.
Cansdale, who was at the top of the charts following both
practice sessions, just beat Huddleston for quick time in qualifying by .123
seconds with a time of 20.132 seconds (89.410 mph average).
In the 30-lap ‘SRL S2 Tour Series’ main event, Bill Waters led the first two laps from the pole. Kenny
Smith charged into the lead on lap 3, but slid up into the turn 4 wall, which
gave the lead to Perez. On lap 11, Cansdale made his winning pass on the
backstretch. The race was slowed
by four cautions with nine of the eleven starters still running at the
checkers. Cansdale was the third S2 winner
in as many races in 2013, as Smith and Huddleston split the twin main events at
the series opener at Madera Speedway on March 16th.
With his win, Cansdale will carry a 5-point lead over
Huddleston (505 to 500) in the ‘SRL S2 Tour Series’ championship, as the series
heads to The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on May 11th for twin
main events.
For more information on the SRL S2 Tour Series or the
upcoming May 11th event at The Bullring, go to www.SRLSouthwestTour.com.
April 27th Results:
1st Cansdale – Laguna Beach, CA, 2nd Huddleston –
Agoura Hills, CA, 3rd Giannone – Colorado Springs, CO, 4th
Perez – Anaheim, CA, 5th Elliott – Bakersfield, CA, 6th
Chris Morrison – Bakersfield, CA, 7th Bill Waters – Simi Valley, CA,
8th Dave Lowenstein – Vista, CA, 9th Cody Ware – Jamestown,
NC, 10th Daryl Scroggins – Sunland, CA, 11th Kenny Smith
– Oak Hills, CA.
About the SRL S2 -- Introduced in
2009, the S2 car was created to allow a young driver moving up to have an
opportunity to gain experience in a full-size car, at the same time allowing
more experienced drivers the opportunity to compete in an affordable-low
maintenance race car. The concept behind the S2 car is to use the most
economical race parts and establish rules that keep the cost down. The SRL S2
Tour Series is affiliated and managed by the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series.
