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FIRST CAREER NASCAR LM WIN FOR ROMANO AT TOYOTA SPEEDWAY

ATHERTON, CALIFORNIA (June 14, 2011) – 2010 All American Speedway NASCAR Modified Rookie of the Year Nik Romano picked up an important win in his young career, winning the 50 lap NASCAR Late Model feature at TOYOTA Speedway in Irwindale, Calif. on Saturday night.

The 20 year-old rookie driver drives the #51 NASCAR Late Model for Tim Huddleston’s High Point Racing.  Romano is also a member of the Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle driver development program which develops and prepares drivers for a career in motorsports.

The accomplished driver comes to NASCAR Late Models after championships in USAC Ford Focus Midgets, SCCA Formula Fords, and Quarter Midgets.  His diverse racing background has also seen Romano earn a Rookie of the Year title in Micro Sprints on dirt, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, SCCA Formula Fords and NASCAR Modifieds.

Romano came into Saturday’s contest with a pair of fifth place finishes as his best marks to date in the highly competitive division.  Romano qualified fourth at 19.034 seconds around the state of the art half-mile paved oval.

Rolling off fourth from the grid, Romano moved up into the second position by lap seven to challenge fellow rookie teammate Dylan Lupton.  The two Northern Californians went back and forth before Romano finally took over the lead on lap 17.

Teammate and points leader Brandon Davis followed Romano past Lupton and gave Romano a serious challenge throughout the final 33 laps.  Romano drove consistently throughout the caution-free race to take a .721 second victory over Davis at the line.

With the win, Romano moves to sixth in the standings and just 22 points behind first place.  The win also improves Romano’s standings in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series where he runs in the top-ten in the state of California and in the top-100 in all of North America.

“Nik has been a winner in every level of racing and we all knew he would win in NASCAR late model stock cars,” Driver Coach Ron Sutton said.  “Now that the first win is out of the way, the sky is the limit for how far Nik can get in the points standings!” 

Next up for Romano will be twin 50s this Saturday night at TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale. Race fans can follow Nik Romano at www.nikromano.com