IRWINDALE, CA – After his 10th place finish at Arizona’s Tucson Speedway last month, Darrell Midgley and Team NPP continue their ‘south-of-the-border’ race schedule this weekend. The three-time champion of the NPP Late Model Series is at Southern California’s Irwindale Speedway for the 2017 season opener of the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series. “These are the best touring cars and Late Model teams in the region,” says the Sidney, British Columbia driver, “I know there are several teams from Las Vegas and Arizona making the trip. It’s a good group of cars and drivers for sure.” This is Midgley’s second visit to the 1/2 mile oval track located just a short 25 minute drive from downtown Los Angeles. “It would be nice to run down here more often but it’s not feasible at this point. Most of the teams here are into this full-time with a full-time crew. We’re the visitors. We’re playing in their backyard.”

In his Irwindale Speedway debut at the Spring Classic race back in April of 2015, Midgley drove the Northern Provincial Pipelines/Alien Chassis #81 Dodge to a third place finish. “That was a pretty good debut here,” exclaims Midgley, “everything fell into place towards the end of the race. Finishing on the podium was a bonus.” For this year’s Irwindale Speedway race, Midgley was the first driver to officially register. “We really have been running well. We’ve been backing up our qualifying runs by performing well during the race. To get a top 10 finish at Irwindale this weekend will be good.” The Sidney, British Columbia driver did not compete at Irwindale Speedway last year but had fantastic finishes at two other California tracks. Midgley grabbed a 5th and a 6th place finish in the Spring races at Madera Speedway and All American Speedway (Roseville, CA). Midgley will be part of Irwindale Speedway track history this weekend. The facility is hosting two touring Series for the very first time. Along with the 2017 season opener of the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series, the NASCAR K & N Pro Series West Series is holding race number three of their 2017 season.

Classes racing:
NASCAR K & N Series (twin 100 lap races)
SPEARS Southwest Tour Series (100 laps)

>FRIDAY, March 24th
4:30pm – Practice 1
7:30pm – Practice 2

>SATURDAY, March 25th
1:00pm – Practice 3
5:00pm – Qualifying
7:00pm – Racing

UPDATE: (March 25 at 10:18pm) Darrell Midgley was off the pace Saturday afternoon and qualified 21st (out of 23 drivers) for the Saturday night season opener of the SPEARS Manufacturing Southwest Tour Series. The first half of the 100 lap race at Irwindale Speedway ran caution free. On Lap 47, Midgley drove his Team NPP #81 Dodge to the pits for quick adjustments. Four cars then got together on the track. The race was red flagged to allow for track crews to clean up the debris. Midgley would be scored in the 17th position for the restart. The Sidney, British Columbia driver would be stuck in this spot until lap 97. With just three laps to go, the driver he’d been chasing since lap 80 spun down the back straight bringing out the final caution of the race. Midgley crossed the finish line 16th in Southern California. Bobby Hodges of Carson City, Nevada was the race winner.