In a moment that all observers said was coming much sooner than later, Austin Barnes scored his first ever win in the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale June 4th. The teen driver, from Escondido-California led 46 laps of the 50 lap CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food Southern California Classic, presented by MagnaFlow Exhaust Products.

From the very beginning of the race it appeared that Barnes was the class of the field and was going to completely dominate the race. However Jim Mardis, the series' reigning champion and current points leader, had other ideas. The two drivers staged a torrid duel that began at the lap 35 lap mark. The side by side, passing, action was set up by a rash of three caution flags that occurred within a period of three laps.

On two occasions Mardis passed Barnes for the lead only to watch the eventual race winner come off of a low line and perform a skin tight cross over move to reclaim the point. All the while the fans were on their feet cheering on their favorite. By lap 40 Barnes was able to make what would turn out to be a winning move. He crossed under the checkers 1.286 seconds ahead of Mardis. Tim Morse, Dylan Kwasniewski and Tom Lovelady completed the top five.

Earlier in the day Las Vegas driver Doug Hamm won the Dart Machinery Trophy Dash and the $200 bonus. He crossed under the checkers, in the six lap event, a mere 0.138 seconds ahead of Mardis. Aaron McMorran was awarded the $100 bonus posted by E3 Spark Plugs. The Las Vegas driver started the race in 13th and finished eighth.

After climbing out of his MasterCraft Safety-STR-Electro Tech Powdercoating modified, the happy race winner said "we had the best car we could possibly have and that's why we got this win. We rolled out of the trailer and we were pretty quick. We knew, after qualifying, that we were going to have a really fast car."

Commenting on the cross over passing maneuvers with Mardis, he said "he did it on me first and I tried to cross him back over on the backstretch but I didn't have enough room while heading into turn three. Luckily we got another caution and I tried it again. This time it worked out for me and we just went on from there."

Sharing the celebration, in the Sunoco Race Fuels victory lane, was Ted Barnes, the winning team owner and more importantly proud father. "I'm speechless," he said adding "anybody that knows me is aware I'm never speechless. He drove a great race. He and Jimmy, (Mardis), crossed it up a bunch of times, had a great time and I'm just ecstatic especially here. He loves to go fast and this track is awesome."

Barnes' "Super Saturday" at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale began earlier in the afternoon when he won the $100 bonus for setting the Budweiser fast time in qualifying. He toured the speedway's half mile oval at 19.000 seconds, 94.737 MPH, and was a full two-tenths of a second ahead of the field. Series officials also awarded the race winner the $100 bonus for the Magnaflow Exhaust Products Clean Pass.

Ted Barnes admitted that, after watching qualifying, he had a sense that this might be the night his son gets his first series win. "He knew the car was good, everything was good about it and he was able to lay the lap he needed to. Just everything came together," he said.

Crew Chief Jimmy Dickerson also serves as a sounding board for the young driver. He's an experienced mentor who has won a lot of modified races, along with the Lucas Oil Series' 2008 championship. He also was thrilled to watch his driver win his first series race. "I'm really proud of Austin, he drove a really smart race," he said adding "I can't say enough about him, it was all him tonight. He drove a smart race and stayed out of trouble. Our car was really good, It's an STR car and you can't beat them."

Following his second place finish, Jim Mardis said "It's our first time here at Irwindale and, for me, the first time on their half mile track. It was a good night overall. The track is fast and I think I adapted to it pretty well. We were fast here all day but clean air here means a lot and I didn't know that until we got out there to race. The car was fast and I'm glad to come home with some points."

Mardis also took the opportunity to thank a new sponsor to his team. "Blue Water Technologies is an audio visual company and we're so proud to represent them. They've come on board with us and that really helps us out. Rockstar Energy Drink, who supported us last year, came back again with us this year and I can't thank them enough. There's also Makita Power Tools and of course Arce Engines who built me that great engine. Scoreboard 2 Bar and Grill also helps us out a lot and we also have Premiere Wraps who helps us keep the car looking good so we can keep coming out here to go racing," he said.

After leading the first two circuits of the race, Burbank-California's Tim Morse was all smiles with his third place finish and said "it was very exciting out there and I'm glad to come home third. We really had a third place car all day. I struggled for a little bit and I got it better, then I got it worse and got it better again. I want to say congratulations to Austin Barnes, he did a great job and he had a great car. He really deserved this win and I'm proud for Austin. I want to thank Ron's Rear Ends, Slover's Porting, Charlie Wahl Shocks and Extreme Muffler. Dan Weir from Extreme helped me out a lot and helped everyone of these cars get quiet",( to meet local decibel requirements),

Series Race Director Bill Rozhon was thrilled with the result of the race especially in light of the fact that many of the series' drivers had never raced on the larger and faster speedway. "Our car count was actually very good considering what's going on with the economy. Irwindale wanted us to be here tonight and we really wanted to be at Irwindale. I can't thank Bob DeFazio and Lester Boyer enough for inviting us. I'm also very proud that we have a brand new winner tonight. By the way, that's four different winners in four races and that shows how competitive our series really is. Our guys did a really good job here."

The CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food Southern California Classic, presented by MagnaFlow Exhaust Products, began on a shaky start with a yellow flag due to Mike Salm's blown engine before the first lap was complete. A red flag followed to allow for some lengthy track clean up. Commenting on that situation, Rozhon said "I really feel for those guys. They've got to get the monkey off of their back. The Cole Racing team and their car runs so good and they work just as hard an anybody. To have something like that happen to them is got to be a heartbreak. I was disappointed over what happened to them, but sometimes that's racing and it can be a cruel world."

Also commenting on the race was series Promoter Greg Scheidecker who said "when you look down at the field with the finishes that the various guys got you have to start with Austin Barnes, that one's been a long time coming. He's been knocking on the door a lot and tonight was just his turn. Then there's Jimmy Mardis, what a smart race he drove. Obviously Mardis is in contention for the championship and I think his driving performance tonight showed that. Tim Morse had a great run as well as others all the way through the field. These guys aren't used to running on a track of this size. When we return here, August 13th, to run a 75 lap feature that pays $1,500 to win and $300 just to start it's going to be game on."

The Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, is strongly supported by a highly potent marketing concept known as "Team Lucas." Team members include Lucas Oil Products Inc, MagnaFlow Exhaust Products, E3 Spark Plugs, General Tire, K&N Performance Filters, GEICO, CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food, MAV-TV, Dart Machinery, Rockstar Energy Drink and MasterCraft Safety Equipment.

The series is also strongly supported by a group of contingency sponsors featuring Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tire West, Budweiser,Blue Water Resort & Casino, Sunoco Race Fuels, Frank's Radio, Racing Plus, Roush Yates Performance Parts and J E Pistons.