The SWTT 2009 Champion
Christian started at the age of 2, going to Ventura Speedway. He had “the need for speed” at the age of 3… in his electric jeep; Christian would spend hours out riding until it was out of battery, he would say, "I need to go faster". Christian started building cardboard box race cars at his grandpa's shop at age 4. He started racing, when he was 12, in SMKA Go Karts and took “Rookie of the Year” and “Most Improved Driver”. He moved up very quickly to VRA Junior Midgets and won the Championship! At the age of 14 Christian moved up to the West Coast Pro Trucks, he was the youngest driver and finished 10th in points. The following year he stayed with WCPT finishing third over all, in points. In the same year he started with IMCA Modifieds and finished 15th in points and was awarded “Rookie of the Year”, with a very limited schedule. At age 17 he ran with the South West Tour Trucks and won the Championship and second in points with the NASCAR South West Tour division. Christian is now stepping up to a NASCAR Late Model series and driving for Side Show Motorsports, owner Tommy Rizzo. For more information on Christian, visit his website… christiancopley.com. Here are a few words from the Champ himself. “I would like to give a special thanks to all of South West Tour Truck officials, Michele Woodworth for keeping all the records and information up to date and clear, Cecil Phelps for keeping this series together and running accordingly. BIG THANK YOU to all the drivers and teams for making this a great 2009 season. Special Thanks to our Sponsors. K & N Oil Filters, Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, El Rancho Market, Silly Fillies, Pizza Shack, Voigt Motorsports, Auto Pro racing engines, Create A Party, Inc., Go Rhino! Products, Red Barn Restaurant, John Patrick's, Tobin Steel Co., Inc., Marilyn Simandle and Ted Goerschner Studios, Pearson's Auto Wrecking & Towing, John & Marsha Antonelli and Rafael Mendez. Now I know what a championship is really about… your family, friends, fellow teams, sponsors and a lot of hard work. We are leaving a great series and stepping up to the Late Model division and driving for SIDE SHOW Motorsports (owner Tommy Rizzo), car #33.” Congratulations, Christian. We’re really going to miss you, but expect to see great things from you and we wish you success. Good luck. Irwindale, CA. - Dalton Kuhn, started fourth and became the third and final leader two laps from the conclusion of the 40-lap SWTT main. Neil Conrad paced the first six laps from the pole. Christian Copley, started fifth and led laps 7-38. Entering the first turn on lap 39 Copley's RF tire went flat and his truck bumped the second turn wall and Kuhn passed him for the lead. Kuhn led laps 39 and 40 but that was all he needed to get the win. Jeff Williams earned third, after a lengthy battle with Neil Conrad that lasted for most of the race. Williams finally cleared Conrad with about ten to go but it was much too late to challenge for second or first. The all-green flag race took 13:49.060. Kuhn's winning average speed was 86.845 mph. Neil Conrad, Ronnie Davis, Jr., Gus Nanos and Kirk Knostman also completed all 40 laps in that order with 11 of 12 starters racing at the finish. Neil Conrad finished fourth, Ronnie Davis Jr. finished fifth, followed by Gus Nanos, Kirk Knostman, Ed Cutler, Cecil Phelps, Brady Heim, Glenn Schwenger, and Dan Coburn Fast qualifier was Jeff Williams at 20.251 and the Hard Charger was Kirk Knostman.
The South West Tour Truck series is proud to announce the SWTT 2009 Champion
Christian Copley
Toyota Speedway at Irwindale 9-5-09
Irwindale, CA - The Southwest Tour Trucks rolled into Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday Aug. 8 a little short on truck count, but long on competition. Even though a few trucks were missing the Southwest Tour Trucks put on an incredible show.
This race was the most exciting show of the year and many spectators said it was the best race they had ever seen.
Jeff Williams in the 28 truck set the pole time with a 20.0, Dalton Kuhn,16, was second and Christian Copley, 04, was third.
When the green flag fell Williams and Kuhn entered turn one with both of them wanting the lead, Williams edged out Kuhn coming off turn four. This race started like any other, but very soon became a spectacular battle for the lead. Williams and Kuhn battled side-by-side for the lead during the early part of the race, while Copley ran very close behind the two. Ronnie Davis Jr. broke away from the remainder of the field and was able to catch the battling trio at the front. Davis using the high line, joined in and made it a battle of four trucks.
Meanwhile a little further back other battles were raging. The 66 truck of Cecil Phelps and the 35 of Kirk Knostman ran side-by-side fighting for sixth place. Neil Conrad who started last because he missed the drivers meeting charged from last to fifth in only a few laps.
Robert Leininger in the 5 truck had a problem on lap 2 and Gus Nanos in the 55 lost a transmission and went out on lap 18. Glen Schwenger had high hopes, but lost a motor early in the day.
As the race progressed the battles changed and continued on. Now the battle for first was between Williams and Davis. Davis made several attempts, but Williams maintained the lead. Behind the leaders Knostman was now battling with Tom Mikla in the 96 truck. Mikla travels from Arizona to race with the Southwest Tour Trucks.
In 9th place was Michael Kelperis in the 8. Kelperis had missed many races and it was good to see him back. Kelperis also ran at the Orange Show last week.
In 10th place was Dan Coburn in the 21 and he is getting faster and faster each race, he is getting that truck going.
With the end of the race in sight, the battle at the front had changed once again, now Williams and Copley were door-to-door. Their battle continued during the last 10 laps of the race and both were driving as hard as they could.
On the White Flag lap they were side-by-side with Copley pulling even on the back stretch and nosing ahead in turn 3. Coming off of turn four Copley was half a truck length ahead of Williams headed to the checkers. Suddenly the 28 Ford of Williams began to pull even and at the finish line it was Williams by .06 of a second.
Six hundredths of a second is an incredible finish!
The top four trucks of Williams, Copley, Davis, and Kuhn after battling for 40 laps without any cautions finished within ½ a second of each other, which is amazing for any race.
It should also be mentioned that all four drivers did a great job of staying off of each other and everyone witnessed just how good a contact free race can be.
The fans in the main grandstands, and the all the teams in the pit grandstands were standing, screaming, and yelling on the final lap. That Saturday night race was the most exciting race that many people had ever seen. Every driver and crew member should be very proud of this performance.
IRWINDALE, CA - With 17 SWT trucks present, 15 trucks took the green flag. A crash at the conclusion of the opening lap involved the two fastest qualifiers. Christian Copley and FQ Jeff Williams made contact at the starting line and both trucks spun to the first turn infield.
Williams’ truck made contact with the huge tire attenuator marking the third-mile crash-wall and ripped up the right front fender of his truck. Both drivers pitted and returned at the back of the field for a complete restart.
Drivers then ran 35 green laps in 16:17.745. Kuhn opened a 40-yard lead by lap 5 and extended it to three-quarters of a straight by lap 30. He maintained that advantage to the lap 35 checkers and had three lapped trucks between him and second place Ronnie Davis, Jr. at the finish.
The runner-up trailed by 5.858 seconds officially. Copley charged his way through the field to third place, 9.025 seconds back. David Timewell, Jim Satterfield and Williams (minus his right front fender, nose and hood) were the only other drivers on the lead lap and placed fourth through sixth. All 15 drivers finished.
OrangeShow Speedway - 5-16-09
On Saturday May 16, the Southwest Tour Trucks raced the 2nd point’s race of the 2009 season.
Though it was a hot day at Orange Show Speedway (in San Bernardino, California) spirits were high and the mood at the track was one of fun and excitement.
All 12 trucks hit the track (in 4 groups) for Qualifying. Dalton Kuhn’s #16 qualified fastest with a time of 14.054, next was the #28 of Jeff Williams at 14.144, followed by the 04 driven by Christian Copley with a time of 14.277, then Ed Cutler in his #4 truck was clocked at 14.323 and the 5th fastest qualifier was the #55 of Gus Nanos at 14.438 seconds.
Due to an invert of the top 3, the 04 Chevy of Christian Copley started on the pole. As the green flag flew the 04 lead the 1st 6 laps of the 40 lap race. At lap 7, Dalton Kuhn (who started the race 3rd) drove his #16 Dodge into the lead, the 04 followed, with the #28 Ford of Jeff Williams on his tail… this wound up being their finishing order.
Despite qualifying 4th, luck doesn’t seem to be on the side of the #4 Ford of Ed Cutler. After a radio malfunction kept him off the track at our 1st points race, fuel pump issues took him out of the race after 1 lap this week. (Jerry thinks he just wants to run the same 4 tires all season.)
The 1st caution was brought out at lap 11, when Jim Satterfield in the #22 Ford was eager to pass the #55 Chevy of Gus Nanos for 4th position. The 22 pushed the issue too soon and tried to share real estate that was already occupied, causing the 55 to spin and doing fender damage to his own truck, resulting in both trucks being sent to the back of the field.
At lap 15 the yellow flag came out again. This time it was the #88 Chevy of Chris Roland and the #66 Ford of Cecil Phelps. As the 88 truck got a little upset coming off the turn, the #66 touched his rear corner, causing the 88 to spin. The 66 ran into his door, taking the #88 out of the race and putting the #66 to the back of the pack. (The #66 truck finished 8th.)
By the end of lap 16, after racing their way through the field, the 22 and 55 were racing each other for 5th. The 22’s transmission let go, so he pulled into the infield. The caution flag flew one last time. With only 6 laps to go the 22 was able to “coast” around the track, finishing 10th, while the 55 held onto 5th. Dave Timewell, who has won here before, drove his #17 Ford into 4th place (after qualifying 7th).
