Fourth season begins with 35-lap feature at California track
The Late Model Truck Series is set to kick off its seven-race 2022 season with a 35-lap feature at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway and Event Center on Saturday.
The series’ fourth season begins with the first of three scheduled stops at the iconic California track, where drivers will do battle on the 1/3-mile layout. LMTS—which will return to Irwindale on May 14 and Sept. 10—is coming off a six-race season a year ago that saw five different drivers make their way to victory lane.
“We are so excited to be racing again, and Irwindale is a wonderful place to start our fourth Late Model Truck Series season,” series co-manager Mike Riefler said. “We’ve had several talented drivers compete in our series in recent years, and 2022 will be more of the same as we look to build on an action-packed year. Gary Wyatt and I are eager to get things going, and we expect another great year of truck racing.”
Resurrected in 2018, the LMTS has conducted 17 races throughout the Southwest region in recent years, including a six-race schedule in 2021 after a year away due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Las Vegas’ Mark Allison won the series points championship in 2018 and 2019, and fellow Las Vegas native Stan Mullis took home last year’s series title.
Mullis won’t be at Irwindale to begin his season points championship defense, instead getting behind the wheel in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway. That opens the door for other drivers to stake their claim to the LMTS points lead as the 2022 campaign gets under way. Race fans can enjoy a pre-race, on-track autograph session from 5:45-6:30 p.m. PT, with racing beginning at 7 p.m.
The region’s truck racing lineage dates to the Speed Truck Series that originated in 1997 under the American Speed Association (ASA). MechanixWear gloves and Go Fast! energy drinks sponsored the class throughout the years, and the trucks raced at up to 10 different tracks in California, Arizona and Nevada before the ASA disbanded in 2013.
The series trucks feature a full-tube chassis, a 330-horsepower sealed V-8 spec engine and two-speed direct-drive transmission, with a clutch pedal dump valve, coupled to an aluminum quick-change rear end. The trucks sport replica fiberglass bodies of the Chevrolet S-10, Chevrolet Colorado, Dodge Dakota, Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma.
Series partners include the On Wheels Now online radio show – the longest-running motorsports radio show in Las Vegas – Campout and ReliableBanner.com.
2022 Late Model Truck Series schedule
March 12–Irwindale Speedway and Event Center, Irwindale, California
April 9–The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada
May 14–Irwindale Speedway and Event Center, Irwindale, California
June 4–The Speedway at Willow Springs, Rosamond, California
July 3–Night of Fire, The Bullring at LVMS, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sept. 10–Irwindale Speedway and Event Center, Irwindale, California
Oct. 14–LMTS Championship Night/ARCA Menards Series West race
The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada
