USAC Midget/Sprint Car

IRWINDALE, Calif. (November 27, 2008) – After falling back outside of the top-10, Bobby Santos Jr. charged through the field and passed Davey Hamilton on Lap 90 and went on to win the Turkey Night Grand Prix at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale and give Western Speed Racing its first Toyota Challenge Crown in the $25,000 three-event "championship within a championship."

The #45 Western Speed Racing team claimed the $15,000 top prize in the Toyota Challenge after finishing in the top-five in each of the three Challenge races as the team won the title by a whopping 26 points. The #19 Nine Racing team finished second in the Challenge standings with a sixth-place finish tonight.

"Winning both the Turkey Night Grand Prix and the Toyota Challenge makes it so much sweeter,” said Santos Jr. “We struggled a little in Indianapolis in the first two rounds and didn’t run as well as we wanted, but we were consistent. When the last Toyota Challenge race was rained out in September and we knew it was coming here, I was really excited because we knew we’d run strong here. This is a great event and the track here at the Toyota Speedway just breeds awesome racing.”

The race saw five different leaders as Bobby East, Chuck Gurney Jr., Jason Leffler, Hamilton and Santos all led at least three laps. Leffler led a race-high 48 circuits in a one-off with his own Toyota-powered team.

The #151 Chuck Gurney Jr. team entered the Challenge finale with a healthy 15-point lead and appeared to be on the way to the the Toyota Challenge crown before seeing their seeing their title hopes disappear with a blown engine while battling with Santos for third-place with 30 laps remaining. The team held on to finish third in the Challenge standings.

Pole-sitter Bobby East led the first four laps before falling back in the field on the way to an eventual 16th-place finish to secure fourth-place in the Toyota Challenge for the #4 Klatt Enterprises team, while the #80 Western Speed team finished fifth with driver Billy Wease.

In addition to tonight’s Turkey Night Grand Prix, this year’s “Challenge” events also included the Toyota Challenge Night Before the 500 in May, as well as the Toyota Challenge Racing Classic in July.

The Toyota Challenge event is one of three major USAC initiatives implemented by Toyota. The manufacturer also offers a unique year-end owner's bonus fund that can total up to $25,000 to recognize and support entrant participation. At the end of the season, the top-10 point standings USAC National Midget Series team owners will receive $100 for every event entered in the 2008 schedule.

The USAC National Midget Racing Series, Western States Midgets, the USAC Silver Crown Series, National Sprints and Western States Sprints are also a part of Toyota Motorsports/TRD, U.S.A Contingency Awards Program that is designed to reward exemplary performance. In addition, TRD, U.S.A., is now also an engine supplier to both the USAC Silver Crown Series and Sprint cars.

Toyota Challenge Night Before the 500 – Bobby East, #4 Klatt Enterprises
Toyota Challenge Racing Classic – Chuck Gurney Jr., #151 Chuck Gurney
Turkey Night Grand Prix – Bobby Santos, Jr., #45 Western Speed Racing