“Rookie of the Year” contenders, Michael Zimmerman, qualified 11th and drove his #15 Ford into 6th place (this was his and his crew’s 2nd race ever), while Clarke Farrar finished 7th with his #47 Ford (after qualifying 9th) and Dan Coburn, qualified last and was able to pull off a 9th place finish in his #21 Chevy. Not bad for a few rookies. Good job, guys!
Special thanks to The McCray family, of “Best in the West Racing”, who has taken on the task of managing the speedway. They have already made significant upgrades to the entire track and plan to continue renovations. As if this weren’t enough, they are a wonderful group of people who are a real pleasure to work with. We look forward to our return. Kudos to the McCray’s on a job well done!
*The #16 Dodge of Dalton Kuhn was disqualified in post-race tech.
Toyota Speedway - 4-4-09
IRWINDALE, CA - The first appearance at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale of the SWTT series produced a 16-truck field under new series manager Jerry Kappmeyer, who was hired by the racers to lead their series.
Fastest qualifier (19.91) and past champion #28 Jeff Williams started fourth and took the lead on lap 2 from pole starter #22 Jim Satterfield, the first lap leader. Williams opened a 35-yard lead over sixth place starter #16 Dalton Kuhn, 17-year old son of Dean Kuhn, a 23-time Irwindale feature winner in trucks/modifieds.
Suddenly on lap 16, Williams slowed entering turn one and pulled off the backstretch to the infield. His problem was a broken pin at the bottom of the distributor shaft that holds the cam gear in place. This caused misfiring and ended Williams evening.
Then the seventh place #5 truck, driven
by Dallas Leininger, spun and the right side of Gus Nanos' #55 truck clipped the front of the spun truck, knocking off the front bumper and blowing Nanos' right rear tire. Nanos spun into the front straight infield for the only caution of the 19-minute race.
Kuhn ran away to a half-straightaway victory (-3.392 seconds) over #87 Neil Conrad. #22 Jim Satterfield was third, with #04 Christian Copley fourth and #78 Ronnie Davis, Jr. fifth. Eleven of 16 starters finished. Only the top five were on the lead lap.
Great Racing, Weather and Friends
ROSAMOND, CA - The South West Tour Truck Series (SWTT) held its first non-points race on the ¼-mile paved oval at Willow Springs Speedway on Sunday afternoon January 11th.
This non-points race provided some testing time for many of the drivers in the new SWTT series. The truck attendance was outstanding and encouraging for the rest of the 2009 season. Some teams were not ready for a race after completing the long 2008 season, but the team owners and drivers made the extra effort and helped organize the race.
A few ASA Speed Trucks joined in for the fun on the track. To the surprise of many, the No. 28 SWTT truck of Jeff Williams qualified with a lap time of 14.76s and took the pole position over the lighter and higher horsepower ASA Speed Trucks with the No. 30 Speed Truck qualifying second with a 14.82s.
The track officials inverted the top six starting positions, which placed the No. 5 of Dallas Leninger on the pole, but when the race re-started, he got stuck on the outside line and drifted back to mid pack. The No. 28 oiled down the entire racetrack to bring out the first and only caution when its drain plug backed out on the first lap! Williams pulled the No. 28 off the track under caution and his crew quickly fixed the problem. The truck was back on the track for the full restart.
The race proved to be very exciting as many trucks tried to work back to the front after being shuffled back on the outside line. Many positions were exchanged throughout the 20-lap race. The No. 04 of Christian Copley and the No. 66 of Cecil Phelps battled each other making contact late in the race. The No. 55 of Gus Nanos ran one of his all time best races. Nanos was very excited about his performance after the race.
During the first few laps the No. 6 and No. 30 Speed Trucks made it to the front followed closely by No. 28 SWTT. The No. 6 made contact with the No. 11 mid-race that allowed the No. 30 to get by on the inside.
Back in the pack the racing was just as exciting. Many racers battled and raged including Dallas Leninger, Christian Copley, Cecil Phelps, Ed Cutler, Chelsie Jackman and Gus Nanos.
At this point the No. 30 had pulled away a little from the No. 6 and the No. 28. The No. 28 was only inches off the bumper of the No. 6 when it clipped the curbing at the bottom of the track causing the No. 28 to make contact sending the No. 6 around.
The No. 30 crossed the finish line first with the No. 28 on its bumper. The official finishing order has not been posted at this time.
The No. 88 of Chris Roland made a return after a long absence and two new teams, No. 11 and No. 21 that recently purchased trucks that have been out of the series for a few years.
It was a successful day for everyone involved in the first SWTT event of the 2009 season.
Contingency Sponsors
SoCal Racing Supply
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