Johnson Is Big Winner at Irwindale

A penalty to division leader Travis Thirkettle helped Mike Johnson win late model twin 40 races Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway for his first victories of the season.

Thirkettle posted the fastest qualifying time but was forced to start last in the 32-car field in the opening race because of an unapproved tire.

Rookie Aaron Staudinger started second and led for the first five laps until being passed by Johnson on the sixth lap. Staudinger regained the lead on the next lap. Johnson passed him on the eighth lap and led for the remainder of the 40-lap race on the half-mile track, which included 11 laps run under a yellow flag because of a four-car collision.

Tim Huddleston finished second, 0.594 of a second behind. Staudinger was third and Thirkettle eighth.

The starting grid for the second race was determined by the finish of the first race. Johnson led wire to wire. Huddleston was second, .212 behind, and Thirkettle third.

The race was stopped twice because of collisions involving cars driven by Clay Wattenbarger and Travis Bennett. Neither driver was injured.

Huddleston, shaved 14 points off Thirkettle’s 39-point lead in the season standings. Thirkettle leads Huddleston, 600-575, with three races remaining.

The two victories, and the 100 points accompanying them, enabled Johnson to pass Richie Altman and move into third.

Johnson, a Covina resident, received $650 for each of his victories.

Series leader Tony Hunt of Lincoln won a 40-lap USAC Western sprint cars race by finishing 8.167 seconds ahead of runner-up Kody Swanson of Kingsburg.

Tom Smith of Lakewood continued his dominance in the figure 8 division with his sixth victory. Jesse James, the host of Discovery Channel’s “Monster Garage” series, was knocked out of the 20-lap race on the 17th lap.

-- Steven Herbert

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Scott Dixon won the pole in qualifying for today’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma with a speed of 107.484 mph, followed by rookie Marco Andretti, the son of team co-owner Michael Andretti and the grandson of 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti, at 107.417.

Helio Castroneves was third in 107.236, ahead of Tony Kanaan’s 107.209 and Dario Franchitti’s 107.130. Sam Hornish qualified 10th at 105.352.

Hornish leads Castroneves by seven points in the IndyCar Series standings with two races left.

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Sebastien Bourdais won his third consecutive pole at the Montreal Grand Prix in his bid to become the first driver in 58 years to win three consecutive American open-wheel championships.

The Frenchman outdueled A.J. Allmendinger to win his seventh pole in 11 tries on the Champ Car circuit this season and the 25th of his career. Today’s race is threatened by rain.

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Felipe Massa gained his first Formula One pole, surprising teammate and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in qualifying for today’s Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul.

Massa finished in 1 minute 26.907 seconds on the 3.32-mile circuit. Schumacher clocked 1:27.284.

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Jeff Ward won two races to finish with three victories in four events in The AMA Fay Myers Suzuki Supermoto Classic at Denver. Riding a Troy Lee Designs Honda, Ward extended his points lead over Graves Yamaha’s Doug Henry to 22.

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Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz, Chip Ganassi Racing teammates, overcame a spin and earned their second consecutive Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series race victory in the Sonoma 250.

He held off Andy Wallace by 2.22 seconds to claim the victory. Pruett and Diaz lead the Rolex Series with five victories.