Walker in Voigt’s Rear-View Mirror

The battle for the super late model championship has become very close at Irwindale Speedway.

Greg Voigt of Goleta has led the division all year, but Ben Walker of Santa Clarita has won three consecutive races and trails Voigt, 636-592, with four races left.

Walker, 19, will have the chance to catch Voigt on Saturday night if he can extend his streak in the True Value Twin 50-lap races. Each victory pays 50 points.

Voigt, who has two second-place finishes and one third in the last three races, is no stranger to battling for a track championship. He won the 1995 street stock championship at Ventura Raceway as a rookie, and repeated the next year.

Tim Woods III of Chino Hills is third with 534 points.

The final two super late model races will be conducted in a twin 50 format Sept. 9.

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T.K. Karvasek of North Hills is third in super stocks at Irwindale behind Jeff Green of Long Beach and defending champion Mike Price of San Pedro.

With three races remaining, Green has 576 points, Price has 532 and Karvasek has 506.

Lee Ladd of Thousand Oaks is third in the mini stock standings with three races remaining.

Ladd has 270 points, trailing Bob Reed of Riverside, who has 318, and Terry Limberopoulos of Bellflower, who is at 284.

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Ron Hornaday Jr., formerly of Palmdale, remains fifth in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Division points standings after driving the Chevy Monte Carlo owned by Winston Cup star Dale Earnhardt to 15th place in the Food City 250 on Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

Bakersfield native Kevin Harvick, a former rival from Mesa Marin Speedway who drives for Earnhardt’s car-owner, Richard Childress, started from the pole and led 241 laps on his way to his second victory, which propelled him to third in the standings.

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Bryan Herta of Valencia is awaiting official announcement, which might come today, about defending his consecutive championships in the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey CART series race at Laguna Seca Raceway on Sept. 10.

Herta says a deal is in place for him to drive the race and possibly others this year. An existing team is expected to add a car for Herta, who has 14 points in five races as a substitute driver with Derek Walker’s team and Mo Nunn’s team.

Herta was without a ride when his owner, Gerald Forsythe, withdrew the Swift-Honda from the series in a franchise dispute with the CART board of directors.

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The Sprint Car Racing Assn. is making the third of four scheduled stops at Ventura Raceway on Saturday night.